Author: Matt Burnham

While no one can believe the summer is almost over, we are all looking forward to the coming school year! The first day of school is Monday 8/18. It will be a minimum day. Instruction begins at 8:10 am, so students should aim to be in their seats at 8:05. Minimum day ends at 1:25. Please pick your student up promptly after school unless they are enrolled in the free afterschool program.

Need the bell schedule or map of the campus? Here you go: Bell Schedule Map of Temporary Campus

We’ll see you Monday morning!

To be added to the google group etree, please email portolaptsa@gmail.com. All of the emails provided at the mixer and registration have been entered. If you did not receive a welcome message, please check your spam folder. If there is no welcome message from us in your spam folder, please email portolaptsa@gmail.com. Many of the email addresses were very hard to read, so we want to make sure everyone who wants to be on the etree is included.

You can also get email notification of new posts to this website by clicking on the “Follow” button to the right. You might sometimes receive duplicate messages to your inbox, but you’ll be sure not to miss out on the latest happenings at Korematsu Middle School!

On July 9th the WCCUSD School Board voted to change the name from Portola Middle School to Fred T. Korematsu Middle School, effective for the 2014-15 school year. The transition to the new name will allow students an opportunity to learn about Mr. Korematsu’s struggle against injustice and discrimination.

The Portola PTSA is separate from the school district, so we are working to align with the name change. The transition plan involves changing the name on our California State PTSA charter and bank accounts, securing and migrating all current information to a new internet domain, electronic communications/social media accounts. We do not have a firm time frame for completion, but all components are under way.

What does this mean to you? Official correspondence from the school and district will be from Korematsu Middle School. Correspondence from the PTSA will be from Portola PTSA. Information will still be available at Portolanews.com and you can still reach us at PortolaPTSA@gmail.com. We will notify you as we become Korematsu PTSA and how to access the corresponding communication portals.

Questions or concerns? Offers of assistance with the transition? Please contact us at PortolaPTSA@gmail.com. Need to talk to school staff? The number for the front office is still 524-0405.

The WCCUSD Board voted unanimously Wednesday night to rename Portola Middle School after Japanese American civil rights icon Fred T. Korematsu. The District has not yet clarified when the name change takes effect. When we have information regarding the transition plan and timeline we will post it here.

During World War II, Japanese-American citizens were ordered to internment camps despite the lack of cause for the detentions. Korematsu was arrested and convicted for defying the internment order. On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld his conviction. In 1983, the case was overturned in U.S. District Court and President Bill Clinton later awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. After 9/11, Korematsu spoke out to protect the civil rights of Muslim inmates and U.S. citizens.

Thank you to Marcus Hibser of HY Architects and district officials for providing a community update on the progress of the new campus build. The official “move in” date according to the district contract is March/April 2016, but so far the project is running ahead of schedule and the move in date could be as soon as Jan/Feb 2016. The timeline is depicted below. The presentation Marcus shared can be found here. Have a look — it will be a beautiful school. The second half of the presentation is an update and plans on the rebuilding of Fairmont Elementary School, which will commence as soon as Fairmont students are able to move in to the temporary campus currently occupied by our Portola students.

WCCSD Facilities Subcommittee will present a neighborhood update on Portola rebuilding Saturday, May 31^st, 11 a.m. at Castro Clubhouse, 1420 Norvell Street, El Cerrito (@ Donal). Marcus Hibser, Architect, will be there along with other WCCUSD notables involved in the new construction.

Please sign up at  http://vols.pt/EteFeS