BSD Briefs
November 19, 2018
District Goal: WE empower all students to achieve post-high school success.
Community Partnership Team Breakfast
More than 200 community partners and school leaders met at Beaverton Foursquare Church on Friday, November 16, 2018 for the first District-level Community Partnership Team meeting of the 2018-2019 school year. Superintendent Grotting and School Board Chair, Becky Tymchuk, opened the meeting. Teacher on Special Assignment Angela Healow spoke about social emotional learning and the role of student success coaches.
Two outstanding community partnerships in the Beaverton School District were spotlighted; the Urban Gleaners food support program at three District high schools and Tualatin Hills Parks & Recreation District’s partnership with the BSD HELP Center.
Following the presentations, teams had the opportunity to meet and to develop their visions and needs and discuss how community partners could empower all students to achieve post-high school success.
Anne Bryan named Oregon School Board Member of the Year
Beaverton School Board member Anne Bryan’s passion for public education has earned her the first Oregon School Board Member of the Year award. Bryan was recognized earlier this month at the Oregon School Boards Association’s 72nd Annual Convention in downtown Portland. OSBA launched the Oregon School Board Member of the Year award this year to recognize outstanding volunteers who make a difference in their communities. “Her dedication epitomizes what a school board member should be,” said OSBA Executive Director Jim Green.
Bryan joined the Beaverton board in 2013 and became board chair in 2015. “She models for all of us what a school board member looks like,” said Becky Tymchuk, who took over the Beaverton chair position in July.
Bryan has been instrumental in aligning board work with strategic objectives and long-range planning, creating a district rainy-day fund, increasing community engagement, expanding course offerings, and shepherding the 2014 passage of Beaverton’s $680 million construction bond.
Tymchuk said Bryan made sure the board received proper training and resources and she helped keep the board working together. She described Bryan as a great collaborator and a tough act to follow.
“I have a fundamental belief in the power of public schools and that board work is important and that it can make a difference,” she said.
Cold and flu season has already begun, but there are things you can do to keep yourself and your children healthier. Prevention measures include washing your hands frequently, getting lots of rest, drinking plenty of fluids, and avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
Home is the best place for a child who is ill. Please review the Washington County letter on the Flu, Norovirus and Whooping Cough for symptoms and prevention information. The Too Sick for School informational flyer has guidelines to help you make the decision about when to keep your child home from school.
Schools Closed
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
School & District Offices Closed in observance of Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 22 - Friday, November 23, 2018
School Board Business Meeting
Monday, November 26, 2018
6:30 p.m.
Administration Office
16550 SW Merlo Rd.
Beaverton, 97003
Ridgewood Elementary School – Social-Emotional Learning Success Room
A blonde-haired boy is sitting on a fluffy pink rug inside a fabric tent, crunching on cucumbers from his lunch box. He is hanging out in “Chillville” in Ridgewood Elementary School’s Success Room. Nearby, Student Success Coach Shawna Allen sits in a bright green chair at a tiny desk on wheels.
Every Beaverton School District elementary school has at least a part-time student success coach. One of their roles is to coach and support teachers and students with social-emotional learning. “When behavior is regulated and our emotions are in check, our brain is much more accessible for learning and academic success,” says Shawna. Some students have more of a challenge regulating their emotions and behavior than others, and that is where the student success coaches come in to support teachers. They help teachers and students navigate through decision making, self-management, social awareness, self-awareness and relationship skills. “We’re working to help kids become great regulators and learn how to self-identify what their needs are,” says Shawna.
This year at Ridgewood, teachers are using a common language around social-emotional learning, helping students identify what emotional zone they are in. The zones are color coded: blue for sick, sad, tired, and bored; green for happy, calm, focused and ready to learn; yellow for worried, annoyed, silly, wiggly and frustrated; and red for angry, out of control, yelling and terrified. Each zone includes a list of strategies students can access to help regulate their behavior and emotions. “It’s really beneficial that it’s a common language. A first grade teacher or a Spanish teacher can speak with any student and they all understand the terms, so kids can identify their emotional zone and the strategies that go along with it,” says Shawna.
The Success Room at Ridgewood is a place students visit to learn and practice regulation skills that they can apply later in the classroom setting. It is divided into three different regulation areas: talk town, the zen zone and chillville. Each area has different activities and strategies associated with it.
Shawna says she’s already noticed a difference since staff started their work around social-emotional learning. “There’s been a big change in the way that teachers are interacting with kids. More teachers are working directly with the student, rather than asking them to be removed from the classroom.” She says another benefit is that students are talking to other students. “I will hear them in the cafeteria using the social-emotional learning language or talking about a tool they have used or tried.”
Students participate in first-ever “Future Ready Micro:bit make-a-thon
On Friday November 9th, ninety-six 4th and 7th grade students from around BSD chose to spend their day off participating in the first ever Future Ready Micro:bit make-a-thon at Beaverton High School.
The Make-A-Thon is part of a project to introduce coding and physical computing to every elementary and middle school in the district. Using programmable micro-controllers, kids can create anything from a robotic cat that opens its mouth to beg for “food” to a dog that wags it tail when patted on the head. The make-a-thon lets kids tackle a project in a single day that might normally stretch over 2 weeks of class.
Dawn Guildner and Katie White of Beaverton’s Future Ready team are helping teachers design curriculum that encourages kids to become creators and not just consumers of technology. Kids are enthusiastic about getting to choose from a variety of real-world problems and to create solutions that combine coding with the construction of a physical device that runs on the code they write.
High School Boundary Transition Reminder
Just a reminder, current 8th grade students (students who were in the 6th grade during the 2016-2017 school year) are not eligible to be grandfathered into a high school and must attend their neighborhood/boundary high school assigned to their home address.
Additionally, District transportation is not available for sibling/grandfathered students starting in the 2019-2020 school year.
For more information, please visit the Sibling/Grandfather Plan webpage created during the High School Boundary process.
Feed the Children, PepsiCo, and local faith organizations partner to offer non-perishable food boxes, hygiene boxes, and assorted items to BSD families in need
Hundreds of families in need received enough food to supplement meals for a week plus daily essentials, thanks to a partnership between PepsiCo and Feed the Children. This is the first year PepsiCo and Feed the Children have partnered to help feed families and the distribution event is part of a larger initiative between the two organizations to help feed communities in cities throughout the United States.
Volunteers from PepsiCo, Avon, multiple faith partners and Feed the Children served families and assisted with distribution during the event at Holy Trinity Church on November 7, 2018.
Beaverton School District
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Email: community_involvement@beaverton.k12.or.us
Website: beaverton.k12.or.us
Location: 16550 SW Merlo Rd, Beaverton, OR, United States
Phone: (503)356-4360
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeavertonSchoolDistrict/
Twitter: @beavertonsd