Black Bear Bits
September 2, 2022
Important Dates
9/5: Labor Day ~ No School
9/6: First day of school for 1st-5th Grades
9/6: BOOHOO WOOHOO Parent Gathering (Grades 1-5) 8:00-9:00 a.m. (details below)
9/13: First day of school for PreK and Kindergarten
9/13: BOOHOO WOOHOO Parent Gathering (PreK and Kinder) 8:00-9:00 a.m. (details below)
9/17: Garden Work Party 9:00-11:00 a.m.
9/20: PTA Meeting 7:00 p.m.
9/26-30: Scholastic Book Fair
Message from the Principal
Black Bear Community,
What a treat to see everyone at our Open House and Family Barbecue on Wednesday afternoon! It was great to meet so many people in our community, and welcome everyone back into the building after a challenging couple of years. A special thanks to our community partners Horizon Community Cares for setting up and sponsoring our BBQ. It truly takes a village to support our students, and there is not a day that I don’t appreciate our community.
One thing to remember as we start up our school year is our procedures for dismissal may need a few days to be fully operational. Often, school buses need time to get their routes down and may be late to their stops. Parents and caregivers also need time to practice the routines. I thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we work through these first few days. You can play an important role in this by making sure your students know their going home plans.
We also have a couple of positions that we are looking to hire: a midday Health Room Assistant and a Title 1 Instructional Assistant. Both positions are 3.75 hours. Our IA position will work in the mornings, and our Health Assistant will be supporting our office around our lunch times. Please consider applying for one of our positions!
We are so excited to welcome our 1st grade - 5th grade students back to school next Tuesday, and our Kindergarten students the following week. In the meantime, have a great Labor Day weekend.
Sincerely,
Mr. Hiller
School Hours
K-5 SCHOOL HOURS
MONDAY – FRIDAY
7:45 a.m. Doors open
8:00 a.m. School begins
2:20 p.m. End of school day
Pre-K SCHOOL HOURS
MONDAY – THURSDAY
A.M. SESSION: 8:00 -10:30 a.m.
P.M SESSION: 12:00 - 2:30 p.m.
SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS
8:00 A.M.-3:30 P.M.
ATTENDANCE LINE
(503) 431-4770 ~~ PLEASE CALL this recording before 8:30 a.m.
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL Grades 1-5
Tuesday, September 6, 2022
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL Kinder and Pre-K
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
Drop off and Pick up Information
Please keep in mind that on the first day of school (9/6 for grades 1-5 and 9/13 for Kinder/PreK) the parking lots will be filled early. You may consider parking in the neighborhoods surrounding the school and walk to the school with your child.
ARRIVAL
We are asking parents to drop off students along the fire lane in the front parking lot. Please pull all the way forward to the flagpole area. Do not leave your car in the fire lane unattended. If you need to go into the school, please park in an available parking space. If you do not have a disability placard, please do not park in reserved disability parking or in the striped "no parking" areas.
DISMISSAL
If driving, please pull into the fire lane all the way to the flagpole area. We ask that all parents stay in their cars and display the yellow sign with student name(s) and teacher name. (You'll receive a yellow card on the first week of school.) Your student will be called out to your car. Do not leave your car in line unattended. If you are walking, please wait for your child by the flagpole or sidewalk along Avery. It is also helpful and more efficient if you are also holding a sign with your student's name.

Message From the Office
To minimize classroom interruptions, please make sure your child knows how they are getting home before they come to school. If your plans change during the school day, please contact the office before to 2:00 with those changes so we can get the message to your student prior to dismissal. The office number is 503-431-4800. Thank you for your assistance.
Our attendance line is 503-431-4770. Please remember to call the attendance line before 8:30 if you child is going to be absent or tardy (after 8:00). If your student is out sick, please inform us of any symptoms your child is experiencing so we can share any exclusion information with you. An automated system will call you if the absence/tardy has not been reported.
School Meals Information
Please set up your student's meal account or apply for free meals through the Titan Program Website. You can also view the school menu in Titan or the TTSD website (subject to supply chain disruptions). If your student has food allergies, please be sure to update that information in ParentVu.
Elementary Lunch: $2.90
BooHoo, WooHoo Social!
- Parents of students in grades 1-5, will gather at 8:00 a.m. in the library on Tuesday, September 6th.
- Parents of students in Pre-K and Kinder will gather at 8:00 a.m. in the library on Tuesday, September 13th.
Garden Work Party
We also need volunteers to weed, mow, water and harvest over the next few months. Sign up for a week: Monday - Sunday. Share the week with another family!
Volunteer in our school library!
Want to help our school library? We need a Book fair chairperson for our book fair that is coming up at the end of September. We also will need lots of volunteers to make it successful. All proceeds from the book fair buy new books for our school library.
The library also needs book pickup & shelving volunteers for Monday and Thursdays 8:00am to 9:30am and for Wednesday afternoon library. This volunteer position is every week and requires a lot of lifting and bending and organizing shelves. Different people can volunteer for different days.
The library could also use some volunteers to help with OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books). This volunteer would help a couple times a month during lunch and recess.
If you are interested in volunteering for any of these positions please email Kathleen Cunnington at kcunnington@ttsd.k12.or.us.

