Vose News
Parent & Community Newsletter- May 2019
A few thoughts from Mrs. Singleton & Mrs. Holz
As May begins, it worth pausing to reflect on some of the happenings in our community:
* Pre-K students are engaging in story workshop, where they put their story into a small paper book and then have an opportunity to take the "author's chair" and share their writing with their classmates.
* In Kindergarten students recently took a field trip to see the play "Diary of a Worm a Spider and a Fly" at Oregon Children's Theater in Portland and will be visiting the zoo later this month.
* 1st graders have been studying Living and NonLiving Things, through a study of Animals & Plants and are planning a field trip for May 9th.
* Our 2nd graders have been focused on narrative writing and how to bring their stories to life, as well studying Plants in science.
* First and Second grade have also had an artist clay residency with Karrie which lead them to firing up our kiln!
* The third graders recently had the opportunity to attend a special educational performance at the Oregon Symphony and have an upcoming field trip to the zoo. They have also been hard at work on their state assessments in Reading and will soon begin their assessments in Math.
* Fourth grade recently completed their extensive projects with the Architects in Schools program which involved designs that were done on the 3D printer. They have also been working hard on their Reading and Math state assessments.
* The 5th graders have developed tenacity and focus as they visited Portland State University this month and solidified what college looks and feels like, future aspirations are bright for these guys!
We ask that together we continue to focus on positive attendance and work completion as we head into the last month or so of school. We so appreciate your partnership and support!
All good things,
Monique & Melissa
5/17- Spirit Day- wear neon
5/17- PTO Dia del Niño Carnival, 6pm-8pm- volunteers needed..check out the MyVolunteerPage for sign-ups
5/23- Pre-K Orientation, 6pm
5/28- Coffee with the Principals, 8am-9sm
5/31- Vose Scholarship Assembly
6/7- Spirit Day
6/12- Day of Play (games & fun in classrooms) + 5th grade vs. teacher soccer game
6/13- Field Day- volunteers needed..check out the MyVolunteerPage for sign-ups
6/14- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
6/17- Report cards mailed home
2019-2020 Budget Message
The Beaverton School District has planned the 2019-2020 Proposed Budget to present to the District’s Budget Committee on April 22. The budget is based on a $8.97 billion state school fund for K-12 schools. At this level of funding, we are projecting a net deficit of $35 million dollars. This does not include any increased costs that may be incurred after teacher negotiations is completed. In an effort to meet budget timeline obligations, the District is progressing with required reductions to balance our budget including staff and programs, and other resources. These include increases to the student/teacher ratio, reductions of administrative positions, and significant reductions in certified and classified staffing.
Approximately half of the $35 million dollar deficit can be attributed to increased PERS costs. We cannot control these costs as the state sets the rates and bills agencies and districts. The remaining deficit can be attributed to increases in roll up costs (salaries & benefits), flat enrollment, current year budget deficit due to decreased enrollment and underestimated salaries, pay equity mandates, and attrition assumptions not being realized. It is important to note that services and resources were not being misused, but should have been reduced earlier in 2018-2019. Students benefited by receiving services for a longer period of time, but the budget assumptions added to the deficit for the upcoming 2019-2020 budget.
It is important to understand, we are moving forward in constructing the Proposed Budget based on the most current information we have from the state; however, most of the revenue information is an estimate and will change. There will be adjustments throughout the legislative session that will impact Beaverton’s 2019-2020 budget.
While there is optimism regarding a sustainable and long-term investment to the state’s K-12 budget, the ability to plan and spend these funds in the 2019-2020 school year will be extremely difficult to project and complete. This is due to legislative session timing and the likelihood that any revenue package from state lawmakers could be referred to voters in November 2019. School districts would be ill-advised to spend future funding that could be taken away.
The impact at Vose is that our classroom staffing allocation will potentially decrease by 3 classroom teachers and 1.5 ELD Teachers, as well as the reduction to a half-time Intervention Teacher (from one full-time position) and the elimination of our STEAM program coordinator, which was half-time. This could change in the coming months as enrollment numbers settle and the budget picture becomes more clear.
