Rocketeer Newsletter
Rock Creek Elementary - February 13, 2020
Weekly Newsletter for Rock Creek Elementary School
Rock Creek is a candidate school for
the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme
"We empower all students to achieve post-high school success"
Upcoming Events
2/17 No School- Presidents Day
2/18 No School for Students -Staff Development Day
2/19 Final Four OBOB Battles 12:20 -12:40 & 12:40-1:00
2/20 3rd grade Field Trip (Neal/Dams)
2/21 3rd Grade Field Trip (Fitz/Hood)
2/24 Final OBOB Battle
2/25 Art Lit Training 7:00 pm (Art Lit Portable)
2/26 Art Lit Training 9:00 am (Art Lit Portable)
3/2 Parent/Teacher Conference Scheduling link will open at 9:00 am (Conferences week of March 30th- No School April 2nd & 3rd)
Valentine's Day Class Parties- Friday, February 14th
Room party volunteers will be hosting the parties in classrooms on Friday, February 14th. Our goal is for students to enjoy their classroom parties and socialize while demonstrating good citizenship and making good choices.
Please be aware, only background cleared volunteers will be able to assist with the classroom parties. Visitors and younger siblings will not be able to attend the classroom parties. All volunteers must sign in on the volunteer computer and wear their badges.
Please let your child's teacher know if you do not want your child to participate in the party. You can pick them up early or they can go to an alternative setting during this time.
No School Monday, February 17th & Tuesday February 18th.
Immunization Exclusion Date -Feb. 19, 2020
State law requires that all children in public and private schools, preschools, Head Start and certified child care facilities have up-to-date immunizations, or have a medical or nonmedical exemption.
State law requires that all children in public and private schools, preschools, Head Start and certified child care facilities have up-to-date immunizations, or have a medical or nonmedical exemption.
Parents or guardians will receive a letter in early February if their child’s immunization record shows that he or she has not received the required vaccinations. Children will not be able to attend school or childcare starting . February 19, 2020 - Exclusion day. These will be unexcused absences until student has required vaccinations or exemption.
Rocket Run Loves our Sponsers!!
Hi Rock Creek Families! Erase the winter blues - visit or contact our sponsors to feel the same LOVE we did at the Rocket Run. (Please see the Sponsor Flyer Below)
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Cell Phone, Smart Watch & Electronic Device Policy
As stated in the Rock Creek Parent-Student Handbook, cell phones and other electronic devices such as apple watches, are not to be brought to school. If a student needs a phone for safety, it must be turned off and put away as soon as students arrive at school. If they bring out their phone/apple watch to use during school hours, staff will take it to the office and a parent will need to come pick it up.
PTC Dine in/Take out Event at McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
Please join us at McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern on Monday, February 24th, from 5:00pm until close, and Rock Creek PTC will receive 50% of the night's sales! (Dine-in or take-out)
See you there!
10000 NW Old Cornelius Pass Road
Hillsboro, OR 97124
Important Attendance Information
Attendance is important! It’s the ticket to your child’s success at school! Research strongly supports the connection between academic achievement and attendance. Regular and punctual attendance in school is essential to a student’s success. Families, schools and community members must work as a team to support school attendance. In elementary schools, parents are key players in reinforcing the habits of good attendance and punctuality.
Thank you for making school attendance a priority. It is extremely important that children begin good attendance habits early in life- starting in kindergarten. Here are just a few of the reasons why your child needs to be in school each day:
- Students need to be in class to learn.
- The teaching/learning process builds on lessons previously taught.
- Lessons usually involve hands-on and teacher facilitated activities that cannot be duplicated with paper and pencil assignments outside of class.
- Students who miss a day of school suffer because that day of instruction cannot be retrieved.
- Students develop the habits of good attendance and punctuality for future careers.
The importance of an education cannot be underestimated. A student who is 10 minutes late every day will miss 30 hours of instruction during the year. Children can make up an assignment, but they can never get back what’s most important: the discussions, the questions, the explanations by the teacher and the thinking that makes learning come alive.
