Emerson Street Garden Harvest Celebration

Saturday, October 20th, 1-3pm
Emerson Street Garden, 822 NE Emerson

Join your neighbors in celebrating nature’s bounty at this fun, family-friendly event. Learn about sustainable gardening, neighborhood history, and the inspiring story of the Emerson Street Garden. There will be a potluck, planting party, and pumpkin decorating for the kids!

At Emerson Street Garden we’re sowing seeds and growing community.

Contact Rob Rouse at 970-497-9053 for more information.

Rain garden and naturescaping workshops return

Dig into Fall: Workshops are Open!

Looking for some fresh garden ideas? Want to bring more color and beauty to your yard all throughout the year? There’s still plenty of time to attend our FREE workshops!

You’ll learn how to create a low-maintenance (& low-cost!) landscape that conserves water, prevents pollution, and is safe for children, pets and streams. Tell your friends and register today while space is still available!
Click Here to Register

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Workshop Offerings

Rain Gardens 101: Learn how to create a sunken garden bed that captures stormwater runoff and also benefits urban streams and wildlife.

Naturescaping Basics: Design your landscape to conserve water, decrease stormwater runoff and minimize pollution while saving you time, money and energy!

Site Planning 1: An extension of Naturescaping Basics, this workshop covers how to prepare a site plan utilizing naturescaping techniques.

Site Planning 2: Share your landscape site plan and receive personalized advice from our landscape specialists in this feedback session.

Fall Schedule

You can view the full workshop schedule, start times, location details and register online here.

Rain Gardens 101
10/7 – Hollywood Senior Center
10/13 – Pilgrim Lutheran Church
10/20 – People’s Food Co-op
11/4 – Historic Kenton Firehouse
11/11 – SMILE Station

Naturescaping Basics
10/7 – Historic Kenton Firehouse
10/14 – Loaves & Fishes
10/20 – Pilgrim Lutheran Church
10/27 – Smith Memorial Presbyterian
11/17 – Leach Botanical Garden

Site Planning 1
10/21 – Historic Kenton Firehouse
10/28 – Whitaker Ponds Nature Park
11/10 – Pilgrim Lutheran Church

Site Planning 2
11/14 – EMSWCD Office
Click here to register.

Information:
503-222-7645

Leaf Day(s) 2012 Coming, Will Cost $30

It’s that time of year again! Leaf Day is fast approaching. If you live in King west of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., city crews will be sweeping streets and removing the leaves on November 20th and December 13th. You will be billed $30 for the service unless you opt out due to not having street trees or because you agree to take care of your own leaves. To opt out or for more information, go to the PBOT website: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/55380

Leaf Day Made Easy

King School to Host Second Round-Up May 31st

King School will host an informational open-house for parents of incoming students and prospective students as well as anyone else who would like to learn more about the school such as parents of pre-school age children.  Set aside time on your calendar on May 31st at 6pm to get your questions answered.   For parents not currently enrolled in Portland Public Schools or unfamiliar with King’s program, this will be an important opportunity to get up to speed about all the changes such as:

• King is currently an International Baccalaureate school.  The elementary grades, prekindergarten through 5th are authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization while the middle school grades 6-8 are finishing up the authorization process.  IB is an interdisciplinary, globally focused approach to education that “help develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world.”
• King is in its second year of a federal school improvement grant that is funding a transformation effort at the school.  Oversight from the State of Oregon will ensure that “the new principal has the experience and skills needed to implement successfully a transformation model; implements a rigorous staff evaluation and development system; institutes comprehensive instructional reform; increases learning time and applies community-oriented school strategies; and provides greater operational flexibility and support for the school.”
• The President’s Council on the Arts and Humanities selected King as one of eight schools nationally to participate in its Turnaround Arts Initiative, a program that recognizes King’s commitment to arts education as part of a holistic approach to education, reinvigorating the school, and improving overall achievement.

Let’s finish the job! Earth Day planting at King Facility

We are nearing the successful completion of the invasive species removal and replanting project at the King Neighborhood Facility. Thank to the tireless advocacy of neighbor Diego Gioseffi, this Earth Day will be another opportunity for the community to come together and plant the slope by the site of the farmers market with native plantings. Spread the word to all your friends!

King School PTA News

Next PTA meeting: Thursday, April 12th, 5:00pm in the school library. Dinner, childcare, and Spanish interpretation included.

Hello everyone! A lot is going on at King and the pace is picking up. Here’s a glimpse of what we’re up to:

Courtyard Garden

A volunteer youth group led by kindergarten parents Duke and Caroline Revard gave the garden program a big boost by building planter boxes in the courtyard by the cafeteria. If you haven’t seen the progress, check it out. As spring gets going, the kids will soon be planting. Do you have gardening skills, expertise, or supplies to donate? If so, contact us at: info@kingpta.org.

Whole Foods Tasting Fair—April 4th

Support the King School garden program and sample each course of a full meal for only $5 at the Whole Foods at 15th/Fremont starting at 5:00pm.

