The Howler Vol. 14
December 15th, 2023
Spirit Week: December 18-22nd
Throughout the year, but particularly at the holidays we encourage our students to be caring. Our Character Strong emphasis during this time is focused on Gratitude and Empathy. Our school has one more opportunity for students and families who are able to participate;
Columbia Humane Society Giving Tree
Our Giving Tree is set up outside the front doors of the school. There will be tags on the tree that kids/families are welcome to take and fulfill the need that is listed on the back. Can’t make it by to pick a tag-you can head to this link to see their wishlist; https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/my-drive
Please send items in from Dec. 4-18th.
Students will have an opportunity to give their donation directly to the Humane Society when they visit our school on December 18th.
Holidays Around the World
We are looking for a few volunteers. On Dec. 22nd our students will spend some time “visiting” other countries and learning about how the holiday season is celebrated in that country. Do you have any cultural history linked to a country? WE WANT YOU!! (We would just ask you to prepare for a short presentation to students where different groups of students will visit your country.) The presenters in the past have read a book about the holiday in that country, shared a story, shown items from the country, shared a powerpoint, made a poster, etc. I have a lot of ideas and can help you with this. The presentation only needs to be about 15 minutes long. Use this link below to sign up
or email or contact Tami McDonald if you are interested, 971-200-8002 or tmcdonald@scappoose.k12.or.us
Thank you!
PLEASE, if your child or your family are experiencing challenges, please reach out to me for support.
Tami McDonald, School Counselor
971-200-8002
Check Us Out on Social Media!
Holiday Scavenger Hunt
This week, you will find a Holiday Scavenger Hunt with an accompanying candy cane in your student’s take-home folder. We hope you enjoy looking around Scappoose to find as many of these holiday sites as you can! We encourage you to take pictures of your experience and send them to gwposcappoose@gmail.com to be included in the yearbook. And don’t forget to vote for your favorite house in the ‘Holiday Light Fight’! Happy Holidays!
Staff Holiday Boxes
One of the greatest holiday gifts is sweets made with love. Have a timeless family cookie recipe? Or a go-to fudge you enjoy sharing? We would love to include your homemade goodie in holiday treat boxes for our Grant Watts staff! By noon on December 19th, please bring your holiday treats to the Grant Watts library. They don't need to be plated beautifully because volunteers will be curating individual boxes with all of the yummy sweets. A treat box will be given to every one of our amazing staff members. Please be mindful that there are about 60 of them. Thank you for your contribution! Staff Holiday Treat Sign Up
Staff Holiday Wishlists
‘Tis the season of giving! Thinking about surprising your student’s teacher or another staff member with a holiday gift? Check out the Staff Wishlists for ideas. Many of these items can be used to enhance your student’s classroom!
Thank You For Supporting Our Book Fair!!
THIS WEEK IN THE LIBRARY!: Sending a HUGE thank you to all the volunteers who supported all our little shoppers and a VERY grateful thank you to all the families who shopped the fair–because of your generosity we were able to grant some book wishes to classrooms, get new books into the hands of our students AND earn money to add lots of new books to our library shelves! This year we are focusing on updating and improving our nonfiction books and your support is making this possible! THANK YOU!
THE BOOK FAIR IS OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY THIS SATURDAY - 12/16 - 10AM-2PM: Stop by and get those last minute stocking stuffers and gifts for family and friends! See you there!
IF YOU MISSED THE FAIR OR HAVE EXTRA EWALLET $: You can still support our school’s library by shopping online through 12/24! 25% of your online purchases go directly back to our school. Simply go to our homepage and scroll down to Online Shopping. Thank you for your support!
Scholastic Homepage - Digital flier, Saturday Shopping, and Online Shopping.
TIME TO BUDDY UP IN THE LIBRARY AGAIN: In an effort to make sure all students get to visit the library next week and support our school-wide Holidays Around the World celebration on the last day of school, we will be having double library classes on Thursday. PLEASE MAKE SURE ALL LIBRARY BOOKS ARE RETURNED BY 8:00 THURSDAY MORNING or earlier in the week!
