Please join your neighbors and fellow school community members and volunteer at the Community Care Day work party at Hayhurst School on Saturday, August 15, from 8 am to 12 noon.
With a little bit of work, we can have the school grounds in great shape to welcome our students and families back for the new school year. Community Care Day is a districtwide event, and our best way to make our school look amazing is through volunteers coming to put in some work and some fun!
Please note the slightly earlier start time of 8 am, which aligns with the districtwide time for this event.
What we need folks to bring (if you have them):
gardening gloves
pruners, shovels, weeders, rakes, etc.
Wheelbarrow
Bring a friend or two. Kids are welcome to join and help. The Hayhurst Garden Committee will provide water and snacks.
For more information, contact Tom Powers at tlanepowers@gmail.com or (503) 936-7456. Hayhurst Garden Committee is affiliated with Friends of Hayhurst www.friendsofhayhurst.org
If you’ve used the shortcut behind the baseball field at Hayhurst School, gone out the fence and down a path, across a rickety bridge to the a dead end of SW 48th Street then you’ve been in the headwaters of Pendleton Creek.
Technically, it starts about 400 feet east on 48th Ave. where new homes surround a preserved wetland. Pendleton Creek makes its way west through our neighborhood and the Cedar Sinai Woods (west of SW Shattuck) eventually meeting up with Fanno Creek near the intersection of Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and SW Oleson. You can enjoy Pendleton Creek gurgling or gushing by after a rain along the lovely creekside foot path (labeled as Kanan street on some maps) that runs between SW 50th south of Cameron to SW 54th, where sadly the public pathway ends. The creek is dry much of the Summer but carries a lot of water in the rainy season.
Hayhurst Neighborhood Association, with support from Seth Healy from the Westside Watershed Resource Center and the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services, has been working to improve the wetland and water quality at the headwaters of the creek. Two fourth grade classrooms at Hayhurst School (Ms. MacDonald and Ms. Vallance’s classes) provided enthusiastic help during the last school year.
Students help restore Pendleton Creek behind Hayhurst School. Credit Barbara Linssen.
We first met the classes in October to discuss native versus invasive plants, habitat, water quality and local wildlife. This spring, we got dirty pulling out invasive English Ivy. Concentrating on the slope leading up to the northeast corner of the school property students made pretty quick work of the ivy. Once that ground was clear we came back a few weeks later and planted appropriate native plants supplied by the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services. Oregon Grape, ferns, ocean spray, fringe cup flowers and more are now getting established. The students had such a great time that they want to continue taking care of the area.
This first summer will be the biggest challenge for these new plants. If they can avoid drought, being accidentally cut down or crushed by adventurers, they are very likely to survive once fall rains arrive. Volunteers from the neighborhood will continue to weed carefully around the plants. Eventually competing invasive plants will be crowded and shaded out by the natives
Some of your neighbors will be hauling water to the site this July and August to keep the young plants going. If you’d like to help please let us know by emailing hayhurstna@gmail.com. Even one hour of your time would be a big help, and students can earn community service credits.
Stop by the Hayhurst NA table there to chat with neighbors and grab a snack as you walk or roll, plus you can sign up to volunteer for a morning or afternoon shift here.
by Becky Bard, SMART Reading Site Coordinator at Hayhurst Elementary School
On Thursday, March 12, SMART Reading celebrated a major milestone: the 5,000,000th book given away to a child in Oregon! The celebration took place at Hayhurst Elementary School. SMART Reading staff and Hayhurst Principal DC Re-Bloom organized the celebration.
Noteworthy presenters included Oregon’s First Lady Amy Kotek Wilson, who read the humorous picture book The Smart Cookie aloud, and Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong, Superintendent of Schools for Portland Public Schools, who helped hand out copies of the book to the kids.
Amy Kotek Wilson, First Lady of Oregon, reads to students at Hayhurst
An adult who is a former SMART student, Stephen Phan, shared his story, which was interesting and engaging for the kids. SMART’s Executive Director, Jessica Bowersox (a former Hayhurst SMART reader) led the event. Portland Public School Board members Christy Splitt (a Hayhurst neighbor) and Rashelle Chase-Miller also attended.
Hayhurst principal DC Re-Bloom with SMART coordinators Becky Bard and Suzi Haywood
Help promote Safe Routes to School. Join friends, family and neighbors for a public Traffic Safety Event on Monday, March 30, 7:30 to 9 am. Adult volunteers RSVPand report to SW 50th Ave and Vermont St. Receive signage to display that encourages drivers to slow down and yield at crosswalks in this school zone as well as the Vermont corridor to the east of 50th, including the intersection at 45th.
City Councilor Mitch Green helped local volunteers at our event in October and will join the volunteers at this spring event, along with his District 4 City Councilor colleague Eriz Zimmerman. Also, our State Representative Dacia Grayber will be joining the volunteers!
Build community, meet neighbors and promote safe routes to school for all! This event is brought to you by West Hills Montessori School in partnership with PBOT Safe Routes to School; Portland Police Bureau; District Four Coalition; and the Maplewood, Multnomah and Hayhurst Neighborhood Associations. Registration is limited to adult participants, please.
The Hayhurst Neighborhood Association’s Parks & Watershed Committee is partnering with the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services, Westside Watershed Resource Center and West Multnomah Soil & Water District to host a free event on Saturday, February 28: Meet Your Neighbors – Love Our Creek.
This event runs during 9 am to 12 noon at the SW 55th Drive right-of-way above Vermont Creek between SW Idaho Street and SW Vermont Street.
This FREE event includes opportunities to:
Improve habitat and beautify the SW 55th right-of-way near Vermont Creek by removing English ivy. Tools and gloves will be provided!
See photos and learn about wildlife that live in and near Vermont Creek in our Hayhurst neighborhood, including beavers, minks, bobcats, deer, coyotes, river otters and fish (sculpin, redside shiner and western brook lamprey)
Learn about what you can do to support restoration and conservation efforts in your own yard and Vermont Creek
Talk to and gather info from local environmental and nature groups, and celebrate with crafts and refreshments
Make a meaningful and positive impact in the community and our local environment.
Everyone in the community is invited to participate!
