Dear Portland Public Schools Community:

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful summer! I am writing to share a few updates. First, for families that are looking for summer activities and support for students, there is a summer resources page on our website that may be helpful. I am also excited to provide a glimpse into a few of the things that you can expect to see at PPS in the coming year related to the school calendar, special education services, and the district’s new policy on cell phone and device-free schools:

Updated and more inclusive school calendar. The 2025-26 calendar can be found here. Please note the following important elements of this calendar:

• The first day of school for all students except Pre-K and Kindergarten will be on Tuesday, September 2 (the day after Labor Day). Pre-K and Kindergarten students will begin school on Wednesday, September 3.
• The winter break will be a full two weeks, from December 22 through January 2.
• This calendar also includes two new district-wide holidays in observance of Yom Kippur and Eid al-Fitr. The Eid holiday is currently projected to fall on Friday, March 20, with a district-wide professional development day for all staff on March 19. If on the eve of the holiday, Muslim religious leaders determine that Eid will begin on March 19, then we will observe the holiday that day and our professional development day will be on March 20. Either way, there will be no school for students on March 19 and 20, 2026.

Focus on strengthening special education services and family engagement. During the past year, we conducted a thorough review of our special education services. A summary of this study can be found here and a presentation on the findings can be watched on the PPS YouTube channel (beginning at 2:17 in the video). We are grateful to the many parents and staff that provided input as part of that process. Your insights were invaluable in helping us identify strengths and areas for growth. Based on the study’s results, our key areas of focus in the coming year include:

• Strengthening the development and implementation of students’ IEPs;
• Improving communication and partnership with families;
• Building the capacity of and coherence across specialized programs, which serve students requiring support beyond the regular education classroom;
• Increasing professional development for staff related to special education;
• Adding central and school-level staff so that we can better support this work.

In the 2025-26 school year, we will provide updates on our progress, as well as on-going opportunities to share input, so that we can work together to meet the needs of all students.

New policy on device-free schools. On June 10, the PPS Board of Education adopted a revised policy on Student Use of Personal Electronic Devices (JFCK). The objective of this policy is to support the district’s efforts to provide a safe, positive, and productive learning environment for students. While personal devices can be helpful for learning, they can also cause privacy concerns, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, negative mental health impacts, and learning environments where students are less engaged with their school community.

The updated policy establishes that “personal electronic devices that are not issued by PPS shall not be available or accessible to students for the duration of the school day.” This policy will apply at all grade levels from the start of the 2025-26 school year and includes all personal electronic devices, such as cell phones, smart watches, tablets, and laptops. Here is a brief overview of what students and families can expect in the fall:

• Elementary students will be strongly encouraged to leave all personal electronic devices at home. If they do bring devices, they will have to keep them off and in their cubby.
• At middle schools and high schools, if students bring personal electronic devices to school, they will be required to place them in a lockable Yondr pouch, which they will carry with them for the school day (devices that are too large to fit in a pouch will be kept in a secure location designated by school administrators).
• High school students who leave campus during the day for lunch, internships, or off-site programs will be able to unlock their pouches to access their devices when they leave the campus and will be required to re-pouch their devices when re-entering the building. 
• Students at the Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS) will store devices in a locker provided by the school.

Students who violate the policy on personal electronic devices will be subject to the district’s progressive discipline procedures. This will include measures such as devices being held by administrators and meetings with parents.

Very limited exceptions to this policy may be made by school and district administrators. A form for submitting a request for an exception will be made available in August. Also, prior to the start of school, you will receive detailed implementation procedures that are specific to your school. This will include information on how students will store devices upon arrival to school and access them when leaving school, where relevant. It will also include each school’s procedures for supporting time-sensitive communications between students and their families or other important people in their lives (such as employers, coaches, or siblings in their care).

We look forward to collaborating with students, staff, and families to build device-free learning spaces that support students’ academic achievement and social-emotional well-being, while contributing to a sense of belonging and community across all of our schools.

Wishing you all a safe and relaxing summer in the meantime!

Sarah C. Warren, Ed.L.D.
Chief of Strategy and Operations