Community Corner
SCHOOL DISTRICT SCOOP
Celebrating 100 days of learning
Our elementary school students across the district celebrated a major milestone: 100 days of learning, growing, and endless adventures! From dressing up as centenarians to fun-filled activities like grouping items into sets of a hundred or participating in exciting scavenger hunts, the joy of reaching this milestone is palpable!
Fun Fact: Did you know celebrating 100 days of school isn't just about the numbers? It's a fantastic way to reinforce the concept of counting, encourage creativity, and build a sense of accomplishment in our young learners!
MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
Dear Roseburg community,
I hope this message finds you well after our region’s winter blast of snow on Tuesday. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we needed to close school to ensure everyone’s safety. Along with the fun times a snow day brings, our district is humming with exciting news. I am happy to share a few of these important updates with you below.
Future First Citizens honored
The fifth annual Roseburg High School Foundation Scholarship Night will be held at 5:30 p.m. today in the Rose Theater at RHS. Congratulations to Future First Citizen finalists Christina Chi, Elias Malak, Kate Dammann, Malia Reichel, Martin Narciso and Massimo Falleni. These RHS seniors are wonderful role models for our community’s youth and we should all be proud of their accomplishments.
New contracts support employees
The Roseburg School Board this week unanimously approved new contracts for our classified and licensed district employees. Thanks to a cooperative and thoughtful bargaining process with members of the Roseburg Education Association and the Oregon School Employees Association, we are in a better position to retain and recruit the best employees to serve our students, families and community. Our goal is to be the district of choice for teachers and school staff so that we can ensure our students receive the care and education they deserve.
Softball field celebration
Join us at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the new RHS softball field to celebrate this incredible asset for our students and community. This project stems from a requirement to provide the girls softball team with comparable field space as our boys baseball team. Thankfully, through careful financial planning, we had the emergency funds in place to pay for this large project. The field is beautiful and will remain a school and community asset for generations to come. We are thrilled to provide our softball players with this quality field and look forward to celebrating its completion. See more details about the celebration below. And don’t miss the girls’ season opener at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Jared Cordon
Superintendent
Roseburg Public Schools
HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE DISTRICT
Inspiring origami and friendship
Meet Brooke, an inspiring origami instructor and head of the Origami Club at Fir Grove Elementary.
In the beginning of this school year, Brooke approached her fourth-grade teacher, Mr. Wesley Rea, with the idea of starting an origami club that she’d organize on her lunch and last recess. With much support, Mr. Rea provided laminated origami instructions, origami paper and his classroom origami books for Brooke to borrow as she shared her passion for origami with other students.
“What inspired me was my teacher does origami and since I was a third-grader I noticed that you’d have to be in Mr. Rea’s class to get origami paper. Sometimes students don’t get to be in Mr. Rea’s or Mrs. Titus’ class and won’t get a chance with origami so I teach them stuff,” Brooke said.
Mr. Rea started teaching at Fir Grove over five years ago. Inspired by the book “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes,” Mr. Rea inspires his students to fold 1,000 cranes by the end of each school year; there's currently a display in the school library. As a third-grader last school year, Brooke was inspired. She befriended a fourth-grade student in Mr. Rea’s class and together they’d practice making cranes on their bus ride home. This school year, as a fourth-grader, Brooke wants to give back to the third-grade students who might not have the chance to attend Mr. Rea’s fourth-grade class or have the chance to learn origami at all.
Brooke actively recruits students to join her club. While on recess, if she notices another student alone or looking upset, she will give them a warm welcome to join her and the other students. This makes her really happy. Other club members are always inviting new friends to join as well.
“I love that sometimes I meet new people and third-graders and they get inspired by it, which I love!” Brooke said. “After recess they come up to me like ‘Brooke, Brooke look what I made, I made a drawing for you’ and I’m like ‘Oh I love it, thank you!’ And sometimes they even come up with their own origami theme and give it to me, and I just think that’s so cool.”
On Fridays, Brooke nominates one of the club members as “Student of the Day” and that student gets to pick what origami project she will teach next. Some of their past favorites include the crane, flower and cat. Over winter break, Brooke’s aunty gifted her clothing markers to support Brooke’s creativity. Check out the awesome shirt Brooke has designed to advertise her club!
Showcasing passion for the arts
Roseburg High School came alive with creativity as students celebrated their annual Arts Assembly!
As the band played and the choir sang, students painted, sculpted clay, and crafted pottery, showcasing their skills and passion for the arts. The energy and support from both students and staff was amazing!
Shoutout to all of our inspirational and talented students who participated!
Built by students for students
Roseburg High School's woodshop class, having received a generous wood donation from Tree Products Hardwoods, is paying it forward! Students are spreading smiles and building connections through the creation of these fantastic Lego trays for their younger peers at Green Elementary.
