Hallinan Elementary
Hawk Squawk 10/8/20
Principal's Message
Happy Virtual Back to School Night! I love back to school night - seeing so many of you in person, introducing our fabulous staff and knowing that we are all working together to ensure a great year for your children, our students. This unique time calls for a different approach.
Since I cannot welcome you back in person this year, we've created videos and posted team photos to introduce our staff to you so you can get to know everyone. Your student's teacher will send a welcome video they created, along with my video message, via email today. I've posted my video below as well. Please click here to view our Flipgrid for welcome messages from our Hallinan staff, then scroll below to see our team photos and view the rest of our newsletter.
At Hallinan Elementary, we believe in Every Student, Every Day, as we uphold our positive school culture and high academic and social expectations for all, with a focus on equitable outcomes. Join me in making this the best year for your child. There is No Place Like Hallinan!
Let Me Introduce Our Fabulous Hallinan Staff!
Kindergarten Teachers: Jessica Hagedorn & Sheila Arnold (not pictured Tammi Leach)
First Grade Teachers: Jen Graver, Sydney Olson & Jan Franz
2nd Grade Teachers: Robin Lindsey & Kristi Lunde (not pictured Teresa Jones)
3rd Grade Teachers: Patty Burdick, Samantha Orme, Amy Wetzel & Molly Durrett
4th Grade Teachers: Ahna Denney, Macy Sutter, Karen Musgrove & Kelsey Dunne
5th Grade Teachers: Rose Freeman, Katie Larson, Kelsey Dunne & Janet Miller
Heidi Moore - 7C Math & Lizz Pilkington - 6th Gr Math
Monica Glumbik - PE, Nickie Doran - STEM & Ben Haynor - Music
Jaime Ohr - Instructional Specialist, Josh Ernst - TAG, Brittany Erspamer - Counselor & Kate Urbanski - RTI
Alesia Valdez - ELL, Erika Hutchens - Delta, Janie Jenkins - Psychologist, Mary Jo Rutten - Learning Specialist & Pat Berkeley - Speech
Classified Staff: Linda Stevens - Office, George Padilla - BRTI, Nicolle Landau - Librarian, Niki Wagner - EA, Julie Bernert - EA, Lee Gates - Office, Barb Middleton - EA, Brenda Mejdell - Med EA, Anne Nudelman - EA, Miranda Doyle - District Librarian, Barb Bogdan - EA, Karen Fahey - EA & Grace Sullwold - LPN (not pictured Suzanne Slauson - Delta, Jimmy Smith - Engineer and Harry Walters - Custodian)
Save These Dates!
10/8 - Back to School Night - Virtual
10/9 - No School - Statewide Professional Day
10/15 - Thursday PLC (schedule time change)
10/16 - Hallinan Directory Info Due
10/22 - Thursday PLC (schedule time change)
10/29 - Thursday PLC (schedule time change)10/30 - Early Release Day (more details will be forthcoming)
Counseling Corner with Ms E
Hallinan Directory - ACTION ITEM - Due 10/16!
Families, please update or enter your information in the Hallinan Directory so your child(ren)’s information will be included. The online directory is free to all Hallinan families (LO online and Hybrid) and is a great way to connect with other families.
Please consider making a donation to the Hallinan PTO if you are able so we can continue to support our teachers and programs. This can be done while updating information.
Returning Families: you do not need to create a new account. Login with your e-mail and password from last year.
New Families: please create a new account at hallinanpto.membershiptoolkit.com. Please remember to go back and check your email for the login verification.
For immediate access to the school directory, please download the Membership Toolkit app for your smartphone.
Contact Nicole Blum with directory questions, hallinandirectory@gmail.com.
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month
What are the signs of Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a common condition that affects the way the brain processes written and spoken language. It can be associated with trouble reading, but it also can affect writing, spelling and even speaking. Many children have one or two of these issues on occasion. But kids with dyslexia have several of these issues, and they don’t go away.
Here are some signs to look for:
Preschool, Kindergarten, & First Grade:
Difficulties:
Difficulty learning (and remembering) the names of letters in the alphabet
Seems unable to recognize letters in his/her own name
Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”
Trouble learning common nursery rhymes
Doesn’t recognize rhyming patterns like cat, bat, rat
A family history of reading and/or spelling difficulties (dyslexia often runs in families)
Reading errors that show no connection to the sounds of the letters on the page—will say “puppy” instead of the written word “dog” on a page with a picture of a dog
Does not understand that words come apart
Cannot sound out even simple words like cat, map, nap
Does not associate letters with sounds, such as the letter b with the “b” sound
Complains about how hard reading is; “disappears” when it is time to read
A history of reading problems in parents or siblings
Strengths
Curiosity
Great imagination
Ability to figure things out; gets the gist of things
Eager embrace of new ideas
A good understanding of new concepts
Surprising maturity
A larger vocabulary than typical for age group
Enjoys solving puzzles
Talent for building models
Excellent comprehension of stories read or told to him
Second Grade through High School:
Reading
Very slow in acquiring reading skills. Reading is slow and awkward
Trouble reading unfamiliar words, often making wild guesses because cannot sound out the word
Has a tough time sounding out unfamiliar words
Avoids reading out loud
Gets tripped up by word problems in math
School and Life
Trouble remembering dates, names, telephone numbers, random lists
Struggles to finish tests on time
Extreme difficulty learning a foreign language
Poor spelling
Messy handwriting
Low self-esteem that may not be immediately visible
Speaking
Searches for a specific word and ends up using vague language, such as “stuff” or “thing,” without naming the object
Pauses, hesitates, and/or uses lots of “um’s” when speaking
Confuses words that sound alike, such as saying “tornado” for “volcano,” substituting “lotion” for “ocean”
Mispronunciation of long, unfamiliar or complicated words
Seems to need extra time to respond to questions
Strengths
Excellent thinking skills: conceptualization, reasoning, imagination, abstraction
Learning that is accomplished best through meaning rather than rote memorization
Ability to get the “big picture”
A high level of understanding of what is read to him/her/they
The ability to read and to understand at a high level overlearned (or highly practiced) words in a special area of interest
Improvement as an area of interest becomes more specialized and focused—and a miniature vocabulary is developed that allows for reading in that subject area
A surprisingly sophisticated listening vocabulary
Excels in areas not dependent on reading, such as math, computers and visual arts, or in more conceptual (versus fact-driven) subjects, including philosophy, biology, social studies, neuroscience and creative writing
Students, Families: Share Your CDL Experience
Students, parents, teachers and staff members' input has shaped how LOSD is implementing comprehensive distance learning. We would appreciate your feedback on your experience this school year thus far.
Please click here to take this survey for students and families.
This anonymous survey will remain open through Monday, Oct. 12. Results will be shared in a later edition of The Current.
What is i-Ready?
Elementary and middle school students will complete two on-line i-Ready assessments; one is for math and the other is for reading. i-Ready is a program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform and tailor instruction to accelerate growth. We will conduct these assessments three times per year, and results will be shared with parents.
The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning. Please view this two-minute introductory video, Intro Video to iReady for Families
Our elementary schedule will begin with students in Grades 3-5; math will be first, and then reading. Primary students need more time to get settled into the school routine, and their i-Ready assessments will begin in October.
Office Contact Information
At this time, Hallinan Elementary is closed for renovation. The best way to reach us is by email. Please contact Lee Gates if you need to schedule a meeting.
Office Phone: 503-534-2353
Principal Melissa Griffiths - griffitm@loswego.k12.or.us
Secretary Lee Gates - gatesl@loswego.k12.or.us
Secretary Linda Stevens - stevensl@loswego.k12.or.us