Westridge Wildcat News
January 10, 2020
In This Edition
- Important Dates
- Kindergarten Information Night
- Health Curriculum Information
- School News
- Office Information
- District News
Important Dates:
- No School: January 20th (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
- Kindergarten Information Night January 22nd 6pm-7pm (Westridge Library)
- No School: January 24th: (Grade Prep day)
- SAVE THE DATE! Westridge STEM Night February 13th 5:30-7:30pm
Inclement Weather:
Kindergarten Information Night:
Kindergarten Counts, an information night for incoming Kindergarten families, will be hosted at Westridge:
Kindergarten Counts - Information Night
Wednesday, January 22 @ 6:00 to 7:00 PM
Westridge Elementary (Library)
Kindergarten Counts will provide parents and guardians an opportunity to hear from the principal and Kindergarten teachers, as well as meet other parents. You will learn about several upcoming opportunities for your child to prepare them for the first day of school.
Kindergarten Registration opens on January 22 (register online at losdschools.org). Prior to registration, verify your neighborhood school: LOSD School Boundaries Map. Lake Oswego School District welcomes Kindergarteners who will be five years old by September 1.
Please call the front office: 503-534-2371 with any questions!
Important to Know About our Health Curriculum
The State of Oregon requires local school boards adopt curriculum in alignment with state law. One issue that can be contentious is around Oregon’s Human Sexuality Education curriculum.
Following is important information to know about the health curriculum:
Sexual Abuse Prevention
In 2015, the State of Oregon passed Senate Bill 856 - Erin’s Law - that addresses sexual abuse prevention instruction, and it requires schools to provide a minimum of four instructional sessions each year on sexual abuse prevention instruction. The sessions are in every grade level, kindergarten through twelfth grade.
The bill also creates a state requirement for districts to develop comprehensive sexuality education plans that integrate sexual abuse prevention. The plans must be aligned with state standards and will be revisited every two years.
Also required is sexual abuse prevention instruction that is:
Age appropriate, medically accurate and not shame or fear based;
Clear about the effects of trauma on victims of abuse; and
Culturally inclusive and responsive to diverse students.
Equity and Access
Another impact on the school district's curriculum is the revised 2015 version of the National Health Education Standards. One major adjustment is a new chapter on equity and access for all students.
Equity involves fair treatment of each and every student, while access involves making services open to everyone who is entitled to them, free of any form of discrimination based on factors such as gender, culture, race, religion and sexual orientation.
NOT OPTIONAL
Consistent with the law, in 2017, the Lake Oswego School Board voted in favor of creating a human sexuality education plan that maps out how to implement new state health education standards and achieve compliance with new state legislation on sexual abuse prevention instruction and education.
As part of that plan, LOSD adopted the Great Body Shop. It is a curriculum used nationally, that includes lessons noted as “for consideration.” However, these lessons are mandated by the State of Oregon Department of Education standards. Therefore, what some refer to as “optional” are not optional for public schools in Oregon.
LOSD's mission is to provide a safe and inclusive schools for each and every student in our care. The safety of our students is paramount.
Questions - please ask your child's teacher, our RTI Specialist (Lindsey Kopacek), or me!
Principal Montgomery
School News:
Food and Toy Drive Results!
STEM Lab Supplies Needed:
Getting to know your Westridge Staff:
Each week we will interview a team on our staff. This week, we met up with some of our Educational Assistants!
Patti Pribyl:
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I grew up in San Carlos CA. That's near San Francisco
Q: What are your favorite things to do in your free time?
A: In my free time I love to go on walks with my dog,read, and spend time with my family.
Q: Did you go on any trips this summer? If so- where?
A: Last summer I spent time at the beach and in Bend.
List 3 fun facts about yourself:
1.My favorite place to visit is Disneyland*
2 .I love rides that go really fast and upside down
3.I have four grandchildren
Anne Mckinney
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: In the San Francisco Bay Area
Q: What are your favorite things to do in your free time?
A: I love to do creative things, sewing clothes, making fused glass art, designing things for my home. Also gardening, walking and exploring vintage shops in Portland.
Q: Did you go on any trips this summer? If so- where?
A: I went on a road trip to Canada with my son where we saw The Butchart Gardens, and visited my daughter in Brooklyn, New York. I also visited Black Butte and Elk Lake in Central Oregon and camped at Beaver Campground in Carson, WA.
List 3 fun facts about yourself:
1. I had a long career as a graphic designer and still design projects for friends
2. I ran the Portland Marathon and Hood to Coast, each twice!
3. I am left-handed, as are both of my kids, and as were my mother and my grandmother, which is extremely rare!
Office Information:
Cut off time for change of "go home" plan or bus passes:
If you need to change your child(ren)'s go-home plans or have a bus pass issued by the office, please let the office and teacher know via email by Noon. You can also call in to the office by Noon. If you have last-minute emergency changes, please call into the office instead of emailing. Thank you
Reporting Absences
Auditions for "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Wildcats Theatre
Auditions for "A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
January 16th!
Online permission slips must submitted by MONDAY JANUARY 13th to audition.
To Register your student, complete permission slip and choose your volunteer slot click here:
For more information, contact Kirsty Reilly
310-804-6686 4kirsty@gmail.com
District News:
Making Sure You Receive Important District News
The Lake Oswego School District newsletter The Current is emailed to all families every Friday afternoon. It contains important district-wide news and information. As of this November, it is now coming to you from LOSD's new director of communications, Mary Kay Larson, mary.kay.larson@loswego.k12.or.us.
Because Mary Kay is a new sender, the newsletter message is going straight to many people's Spam folders. To recover the message and start receiving it directly in your in-box, please follow these steps:
- Go to your Spam folder.
- Find the message to move out of Spam.
- Click on “not spam” and the message will move to your in-box
Please note, in Spam, the newsletter formatting is compressed as a way of protecting your system from potentially unsafe content. Moving the message out of Spam will open up the newsletter in full view.
After moving the message out of your Spam folder once (maybe twice), your system should start accepting the newsletter directly into your in-box.
Thank you!
Lake Oswego School District App:
Safe Oregon
The Oregon State Police is pleased to announce the availability of SafeOregon, a new school safety tip line program available to all public k-12 schools in Oregon. SafeOregon is a way for students, staff, or other members of the public to anonymously report and share confidential information of a threat or a potential threat to student safety. Trained staff are available 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year reached through a phone call, text message, mobile application or website. The main goal of SafeOregon is to intervene at the earliest possible point in the life of a young person who is struggling, helping them when they need it, before the situation turns into a tragedy.
SafeOregon is designed to encourage Oregon students to share and respond to anything that threatens their safety or the safety of others, anything that makes a student feel unsafe, or if a student knows someone who feels unsafe. Here are a few examples: safety threats, violence, threats of violence, fights, drugs, alcohol, weapons, bullying or friends that talk about hurting themselves, harassment, intimidation, cyber bullying, or self-harm.
Tips can be submitted 24/7/365 through the SafeOregon.com web portal, by email to tip@safeoregon.com through the SafeOregon mobile application (available for android or ios device), or by calling or texting 844-472-3364. Tips are promptly analyzed and routed for the most appropriate follow up and urgency. This may be to school officials, law enforcement, community mental health programs, or other appropriate local or state agencies. Tip Line staff make sure follow-up is noted.
For more information, please visit safeoregon.com.
Additionally, it is a violation of ORS165.570 to improperly use the SafeOregon system.
Westridge Elementary
Email: kari.montgomery@loswego.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.losdschools.org/wr
Location: 3400 Royce Way, Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 534-2371