Portola Night (Open House) Thursday, March 27 6-8pm

03/25/2014

The Portola Middle School students, teachers, and staff would like to invite you to the 1st annual “Portola Night”, which will be held on campus on Thursday, March 27th from 6 to 8pm. Instead of the usual Open House structure, the students and teachers have come together to organize a night of student projects and presentations, along with performances by the jazz band and drama class. Please join us in a fun-filled and informative evening to celebrate Portola Middle School!

1021 Navellier St., El Cerrito, CA 94530, (510) 524-0405

CA PTA Information on the Local Control Funding Formula

Below please find the latest resources from the California State PTA organization regarding the new LCFF law.

Get the facts!
The new school funding law called the LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula) and the LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan) offer a great opportunity to talk with parents, teachers and your school community about the importance of family engagement.

Take a look at this quick video to get the facts about LCFF. You can also share this at your next PTA meeting or post it on your PTA website or Facebook page.

Video is also available in Spanish.


Information fliers about the LCFF and LCAP are available in multiple languages online and can be easily downloaded, printed and shared. Plus, we’ve also provided a PowerPoint presentation highlighting what parents and PTAs can do to get engaged.

Be sure to also check out the PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Assessment Guide. The comprehensive guide provides a great framework to support school districts and parents in the development of family engagement goals and activities as part of their newly required LCAPs. A summary version is also available.

Learn more – get engaged!
Visit the California State PTA website to download and share more videos, fliers and resources with parents, teachers and your school community to demonstrate the value of PTA.

Portola Science Fair

02/03/2014
Portola Science Fair
Wednesday February 12th, 2014
6pm – 7pm
Come support and celebrate our junior scientists here at Portola! Your attendance will make the school wide event a success!  All projects are to be taken home at the end of the night’s event, except those moving onto the district science fair.

The science fair  committee needs at least 15 judges and a few helping hands to help set up and take down the event. If you can help in ANY way please email Keith Meuller at kmueller@ccsf.edu.  You do not need a science background to judge, just a desire to support and validate our students creative work.
 

Free After-School Japanese Program

01/20/2014

A new Portola after-school class in Japanese Culture & Language is starting the end of January.
Class will meet the last Thursday of each month from 2:40-3:40 beginning Jan. 30

  • Learn what today’s Japan is like
  • Experience Japanese culture through Origami folding, foods and other activities
  • Learn some conversational Japanese
  • Instructor is a UC Berkeley student who just returned from a semester of research in Japan
  • Students from El Cerrito High’s Japanese program will be assisting with the class

To sign up, or for additional information, please send e-mail to japan-portola@leonardoslab.net 
Please include:

  • Name
  • Parent’s name(s)
  • Phone number
  • Email
  • Any Japanese experience
  • Other hobbies or interests

See the flyer for more information.

Portola basketball is here!

01/15/2014
Introducing the 2013-14 Portola Middle School Basketball Team:
  • Alvin Vilayngeun
  • Darylou Quiton
  • Javon Franklin
  • Jesse Perkins
  • Jonathan DeLaPaz
  • Joshua McCoy
  • Keith Samson
  • Kwesi Guss
  • Michael Soriano
  • Nile Harris
  • Tenzin Norsang
  • Vincent Nguyen
  • Will Sepe
Please feel free to support the team and join us for games.  Here is link to team calendar:
Here are game dates (subject to change):
  • THURSDAY, JAN 16 (5pm) at Helms Middle School – 2500 Road 20, San Pablo
  • WEDNESDAY, JAN 22 (4pm) at Helms Middle School – 2500 Road 20, San Pablo
  • THURSDAY, JAN 30 (4:30pm) at Carquinez Middle School – 1099 Pomona St, Crockett
  • SATURDAY, FEB 1 (11am) at Realm Middle School – 2023 8th St, Berkeley
  • THURSDAY, FEB 13 (6pm) at Orinda Intermediate School – 80 Ivy Drive, Orinda
  • WEDNESDAY, FEB 19 (4pm) at Dorris-Eaton School (Tice Valley Gym) – 2055 Tice Valley Blvd, Walnut Creek
  • TUESDAY, FEB 25 (5pm) at Piedmont Middle School – 740 Magnolia Ave, Piedmont
  • FRIDAY, FEB 28 (TBA) at Realm Middle School
  • SATURDAY, MAR 8 (TBA) League Tournament (location TBA)
Feel free to contact Chuck Harris with any questions:  510-323-4933

Next PTSA meeting Tuesday 1/14 7pm Room 7.

01/09/2014

The first PTSA meeting of the year will be as usual on the second Tuesday of the month, January 14th at 7pm in room 7. We will be voting on the revised bylaws which can be viewed  at the school office and a summary of the changes is available at http://portolanews.com/2013/12/06/notice-of-change-to-ptsa-bylaws/. Also, find out ways to help at our biggest fund raiser “Celebrate Portola”, which is on Saturday, Feb.1st !

After PTSA business, Community Engagement Specialist, Karina Tindol, will present the “Tips, Tricks, and Traps” of disaster preparedness.  Come learn what you need to do in the new year to prepare yourself, your family, and your neighborhood for potential disasters.

You can find the agenda at Portola PTSA Agenda Jan. 14, 2014.  See you there on the 14th!

Our Families Coalition Presentation at Kensington Hilltop

01/08/2014

Kensington Hilltop has a great speaker from Our Families Coalition coming to their meeting tomorrow night to talk about being inclusive and welcoming to LGBTQ families, being good allies, and breaking gender stereotypes. They have generously opened the presentation up to other local parents who might like to attend.

The meeting is Thursday, January 9th at 7:00 in the Kensington Elementary School library at 90 Highland Blvd in Kensington. We have free childcare and can accommodate approximately 20 children.