Hello Duniway Community,

Welcome back to school! My name is Andrea Angell, parent of a fourth grader at Duniway and a seventh grader at Sellwood Middle School. I’m excited to begin my second year as President of the Duniway Foundation and to continue working alongside the PTA to bring enrichment and opportunities to our students and staff. I hope your summer was full of fun, family, and community. Mine was stacked with pool days and family adventures to neighborhood celebrations and new local traditions that remind me of the strength of our community. 

This year marks the 28th year of the Duniway Foundation. Together with the PTA, we’ll continue our cornerstone fundraising efforts: the Fall Campaign, our new Art Show, and the Annual Auction. These events not only raise critical funds, but also create the joyful, connected spirit that makes Duniway unique.

Last year, we rallied together to support our school community and to create a potential partnership with the Duniway All Stars program (DAS) to help our school address budget cuts and large classrooms. We worked diligently through the 2024-2025 school year and over the summer to complete this partnership program and submitted the engagement contract to PPS. Unfortunately, we have now heard back from PPS that they have denied the ability to enter into the contract at the scale we had envisioned. This is incredibly disappointing for all of us. We remain committed to ensure donor funds raised directly benefit our students. 

We would like to invite parents to join the Principal Coffee with Dr. Melvin on Friday, September 5th at 8am hosted by the PTA to learn more and ask any questions. Please know we tried endlessly to make sure we were continuously within parameters set by PPS. 

This opens the door to our other opportunities that we vetted last year. These are flexible, creative, visible in our school, and continue to align with our goal to enrich the Duniway school community experience. Already, your generosity has supported new gymnastic mats (matched with PTA funds) and has funds set aside to seed fundraising for the Duniway Corner, a landscaping and revitalization project that has been approved by the district. Looking ahead, we’ll continue to work closely with staff, families, and partner with our PTA to fund programs such as:

• Teacher grants

• Family nights and community events

• STEAM programming

• Local artists-in-residence

• School spirit initiatives

These smaller but powerful projects will have a lasting impact, and I’m excited to see them come to life this year.

If you feel like you would like to help on the board, the Duniway Foundation is looking for new leaders who would like to help this year. We currently have openings for voting members, Treasurer, Secretary, and a new President for the 2026–27 school year (this will be my last year in the role). If you are passionate about enriching our students’ experiences and supporting our teachers, please reach out to me for more information president@duniwayfoundation.org. Our outgoing Treasurer is available for training, so it’s a wonderful time to step in with support. 

Our community is truly special, and your involvement, whether through donations, volunteering, or showing up at events, makes it possible for all Duniway students to thrive. While we’re disappointed the DAS partnership won’t move forward as originally planned, I am energized by the opportunities ahead to create meaningful programs and core memories for our students.

Here’s to a year full of growth, joy, and community at Duniway.

With gratitude,
Andrea Angell
President, Duniway Foundation