I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself if we haven't already met. My name is Mili Wilkinson and I am the new principal of Middleton Elementary. I started my career in education 16 years ago as a teacher at Middleton. Since then, I have served as an elementary Instructional Coach at Edy Ridge Elementary, Dean of Students at Laurel Ridge Middle School, and Associate Principal at Laurel Ridge Middle School and Sherwood Middle School. I feel lucky to work in such a supportive community and am honored to rejoin the Middleton family.

There is so much to look forward to this year, including meeting new teachers and seeing old friends, the return of many of our community events and volunteer opportunities, and, of course, a lot of wonderful learning. Many thanks goes out to our custodial and district facilities team for preparing our building and grounds, as well as our staff who took part in summer learning opportunities.

I'd like to also welcome our new staff:

• Shelby Boyd, ELD Teacher

• Caryn Bussanich, Library Coordinator (new role)

• Lesley Cazares, Learning Specialist

• Susie Cottle, Long Term Kindergarten Sub

• Susanna Hale, School Psychologist

• Jordan Lau, Life Skills Learning Specialist

• Morgan Luccio, General Education Instructional Assistant

• Briana Medow, 4th Grade Teacher

• Angela Porter, Pre-K Instructional Assistant

• Jennifer Rumbaugh, Kindergarten Teacher

• Hannah Schacht, Music Teacher

• Lisa Scrivner, SPED Instructional Assistant

• Molly Strutz, Pre-K Teacher

This weekly newsletter includes information you need to stay up to date on what is happening in our school. It's a great way to stay connected to all of the important events at Middleton. We are looking forward to welcoming students back very soon and are excited for a fantastic school year!

As a part of our annual safety and security review, our district elementary team has been thoughtfully considering how to make our elementary arrival and dismissal times as safe as possible. One major safety concern for our buildings is the entry of parents into the building for drop off in the mornings. Allowing parents to enter the building without background checks or scheduled volunteer times, creates a large breach in our building security measures. As such, we are going to continue to keep our arrival (and dismissal) procedures the same as last year. Parents will be allowed to drop off their students at the main entrance doors in the morning and all teachers will walk students out of the building at the end of the day. This will still provide parents with the opportunity to check in with teachers at pick up if needed, and will also help us to very closely monitor who is in our buildings at all times. For more details regarding drop off and pick up locations please see the slide deck linked here.

Volunteers and parent helpers will still be welcome in our schools during pre-scheduled volunteer times with our PAC or our classroom teachers. Additionally, parents are encouraged to attend our Supply Night open house on August 30th from 4-6 pm to visit classrooms and see the building. We will also host an in-person Back to School Night on Thursday, September 22nd from 6:00-7:30 pm, and in-person conferences in late October and early May. It is important to us that we balance both student safety and parent involvement in our school community, and we believe this plan will allow us to do both. Additional information about volunteering can be found below.

On August 30, Middleton will be hosting a Supply Night for grades K-5 from 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM. Families are invited to attend anytime within the window to visit their student's classroom, meet the teacher, and drop off their school supplies. Kindergarteners will not yet have an assigned teacher and can visit all three of the Kinder classrooms. Check the Middleton School Supply List to make sure you have everything you need for the start of school. If you ordered a Supply Kit thought EPI, the materials will be delivered to your students' classroom for Supply Night. Kinder Supply Kits will be located in the Kindergarten Pod for families to pick up since those students will not yet be assigned to specific classes. Please note that PreK students will bring their supplies with them to their orientation days and will not attend Supply Night. Please contact our front office or call the SHARE Center at 503-825-5087 if you need assistance with supplies.

• Free Meals Application- Meal pricing returns this year. Information about lunch and breakfast prices and menus can be found on our Nutrition Department web page linked here. You can also make payments in person via the drop box outside located in the Middleton lobby. If you would like to apply for our free lunch program please complete the application linked here.

The Sherwood School District is excited to continue to offer Pre-Kindergarten in the Fall of 2022. We have spots still available at Middleton. Our inclusive Pre-Kindergarten programs have the goal of offering high-quality early learning education that promotes social-emotional learning and academic skills students need to be successful in school and beyond. Our current programs are inclusive, providing rich early learning opportunities for typically developing children and children with developmental delays and disabilities. This will be a tuition-based program, with financial assistance available for families who qualify.

More more information and to register please visit our website or contact Alyssa Thompson at athompson@sherwood.k12.or.us

The start of the 2022-23 school year is just a few days away, and we are excited to welcome back students, staff, and families at all of our SSD schools for another great school year! Please click here for the District Back-to-School Update