Hallinan Elementary
Hawk Squawk 9/16/21
Principal's Message
If you didn't know, and I didn't until I walked down the hall, yesterday was International Dot Day and 2nd Grade embraced it with a passion! Check out their artwork below. The Dot, written by Peter Reynolds, is a beautiful book about a teacher who helps a student believe that they can create amazing art. I hope you take a moment to read (or listen) to this beautiful book - it's inspiring! And, that is how I want our children to feel every day - inspired and full of courage to take on any challenges in their way.
Enjoy a book, create some art, or maybe do both!
Have a great day,
Melissa Griffiths
Save These Dates
9/23 - Early Release Thursday at 2 pm
9/30 - Early Release Thursday at 2 pm
10/8 - Professional Day - No School
10/13 - Jog-a-Thon
10/15 - Photo Day
Arrival and Dismissal Reminders
- To ensure everyone's safety, please do not arrive at Hallinan prior to 8 am as student supervision is not available. Our staff will be outside at 8 am to welcome students and assist them out of vehicles. Students should remain in vehicles until a staff member is present.
- We are in the process of finalizing seat assignments on the bus. It is imperative that all bus riders sit in their assigned seats daily. This will help reduce the number of students that might need to quarantine should there be a person diagnosed with COVID-19 that rode a bus. Please discuss this important expectation with your child.
- The cul-de-sac by the playground is not a designated drop off and pick up area. In addition, it will be completely torn up next week as a new sewer pipe is being installed down the middle of the court. Please always use the front entrance to drop off and pick up your children. We understand the car rider line may seem long but the safety of our students is paramount to us.
Thank you!
Rain is in the Air..... or it will be soon!
What's that saying..... "There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing". Well that is certainly going to be our motto as we head toward the colder, wetter months.
Please make sure your child has proper clothing for lunch and recess outdoors, every day, even during cold and wet weather. Our plan is to get outside for fresh air as often as we can. If a class is going outside, the whole class will be going outside, students will not be able to choose to stay indoors.
We know there will be days when eating outside is not feasible due to inclement weather. In those circumstances we will arrange for half of the class to eat in their classroom while the other half eats in an alternate location (gym, iLab, undercover etc) fully supervised. This plan ensures students remain at least 6 feet apart while eating. After students eat, they will join their classmates for rainy day recess.
We also plan to keep windows open as much as possible all year to make sure our classrooms are ventilated. So dressing appropriately is going to be very important for your child's comfort and safety.
Lost and Found
Important PTO Information
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us last night at our first PTO meeting! If you weren't able to make it, we hope to see you at our next meeting in October. And as always, if anyone has any questions or would like to get involved, please feel free to email Erin at hallinanpresident@gmail.com.
We Need Help!
We still have a number of open PTO chair positions, including the Volunteer Coordinator position and Social Media and Yearbook Chairs. No specific experience is required for either one! If you're interested, please reach out to Erin directly or sign up via the Sign-Up Genius.
We'll be sending out a separate Sign-Up Genius for room parents early next week. The room parent role is a great way to connect with your child's teacher and other parents in your child's class. You also get to plan the class parties - which is always fun!
School Bond Volunteers
The school district is looking for volunteers to help get the word out about the School Bond that will be on this fall's ballot. Specifically, they're hoping to recruit some folks willing to write short postcards to voters encouraging them to vote. For more information, please contact Heather Wick at hwick_13@yahoo.com or visit their website.
***PTO Parent Action Items:
- Please update your family directory information to indicate your student(s) teacher(s) and pay your student fees: https://hallinanpto.membershiptoolkit.com/home
- Register your student for the Jog-A-Thon: go to https://www.pledgestar.com/hallinan/ to get started!
i-Ready
The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s skill level. 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.
At Hallinan, the Fall i-Ready will take place September 13-24.
SafeOregon
Parents-guardians who have concerns about a student’s well-being are encouraged to reach out to their principal, and to maintain strong lines of communication and partnership between students, families, staff, and other resources.
SafeOregon is also an effective way to report a tip regarding safety threats or potential acts of violence to our students or schools.
(Students should also be aware that intentionally providing a false report is a serious offense.)
Student Illness
Please also review these messages from our District Nurse:
Food Allergy info for PTO and parent volunteers
General Letter to all school parents - peanut and tree nut allergy
Contact Information
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