We ask all parents to join with us and make REGULAR ON TIME ATTENDANCE an expectation and SCHOOL a priority each and every day. Schools are responsible for teaching your child, but schools can’t do their job if your child is absent. Learning builds day by day. A child who misses a day of school, misses a day of learning.
OBOB Information
Final Four OBOB Battles will be held during 3rd & 4th grade lunch times on Wednesday, February 19th.
The Final Battle will be held on February 24th at 2:20 pm in the gym.
Emergency Drill Information
All Beaverton School District students and staff are instructed on emergency procedures so that everyone can respond to an emergency without confusion or panic. All students and staff drill the emergency procedures several times each year. The following drills are conducted each school year:
- Monthly Fire Drills
- Two Earthquake Drills
- Two Lockdown Drills
- Two Lockout Drills
Community Forum: Student Success Draft Plan
Please join us in a Community Forum for the Beaverton Student Success Plan on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. at Cedar Park Middle School, 11100 SW Park Way, Beaverton, 97225.
At the forum, parents, students, and community members will have the opportunity to learn about the Beaverton School District draft plan for the Student Investment Act (SIA), and provide feedback about what are the strengths of the plan and what is missing?
If you are unable to attend the Community Forum, please visit the Student Success Act webpage to review the draft plan and fill out our Draft Plan Feedback survey.
CALLING ALL 5TH GRADE PARENTS!!!
The yearbook team is working on the 5th grade yearbook and we need your photos to make this the best yearbook ever!
We are in need of photos from the following events/activities by March 1st:
1st day of kindergarten, Rocket Runs (all years), kindy egg drop, 1st grade winter music performance,
class parties (all years), field trips (all years), 3rd grade innovation fair, choir events, OBOB (all years), field day (all years), Pioneer Day.
We will also need a Kindergarten school photo of your 5th grader, if your child did NOT attend Rock Creek for Kindergarten.
Please also send a baby photo of your 5th grader.
Please label your photos with event/year/student name(s) if possible and send to:
If your photo files are large, feel free to send in multiple emails as needed.
THANK YOU Parents!!!!
Blast Off Benefit Requests
Dear Rock Creek Families,
On Friday, April 17th, 2020, The Rock Creek Elementary School Parent Teacher Club is hosting its annual Blast Off Benefit. This is a fun community event and also our 2nd largest fundraiser. We will have a Silent Auction, Raffle, Bingo, Cake Walk and more! The funds raised will go to support various enrichment programs throughout the school year such as the Art Literacy program, field trips, additional classroom supplies, and special experiences for our “graduating” 5th graders.
If you own a business or are able to make a personal donation to Blast Off Benefit, the procurement team is looking for donations of items, services, or gift certificates. Some examples may include restaurant or store gift cards, tickets to shows or sporting events, a night's stay at a hotel or vacation home, or technology items such as iPads, Fitbit, Nintendo Switch, GoPro camera etc. We appreciate all donations! Please reach out to Kimberly or Erin at blastoffbenefit@rockcreekptc.org.
Your donation and business name will be on display at the event, making it a great way to gain exposure to the families in our community. The Rock Creek Elementary School PTC is a non-profit 501(C)(3) organization. A letter with our tax ID can be provided. The deadline for donations is April 1st, 2020.
Thank you for supporting the Rock Creek Elementary School PTC!
If you need to make weekly changes to your child's after-school plan, please email the teacher with all the dates and details. We ask that phone calls with change of plans be limited to emergencies only.
Please Send a Note. (Please Read)
Please be sure that your child knows what they are doing after school, before they leave in the morning.We cannot stress how important this is. Not knowing the daily pick up plan causes anxiety in many students. If there is a change to their normal dismissal plans, please send a note with your child. If we don’t have a note, students will be sent home per their normal plan.
If your child attends an after school class at Rock Creek, please send a note to their teacher letting them know the class name, time and dates.
We ask that phone calls with change of plans be limited to EMERGENCIES only. Urgent messages should not be left on teacher voice mails during the school day. Teachers pick up after school notes at their lunch time. Calling to change plans after this time, is very disruptive to the class. We cannot guarantee that last minute changes will be delivered before dismissal. Thanks for helping us limit classroom disruptions.
Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities
Please see below for volunteer needs
Art Literacy
There are still many classrooms without volunteers to lead this amazing program that unfortunately can't happen without you. Our kiddos need your help so please sign into Better Impact, click on your child's class, and let's make this happen! We promise that you will love helping all our Rock Creek budding artists create their masterpieces!
Art Literacy is a wonderful program that brings art education into the classroom while enhancing overall literacy. Volunteers will lead a project with a featured artist every other month. Time commitment is typically 1-2 hours per project. Please sign up!
For questions contact Amanda Rust rcartlit@gmail.com.
Thank you for volunteering!
Katie & Nancy
Volunteer Coordinators
Connect with your Parent Teacher Club!
Volunteer opportunities, events and fundraising, oh my! Get the latest news on all your favorite PTC activities by connecting with us.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockCreekElementarySchool/
Website: www.rockcreekptc.org
Text: text @rcptc to 81019
IB PYP Corner
One of the special elements of the IB PYP at Rock Creek is that students are encouraged to take action based on their learning. Students might take action by doing, saying, thinking, or feeling something new. In addition, students may have increased their care, respect, knowledge or determination. Most importantly students in an IB PYP school have the opportunity to think and learn in ways that encourage inquiry and wonder. If you see evidence of this learning at home, we encourage you to share this with your child's teacher. We want to know when the learning is impacting students, families and the larger community.
Here are our current units…
Kindergarten- How The World Works: Patterns help us understand Earth and how it works.
First Grade- How We Express Ourselves: People express themselves through the traditions of their cultures.
Second Grade- How We Express Ourselves: People influence change through their actions.
Third Grade- Sharing the Planet: Human choices contribute to global changes.
Fourth Grade- Sharing the Planet: Energy is transferable and it is our responsibility to conserve it.
Fifth Grade- How We Organize Ourselves: Government influences people
Emergency School Closure Plan for your Student
Unforeseen Early Closure Plan completed by parents. Parents were asked to determine, at the
beginning of the school year, specific details and information about where children are to go in
the event of an emergency. Parents should also share this information with children to help
reduce anxiety, as it will be impossible to notify each parent by phone. If your child is on a bus route, we do encourage you to have them ride the bus if possible.
If you do not remember your student's emergency closure information, you can check in ParentVue. Once you open the app, click on your child’s name. Then select Student Info. At the very bottom of Student Info, in the purple border written in white letters it says, “Additional Information”, click on that. Then it should be listed under “Other Data”. If you want to change your plan, you should be able to update it through ParentVUE on the computer. If not, please email Jessica Vogel at Jessica_Vogel@beaverton.k12.or.us with an update request.
Inclement Weather Information
When the weather gets snowy or icy, school schedules may be affected. The District generally posts the announcement of delayed school opening or school closure by 5:30 a.m. All Portland Metro area media outlets announce the information on TV newscasts and online.
The District will notify parents and staff via SchoolMessenger with a Non-School Hours Emergency message. Please manage your communication preferences in SchoolMessenger InfoCenter.
For the latest inclement weather information:
Log on to the District website and a page pop will be posted in the middle of the main page with the status of District operations.
Opt-in for SMS Alerts from SchoolMessenger
Subscribe to Flash Alert for email or text message updates
Like the Beaverton School District on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
The Beaverton School District Inclement Weather Policy and transportation snow routes can be found on the Public Safety webpage.
Smarter Balance Test Update
Last spring, students in grades 3 – 8 and 11 in the Beaverton School District and throughout Oregon took the state tests (Smarter Balanced) in English Language Arts and Mathematics.
In addition to content standards, these assessments are designed to measure critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills. The test results provide you, our schools, our district and the state with information about how well we are preparing our students for their next steps including college and career readiness.
