Tornado Times
News From John Tuck Elementary
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and John Tuck Family Members,
I want to start by thanking all of you for your support of both your children and our staff as we launched a whole new way of learning and school via Comprehensive Distance Learning. I openly acknowledge the seemingly endless hurdles and hardships that have been placed in front of us all. I believe these aforementioned challenges have given us as adults, a platform to model the resilience, grace, collaboration and community spirit that we know is important for our children to learn. A strong partnership between home and school is the absolute first ingredient to ensuring success for every child. Every staff member at our school is committed to empowering our students to meet their full potential even if it is in a model that is none of our’s first choice! We understand that with time, support, effective effort and life choices, all of our students will move forward and grow their social, emotional and academic intelligence.
Our commitments remain unchanged and are outlined below:
As a school we will:
Provide all students a rigorous and engaging learning experience.
Provide all students with equal access to all learning opportunities.
Provide additional support that each child needs to be successful.
Ensure all students are positively connected to school.
Teach students about how to learn and how to grow their social, emotional and academic intelligence.
As parents/guardians, in order to ensure social, emotional and academic success, your commitment may include:
Staying informed (through our school newsletter, teacher newsletters, daily communication folders, our website, and direct communications with staff via email and/or phone calls).
Getting involved in activities, committees, conferences, student performances and family engagement events.
Ensuring your child is at school (physical or distance learning) for the entire day every day except for in cases of emergency or illness.
Being directly involved in your student(s)’ educational experiences. They need you more than anyone else in this world in order to be successful!
Making sure you gather the facts from adults at school when hearing something from your child or others that might raise concerns.
As students, in order to ensure academic success you must: (Parents, please sit down and review these with your child. It will make for rich dialogue! Post these on your fridge and engage your children in conversations about them throughout the year.)
Participate in school every day, on time, well rested and with a healthy breakfast (all students at John Tuck get breakfast and lunch for free). Consistent practice over time is how people learn best.
Give 100% positive energy and effort every day you are in school. Smart is NOT something you are - it is something you become through EFFORT!
Be safe, respectful, responsible and a learner. Always be academically curious. We are community of learners at John Tuck!
Cultivate your own growth! Take full advantage of the activities, after school opportunities, self manager program and all the enrichment opportunities we offer at John Tuck in conjunction with our community partners.
Expect to be successful and engaged every day! Take advantage of your time here and the opportunity to grow in academics, the arts, friendships, and after school activities.
When you have difficulty, lean in and work harder; when you make mistakes, use it as an opportunity to grow and learn!
Believe in yourself - you have the capacity to do GREAT things!
A special invite and new event! Tornado Lunch Club!
In an effort to find creative ways to help students connect with their peers and teachers, beginning Monday, Oct 12th we are launching the Tornado Lunch Club where students are invited to come down to the school to get a free lunch to eat on the front lawn and participate in a PE activity with Mr. Price directly after. See flyer and details in this newsletter.
I am tremendously proud and honored to be your principal and cannot believe that this is my seventh year serving the John Tuck community! I am 100% invested in the success of all children at John Tuck. I believe we offer every child the highest quality education you can find within the resources we have available. So much so that my own children attend school here despite the fact that their mother is a teacher at another school in the district. Through thoughtful planning, dedicated, creative and collaborative efforts, and an unwavering commitment to our students through setbacks and challenges, our staff is committed to providing a learning environment at John Tuck in which students thrive. As always, I welcome your involvement and feedback as we press on toward the goal of helping every child understand and access his or her unlimited potential.
Yours in Service,
Dusty Porter
Principal - John Tuck Elementary
John Tuck Tornado Lunch Club
Starting Monday, October 12th
Tornado Lunch Club Guidlines
Wear a mask while on site (can be pulled down to eat and drink)
Pick up lunch and find a colored dot on the lawn to eat your lunch (10th St.).
Students may walk to and from school (with parent permission) or may be joined by their family.
Students must stay in their designated area (on their colored dot) and not mix with other students.