Papa Murphy’s Fundraiser—April 11th

Our monthly fundraiser at Papa Murphy’s at 15th/Fremont runs from 4:00-8:00pm

¿Por Que No? Profit Share—April 18th

To fund the costs associated with putting on the Mother’s Day event ¿Por Que No? taqueria at 3524 N Mississippi Ave. will be donated a portion of proceeds from all King supporters on this night. The 18th is a no-school Wednesday.

Enzo’s Profit Share—April 19th

Support our King Parents Linh and Enzo Lanzadoro and the PTA at the same time by enjoying great hand-made Italian food in a comfortable atmosphere. This final profit share of the year begins at 5:00 pm at Enzo’s Caffe Italiano, 2529 NE Alberta next to Halibut’s.

First Annual King School 5K Fun Run and Health Fair—April 28^th

Join us for the 5K (3.1 mile) fun run/walk through the neighborhood and/or the health fair in the King Facility parking lot.  There will be a lot of good information about healthy food, gardening, cooking, child safety, and more.  Registration forms for the run/walk will be coming home soon.

First Annual King School Auction—May 4th

Tickets are on sale now for the first King School Auction. Individual tickets are $35 and a table for seven is $300. Get your tickets at http://www.kingpta.org or drop by the PTA office. The scramble to have everything all lined up is beginning and we need to find volunteers to work the night of the event to handle all of the logistics from taking coats and giving directions to collecting the bids and getting the items to the purchasers to cleaning out the hall after it is all over. Drop by the PTA office/parent room or email info@kingpta.org.

To keep up with all these events, check the King School Calendar regularly at: www.kingpta.org/calendar

Volunteer with your Truck…

. . . and help plant trees in our neighborhood!
Can you volunteer at your Neighborhood Tree Planting?
King planting February 11, 2012 8:30 am-12:30pm

Yes, great! Contact your Neighborhood Coordinator:

Irek Wielgosz (503) 828 6943
king@plantitportland.org
Breafast and lunch are included with this morning volunteer opportunity!

Urban Growth Bounty Classes

It’s a new year, and the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is gearing up for its 2012 series of Urban Growth Bounty classes. We hope that you can help spread the word in your neighborhood — it’s a terrific lineup of courses, with plenty of old favorites to go along with some fresh new subjects.

• Learn everything you need to know about vegetable gardening with Oregon Tilth and Josh Volk. • Find out the secrets of delicious, home-made cheeses with Claudia Lucero.
• Join Glen Andresen for his unique insights into backyard beekeeping or fruit production.
• Maximize your garden bounty with Will Newman’s insights into soils and tools.
• Start your own backyard flock with help from Naomi Montacre’s chicken, goat, and mixed herd classes.
• Dive into edible landscaping with Jen Aron.
• Explore the world of food preservation (canning, freezing, fermentation, etc.) with OSU Extension Service and the folks at Living City.

You should register now to ensure a place in these limited-size classes. They’re the perfect way to explore urban homesteading and connect with the community. Feel free to email food@portlandoregon.gov with any questions, or by telephone at 503-823-6947.

http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=50648

Neighbors, PTA Pitch In on MLK Day of Service

The community turned out on Monday, January 16th on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service to make a dent in the weeds and trash at King School Park. English ivy had taken over the south side of the parking lot at the King Neighborhood Facility and was hiding all manner of things thereunder. A robust group of neighbors, King School PTA members, and invasive species foes dug, hacked snipped and pulled all day. The result is that the strip of land is now nearly completely cleared and several truck loads were hauled away.

Thanks to a grant from NECN and the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, the area will be re-landscaped with native plants that are not invasive and that will thrive in the location while providing an easily maintained habitat. There are tentative plans to finish the clearing on President’s Day, February 20th.

Special thanks go to all the volunteers, Portland Farmers Market, Whole Foods, Starbucks, and Metro.

Come out for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

There will be a second round on the invasive species removal at the King Facility Parking Lot, next January 16th from 10:00-4:00, for MLK day. AmeriCorps seem very interested in helping us in the project. Hopefully they will send some hands the 16th. At the same time the King School PTA will be coordinating a cleanup, weeding, graffiti removal project on the school grounds, playground, and local area.

The Portland Farmers Market is also planning to bring a small crew, a tent and some snacks. Whole Foods has also pledged pastries, snacks and drinks.
So far, it is unlikely that we will have an excavator on this day.

We estimate that now we are around 20 volunteers, but some will come on the 14th and others the 16th. We would love to have 20 more folks helping us. Please join us!

We have a truck to do the trips to Metro on Saturday, but still need more for Monday the 16th.

The land we’re clearing of invasive species, and prepping for later installation of native plant species, borders the King Facility parking lot,

at 4815 NE Wygant at 7th. We are also looking for someone to watch kids so we can provide day care for the volunteers. Let Diego know if you can help.

Diego Gioseffi
808-779-3435

Trace Salmon
King PTA
info@kingpta.org