Black Bear Bits
October 29, 2021
Important Dates
11/1: First Day of American Indian Heritage Month
11/7: Daylight Savings Time Ends
11/10: End of First Quarter
11/11: No school - Veterans Day
11/12: No school - Teacher Workday
11/16: PTA Meeting 7:00 p.m.
11/20: Garden Hoe Down 9:00-11:00 a.m.
In this edition...
- Letter from the Principal
- Feedback Needed
- Holiday Assistance
- Volunteers in Schools
- October PAX winners
- OBOB
- Gratitude Pumpkins still available!
- Memory Book Photos Needed
- Garden Hoe-Down!
- OHSU Covid Screening Update
- Weather-Related Communication
- Rain, Wind, and Cold
- Free and Reduced Lunch
- We're Hiring!
- Important Links
Letter from the Principal
Dear Tualatin Black Bear Families,
I wish you all a healthy and safe weekend. We are still asking all of our families and community members to help us keep our school doors open by wearing masks, physically distancing and washing hands regularly. Thank you for your help to keep in person school going this year.
I have been excited to hear about so many positive conference experiences from staff and families over the last two days. Remember to follow up with your child’s teacher(s) if you have any remaining questions or input after this week. I also want to share my appreciation for all the family input and feedback regarding how well the move from outdoor breakfast and lunches to eating indoors has been going. Please contact me through our office with any additional thoughts.
Volunteering Update - Want to Volunteer?
Volunteers will be allowed to return to school later in November. The exact timeline and dates will be shared next Friday, November 5th. 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.)
Be vaccinated for COVID-19. Please provide vaccine documentation using the following link-TTSD Volunteer Vaccination Documentation
Complete Volunteer COVID training at Tualatin Elementary
Dates for volunteer trainings will be shared on November 5th
Recess Update
Recess cohorts will be able to share space outside starting on November 15th
The start date for changes to recess will be shared next week
Changes are being considered for the first week of November
Please contact our office with any input, feedback, or questions
Please contact our office if you have any questions about school this year. We are here to help. 503-431-4800. Our goal is to work together to make learning at home as successful as possible during this time.
Enjoy the weekend, and Go Black Bears!
Mr. Kingery
Principal
Feedback Needed!
Por favor responda la Encuesta de vacunación en español
Holiday Assistance
Volunteers in Schools
As we look towards inviting volunteers back in the building, all potential volunteers must all submit an application and background check. Background checks are still done via Helpcounter. These expire every three years.
Please provide vaccine documentation using the following link:
TTSD Volunteer Vaccination Documentation
Winners of our October PAX Raffle
Congratulations to the winners of October's PAX drawing!
Winner of the Hydro Flask: Nolan (LePore)
Winner of $5 Fred Meyer gift cards: William (Fossati), Anthony (McConnell), and Reagan (Craft)
PAW PAWS are given to students who are safe, use kind words and actions, work hard, listen to the speaker and are problem solvers. Students can receive PAX PAWS from any school adult who recognizes their awesome PAX behavior.
Attention 3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders!
Tualatin Elementary is happy to announce that we will be starting OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books) which is a book trivia competition in the next couple of weeks for third, fourth and fifth grade students. Oregon Battle of the Books is a voluntary activity for students.
To participate in the competition, teams of four to five students assemble to study a set of sixteen books selected by the statewide OBOB committee. Students are asked to read and study these books on their own. The winning team will be invited to compete in the virtual regional tournament in March.
To participate, get a permission form from your teacher and return the signed form by Tuesday, November 2nd.
If you would like to learn more about the Oregon Battle of the books please visit http://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org or contact our OBOB chair Kathleen Cunnington at kcunnington@ttsd.k12.or.us.
Thank you Tualatin Together for the gratitude pumpkins and journals!
Memory Book Photos
We are now accepting photo submissions for the 2021-2022 Memory Book!
We need your help as we document this unique year of school. In addition to masked photos of the students attending school, we would LOVE to include the smiling faces of your students taken at home without a mask.
We currently need the following types of photos:
- First day of school photos
- Walk and Roll
- Playing outside
- Fall fun
- Halloween costume photos
- Reading books at home
- Working on school iPads
- Wearing school colors/spirit wear
- Volunteering in the school garden
Please send in photos of your student/s to tualatinschoolphotos@gmail.com.
- Please make the email subject as follows: student first and last name, grade level, and teacher name.
- If you have more than one student who attends Tualatin Elementary, please send each student's photos in separate emails. Only one student's information should be listed per email subject.
- Parents/guardians, please include your first and last name in the body of the email.
Thank you Black Bear Families!
OHSU Covid Screening Begins Next Week
TTSD and OHSU have partnered for optional weekly screening testing of unvaccinated students in grades K-12. The program is set to begin on Friday, November 5th. Testing kits with saliva collecting tubes will be sent home on Fridays and returned on Mondays.
If you are interested in enrolling your child(ren) and you have not yet returned the forms, you still may participate. If you need another form, please contact your teacher and we will send one home with your student. Please complete BOTH forms and have your child return them to school.
Garden Hoe-Down!
Everyone is invited to come Saturday, November 20 from 9am-11am.
We are hoping Tualatin High School Key Club members will be joining us!
We will be getting the garden ready for winter: Putting hoses away, cleaning up the compost piles, trimming shrubs, weeding, mowing, draining the cistern, and making things look tidy.
Masks must be worn and distancing is still important. But this is a great opportunity to take care of our garden space and enjoy some outside time with our families.
Weather-Related Communication
The winter months bring with them the possibility of school closures or delayed openings due to severe weather conditions. Before a decision is made, school and bus company officials monitor weather conditions and personally check roads in higher elevation areas.
If conditions are severe enough to threaten the safety of students traveling to and from school, a decision is made to close or delay school. This decision is made by 6:00 a.m.
Emergency announcements will be posted to the District websites and sent out via:
- FlashAlert
- District email
- Text and the TTSD Mobile App
- Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
Sign-up to receive text messages, Twitter or email school closure announcements at FlashAlert.net and download the Tigard-Tualatin SD mobile app on your mobile device in the Apple or Google Play Store. Login with your Facebook or Google accounts or get your login and password from your school office.
Rain and Wind and Cold, Oh My!
We are hiring at Tualatin Elementary! Are you interested?
We are looking for a night monitor to join our custodial staff. The position involves some basic maintenance such as emptying school garbage cans and sweeping the hallways. The position is daily from 2:30-5:30. You will be working with the school district, but be placed here at Tualatin Elementary. We have some flexibility with hours and high school students are able and encouraged to apply. Please reach out to Fausto Puentes at fpuentes@ttsd.k12.or.us if you’re interested.
Tualatin Elementary School
Email: tualatinoffice@ttsd.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.ttsdschools.org/tualatin
Location: 20405 SW 95th Ave
Phone: 503-431-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TualatinElementaryGarden/
Twitter: @TuES_BlackBears