South Meadows Parent News
January 7, 2018
Parent News
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Break with family and friends and are ready to start the new year. I am excited to be back and look forward to seeing students grow and learn and take on new experiences with enthusiasm. Their presence and active participation in school will pay dividends as they move on to high school.
Respectfully,
Mary Mendez
Dates to remember
January 7- School resumes
January 21st-No School Martin Luther King Day
January 30th- End of Semester
January 31st- No school-Teacher prep
February 1st- No school- Grade prep
Hillsboro School District Safety Information
There is nothing more important than the safety of our students and schools. When an incident occurs, it can be easy to panic and forget that there are standard protocols to help guide our actions and keep people safe and secure, as well as to communicate about what is happening.
Safety Terminology
In the Hillsboro School District, we use the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to respond to the four most common emergency actions: lockout, lockdown, evacuate, and shelter-in-place.
Lockout - threat or hazard is outside of the school building (e.g. police activity in the area). Students and staff come inside the building, exterior doors are locked, classes continue as normal.
Lockdown - threat or hazard is inside the school building. Students and staff move inside classrooms, lock the door, turn off lights, shut blinds, move away from sight and maintain silence until First Responders arrive.
Evacuate - move from one location to another. Bring your phone, leave other belongings behind. Exit the building in an orderly fashion, re-assemble in evacuation location.
Shelter-in-Place - personal protection is necessary (e.g. earthquake or student medical or behavioral incident). Depending on the incident, students may simply need to stay in their classroom or they may need to evacuate to a shelter area and follow instructions.
Communication
HSD is committed to communicating about safety incidents as quickly and accurately as possible. Oftentimes, the delay in posting information is due to the gathering and vetting of details prior to putting it out broadly. Please remember that what people may be texting to one other or posting or sharing on social media accounts is likely not complete or accurate information and may contain rumors. The best source of information is the District and/or school website. Always check there first when there is concern about a potential safety incident. An archive of past safety incidents is maintained on the District website under Safety Alerts.
Key Requests and Reminders
When an incident is happening at your child’s school, please do not drive to the school. In many cases, you will not be allowed to access the school or your student, and the additional traffic will hinder the efforts of police, fire, and other first responders. Please wait for additional information or instructions on when, where, and how to reunite with your student(s).
Threats received via social media are extremely difficult to track down and disprove. We will communicate about these as they occur, but we may not always have a complete answer as to why or how the threat was generated.
Please remind your student(s) that posting or sharing anything online that could be considered a safety threat will be taken very seriously and could subject that student to both school discipline and legal charges. School safety is never something to joke about.
Student discipline is not something that can be discussed with anyone other than a legal parent or guardian. Therefore, there should be no expectation that the consequences a student may face for causing or perpetuating a safety threat/incident will be shared with others. Consequences for various behaviors and actions are outlined in the Standards of Student Conduct.
Supporting Teens Facing Disrespect and Sexual Harassment
This is a summary of an article that I thought parents might be interested in.
In this article in Usable Knowledge, Richard Weissbourd and Alison Cashin (Harvard Graduate School of Education/Making Caring Common) say that disrespectful, sexualized interactions and sexual harassment are “stunningly common in young people’s lives – in the music and media they consume, in school hallways and classrooms, and on college campuses. They’re happening among our children, and we are doing shockingly little about it.” Specifically, 72 percent of male students and 80 percent of female students told researchers they had never had a conversation with their parents about how to avoid sexually harassing others, and similar percentages had never had conversations about various forms of disrespect and harassment. Weissbourd and Cashin suggest six ways parents and educators can talk to teens about these issues:
• Define the problem. Many young people don’t have a clear picture of what harassment looks and sounds like. They need specifics to help them establish clear boundaries in their minds – to understand, for example, that comments on someone’s clothes or appearance can be unwanted, that catcalling (which many men think is a form of flattery) is frightening and infuriating to many women, and that even if words or behaviors are meant to be funny, they may scare and offend others.
