May 9, 2016
Message from the Principal
Fern and her
dad at our
“Donuts for
Dads” event.
It is hard to believe May is here already, but Creston continues to
experience many positive moments. Our PTA-sponsored “Donuts
for Dads” event was truly amazing. A big “thank you” to our PTA
team for making it happen! Remember, Creston is celebrating
Staff Appreciation week May 9-May 13. You are
invited to let your child’s teacher know you
Our student writer for May:
Kenny Rachal
appreciate their service.
7th Grader
Creston continues to serve breakfast at 8:15am-8:35am in the
cafeteria. Students are welcome to eat breakfast in the cafeteria
during this time.
This month Creston’s PTA is hosting an event for the mothers and
important women in the lives of our youngsters. “Muffins for Moms”
will happen on Friday, May 27 at 9am. We hope to see you there.
Creston’s Marching Band by Mr. McKinstry
The Creston Eagles had a fantastic day marching in the 82nd Avenue of the
Roses Parade on Saturday, April 30th. This historic
event was the first parade that a marching band
from Creston K-8 has attended to our knowledge.
Thank you to the parents and the PTA for their
amazing support in this endeavor. Thank you also
Creston band members
posing for the camera.
Simile Poem
Happiness is waking up from a
hot summer day and eating a nice
breakfast with a nice cold glass of
Minute Maid juice. Then getting in
a medium shower not too cold
and not too hot. Then going
outside and playing a huge game
of basketball or football.
Important Dates
May 9-13 Staff Appreciation Week
May 10-PTA General Meeting at 6:30PM
May 18- Late Opening- School starts at 10:35AM
May 19- Burgerville Night 5:00-8:00PM
May 20- PTA Parent Coffee at 9:00AM
to the staff, parents and students who supported the
May 24- Run for the Eagles Fun Run
Creston Eagles Band by cheering them on in
May 25- SUN Spring Showcase at 5:00PM
rehearsal and at the Parade.
May 25 - Creston Spring Concert at 6:30PM
May 26- Kindergarten Jumpstart at 6:00PM
May 27- Muffins with Moms at 9:00AM
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OTHER NEWS
Simile Poem by Kenny Rachal cont. from
page 1
Happiness is going to my grandma’s cemetery
when the sun is shining right on the side of my
cheek and me smiling at my mom proudly
thinking, wow, I have an amazing mom and
grandma. That’s what I think happiness is.
Before/After School
•
This year, we started a new attendance
plan to help our students improve attendance,
and along with that, their current and future
success.
•
This final month of May, the K-5 class
with the best absence percentage will win an
outside popsicle party. For 6-8 students, all who
have perfect attendance with no absences or
tardies will enjoy a pizza party.
Reminder!! There is no student supervision
before 8:20 AM. Students should not arrive at
Creston before 8:15 AM. Please make sure your
child attends school on time. Also, ensure you
have arrangements for your child to be picked up
at 3:00PM or have other plans for your child to
safely reach their destination immediately after
the 3:00PM bell.
•
We are excited to announce we now have
an Attendance Analyst and Case Manager,
Vanessa Brooks, who will provide strong support
and outreach to assist families in helping their
child become not only more successful in
attendance, but also help with needs that are
impacting attendance.
Counselor’s Corner by Dan Blumhardt
Collaboration with Morrison Center: Jacob Reese,
a counselor from Morrison Child and Family
Services, began providing services on-site at
Creston serving students two days a week in
January, and has been able to serve a number of
students with weekly support. Our collaboration
with him has been outstanding!
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports
(P.B.I.S.): It has given us the chance to recognize
more student success! The Eagles Tickets are a
“hot ticket” as students get acknowledged all
week for positive behaviors, and then use them
for prizes. The awards assemblies are well
attended and allow us to recognize our
Exceptional Eagles, Perfect Attendance,
Specialist Awards, and grade level awards. Also,
we’ve been able to emphasize clear expectations
that help create a safe and respectful
environment. Good work Mr. Hurdle, Ms.
Standley, Ms. Hibbert, Mr. Billedaux, Ms.
McCartney, and…myself!
Partnership with others like SUN and the PTA:
It’s amazing all the work PTA does to help
families! I enjoy collaborating with you. Abby
and the SUN program are incredible. Thank you
Our new school vision statement “An inclusive
community where personal excellence and
academic growth meet” in part speaks to our
community value of all-around personal
excellence, including social and emotional health.
