Portland Public Schools: Interpreters Available For Parent-Teacher Conferences

Press release from Portland Public Schools:

October 28, 2021

This year, remote conferences will take place on November 22-23. If you would like to have an interpreter present, let your school know. Every year PPS offers free interpretation services and other resources for our linguistically diverse families.

Here are some helpful and practical suggestions provided by our Language Access Services Department to have a successful parent-teacher conference.

Before parent-teacher conferences – be prepared:

• Prepare questions for your student’s teachers. The questions can be about how your student is doing, homework, supports available for your student, school or classroom policies and practices.

TIP: Your family can use the “Tips for a successful Parent-Teacher Conference” sheets, which are available in the five supported languages.

During the parent- teacher conference – be ready:

• Bring your questions and share them with the interpreter. Let the interpreter know that you are planning to ask those questions to the teacher.
• Let the teacher know if you have changed your contact information. This information is very important for teachers and the schools to communicate with you. Let them also know if you have a preferred time to be contacted.

After the parent-teacher conference – follow up:

• Start the action plan set by the teacher. The sooner your student starts working on this plan, the sooner you’ll see progress. If you are unable to follow the plan, ask the teacher for alternatives. These may include tutoring, workshops, and other student supports services offered at PPS
• Ask questions about future communications with the teacher.

TIP: Did you know that PPS offers multilingual lines in the five supported languages for families to communicate with schools and teachers? The numbers are:

• 中文 | Chinese: 503-916-3585
• Русский | Russian: 503-916-3583
• Soomaali | Somali: 503-916-3586
• Español | Spanish: 503-916-3582
• Tiếng Việt | Vietnamese: 503-916-3584

We look forward to supporting our linguistically and culturally diverse communities at PPS during the remote teacher/parent conferences 2021!

Language Access Services Department

This press release was produced by Portland Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.