OVERDUE/LOST OR DAMAGED NOTICES CAME HOME LAST WEEK: Please return your books on time so other students can enjoy them too--we have a lot of overdue books out there and many disappointed kiddos each week who ask for books that don't get returned on time! This is true for lost and damaged books as well--not only does it limit the number of books your child can check out, but when these books are not paid for so they can be replaced it keeps other children from enjoying the books. Please return your books on time and settle up fines for lost/damaged books so all our students can have a great library experience! Remember, we are having a monthly contest to see which class has the fewest overdue books–you can help your class win a prize! Thanks!
STILL LOOKING FOR A FEW THINGS FOR OUR LIBRARY: Thank you for the donations this week–we got some great stuffies and puzzles! We are still in search of a few things: Legos and Lego plates, and a volunteer to help us develop our book writing center. We are happy to receive slightly used items and here is our Amazon Wish List to fill in the gaps. Thank you for your help in making our library a true source of learning and joy!
Happy Reading ~ Mrs. Nudo
I would like to extend an invitation to you for a concert this coming weekend to be held at the Christian Church in St. Helens (across from Eisenschmidt Pool) at 3:00 PM on Sunday afternoon. The concert will feature the Columbia Chorale (which I sing in) and the River City Children’s Choir, which has several students from Scappoose School District singing in it. It is sure to be a great concert! The River City Children’s Choir is directed by Lynda Fuller, who was the music teacher at Grant Watts and Warren Elementary several years ago, until she retired. If you are interested in your child singing in the River City Children’s Choir, they are always welcoming new members. Rehearsals are on Thursdays at 6:00 PM at the Christian Church in St. Helens.
Links
Curriculum Corner
The Great Body Shop Health Curriculum
The Great Body Shop (GBS), published by The Children’s Health Market, is the district-adopted K-6 curriculum used to teach the Oregon Health Education Standards.
Please see this Parent/Guardian Notification Letter for more information about the curriculum, the parent preview and opt-out process.
Parent Presentation on Scappoose School District’s Comprehensive Health Curriculum
Oregon Statewide Assessments
Each year, schools are required to participate in administering the Oregon Statewide Assessments. These tests include Math and English Language Arts (Grades 3-8 and 11), Science (Grade 5, 8 and 11), ELPA (eligible students only) and Extended Assessments (eligible students only).
For Math and English Language Arts, parents may OPT-OUT by preference. For exemptions for Science, ELPA21 or Extended Assessments, they must be based on a disability or religious reason per the Oregon Department of Education and approved by the District Test Coordinator.
Parents can find these forms below:
Attendance and Transportation Changes
Please communicate all transportation changes by 2pm on M,T,Th,F and 1pm on early release Wednesdays. This gives us time to make sure the change is communicated with the student's teacher.
- Kailee Klobes: kklobes@scappoose.k12.or.us
- Anne Flores: aflores@scappoose.k12.or.us
- Your child's teacher
First Student Transportation
First Student Phone #: 971-290-4020
SSD Student Conduct on School Buses
SSD Discipline Procedures for Bus Transportation
Kindergarten students must be met by a guardian at the bus stop. If you would like to have your kindergarten student get off the bus with an older sibling OR if someone other than a guardian will be meeting them at the stop, please email that permission to kklobes@scappoose.k12.or.us or write a note for the bus driver. First Student is required to have this information in writing. Thank you!
My MealTime Breakfast and Lunch Accounts
MealTime Parent Helpline: 800-755-0904
Grant Watts At a Glance 2022/23
Upcoming Events
- Saturday, December 16th: Book Fair Open to the Community 10am-2pm
- Monday, December 18th: Funky Sock Day
- Tuesday, December 19th: Color Out Day (KG RED, 1st GREEN, 2nd BLUE, 3rd YELLOW/GOLD)
- Wednesday, December 20th: Whoville Day
- Thursday, December 21st: Ugly Sweater/Holiday Festive Wear
- Friday, December 22nd: Cozy/PJ Day
- Friday, December 22nd-Holidays Around the World and Holiday Parties
- December 25th-January 5th- Winter Break NO SCHOOL
School Hours: 8:10am-2:45pm M, T, Th, F
Early Release Wednesday 8:10am-1:45pm
971-200-8002 *messages checked frequently throughout the day