Black Bear Bits

September 9, 2022

Important Dates

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.

9/24: Tualatin Bike Rodeo @Tualatin Elementary 10:00 a.m. - noon

9/26-30: Scholastic Book Fair

10/5: Walk and Roll to School

In this Edition

  • Message from the Principal
  • Safe, Kind, and Responsible Assembly
  • Meet the Bus Drivers!
  • BooHoo WooHoo Social for Kinder and PreK parents
  • Garden Work Party
  • Tigard Tualatin Bike Rodeo
  • Covid Testing Update
  • School Hours
  • Drop off and Pick Up Information
  • Message from the Office
  • School Meals Information
  • Volunteer in our Library
  • Volunteer with Art Literacy
  • Volunteering at Tualatin Elementary
  • Did you Know?
  • Health Plan Update
  • Grief Support Groups Available
  • Important Links

Message from the Principal

Black Bear Community,


I’m so happy to report that we’ve had a tremendous first week of school with our students in the building! Seeing the smiling faces of our little Black Bears entering through the front door lifts my spirits each morning. Students (and some parents and staff!) are starting to appreciate my vast collection of ties that I’ll wear Mondays-Thursdays each week.


Learning this week has centered on our students understanding the expectations that are so critical to school success, from walking in the hallway to our playground rules. These routines not only create a safer building environment for our students, but also create conditions through the year in which learning can thrive. A big thanks to our teachers for putting so much time and effort into explicitly teaching these routines.


Another big thanks to our incredible Black Bear community for being so helpful this week at arrival and dismissal! These are possibly the biggest procedures that we have, moving students in and out of the building. So thank you for following our guidelines, and ensuring we have a safe environment for our students.


I’d also like to share about some of the new faces you are seeing in our school. Please join me in welcoming:


  • Claire Bee - Kindergarten teacher

  • Olivia Jones - Learning Specialist Assistant

  • Cristina Maldonado - Secretary/Bookkeeper

  • Robert Michaud - 5th grade teacher

  • Alysa Shinall - Learning Specialist Assistant

  • Sam Spies - Speech/Language Pathologist

  • Ana Uriostegui - Family Partnership Advocate

  • Emily Diederen - Learning Specialist

  • Tina Johnson - Instructional Coach

  • Lindsay Edison - Literacy Specialist

  • Max Morales - Recess/Cafeteria

  • Donica Poer - Recess/Cafeteria

  • Tracy Seger - Recess /Cafeteria


Thank you everyone for a great first week!


Working together for kids,


Jim

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Safe, Kind, Responsible Assembly

We held our first assembly on Friday, Sept 9, introducing the students to staff, our mascot, and the school expectations "Safe, Kind, and Responsible." We ended the assembly with Mrs. Hinkle, our fabulous music teacher, leading the students in our school song. Ask your student to sing the Black Bear School Song for you!

BooHoo, WooHoo Social!

There is no question that the beginning of a new school year brings with it all the feels! Join other parents on the first day of school and commiserate/celebrate the start of another school year! You are welcome to walk your student to their classroom; afterwards, join the PTA in the library for light refreshments and hear about all the volunteer opportunities with the school and PTA, meet the new principal and get a brief preview of the 2022-23 school year, and celebrate that we are able to meet together in person again in the school!
  • 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 are excited for our first garden work party of the 2022-23 school year! Join us on Saturday, September 17, from 9:00-11:00 a.m. Meet our garden committee and other garden supporters, help us with Fall chores, and enjoy some fresh vegetables from the garden!


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!

Tigard Tualatin Bike Rodeo

The city of Tigard is hosting a Bike Rodeo and Safety Fair at Tualatin Elementary on Saturday, September 24th, from 10:00 a.m. until noon. They have many fun activities planned including:

  • Helmet fittings and bike checkups
  • Free helmets
  • Free bike rentals
  • Bike activities for all ages

See the flyer in the attachments for more information and additional dates and locations.

Covid Testing Update

This year, TTSD will not be participating in the weekly OHSU Covid testing program. However, we will still offer rapid tests to students who fall ill at school, with parent approval. Additionally, we have at-home rapid tests that we can offer families who have a covid exposure or covid-like symptoms. Permission forms for in-school testing of symptomatic students are in the attachments. You may also call the office and request a permission form be sent home or for more information. (503-431-4800) Even with the signed permission form, we would call prior to testing any student.


New permission forms are required each year.

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 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 (9/13 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.

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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 Breakfast: $2.25

Elementary Lunch: $3.75

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.

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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


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.

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

Smitchell_ext@ttsd.k12.or.us

Office: 503-431-4207

Free Grief Support Groups

In This Together is a program that supports children, teens, and families who have experienced the death of someone close to them. Our support groups are offered at no cost to participants. Experiencing the death of someone can be a lonely and confusing time in a child’s life. When children and teens attend an In This Together group, they discover they are not alone in their grief. They are able to look at one another and realize “we are In This Together.”


For information, please call our clinical coordinators at 971.930.2008 (Annie) or 503.953.5315 (Carrie) or email inthistogether@oregonhospice.org.

Breakfast and Lunch Menus

subject to supply chain disruptions

Titan Website

Pay for meals, see the school menu, apply for free and reduced lunch

Black Bear Bits Archive

Did you miss a past edition of the Black Bear Bits? Read them here!

2022-2023 TTSD Approved Calendar

See the approved calendar for the school year.