PPS Publishes Student Density Map, Begins School Meetings

As Portland Public Schools begins its meetings at each of the North and Northeast Portland schools under consideration for boundary changes or possible closure, it has released a PPS student population density map of the area. The full document is here:

HSClusters_2012_Jefferson-DA with student density

Here is the template PowerPoint for the school-based meetings:

Enrollment Balancing meeting template

School-based enrollment balancing meetings start today at 8:45 am at Boise-Eliot/Humboldt. Next week has meetings at Woodlawn (6:30 pm, Monday, 10/08), Beach (6 pm, Wednesday, 10/10) and Vernon (6 pm, Thursday, 10/11). Later this month, there will be meetings at Faubion (10/15,10/30) Ockley Green (10/15), Chief Joseph (10/17) and King (10/19, 10/23).

Check the full schedule at: http://www.kingpta.org/2012/09/29/pps-releases-enrollment-balancing-meeting-schedule/

Alberta Main Street News

From Alberta Main Street:

Alberta Main Street Demonstrates Results

We are pleased to report some of the accomplishments we’ve achieved working together with our businesses, commercial property owners, community partners and local residents over the past fiscal year. We have many reasons to celebrate but still have more work to do. As we launch our annual fundraising campaign, we hope you will support our efforts!
July 2011 – June 2012 Accomplishment Highlights
-New Jobs: Net increase of 75.5 new jobs created on NE Alberta Street.
-New Business: Net increase of 8 new businesses between NE 10th – 31st Ave.
-Increased Revenue: 80% of Alberta Street businesses with comparison data reported increased revenue from 2010 to 2011.
-Low Vacancy Rate: Alberta Street’s commercial vacancy rate is 4.6%, well below the Portland regional average of 7%.
-Community Investment: Volunteers contributed over 2400 hours of their time and talent. Based on the Independent Sector’s value of volunteer time this equates to a cash equivalent investment of $53,832.

Read more…

Alberta Main Street provides the organizational infrastructure to lead Alberta Street. As an independent non-profit organization, the majority of our funding is generated from contributions from people like you; people with a stake in developing and maintaining a healthy and vibrant Alberta Street.
Please help us start this year strong and invest in Alberta Main Street. Your contribution to Alberta Main Street is tax deductible and we thank you in advance for your support!
Support Alberta Main Street Today!


Trick or Treat Alberta Street!
Come trick or treat with us this Halloween from 3 – 6PM on Halloween. Look for the “Trick or Treat Here” sign in the window at participating Alberta Street businesses.
The first 100 kids to visit Umpqua Bank Alberta will receive a reusable trick or treat bag. More info….

Rain garden and naturescaping workshops return

Dig into Fall: Workshops are Open!

Looking for some fresh garden ideas? Want to bring more color and beauty to your yard all throughout the year? There’s still plenty of time to attend our FREE workshops!

You’ll learn how to create a low-maintenance (& low-cost!) landscape that conserves water, prevents pollution, and is safe for children, pets and streams. Tell your friends and register today while space is still available!
Click Here to Register

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Workshop Offerings

Rain Gardens 101: Learn how to create a sunken garden bed that captures stormwater runoff and also benefits urban streams and wildlife.

Naturescaping Basics: Design your landscape to conserve water, decrease stormwater runoff and minimize pollution while saving you time, money and energy!

Site Planning 1: An extension of Naturescaping Basics, this workshop covers how to prepare a site plan utilizing naturescaping techniques.

Site Planning 2: Share your landscape site plan and receive personalized advice from our landscape specialists in this feedback session.

Fall Schedule

You can view the full workshop schedule, start times, location details and register online here.

Rain Gardens 101
10/7 – Hollywood Senior Center
10/13 – Pilgrim Lutheran Church
10/20 – People’s Food Co-op
11/4 – Historic Kenton Firehouse
11/11 – SMILE Station

Naturescaping Basics
10/7 – Historic Kenton Firehouse
10/14 – Loaves & Fishes
10/20 – Pilgrim Lutheran Church
10/27 – Smith Memorial Presbyterian
11/17 – Leach Botanical Garden

Site Planning 1
10/21 – Historic Kenton Firehouse
10/28 – Whitaker Ponds Nature Park
11/10 – Pilgrim Lutheran Church

Site Planning 2
11/14 – EMSWCD Office
Click here to register.

Information:
503-222-7645

Kitchen Commons seeks volunteers to train for food security

SAVE THE DATE! Cooking up Community

Do you work with an organization or non- profit that is thinking about integrating community cooking programs into your work?
Are you interested in using collective cooking groups as a way to support food justice and increase food security in your community?
Have access to a kitchen space that can be utilized by the public?

If so, join Kitchen Commons for an informal info session and training on Collective Cooking Group Facilitation. Our group leaders and coordinators will share what we have learned throughout the year in our pilot cooking groups, share resources and help you navigate through the initial steps of organizing your own cooking group. We’ll be meeting in one of our partner kitchens, with a chance to prepare a simple dish together. Our brand new Collective Cooking Group Handbooks will also be available to share with participants.

Collective Cooking Groups are a way of stretching food dollars, strengthening community ties and fostering resource and skill sharing. A typical group meets monthly or weekly, divides into teams to cook large quantities of several recipes, shares a meal together, and then takes home portions of each recipe to freeze or use during the week. Participants learn from each other, sharing tips and tactics for cooking healthy food even with busy schedules.

WHEN: Saturday, October 20th 2012 12-2 pm
WHERE: Trinity Full Gospel Pentecostal
Church, 4801 NE 19th Avenue Portland, OR 97211
Light refreshments provided. Send RSVPs or questions to rell@kitchencommons.net. Space is limited.

MISSION: Kitchen Commons matches kitchen resources with community need, making it affordable and practical to cook healthy food, putting the dream of a food business in reach of low-income entrepreneurs, and advocating for food justice. http://kitchencommons.net

Sabin School News

From Sabin PTA:

Hello from Sabin School! Sabin is located right in the middle of the Sabin neighborhood, but we include parts of King, Alameda, and Irvington in our boundaries as well.

Fall is here and kids are back to school at Sabin. We are growing! We have well over 400 students this year. We have almost 90 kindergarten students enrolled this year—so many that we’re about to add a fourth kindergarten classroom to bring down class sizes and help those kids succeed.

PPS changed the Sabin/Alameda boundary last year, and we’re excited to welcome new families to the school and help them get settled. We also have quite a few new teachers and staff this year. The school is just humming with positive energy.

We also have exciting news to announce—Sabin has been fully authorized as an International Baccalaureate World School! There are only a few other IB schools in Portland, and gaining authorization is really something to be proud of. Kudos to Sabin teachers, administrators, and students for all their hard work!

Sabin is a great place to volunteer and get involved, whether you have kids at the school or not. For more information, check out sabinparents.org.

Janice Johnson
Sabin PTA President