Hello ACCESS Families,

Time is flying—we’re down to just six weeks left in the 2024–25 school year!

Spring Dance Thanks
A huge thank you to all the amazing parent volunteers who helped make our spring dance a success. It was a joyful night, and your support made it all possible!

Volunteers & Coolers Needed for Black TAG Family Night – Wednesday, May 7
ACCESS is proud to host a district-wide Black TAG Family Night this Wednesday from 6:00–8:00 p.m., featuring food, kids' activities, and a parent panel.
We need volunteers from 5:00–9:30 p.m. to help with setup, food service, activity support, and cleanup.
If you’re available to lend a hand, please reach out to Eliz Roser at volunteer@accessacademypta.org.

We’re also hoping to borrow a few large coolers for the event. If you have one you can drop off at school on Monday or Tuesday, please let me know!

Reminders for This Week:

• Schools to Pools: 2nd grade families—please remember to send swim gear on Tuesday.

• Early Release Tuesday: Due to a staff meeting, all students will be released at 3:15 p.m..

• Arts & Crafts Fair – Thursday, 6:00–8:00 p.m.: Come support our 8th grade trip by shopping handmade student goods!

Teacher Appreciation Week
This week is all about celebrating our incredible educators. ACCESS is what it is because of our amazing teaching team—please join me in showing them how much they mean to us.

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to the families who surprised me with coffee and pastries for Principal’s Day last week. Serving as Principal of ACCESS is truly an honor and a pleasure.

Warmly,
Aaron Ferguson
Principal, ACCESS Academy

Dear Atomic Families,

Thank you to all of our students and parents for helping us successfully complete last week's OSAS testing for our middle school students. We made excellent progress in getting most students through their assessments. We will be in touch soon to schedule make-up sessions for any middle school students who missed a testing day or require additional time. Elementary teachers will be completing testing over the next few weeks. 

This week will follow our regular daily schedule, with standard start and dismissal times each day. Please note a few important events coming up:

• Tuesday: Our second-grade students will have their swimming sessions. Please remember to send your child to school with their swimwear on underneath their regular clothes, along with a separate set of dry clothes to change into afterward.

• Friday: We are excited to host our Spring Middle School Dance! In keeping with ACCESS tradition, our fifth-grade students are also invited to join the fun. Permission slips should have already been sent home. Please ensure completed permission slips are returned to the school office by Wednesday, April 30.

Thank you again for your continued support!

Sincerely,
Principal Aaron

Hello Atomic Families,

• Wednesday, April 23, is an early release day—all students will dismiss at 12:45 PM.

• All other days this week follow our regular start and dismissal times.

Middle School State Testing (Grades 6–8):
This week, ACCESS will administer OSAS state assessments in ELA, Math, and Science to students in grades 6, 7, and 8.

• Wednesday, April 23: Students will follow a special testing schedule for the entire school day.

• Thursday, April 24: Students will follow a special testing schedule during periods 1–4 and Atomic Time, then return to their normal schedule for periods 5–7 after lunch.

To be ready for testing, students should bring:

• Their fully charged school Chromebook

• Wired headphones with a 3.5mm audio jack (not Bluetooth)

• A physical (non-digital) book to read after completing their tests

If your student doesn’t have wired headphones, loaner pairs will be available at school.

For students opting out of testing:
They will spend testing periods in technology-free, supervised silent reading. Please remind them to bring a physical book to read.
If you are planning to opt your child out of testing, please submit the opt-out form by the morning of Tuesday, April 22. Last-minute opt-outs on testing days create significant logistical challenges—thank you for helping us plan accordingly!

2nd Grade Families:
Don’t forget to send your child with swimming gear on Tuesday for their swim lessons! If possible, have them wear their suit under their clothes and pack dry undergarments to change into after. This helps maximize their time in the water!

Big Congratulations to The ACCESS Academics!
Our middle school OBOB team placed 2nd in the state last Saturday! We’re so proud—not just of their incredible competition performance, but of their growth, teamwork, and dedication throughout the season. Their journey has been inspiring, and they’ve made our entire community proud!

Celebrating Autism Awareness Month:
April is Autism Awareness Month, and we want to recognize and celebrate the positive contributions of all of our twice-exceptional and neurodiverse students. At ACCESS, we believe that our diversity makes us stronger. We are committed to creating a school community where every student feels welcomed, valued, and supported for exactly who they are. We are honored to learn with—and from—one another every day.

Thanks for reading this extra-long update. I hope you enjoyed the beautiful spring weather this weekend, and for those who celebrate, hope you had a wonderful holiday!

