Black Bear Bits
November 5, 2021
Important Dates
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.
11/24-26: No School -Thanksgiving Holiday
11/26: Native American Heritage Day
In this edition...
- Letter from the Principal
- PAX Rewards
- OHSU Covid Screening Update
- At-Home Covid Screening
- Exclusion Guidelines
- Flu and Covid Vaccines Available
- Feedback Needed
- Holiday Assistance
- Volunteers in Schools
- Garden Hoe-Down!
- Weather-Related Communication
- Important Links
Letter from the Principal
Dear Tualatin Black Bear Families,
I hope this message finds all of our Black Bear families safe and well today. We have some updates for our families regarding recess and volunteering. Over the last couple of weeks schools have received updated information regarding some of our health and safety practices. Two areas allow us to consider how we structure our recess times and support a safe return to school for volunteers.
Immediate needs for volunteers include working with Kathleen Cunnington to support this year’s Oregon Battle of the Books and our school library. Teachers will determine their own timelines for scheduling classroom volunteers. Please read through the information below to understand changes for our recess times and for volunteering at school.
Recess Update
Recess cohorts will begin to share space outside starting on November 15th
Please contact your child’s teacher or me with any input, feedback, or questions
We will continue to monitor and adjust to guidance as needed
Volunteering Update
Volunteers will be allowed to return to school starting the week of November 15th
- 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
- Volunteer training will be held in our school library with limited seating to meet physical distancing requirements. Masks required.
- To reserve your space at an upcoming volunteer training, please contact the office at 503-431-4800
- November 17 - 3:00-4:00 PM
- November 23 - 3:00-4:00 PM
- November 30 - 3:00-4:00 PM
- Additional dates/times coming soon
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 support a successful school year during this time.
Enjoy the weekend, and Go Black Bears!
Mr. Kingery
Principal
PAX Rewards
Golden Bus Award
OHSU Covid Screening Begins Today!
TTSD and OHSU have partnered for optional weekly screening testing of unvaccinated students in grades K-12. The program is set to begin today, November 5th. Testing kits with saliva collecting tubes will be sent home on Fridays and returned on Mondays.
- Friday: students take testing kit home
- Monday morning: students collect saliva (spit) before eating, drinking, or brushing teeth
- Monday morning at school: students return kits to their teachers.
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.
Screen for Covid Symptoms at Home
Every day before your child leaves for school, check for symptoms of Covid. If your child exhibits any of the following symptoms, keep them home. Please call the attendance line (503-431-4770) to let us know what symptoms the child has so we can help you determine how long the child will need to be out of school.
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
Please notify the school if your student has asthma, seasonal allergies, or another CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITION that would cause coughing or other covid-like symptoms. Your doctor should fax this information to the school office at 503-431-4810 so that your student is not inadvertently excluded from school.
Exclusion Guidelines
If your child presents with any of the following symptoms at home or at school, there are specific exclusion guidelines we will follow.
Primary Symptoms:
Fever greater than 100.4
Chills
Cough
Shortness of breath, difficulty breathing
New loss of taste or smell
If your child has any of the above primary symptoms, the Tigard-Tualatin School District requires your child to stay home for 10 days after the onset of symptoms unless:
Proof of a negative COVID-19 test result OR A doctor’s note indicating a different diagnosis and that COVID-19 is not suspected; AND
Be fever free for 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medications, such as Tylenol or ibuprofen;
Symptoms must be improving.
Flu and Covid Vaccines Available
Did you know? The school-based health center at Tualatin High School offers flu and Covid vaccines for children living in TTSD boundaries.
- Flu vaccines: 6 months – 18 yrs of age
- COVID vaccines for youth 12-18 yrs
- VERY SOON … Covid vaccines for 5-11 year-old children (Once we get our shipment in!)
Call for appointments! 503.941.3180
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
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.
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