The proposed budget that will be presented at the District Budget Committee meeting on Monday, April 22, will be reflective of:
An anticipated District-wide shortfall of $35 million for 2019-20
District-wide personnel reductions that include administrative, teacher and classified staff
A budget reduction of 15% across schools
An increase in student-teacher ratio/class sizes
Elimination of funding for PYP coordinators and PYP world language teachers (among other programs)
Reduction of elementary intervention teachers from full-time to half-time
We acknowledge that the principles of inquiry-based instruction, student voice, transdisciplinary learning, science, technology and global thinking are and will continue to be a great asset to our students and staff. The district will continue to work with our PYP, STEAM, EL schools to explore possibilities that allow for continued partnerships in the future.
I encourage all parents to stay informed of the BSD budget process and participate as you see fit. We are also dependent on Oregon State Legislative decisions that can either add to or detract from our funding estimates. Details of how you can give input to our legislators are available in this BSD Action Alert.
The Beaverton School District is now enrolling for Kindergarten at all elementary schools for the 2019-2020 school year.
Any child who will be five (5) years of age on or before September 1, 2019 is now eligible to enroll for Kindergarten at their designated home school. Online Registration is available for new student enrollment. After the online application has been submitted families will want to schedule a visit to their child's school, prior to the first day of their attending. This visit is important as they may receive school-specific forms to complete. Parents/guardians will need to provide a birth certificate and immunization record at the time of enrollment.
Each elementary school will offer parents an opportunity to find out more about the kindergarten program at their spring Kindergarten information events. Vose's Kindergarten Orientation & Dual Language Program Information Night will be Thursday, April 18th at 6pm.
If you are uncertain about which elementary school is the home school, families can check any address to see what elementary, middle or high school attendance boundary it is located in using theDistrict Address Locator or call 503-356-4500.
For more information on registering for Kindergarten, including a list of
2019-2020 Kindergarten Orientation Dates, Immunization Requirements and much more, please visit the Kindergarten Information webpage.
Collecting Box Tops
PTO Value Village Fun Drive
Beaverton Dual Language Family Night & Symposium
Integrity Focus for May
We show integrity when we tell the truth, do what we say we will do, and understand that others count on us.
Mostramos integridad cuando decimos la verdad, hacemos lo que dijimos que haríamos, y entendemos que otros cuentan con nosotros.
Teachers Collaboration on Wednesday Afternoons
This month teachers focused on literacy for your students. We looked at common assessment we use, added new high interest book titles to our classroom libraries and created agreements about challenging our students as they grow as readers. Help us continue this growth by signing up for the summer reading program at the BEAVERTON LIBRARY. Information is in the link below.
Order School Supplies for Next Year Now
The time has come! EPI school supply pack online portal is live! You can now order your child’s school supplies online for next school year! Follow this link to purchase http://bit.ly/VoseSupplypksUtilesescolares SCHOOL CODE VOS004
If you would like to purchase with cash or check (made out to Vose Elementary PTO) please visit our school supply table during STEAM Night (4/25) or during Día del Niño (5/17). If you are unable to attend these events please turn your paper order form into the office.
Paper order forms will go home this week in backpacks and extra forms will be available in the office starting 4/16!
PAPER ORDER FORMS DUE FRIDAY 6/7
LAST DAY TO ORDER ONLINE 6/16
NO LATE ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED ONLINE AFTER 6/16
Learn more about EPI and how the process works - Click on the link to watch a short video http://bit.ly/VoseEPIvideoENG
Supply packs will either be picked up by parent/guardian in August or delivered to your student's classroom if you are not able to attend the teacher meet and greet.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to reply to this email.
Follow Vose Elementary PTO on Facebook for updates throughout the school year!
Safe Routes to School: Parent’s Guide to Walk + Bike Day
Vose will be celebration National Walk + Bike Day on May 15! We will have music, prizes and fun as students are greeted as they walk, bike or roll to school!
Why participate? How about: clean air, savings on gas, less crowded parking lots, safer streets with more people on foot, and lots of school pride.
For info on preferred walk/bike routes at your school visit: http://www.beavertonsaferoutes.org/register.html.
Celebrations at Vose
Cubetto Grant Funded for Kinder
OnPoint Prize Community Builder Grant
Vose teacher is published!
Tech Happenings
I wanted to fill you in on what students have been doing in technology recently.
5th, 4th, 3rd and 2nd:
typing on Typing Club
logic/problem solving games by Bart Bonte
Here is one of their favorites: Cat in Japan
https://www.mathplayground.com/logic_cat_in_japan.html
Cat in Japan | MathPlayground.com
MP1 - Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. MP7 - Look for and make use of structure.