Volunteering at Tualatin Elementary
We love our volunteers and are excited to welcome you back into the building this year! To volunteer at Tualatin, please follow the steps below. When your application is completed, you'll receive an email from the front office and you'll be able to schedule volunteer time at the school.
All volunteers must complete the checklist below to volunteer
- Complete a background check at: www.helpcounter.net/ttsd. (This needs to be renewed every three years.) You will also need to complete the Child Abuse online training.
- Be vaccinated for COVID-19. Please provide vaccine documentation using the following link-TTSD Volunteer Vaccination Documentation or send a copy/photo of your card to the school office (athorderson@ttsd.k12.or.us)
- OR If you have a vaccination exception, please fill out the form that applies to you- Religious or Medical and submit to the following link- TTSD Volunteer Exception Documentation
- When the above has been completed, contact the school office (athorderson@ttsd.k12.or.us or 503-431-4800) and we will give you documents for the Volunteer COVID training through Tualatin Elementary.
Masks will be optional in the building for volunteers that are vaccinated. We ask that if you are sick or have any symptoms, that you postpone your volunteering until you are well.
Volunteers with a vaccine exception on file will be required to:
Wear a mask while on TTSD property OR;
Be given a rapid test at the time and location of their volunteer assignment.
Please contact Amanda Thorderson (athorderson@ttsd.k12.or.us or 503-431-4800) with any questions.
Did you know?
- The Black Bear Bits are sent to families every Friday while school is in session. The Bits always contain timely information on events, updates to policies and procedures, and all the happenings at Tualatin Elementary. We also post a link on social media (Facebook and Twitter). Be sure to check out the attachments in the Bits emails as it contains community and school flyers, applications, and resources important to your family.
- You can reach our front office at tualatinoffice@ttsd.k12.or.us or you can find our individual emails on the school website. You can also call us at 503-431-4800
- Fridays are spirit days! Wear your spirit wear or school colors (red and black)
- PTA meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month (except December)
- If the school is experiencing an unexpected closure due to snow, natural disaster, power outage, or other emergency, information will be sent out through Flash Alert. Sign up to receive these push notifications on your phone and via email.

PTA news
Working with the PTA is a great opportunity to be make new friends and be involved in the school. More importantly, we cannot provide all these experiences for our students without volunteers like you! Consider joining or chairing a committee, become a board member (we are looking for a secretary and President-elect), share art literacy with your child's class, or assist with any of our activities we have planned for this year.
For more information, see the PTA website or contact the PTA President, Nichole George at tualatinpta@gmail.com
HEALTH PLAN NOTIFICATION
If your student has a health plan, it is now viewable in Parentvue. Please review the plan and contact your school’s nurse if anything needs to be changed. If your nurse does not hear from you by September 15, 2022, this is the plan that will be in place for the 2022-2023 school year.
District Nurse:
Sharon Mitchell, BSN, RN
Tigard-Tualatin District Nurse
Office: 503-431-4207
Nutrition Services Update
The universal free meals waiver with USDA has expired. Beginning the 2022-2023 school year meals will be charged to the student accounts.
Please set up your student's meal account or apply for free meals through the Titan Program Website. TTSD is no longer using the My School Bucks Program. All funds that were in your student's account with Myschoolbucks have been carried over and will be accessed through Titan. You can also view the school menu in Titan.
See the Expanded Income Guidelines here for more income guidelines. Oregon has expanded the income guidelines so more families will qualify. Even if you have not qualified before, you may now. (Example: A family of four with a combined household income of less than $83,250 would qualify for free meals.)
Some reminders:
- A new meal application is needed to apply each school year.
- 1 application per household.
- Families can apply anytime during the school year if their economic status has changed.
For the most up-to-date information, please refer to the TTSD Nutrition Page
School Supplies and Backpacks
In order to lessen the impact on families, Tualatin Elementary will be providing the basic school supplies needed for students this year. Please send your student with a backpack and reusable water bottle (labeled with their name).
If you need assistance in providing a backpack and reusable water bottle for your student, please fill out this form or contact Ana Uriostegui, our Family Partnership Advocate, at 503-431-4767 or auriostegui@ttsd.k12.or.us
Teachers are accepting donations of kleenex, individually wrapped snacks, and baby wipes. Contact the office to donate other supplies.
subject to supply chain disruptions
Pay for meals, see the school menu, apply for free and reduced lunch
Did you miss a past edition of the Black Bear Bits? Read them here!
See the approved calendar for the school year.