This past week marked, Monday, October 14, as Indigenous Peoples Day in Oregon, a day set aside to recognize the Native American communities who have lived on and stewarded this land since time immemorial. Our Upper Grades are currently engaging with contemporary Indigenous movements as part of research and writing projects, drawing An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States and schoolwide planning to include the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde's K-8 Tribal History Curriculum.

October is here and it is bringing some wonderful life into our School Borough and our forested locations. This week, our immersion into resilience and nature connection shined bright through the rains as we had our All School Fire Assembly during our travel day to BREC. We still were without a central fire (burn ban was still in place) and yet our students embraced the core values of PFS by organizing into mixed-age clans traversing the land, actively honing naturalist skills with staff in the lead.

I’m so excited to welcome your child to this year’s art program! Our class is nature-immersed, blending traditional artmaking with exploration of the outdoors.

Throughout the year, students will keep nature journals for sketching, writing, and reflecting on the world around them. We’ll also dive into hands-on projects such as building flower press kits and even making our own paints and inks from natural materials like berries and leaves. These projects help students connect deeply with nature, develop creativity, and build care for the environment.

The fall season here, with the lengthening shadows and shorter days, signaling the changes in the natural world. Our class pods are continuously out and about, traveling to our local parks and destinations.

The first week of school is already here, and what a week!!! It’s been a pleasure to see new routines unfold as we enter this third year at Portland Forest School. Students arrived with a mix of excitement and nerves, and together, we’ve started to settle into what will be a fantastic Forest School year.

We are bursting with excitement to share that Portland Forest School has officially achieved full accreditation with Cognia! This milestone is the culmination of over two years of dedication and hard work. It marks a true affirmation of our unique educational approach.

Our year is barreling towards a great finale as we put the finishing touches on YEAR TWO of the Portland Forest School. Our teachers are working feverishly to support students in final projects, final assessments, and final joys of their current grade year. We honor those rising 1st graders, rising 5th graders, and rising High Schoolers!!!

It’s hard to believe there are only four weeks of school left and even more difficult to believe how incredibly busy these last few weeks have been for our PFS community!

We are stepping into spring with a bustling school of activity and a heart full of celebration.

We call it Cone Chuckers but it is also a "squirrel" themed game, AKA Nutty Squirrels! It draws on the natural behavior of young squirrels who must leave their mothers and compete for new territory, mimicking the real-world challenges of finding a place and fending off other squirrels. Keep in mind, baby squirrels are blind when born!

The integrated learning outcomes align with Oregon State Standards, encouraging active engagement in scientific inquiry, physical skills, empathy, and effective communication.

The rain is stripping the leaves off of the trees faster than we can collect them and our PFS students seem to love it!