Our students will take these tests once between January and June 2020. House Bill 2655 permits parents and adult students to annually opt-out of Oregon’s statewide summative tests in English Language Arts and Math by submitting a form to the school the student attends. The school shall provide any student who is exempted from a state test with supervised study time while other students are testing.
Rock Creek English Language Learners 3rd thru 5th grade will begin their smarter balance testing beginning March 2nd.
5th grade students will begin their Science Smarter Balance testing beginning April 6th-9th, ELA CAT/PT on April 27th- May 1st and Math May 11th -15th.
4th grade students will begin their ELA CAT/PT Smarter Balance testing beginning April 27th- May 1st and Math May 11th -15th.
3rd grade students will begin their ELA CAT/PT Smarter Balance testing beginning April 27th- May 1st and Math May 11th -15th.
There are extended times if students do not finish in the time allotted.
Here is a link to additional information: https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/Documents/Opt-Out_Form_2019-20.pdf
Middle School Boundary Adjustment
The Beaverton School District has held four (4) community meetings with the Middle School Boundary Adjustment (MSBA) advisory committee. Attendance boundaries for all of the middle schools are being considered for adjustment and the advisory committee is seeking community input from residents in the central and southern part of the District.
The City of Beaverton is planning for almost 7,000 new residential dwelling units in the Cooper Mountain area near Mountainside High School over the next 10-15 years. Which middle school(s) should serve these new developments? Do you have reasons why your neighborhood should attend a different middle school? Do you understand that changes to attendance boundaries in the north part of the District will impact other attendance boundaries? Are you concerned about the potential for the size of student enrollment at middle school?
If you are concerned about any of these questions, or if you have other questions about the MSBA project, please visit the District's MSBA web page (link). Read the materials, visit the advisory committee calendar, and/or submit written comment to the committee. Please come to an advisory committee meeting or watch the meeting live streamed in real time. The district wants and needs to hear from you.
Feb 13 2020
Middle School Boundary Advisory Committee Meeting Subscribe to Alerts
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Five Oaks Middle School, 1600 NW 173rd Ave., Beaverton, OR 97006
- Meeting Packet
- Video
- 2/13/20 - 2/18/20 Comments
- 2/19/20 - 2/24/20 Comments
Feb 25 2020
Middle School Boundary Advisory Committee Meeting Subscribe to Alerts
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Whitford Middle School, 7935 SW Scholls Ferry Road, Beaverton, OR 97008
- Meeting Packet
- Video
- 2/25/20 - 3/3/20 Comments
- 3/4/20 - 3/11/20 Comments
Mar 12 2020
Middle School Boundary Advisory Committee Meeting Subscribe to Alerts
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Administration Center, 16550 SW Merlo Road, Beaverton, OR 97003
- Meeting Packet
- Video
- 2/25/20 - 3/3/20 Comments
- 3/4/20 - 3/11/20 Comments
Check Out the New Rotation Day Calendar- It includes all days that school will be closed!
New Rock Creek Gear is Now Available!
Order Rock Creek gear anytime - pick up at their location on Cornelius Pass or have it sent directly to you. There are tons of fun options in adult and youth sizes too. Visit Gear Up Sports to order today - https://rockcreek.gearupsports.net/index.php?route=common/home.
Email customerservice@gearupsports.net with any questions.
Background Checks
Please be aware: For the safety of our students, we encourage all adults that are on school property during school hours have an approved background check with the Beaverton School District. Please fill one out today, it may take 3 weeks to be approved:
https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/departments/communications-community-involvement/volunteer
For online links to academic and extra-curricular activities offered in the community, please use this link: https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/departments/communications-community-involvement/after-school-activitiesflyers
Rock Creek School Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 am to 3:00 pm
No Early Release this year
4125 NW 185th Ave
Portland OR 97229
Main Office-503-356-2450
Attendance-503-356-2451
Fax- 503-356-2455
Principal: Tiffany Wiencken
SAFEOREGON TIP LINE
Keep Rock Creek safe: report any student safety threats to SafeOregon. Tips can be reported by phone or text (844-427-3367), email (tip@safeoregon.com), or online (safeoregon.com). For more information, visit safeoregon.com.