Forest Grove Gazette
February 2019
Message From the Principal
Empathy and Being Bully Free
February at Forest Grove means that we turn our emphasis toward empathy.
In my previous experience, I taught high school English, and one of my favorite novels to teach was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. A powerful message in the novel comes from defense attorney Atticus Finch when he says to his daughter Scout, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.”
It is our hope this month that our students, through the guidance of their teachers, have tried to walk in the shoes of those around them, seeing the world from their point of view. We feel if students can take these important steps, it will go a long way toward making Forest Grove a bully free environment.
Throughout the month, administration and counselors will support our teachers in the promotion of four simple, clear steps to teach our students to help eradicate bullying.
I will not bully others
I will help others who are being bullied
I will include everyone, especially children who may feel left out
I will tell an adult I trust when I, or someone I know, is bullied
I have visited classes to discuss empathy and the above steps toward building a bully free campus. At home, you can support our work by emphasizing empathy with your children, and together, we will continue helping our children to learn this important quality.
Sincerely,
Buck Roggeman, Principal.
Remember: There is no school Monday, February 18th -26th for President's Break. See you on Tuesday the 26th!
Forest Grove Handbook - Packed with Information
A great place to look when you need to find some information about Forest Grove is our Student Handbook.
A simple glance at the table of contents shows plenty of useful information like our core values, bell schedules, and staff rosters.
You can learn plenty about our daily procedures and policies around attendance, homework, and guidelines for things like lunch, playground behavior, and assemblies.
One aspect of building a positive school culture is having a clear code of conduct for students and staff to follow.
Forest Grove’s Rules of Conduct appear on page 20 of our Student-Parent handbook.
This section describes the expectations that our staff has for student conduct and outlines the referral process when students do not follow these guidelines.
Also included in this section are the district guidelines for discipline in grades TK-12. One item to note when looking at the district guidelines is that age and child development are taken into consideration whenever making a decision whether or not to suspend a child.
Administration will be meeting with our staff soon to discuss this information to ensure that application of our code of conduct is supporting our efforts to provide a safe instructional environment at Forest Grove.
You can check out all of the information that our handbook has to offer by the clicking on the following link.
Forest Grove Student-Parent HandbookParent Teacher Conferences
March 11th -15th is Conference week for students. TK-K students will be released at 12:10 pm all week (Monday-Friday).
Grades 1st-5th will be dismissed at 12:10 pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday only.
A parent teacher conference is a short meeting between you and your child’s teacher to talk about your child’s academic performance and experience at school. Parent teacher conferences are held two times a year.
Spring Picture Day
Toastmaster Youth Leadership Program
Unique and Valuable Training for 3-5th graders!
Toastmasters is offering a Free Youth Leadership Course, right here on our campus.
The Toastmaster Youth Leadership Program teaches life skills such as listening, thinking quickly, speaking and communicating through a fun 8 week program.
Classes are at NO COST to students.
The fun, short classes start this Friday February 15th.
Please contact Melissa Atchley @ 832-314-6077 for any questions or to reserve your child’s seat.Want to be a Chaperone or a Volunteer?
We love to have parents help out at school and join us on our field trips. Before you go, make sure you have been fingerprinted through the District office. It is district policy that all parent volunteers be fingerprinted and cleared before working in the room or chaperoning a trip. Pick up a packet in the office or click here.
Contact Angela Lippert or Kimberly Ortiz at the District Office for more information.
Kimberly Ortiz kortiz@pgusd.org 831-646-6553
Angela Lippert alippert@pgusd.org 831-646-6593
Yearbook Pictures
Don’t forget to send your school event pictures to forestgroveyb@gmail.com.
Please include the child's name and grade that are in the pictures so that we know who everyone is.
Upcoming Dates:
February 18-25th: President's Holiday (no school)
March 1st: Celebrate Dr. Seuss' Birthday
March 11-15th: Parent Teacher conferences
March 20th: Spring Photos
March 27th: Kindergarten information night for incoming TK & Kinder students
April 3rd: 5th grade parent information night for future 6th graders
April 5th: Minimum day release at 12:10 pm
April 8-12th: Spring Break (no school)
Forest Grove Elementary School
Email: ndasilva@pgusd.org
Website: https://forestgrove.pgusd.org/
Location: 1065 Congress Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
Phone: 831-646-6560