Welcome to March and I hope all is well! With spring right around the corner, hopefully these past few weeks mark the end of our coldest weather. We want to share about the events and happenings--both upcoming and what has already happened--here at Valor.

Included in this Newsletter is information on our Spring Conferences, Family Movie Night, the Winter Concert, Classified Appreciation, Yearbook Ordering, and more.

Also, in case you missed it, here and here are links to last week's news on our almost visit from the US Secretary of Education. We look forward to Dr. Miguel Cardona's future virtual visit at an upcoming assembly, which is tentatively scheduled for early May.

As always, if you have questions or if we could help you with anything, please connect with us.

Our Student Led Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for March 22 & 23. In the Fall we had over 66% of our families attend conferences and this spring we're looking to have an even higher participation rate! Please prioritize time to stop by for about 20 to 30 minutes.

At the conference, your student will share information with you about their reading and math levels, their grades, and their strengths and growth areas. You will also have the opportunity to meet with your student’s teachers to ask questions and share information you would like them to know.

We will have interpreters available for Spanish/English and Russian/English. Our teachers are looking forward to meeting with you all! If you have any questions, please call the office at 503-981-2750.

Students in our leadership classes selected two movies to show at upcoming Family Movie Nights next week and later in the Spring. We plan to show these on the big screen in the Valor Commons and will have popcorn available too.

• March 10 - We will show Puss in Boots
• May (date TBD) - We will show Coco

Family Movie Night is open to students, parents, siblings (if accompanied by a Valor parent), and our Valor staff.

Our Valor musicians continue to practice, grow, and we're so proud to have them perform. We hope you can make it to the following events:

Valor Winter Concert: Thursday, March 16, 7:00pm in the Valor gym (musicians arrive at 6:30)

Woodburn District Music Festival: April 13, 7:00pm in the Valor gym (musicians arrive at 6:30)

Would you like a Yearbook that captures the excitement of our current school year? Here’s the information you’ll need to place your order.

Note: Valor's 2022-2023 Yearbook Orders are available ONLINE ONLY.

Please follow this link: https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/Order/SelectJob

Valor's Code: 5971823

Enter your Student's full first and last name and select their grade

Choose what your want to add to your order

Check out with a credit card or debit card

The Order Deadline: April 21st, 2023

Pictured below is a QR Code for the Lifetouch Ordering System, as well as a couple of examples from past years.

Here at Valor our classified staff is amazing, talented, dedicated, and at the center of our success. We have a tremendous appreciation for our office staff, educational assistants, nutrition staff, custodians, home-school-contacts, bus drivers, and more. Our classified employees support the safety and maintenance of our school, our welcoming office, safe transportation, quality nutrition, interpretation, and assisting with the instruction of our students! When you see them next week, please join us in thanking them for their awesome work!

Boys Basketball season will finish Monday, March 6th. Then on March 13th Track and Field begins. We're looking for a strong turnout from our many Valor Raptors!

The Woodburn School District is seeking to learn more about the health needs of students to understand how to better support students. We are conducting a needs assessment using surveys, focus groups, and student data to better understand what health supports are needed in our school community. The parent/guardian perspective is important to the district and we would appreciate it if you could answer a few questions. Your answers are confidential and you will not be asked for identifying information. Thank you for your help!

Parent Health Survey: English

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TVXTRFH

Parent Health Survey: Russian

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TMJPJW7

Parent Health Survey: Spanish

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6NRB2GL

Our students are now taking various State Assessments. This is a great opportunity for our students to show their academic growth since last year. Here's when each test begins.

• Continuing - English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA)
• March 13 - 8th Grade OAKS Science Test
• April 13 - English Language Arts test for 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders
• May 9 - Math test for 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders
• Make up tests for anyone absent will be ongoing

In May, each grade level will have three days of Outdoor School, which will be held during our regular school hours at Champoeg State Park. Students will arrive at Valor at their regular time those days, and we'll have field trip buses taking them and a third of our staff to the Park and then returning to Valor prior to dismissal.

This is an Exciting Opportunity: Due to the Pandemic, over the past two years our current 7th and 8th graders missed out on Outdoor School. So no one misses out on this unforgettable experience, this year we're making arrangements for every student to be able to participate in Outdoor School. We'll provide more information as it approaches, but here are the dates.

• May 16-18: 7th Graders at Outdoor School
• May 19-23 (3 school days): 8th Graders at Outdoor School
• May 24-26: 6th Graders at Outdoor School

Phone: 503.981.2750

Office Hours: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm

The Parent Portal is a resource available to all parents, which allows viewing of your child’s progress and grades in all subjects. Access will allow parents to monitor test/quiz grades, project and homework completion, as well as classwork and missed assignments. Give us a call; let us help you connect to the Parent Portal.

• Make sure you have provided your cell phone number. We use Remind to send text messages.

• Call the office at (503) 981-2750 to provide updated contact information. If you need to update your phone number, mailing address, or email address, please call us.
  
• Check our website: valor.woodburnsd.org
  

If you would prefer we mail you a paper copy of this Newsletter each month, please contact our office at 503.981.2750.

The Woodburn School District has a Parent - Student Handbook that provides information on rules, policies, and expectations at all schools in the District. We provided these to everyone at parent conferences and also mailed them home to those who were unable to attend conferences. Additionally, here you can access a digital version of the handbook.

Parent - Student Handbook in English

Manual para Estudiantes y Padres en Español

Parent -Student Handbook in Russian