PPS TAG Advisory Council /Tues. 10/14/14 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. - Please attend!

Please join the PPS TAG Advisory Council for a meeting taking place on Tuesday, October 14 from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. in the Mazama Conference Room (second floor and through/behind the Cafeteria) in the Portland Public Schools District Administration Building located at 501 N. Dixon St., Portland, OR 97227




Highlights of the agenda include:




. Chair’s 2013-14 End of Year report 
2. Chair’s Priorities for the year. 
• Advocate for our Recommendations 
• Focus on Equity – produce Recommendations by end of the year. 
• Recruit MS & HS members to provide input on MS/HS issues. 





PPS staff are anticipated to be in attendance for at least a portion of the meeting.  

The draft of last month's meeting minutes are unchanged from 

those on the website here:

http://www.pps.k12.or.us/files/tag/TAGAC_Minutes-2014_Sept_2014_draft.pdf

If you aren’t able to attend the meeting happening on Tuesday, October 14, please save the date for the next meeting happening on:




Tuesday November 18, 2013 from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

BESC (District admin. building) at 501 N. Dixon St, 97227 Mazama Room (second floor)




Brenda Ray Scott

Past Chair and Current Member, PPS TAG Advisory Council

Board of Directors, OATAG

Sellwood TAG Parent Group Forming

Sellwood TAG Parent Group Forming

Are you the parent of a TAG student at Sellwood and interested in working with other parents to provide more enrichment for your student? Please send your contact information (name, email, phone number, and grade of TAG student) to Brenda Ray Scott, parent of a seventh grade TAG student, who is gathering this information to get this group up and running. Our goal is to be in communication during the holiday season and hold our first meeting in early January, 2014.

Subscribe to this blog ( http://sellwoodtag.blogspot.com/ ) to get information about Sellwood TAG happenings, PPS TAG Advisory Council news, and other TAG-oriented resources!

Looking forward to working with you to create additional opportunities for TAG students!

Brenda Ray Scott ô

Parent of Sellwood Middle School TAG student
Past Chair, Portland Public Schools – TAG Advisory Council
Board member, Oregon Association of Talented and Gifted (OATAG)

Sellwood Middle School - TAG Parent/Student Survey - Due 10/17/14

Trick or treat?  You be the judge.  Last week students brought an envelope containing a cover letter and Parent/Study Survey (To Assist the Teachers in Planning for Instruction).  The letter describes the process for completing the survey and requests that it be returned to Lisa M. Souther, TAG Facilitator, at Sellwood Middle School.  To my knowledge, the District calls these individuals TAG Coordinators.  I will inquire about the difference in Ms. Souther's title and ask specifically about what TAG students and their families can expect in terms of services at Sellwood Middle School.

The survey is described as a tool whose data will be used to help guide the TAG Building Plan. According to the letter, the Building Plan replaces the individual instructional Plans some elementary teachers have written in the past for TAG identified students.  This information is news to me.  To my knowledge, these Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are available upon request.  As with the title, I will conduct additional research into the requirements in this area.

The letter lacks clarity with regard to how the data gathered in the survey will be shared with individual classroom teachers and the District to inform differentiated instruction strategies that meet the needs for meeting (and exceeding) the child's rate and level of learning.

In addition to the survey, the letter requests parents "complete a form (available in the main office) to indicate you have given us input into your child's instruction via the survey and discussion of the instructional program."  This request and the form it refers to are new to me.  I will delve deeper to learn more about the origin or purpose.  I think it is important to understand the source and the context.  Is this form a tool designed by PPS to serve the TAG Office or is the form a requirement of the Oregon Office of Education? Is it intended to help TAG students and their families?

So, please do work with your Sellwood TAG student to complete and submit the form by Friday, October 17, 2014 and I will do the same.  In the meantime, I will work hard to get answers to the questions I have posed here.

I'll keep tagging!  And hope that you will too!

Brenda Ray Scott
Sellwood Middle School Parent
Former Chair and Current Member, PPS TAG Advisory Council
Board Member, OATAG (Oregon Association of Talented and Gifted)

PPS Town Hall Meetings (10/13 - 11/20/14) - Advocate for TAG Services!

Dear TAG Advocates:  Here is our chance in an informal setting to put faces to names of TAG students and their families and to advocate for services for our students directly to members of the school board. I will be attending the meeting at the high school (Cleveland) in my zone.  

Please join in me in utilizing these forums as an opportunity to make the voices of TAG students and their families heard!

Thank you!

Brenda Ray Scott

Portland Council PTA and PPS invite the Public To Eight Town Hall Meetings:

The eight meetings set across the district, co-hosted by the PPS School Board and Portland Council PTA, are designed to allow the School Board to hear from the community in an informal, dialog based format as well as launch the campaign about the importance of public education in Oregon.  The meetings will be from 6-7:30 pm and there will be translators and childcare available.  School Board Members will attend the meeting at the high school within their zone. 

          Schedule:

• Monday, October 13th- Wilson High School with Ruth Adkins
• Wednesday, October 15th- Madison High School with Pam Knowles
• Monday, October 20th- Roosevelt High School with Steve Buel
• Monday, November 3rd- Grant High School with Pam Knowles
• Thursday, November 6th- Jefferson Middle College with Matt Morton
• Thursday, November 13th- Cleveland High School with Greg Belisle
• Monday, November 17th- Franklin High School with Tom Koehler
• Thursday, November 20th- Lincoln High School with Bobbie Regan

•  
• Wednesday, October 15th- Madison High School with Pam Knowles
• Monday, October 20th- Roosevelt High School with Steve Buel
• Monday, November 3rd- Grant High School with Pam Knowles
• Thursday, November 6th- Jefferson Middle College with Matt Morton
• Thursday, November 13th- Cleveland High School with Greg Belisle
• Monday, November 17th- Franklin High School with Tom Koehler
• Thursday, November 20th- Lincoln High School with Bobbie Regan

OATAG (Oregon Association for Talented and Gifted Conference) - 10/18/14

Upcoming OATAG (Oregon Association for Talented and Gifted) Conference on October 18th Friends: This is a reminder to register NOW for the 2014 OATAG conference “Every Child Counts: STEM and Gifted Students,” on Saturday, October 18, 2014 at Pacific University in Forest Grove. ONLINE REGISTRATION ENDS OCTOBER 9th. Space is limited and you won't want to miss it. Every year teachers and parents tell us how much this conference has meant to them. This year's keynote speaker is Dr. Susan Assouline, Director of the Belin-Blank Center at the University of Iowa. In addition to her work as the co-author of the Iowa Acceleration Scale, Dr. Assouline has written numerous books , includingDeveloping Math Talent and co-authored A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students. She serves on the board of Gifted Child Quarterly. The Conference will also include breakout sessions on acceleration for both parents and educators by Dr. Assouline and on such topics as the transition to the Smarter Balanced Assessments, social-emotional development, serving gifted ELL students and other topics. Students can get a start on preparing for college: the conference will also feature the Path to Scholarship program for high school students in addition to a tour of the Pacific University Campus. Saturday Academy will also offer concurrent student workshops for TAG students in grades 1-6. Space is very limited and registration is first-come, first-served. For more information about the conference go to: http://oatag.org/OATAG_2014_ConferenceTo register for the conference go to: http://oatag.org/event-764981For more information about the student sessions go to: http://www.oatag.org/Resources/Conferences/Student%20Sessions.pdf