Buckman Arts Focus Elementary School

This email was sent today to the Buckman Yahoo Group from Site Council Chair Kevin Downing:

Hello Dear Buckman Community,

Site Council members, Shirley Alhadeff, Laura Goodman, Lindsey Grayzel,
Claudia Mason, Linda Nichenko, Regina Pirruccello, Dawn Roberts, Brad Smith
and myself, have been working diligently, although behind the scenes, on
further developing our K-8 proposal since our community meeting in October.
We have been looking at issues like teacher certification, floor plans for a
K-8 at Buckman, opportunities for electives and other challenges that can
come with changing to a K-8 configuration. As you also may recall, we have
done polling of both parents and teachers to gauge support for the concept
too. Parents are strongly in support while teachers are more mixed. We knew
this was going to be challenging but we have continued to remain committed
to addressing issues and concerns that have been raised to make sure we have
the best proposal possible. We also have been working hard to begin to
identify those areas where we would expect a substantial commitment from the
District in order to make a Buckman K-8 as successful as we have come to
expect with any Buckman effort.

Keep reading →

The 18th annual Buckman Art Show & Sell, Buckman's art and craft extravaganza, is slated for April 11 & 12, 2008 at the school. A kickoff celebration will also take place at the Jupiter Hotel—details to be announced soon.

Artists in all media are invited to apply, and Buckman parents are automatically accepted upon timely submission of complete application materials and fee! This wonderful art event features the work of approximately 120 Northwest professional artists and craftspersons, a student art gallery, live music, food, and lots of fun for all ages. Approximately 1,800 to 2,000 art buyers attend this beloved community event each year. Artists receive 70% of their proceeds and donate the remaining 30% to support Buckman's innovative arts-integrated academic programs.

Please note the addition of an application fee this year ($15 for Buckman parents), to help cover rising marketing, advertising, publicity, signage, and printing costs for this Buckman fundraiser. We're also thrilled to announce the addition of an online application! For information on how to apply, visit buckmanelementary.org/artsale. The application deadline is January 11, 2008, at 4:30pm. Hurry over to the web site and apply!

Come out and support the Buckman Chorus as they share their musical talents and holiday spirit in a whirlwind mini-tour of Portland on Thursday December 20:

• 10:30 am: Multicultural Senior Center
• 12:00 pm: Pioneer Courthouse Square
• 12:45 pm: City Hall foyer
• 6:00 pm: Pioneer Place mall, lower level atrium, near escalators

If you haven't already had an opportunity to look at today's Portland Tribune, you should really check out Jennifer Anderson's article discussing the state of arts curriculum in PPS. Buckman has some great presence - thanks to Karen Stein for making us so visible here!

View it here: Art of Schooling.

...you're at the new website for the Buckman Arts Focus Elementary School in Portland, Oregon!

This site is very much a work-in-progress, and will continue to change and morph over time. I'm adding in pages for each teacher, and will tightly integrate teacher content with the rest of the site so we know what's going on in our classrooms (each teacher will soon have their own page at teacherlastname.buckmanelementary.org, for example.) I'm also adding in some functionalities here and there, pointers to the Google Calendar, and other bits of information as I come across it.

If you have any questions, concerns, issues, or feedback - please send them to me (Betsy Richter): bdrichter at gmail dot com. Thanks!

The 2008 Art Show & Sell will be on Friday, April 11th and Saturday, April 12th.

The show benefits the arts programs at Buckman, and will feature the work of more than 100 Pacific Northwest artists.

Learn more here.

(from the 12/5 CHEER)

Our used book fair was an astounding success! Folks feel so strongly about these events, and put in so much effort to make it all happen. Let's keep working to get books into the hands of kids. Please sign up on the library bulletin board to help during the upcoming event:
Set-Up Thurs. Dec. 6th 11:30-2:3
*Teacher Preview Thurs. Dec. 6th 3:00-4:00

Scholastic Book Fair Mon. Dec. 10th - Fri.. 14th
Monday 10th 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday 11th 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday 12th 8:30 a.m.- 7 p.m.
Thursday 13th 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Friday 14th 8:30 a.m. -5:30 p.m.
Tear-Down Fri. Dec. 14th 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Classes will come at regularly scheduled times the 11th - 14th. Focus will lie on previewing skills/student wish-list and purchase of books in main area, not pencils, toys, etc.

There's more to add to your calendar, even as the year winds down to a close.  Download the latest CHEER to keep up on the Scholastic Book Fair, SUN registration dates, and deadlines for Site Council nominations and the PTA's Reflections program. 

December 5th CHEER

This edition of CHEER is chock-full of holiday events and ways to give back to the Buckman community. There's news about SUN classes and programs to requests from our librarian and information about the Season of Sharing - down load the latest PDF to stay informed!

November 14th CHEER

The Buckman PTA recently established a PTA Scholarship fund to support families who cannot afford Buckman's full day kindergarten program. We are now asking for assistance raising money to fund this effort - interested donors can send a check to the Buckman PTA c/o Buckman at the address above, or contact PTA President Joyce Koenig.