• Step in when you hear a sexist or degrading comment and stick with it. Too many adults don’t say anything when young people use language that offends them. “Passivity not only condones these comments,” say Weissbourd and Cashin. “It can also diminish young people’s respect for us as adults and role models. Even if teens can’t absorb or act on our words in the moment, they often still register our words and internalize them as they mature.” It’s a good idea to think through what you might say if you hear words like “bitch” or “hoe” and how you’ll respond if kids say, “We’re just joking” or “You don’t understand.” Don’t give up easily. Work to build young people’s empathy for others. And this isn’t just a male-to-female problem. “Sometimes girls and young women in particular can demean and undercut each other in the context of romantic and sexual relationships…” say Weissbourd and Cashin.
• Teach kids to be critical consumers of media and culture. Many teens have never critically examined the online and entertainment waters in which they are immersed 24/7. Teachable moments occur when you’re with young people and listen to song lyrics or hear news reports. In some cases it’s effective for adults to share their own experiences with harassment or disrespect.
• Talk about what kids should do if they’re a target. Teens need strategies to deal with everything from a friend jokingly calling them a “slut” or “bitch” to being sexually harassed by a stranger. Ask young people about their experiences and reactions so far, what worked and what didn’t, and how they might respond to hypothetical scenarios. They need to think through whether they should confront perpetrators, get support, tell a teacher or school counselor, or talk to a parent or another respected adult. Role-playing can be very helpful.
• Encourage and expect upstanding. When teens witness harassment and disrespect, they have the advantage of understanding peer dynamics and being more credible than adults. But first they have to have the courage and wisdom to intervene. “Learning to be an ‘upstander’ is a vital part of becoming an ethical, courageous person,” say Weissbourd and Cashin. “Yet upstanding can be risky – perpetrators can turn on upstanders. That’s why it’s important to brainstorm strategies with young people that protect both them and the victim.” Again, role-playing can provide practice at using words, gestures, and body language.
• Help kids build a broad base of recognition and self-worth. The most vulnerable teens are those who are highly dependent on romantic and sexual attention, who crave peer approval, and who have lower social status or are part of a marginalized group (this can include LGBTQ youth). Kids need to build skills and a sense of efficacy in academics, the arts, sports, service, student government, and other activities. They might also decide to take collective action against harassment and degradation, which can be another source of self-worth.
Health classes
Dear Parents/Guardians of South Meadows Middle School:
South Meadows Middle School of Hillsboro School District will be delivering the My Future-My Choice curriculum in the 7th grade to meet Oregon’s health education requirements. My Future-My Choice is a skills-based, comprehensive, age-appropriate, and medically accurate sexual health education program. It was created to help middle school students recognize the pressures and consequences of early sexual involvement. It also encourages students to make healthy choices for themselves. Students learn about puberty, healthy relationships, assertive communication, healthy decision-making, and consent.
The Oregon Health Education Standards (revised December 2016) and House Bill 2509 requires that age-appropriate, comprehensive sexual health education be taught once a year in middle school.
- For the complete Oregon Administrative Rule OAR 581-022-1440 visit: https://www.oregon.gov/ode/rules-and-policies/StateRules/Pages/OAR-Rule-581-022-1440.aspx
- Oregon Revised Statute ORS 336.455 for comprehensive sexuality education in Oregon public schools, can be found here: https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/336.455
- The updated Oregon Health Education Standards can be found here: http://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/standards/health/Pages/default.aspx
We hope that you will encourage your child to participate. However, your child's participation is voluntary. If you do not want your child to participate in specific My Future-My Choice lessons, please put a check by that lesson and return the attached form to your child’s classroom teacher by December 21,2018. You do not need to return this form if you approve of your child’s participation in all lessons. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact (503-844-1220) or visit the My Future-My Choice website to review the full curriculum:
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/CHILDREN/MFMC/Pages/Curriculum.aspx
Sincerely,
Kim Walters Marcos Alvarez
PE Teacher PE Teacher
Mary Mendez, Principal
Email: mendezm@hsd.k12.or.us
Website: http://schools.hsd.k12.or.us/southmeadows
Location: 4690 SE Davis Rd, Hillsboro, OR, United States
Phone: 503-844-1220
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/874310209328004/