Warmly,

Principal Aaron

Good morning ACCESS families,

I hope you had a chance to enjoy the beautiful spring weather this weekend—and for those who celebrate, I hope your Passover celebrations are off to a joyful start!

We’re on a regular schedule this week with no early release days for staff meetings.

A reminder for our 2nd grade families: the Schools to Pools schedule has shifted. Swim lessons will now take place tomorrow (Tuesday, April 15th) and continue on Tuesdays for the remainder of the program. If possible, please send your child to school wearing their swimsuit under their clothes, along with a set of dry undergarments to change into after. This helps us get them into the pool quickly and ensures they have more time with the instructor.

I also hope to see many of you at our ACCESS PTA meeting on Thursday evening!

Warmly,
Principal Aaron

You can find a recording on January's Principal Coffee virtual meeting here! 

Please enjoy the newest edition of the Atomic Articles!

Atomic Articles - June!

Here is the link to view the video of today's principal coffee, which had details about dates for the end of this school year as well as previews of next year's schedules: Recording

Here is the link to the powerpoint with the basic info: PPT

Also note: If you know people interested in the lottery results for the 24-25 school year, we anticipate the initial offers to go out early next week, May 13 or after. Thanks!

Please enjoy the newest edition of the Atomic Articles!

May Atomic Articles

Please enjoy the newest edition of the school newsletter!

Atomic Articles Volume 29

Happy March Atomic Families! Please check our newest volume!

Atomic Articles - March!

HeART of Portland, the annual celebration of local student artists, is returning to the Portland Art Museum (PAM) beginning April 16.

The two-week fine arts showcase features work by students from across Portland Public Schools and is made possible by the Arts Access Fund, which also supports elementary visual and performing arts educators.

2025 HeART of Portland kicks off with an opening reception at PAM on April 16 at 6:30 p.m. and concludes with the Miller Family Free Day on April 27. The opening reception will include musical and theatrical performances, as well as a set from the elementary school honor choir – made up of two singers from each PPS elementary – and the debut of the honor dance collective. 

In addition, the showcase will feature more than 100 works of student visual art, handpicked by PPS arts educators, and a collaborative art project for K-12 students that embraces the rebellious spirit of the current PAM exhibition, Psychedelic Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960s. 

The reception and HeART of Portland exhibits are free and open to everyone. Please join us in lifting up our student artists!

Portland Public Schools is continuing to host a series of events aimed at starting productive conversations about what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.

As part of this series, we are excited to welcome you to a free screening of The Ride Ahead on Thursday March 20 at McMenamins Kennedy School. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the movie begins at 7:00.

The Ride Ahead is a film about adult life with disabilities by a man with disabilities. It is the debut of 21-year-old Samuel Habib who, struggling to find his place in the world, decides to make a film that charts how a group of disabled adults navigate challenges and forge their own unique paths. The film serves as a roadmap for himself and others and illustrates the compelling power of one person truly determined to live life on his own terms.

In documenting his journey, Samuel is following in the footsteps of his father, the filmmaker Dan Habib. You can learn more about their work here.

Staff, families, and community members are all invited. Parking is free and McMenamins' full menu is available for ordering. We hope to see you there!

In meteorological terms, Portland’s first big weather event of 2024 was the definition of a perfect storm. Frigid temperatures and high winds combined with snow and ice to bring down tree limbs, close roads, scramble traffic, freeze pipes, and knock out power for tens of thousands of residents.

It was a metaphorical perfect storm for Portland Public Schools as well. Fallen trees cut power to multiple schools and others have suffered water damage from broken pipes. Lack of heat was also a problem, and impassable roads, paired with snowed-in and icy parking lots, made it impossible for buses to run safely. Those same conditions limited how the district’s facilities and operations teams can even assess the scope of the issues, let alone begin working on solutions. And icy sidewalks meant walkers have no safe route to school.

This week could bring similar conditions to the Portland area, and PPS’s School Closure Team is ready to meet the challenge. The team convenes regularly during inclement weather to take all of the above into careful consideration. By now, families are quite familiar with how the district communicates these decisions. What’s perhaps less known is how district leaders arrive at such decisions in the first place. 

As part of our district's focus on events that center belonging, equity, and inclusion, we have been screening a series of films that we hope will challenge our perceptions about what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.

The next film in the series is “Champions,” which will screen on Saturday February 8th at 2:00 PM at Lincoln High School. This event will also include first-hand testimonials from PPS students.

This movie highlights the journey of a basketball coach who leads a team of players with intellectual disabilities. Through humor and heartfelt moments, the movie emphasizes the strengths, individuality, and value each player brings to the team and how inclusion enriches communities and creates positive, supportive environments.

Staff, families, and community members are all invited. Parking is free and light refreshment will be provided. We hope to see you there!