Music games using synthesizers, beat boxes and chrome music lab
Ozobots: robots coded by lines and colors using paper
OSMO: numbers (math +/-), words (spelling), coding and tangrams (shape manipulatives)
Lego Robotics 1.0 (desktop computers) 2.0 (mobile, on iPads)
1st:
Intro to typing, typing club
Ozobots: robots coded by lines and colors using paper
logic and problem solving games Where is cat?, on math playground was a favorite
counting games, 0-10, 1- 20, 0- 100
Shape centers using shape manipulatives, shape color sheets, building with shape blocks and magnitiles, and building shapes with OSMO tangrams.
Music games using synthesizers and chrome music lab
Kindy:
Ozobots: robots coded by lines and colors using paper
logic and problem solving games Where is cat?, on math playground was a favorite
counting games, 0-10, 0- 20, 0- 100
Shape centers: using shape manipulatives, shape color sheets, building with shape blocks and magnitiles, and building tangrams with OSMO tangrams.
Music games using synthesizers and chrome music lab
Classes always have a chance to earn a Party (= free choice class), if they earn five tokens. Most classes have earned three parties already this year!
Mrs. Wood - Technology Instructional Assistant
Amazon Future Engineers Coding with Kids Summer Camps
Amazon has a new national program called Amazon Future Engineers. It does a lot of work from K through paid college internships. Portland was actually selected for Coding with Kids summer camps, hosted in the main building downtown (1320 SW Broadway Suite 400). This is one part of Amazon Future Engineer for younger students.
And Amazon is providing scholarships for students to attend; these camps are for ages 5-18. Most are half-day (two can be combined into a full day for 9am-4pm camp) but some camps are full day, too.
Camps in Portland this summer: https://www.codingwithkids.com/#!/camp?loc=region_portland
Amazon scholarships for the camps here: https://www.codingwithkids.com/amazon/
Take the Annual District Parent Survey
Please take a few moments to complete the BSD Annual Parent Survey! The survey helps us to evaluate our progress in educating your child(ren) and planning for the future. Our goal is to ensure that every member of our school community feels welcomed, valued, and informed, so it is important for all parents/guardians to complete the survey. The survey data will be summarized so that each person who answers will remain anonymous.
Please take the survey considering only one child. You may take the survey again if you have children attending more than one school.
A link to the 2019 Annual Parent Survey will be sent to all valid parent email addresses via SchoolMessenger on Monday, April 22, 2019. The deadline to participate is Sunday, May 12, 2019. You can view a copy of the survey in both English and Spanish on the Research & Reports webpage.
Student Survey on PE
For the next three years, all 5th and 8th grade students will be surveyed in an online nutrition and PE survey in order gather information for planning, program evaluation, and assessment of progress on the District’s Physical Education and nutrition plan. The student survey window is: April 24 - May 31st.
The District is surveying 5th and 8th grade students to gather information for planning, program evaluation, and assessment of progress on the District’s Physical Education and nutrition plan.
The student survey takes about 20 minutes during the regular school day. Like other surveys, results will be presented only about groups. No individual data will be reported.
Your child may skip questions or stop filling out the survey at any time. Refusing to participate or withdrawing from the survey does not affect your child's grades or class standing in any way. If you or your child does not want to participate, your child can read or do some other activity while his or her classmates complete the survey.
A copy of the survey is available from your child's school and is posted at
https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/district/research-reports
After reviewing the survey, if you do not want your child to participate, please notify Principal Singleton
Encuesta Anual de Estudiantes
El Distrito encuestará a los estudiantes de 5.º y de 8.º grado para recolectar información para la planificación, la evaluación del programa y para la evaluación del progreso en el plan de educación física y en el plan de nutrición.
La encuesta de estudiantes toma aproximadamente 20 minutos durante el día escolar. La información que obtengamos de la encuesta es anónima. Al igual que otras encuestas, los resultados que se presentan son sólo acerca de los grupos. No se proporcionará información de su estudiante.
Su hijo puede no contestar las preguntas o dejar de contestar la encuesta en cualquier momento. El negarse a participar en la encuesta o no terminar de contestarla, no afecta las calificaciones o rango de su hijo. Si usted o su hijo no quieren participar, su hijo puede leer o hacer alguna otra actividad, mientras que sus compañeros de clase completan la encuesta.
Una copia en blanco de la encuesta, está disponible en la escuela de su hijo y se encuentra publicada en
https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/district/research-reports
Después de revisar la encuesta, si usted no quiere que su hijo participe, por favor, notifique Directora Singleton