Students must be picked up or walk home by 12:00. Afternoon CDL lessons begin at 12:30 and staff will not be available to supervise students who are not picked up on time.
We understand that due to family circumstances that this time doesn’t work for all families. However, with the CDL schedule, this is the only time that allowed students to not miss classroom instruction with their teacher. We can’t wait to see and build relationships with your student(s). If you have any questions please call the office.
Tornado Library News
Finally, you will be able to check out REAL books from the library! Starting Friday 10/16 the Tornado Library at John Tuck will be offering book check out from 1 pm-4pm. This will be available every Friday (excluding holidays or no school days) from now on. Books will be delivered from the side door next to the library (Birch Ave.). You may check out three books at a time. Please, make sure to put your book on hold by 5pm on Thursday for pickup on Friday.
Watch the video below for directions on putting books on hold in the Destiny Discover Catalog from your school library.
Placing a Hold in Destiny Discover
We still have LOTS of books out from last year. If you still have books from the library, PLEASE MAKE SURE TO BRING YOUR BOOKS BACK. We miss them. You can bring them at any time during office hours or on Fridays when you come to pick up your holds between 1-4pm.
John Tuck Spirit Wear Orders
We are excited to announce that you can now purchase John Tuck Spirit Wear for children and adults. T-shirts (short and long sleeve), hoodies, beanies, crewnecks (not listed on the order forms but available for $28.00, adult and children sizes).
Attached are the order forms to get your spirit wear from our first order of the 20-21 school year. We will place orders throughout the year. If you're unable to order at this time, you will have other opportunities.
How do you order your spirit wear?
*Cash or check payment: Drop your order form off at John Tuck
*Debit or credit card payment: Email your order form to lori.sofich@redmondschools.org with your debit/credit card information included
*Debit/credit, check payment: Mail to.....
John Tuck Elementary
Lori Sofich
209 NW 10th St.
Redmond,OR 97756
Deadline to place your order: Friday, October 23rd
Estimated date of delivery: November 16th. Spirit wear will be sent to John Tuck.
Form of delivery to you - to be determined.
If you have any questions, please contact Lori Sofich by email or calling the office 541-923-4884.
New From F.A.N. (Family Access Network)
I’d like to send out a warm WELCOME to all the students and families who are new to John Tuck this year, and a big WELCOME BACK to our returning students and families! For those of you who have moved here from anywhere outside of Central Oregon, let me explain a little about the Family Access Network (or FAN).
The FAN Advocate works with students and families to help provide information about and access to support services in our community. FAN can help connect you with resources such as the Oregon Health Plan, housing, food, clothing, parenting classes, utility and rental assistance, recreation, before- and after-school care and much more. There is a FAN Advocate at each school site in the Redmond School District and all FAN services are free to families of students in grades K-12.
If your family is in need of FAN services or you have questions about the types of services FAN provides, please feel free to contact me by phone (541-923-4884 x 4715), text (541-728-2754) or email (jennifer.summerton@redmondschools.org). Unfortunately, I won’t be able to meet with families in person for the time being. However, I’m always happy to help figure out the best way to get supplies safely to our students and families.
Speaking of supplies, FAN has basic school supplies available for any student who needs them. Just contact me to request them.
For families who could use a little help with providing breakfast and lunch for their students while they’re home doing distance learning, RSD Nutrition Services is providing curbside school meal pickup for all children 18 & under on planned school days from 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. & 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. out front at John Tuck. I also have a list of all community meals/food box programs that I’d be happy to send out to anyone who needs it.
Also, if your family income has changed (due to COVID or any other reason), you may now qualify for the Oregon Health Plan (OHP), even if you haven’t been eligible in the past. For more information about OHP, check out their website: https://oregon.gov/DHS/healthplan For assistance in completing an OHP application, go to: https://www.neighborimpact.org/ohp/
And finally, for general information on resources related to COVID-19, check out this site: https://govstatus.egov.com/or-dhs-covid-19
Stay healthy and take care of yourselves, and please don't hesitate to contact me if I can help in any way.
Jennifer Summerton
FAN Advocate