Girls Lead Beaumont Team Needs Members

For those of you with older students and friends at Beaumont -

'Girls Lead club, which was formed after the closure of Tubman, is looking for more "mathletes" to compete in a national math competition called Mathcounts on February 8th. We have four teams registered from Beach, SEI, Winterhaven and Beaumont. Beaumont team needs three more students - preferably 8th graders. Please email me at jyotiraghu@yahoo.com if you know anyone who might be interested.'

February testing and Access applications

-Alameda's TAG testing for TAG-nominated students is scheduled for February - contact Pamela VanDerWolf or the district TAG office if you have any questions about testing (pvanderw@pps.net and district TAG office 503-916-3358).

-PPS Access Academy for grades 1-8 posted its application schedule today at http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools/access/ . The application deadline is March 22 at 3p.

There are information nights on Feb. 13 and Feb. 19, but no tours scheduled at this point since Access is unsure of its location for next year. Access is currently at Sabin school & admits highly capable students who perform at the 99th percentile on nationally normed tests for aptitude and/or achievement in any or all of the following areas: reading, math, or general intellect.

PPS Communication on TAG Budgets

This Admin. note went out to all schools last week; it outlines guidelines for the TAG budget. Dr. Matier wants all PPS schools to fully use their budgets and has many creative ideas. I knew many of you would be interested after our discussion during the fall TAG meeting. If you have more suggestions on how schools can use the TAG budget, please contact me so that I can share them with Dr. Matier and the TAG committee - thanks!

SCHOOL TAG BUDGET AND EXPENDITURES 
Dear Principals,
Please monitor your TAG budget and expenditures. Each school’s TAG budget is set up under your school’s dept. ID and can be accessed through PeopleSoft.  If you need assistance with use of your TAG budget, please contact the TAG Office at 916-3358.
Schools that do not use their TAG funds are in jeopardy of losing oversight of that budget.
Required and Acceptable Uses of TAG Funds;
1.  Extended responsibility for the TAG Coordinator
2.  Hourly rate for teachers who advise/supervise clubs and extracurricular activities
3.  Tuition assistance for students (contact the TAG Office for the correct procedure)
4.  Materials and supplies to support TAG students/programs
Please note:  Expenses charged to the building’s TAG budget that exceed the school’s allocation will be transferred via journal entry to the school’s Consolidated Budget.  Finance/Budget will prepare this journal entry at the direction of the TAG Office.
The use of a building’s TAG funds must be reflected in the building’s TAG plan.
Kimberly Matier, Director of Instruction, Curriculum & Assessment, K-12
916-2000 x74247   kmatier@pps.net

Education Town Hall TONIGHT

Education town hall with Chief Education Officer Rudy Crew, ODE and Portland Assn. of Teachers is tonight, Jan. 24 at 6p. in the Vollum lecture hall at Reed College. http://events.reed.edu/

Are talented & gifted students getting their learning needs met?
Please let the state know YOUR education priorities, including what you think of current TAG services & where you see room for improvement. Question sign-up begins at 5:30p. Questions will be read and answered during the second half of the evening. 

If you can't make the town hall, send your feedback here - ODE Chief of Staff Sarah Pope at Sarah.Pope@ode.state.or.us .

Welcome back from Winter Break!

--Here's info. on the FREE after school math classes at Alameda open to all kids starting later this month. These are open to all kids with high math ability but spots seem to be going fast. Call/visit the office to sign your child up. UPDATE - Signups are closed due to an overwhelming response and there will be a lottery for both class sessions, but the class will be offered again after March break. Kids who don't get in this time will be first in line for the next session. 

There's a fun & challenging cryptography project --

Cryptography Math Enrichment Class

We will be offering a math enrichment class for students with strong math skills to be taught by our very own math teacher extraordinaire, Katie Melchor. We will have two classes—one for 1st and 2nd graders and another for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. The theme for both groups will be Cryptography: Making and Breaking Secret Codes. Each week, students will briefly learn about one specific secret code that has been used in history. Then students will use problem solving and algebraic concepts to make/break that specific code. 

The math behind it will be differentiated for the different age groups. Classes will meet for one hour after school with the 1-2 class meeting on Mondays and the 3-5 class meeting on Tuesdays, both beginning the week of January 28th and lasting for six weeks. Enrollment will be limited to 15 students. Students need to be able to attend all six classes. Please sign up in the office with Chris or Nancy by January 18th.

The classes are funded by foundation dollars, and Mr. Lurie and Ms. Vanderwolf have worked hard to set them up. Kids don't need a TAG designation to attend. While math differentiation during the school day remains a priority, this is a great opportunity for kids who love math.

--Also, PPS' TAG director has set up a districtwide plan for making sure that all schools use their TAG budgets from now on. I've been promised that there will be better communication from the district to schools and that school TAG directors will pool ideas on successful TAG programming. School board member Greg Belisle has taken a particular interest in this issue and has vowed to keep it on the board's radar this year.