Here are some of the successes we’ve
experienced this year in supporting personal
excellence at Creston:
Counseling Program: Full time counselor and
counseling program development
•
Starting this school year, supports have
significantly increased for students. With this,
the program has evolved over the year to
provide a significant number of groups,
increased teacher, administrator, and family
collaboration and communication.
•
Thank you to Conrad Hurdle, Vanessa
Brooks, Abby Mulvihill, and Lisa Hibbert for your
strong partnership as we meet weekly as the
Student Support Team meeting to work together
to address student needs and concerns.
Focus on Attendance: Attendance Program and
Attendance Coordinator (Perfect Attendance)
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Abby for collaborating with me on student
leadership, and a variety of other areas.
Thank you to our Special Education specialists’
excellent work. Their successes may fly under
the radar, but their work is both challenging and
important! Here’s to you Laurel Wilkins, Dena
Hawes, Amy Hanson, Aimee Bentz-Pell (School
Psychologist Intern), and Michael Todd.
Technology Updates by Mrs. Baker
We are becoming creative about our technology
exploration. It’s led to a rather fabulous week of
first watching “The Martian” and then
considering what technology will be needed, as
well how it will need to advance for a successful
Mars landing. We compared the movie to
ongoing projects such as Elan Musk’s ‘SpaceX’
and the MarsOne private endeavor. This past
week we capped off National Poetry Month by
embedding favorite childhood poems by authors
such as Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss in pictures,
as well as Spoken Word/Slam Poetry videos on
our blogs.
Our unanimous favorite was found by middle
school student Francisco by an artist from St.
Louis known as Prince EA. It’s called, “Dear
Future Generations, Sorry” and speaks about the
environmental threats our planet currently faces
in a tremendously moving and profound manner.
Check it out, it’s a definite must see:
http://tinyurl.com/princeea-dfg
Thank you so much to the students and families
who have come to the Scholastic Book Fairs!
Your purchases have raised funds for the Creston
School Library and bought new books! We have
new popular fiction, fun and interesting nonfiction and everything in between! Come check
out the new titles at your Creston School Library!
Did you know that you can access e-books
through the Creston School Library catalog? Visit
bit.ly/ppsdestiny or go on to the Creston School
website to search the library catalog. Talk to Mrs.
Cardenas for details to learn more about this
excellent free resource for e-books!
-Best wishes, Mrs. Cardenas
PE News by Mr. Schalk
This month in Physical Education, grades
Kindergarten through 2nd will start working on
the more complex locomotor skills to build off of
the basic skills (gallop, skip and slide step). We
will be participating in bean bag games, scooter
games and tag games. Grades 3-5 will be
working on enhancing their locomotor skills and
continue to work on fitness. Class activities such
as bean bag games, mat games and yackellball
(capture the flag). Good sportsmanship and
teamwork are continuously encouraged. This
month, grades 6-8 will continue to be focused on
sportsmanship and teamwork. They will also in
participate in mat ball, badminton, flash ball and
basketball.
Library Updates from Mrs. Cardenas
Just a reminder as we approach the end of the
school year: please check around the house and
at school for your overdue library books! May
23rd-May 27th is the last week to check out
books. All library books will be due the following
week May 31st-June 2nd. Get those overdue
books back to the library so others may enjoy
them for next year! Thank you! The library will
continue to be open like usual until the last day
of school, June 9th.
Remaining Late Opening
Days
School starts at 10:35AM on the
following dates:

May 18
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Eagle Ticket for 6th-8th Graders
Cut out this ticket to enter a drawing to win a
prize.
How to win: Share this newsletter with your
parent and have them sign below.
___________________________________
(parent signature)
___________________________________
(student signature)
PTA News
Please Mark Your Calendars For The Following PTA
Meetings Dates:
•
May 10, 2016
All meetings are held in the Library from 6:00 pm
– 7:30 pm
Principal: Conrad Hurdle • 503-916-6340 • [email protected]
4701 SE Bush St. • Portland, OR 97206
Phone: 503-916-6340 • Fax: 503-916-2621
Follow Creston on Twitter @fhurdle1
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