Liam and Jenessa, two talented woodshop students, poured their creativity into making the trays.
“I thought it was pretty fun to learn on. I haven’t done rabbit joints before so it was good practice to do before starting the project so they could be the best for them and they don’t break when they are using them. They’ll last a long time for other students to come,” said Liam, a sophomore.
Seventeen Lego trays were completed and delivered to Green Elementary. Liam, Jenessa and their woodshop instructor, Gene Castillo, got to witness students enjoying their new Lego trays.
“It’s nice that we could help kids and make them something they can actually use and play with. It’s awesome we got to do that,” said Jenessa, a senior.
A big shoutout to Gene and his talented students in the RHS career and technical education program! This is just the beginning, with more exciting wood projects coming soon!
WINTER WEATHER PREP
You never know when winter weather will come our way, but it’s never too soon to prepare.
When severe weather is in the forecast, Roseburg School District decides whether to delay or close school based on the following considerations:
- the ability to operate school buses safely
- the ability of students and parents to drive safely
- the ability of students to walk safely
- the ability of employees to get to work on time and safely
When we’re expecting ice or snow, our district starts checking road conditions around 4 a.m. in the morning, by driving some bus routes and tuning into local weather reports.
Our priority is to ensure that travel is safe for ALL students. While conditions in some areas of town may appear clear, other areas may be experiencing ice, heavy snow or other hazardous conditions.
Decisions to delay or close school will be made by 5:30 a.m. A decision to close school following a delay will be made by 7:30 a.m. The decision to delay or close school may be made the day prior if necessary.
Families will receive notifications through our One Call phone and email system and can refer to our website and Facebook page for notifications as well. To make sure your correct contact information is included in our One Call system, please contact your child’s school directly.
FROM THE STEAM TEAM: CALLING ALL STEAMOLOGISTS!
Our Elementary School STEAM Team shares the latest updates on science, technology, engineering, arts and math education around the district.
Derby Car Winners
Congratulations to our winners for the Derby Car competition!
- K-2 winners: Mrs. Todd’s second-grade class at Fullerton IV — Arayan and Damien.
- 3-5 winners: Ms. Schollian’s fourth-grade class at Winchester — Chance and Luke.
Scientific Inquiry
Students were shown a control rocket model and then challenged to engineer a rocket that would travel farther than 47 feet. They were tasked with changing one component: the body of the rocket, the fins or the nose.
Conductivity
Students will get to explore what materials are conductors of electricity and which ones are not.
COMMUNITY PARTNER SHOUT-OUTS
Demonstrating advanced skills
Two talented students from Fremont Middle School's advanced woodworking class had a special project featured at the recent Home & Garden Show at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.
Eighth-grader Kye, now in his second semester of advanced woodworking, expressed enthusiasm for his craft. "I love it," he shared. "I love being able to put my creative thoughts into wood projects. When I was a kid, I was always interested in creating little things out of wood. Taking woodworking is definitely the right choice." Having attended a semester last year, Kye's dedication to woodworking has only grown, inspired by the projects he witnessed his peers create.
Alongside Kye is seventh-grader Tyler, equally enthralled by the woodworking experience. This marks Tyler's second semester in the advanced woodworking class, a rare opportunity for a seventh-grader. "This experience has been amazing," Tyler said. "Usually, it's only eighth-graders that get to do this, and I aid! It's nice that I'm trusted to build this big of a project. It's so cool! I love woodshops and building!"
Together, Kye and Tyler collaborated on a picnic table made with incense cedar, donated by C&D Lumber, for the silent auction at last weekend's event sponsored by the Umpqua Valley Home Builders Association.
Students celebrate SROs
In honor of School Resource Officer Appreciation Day last month, Sunnyslope Elementary School held an assembly to celebrate Deputy Justin Moe. During the assembly, students showed their appreciation by playing a slideshow that included pictures of special moments with Deputy Moe and students holding signs describing their favorite things about the deputy.
Fourth-grade student Aeris said, “There are a lot of good things about Officer Moe, but the thing I like the most is that he is nice and respectful. It makes me feel safe because I know that there will be an officer we can contact or on property if something does happen.”
Roseburg School District is so grateful to have a dedicated security team working to keep all of our schools safe. School Resource Deputy Moe joins us from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. In addition, School Resource Officer Tony Powers, from the Roseburg Police Department, serves at Roseburg High School. The other members of our security team include District Safety Coordinator Ed Villarreal and District Security Officers Ryan Laney and John Poore.
After the slide show at Sunnyslope, staff presented Deputy Moe with a poster and multiple drawings that students made for him to express their gratitude.
Fourth-grade student Cameren said, “When we met officer Moe I was really excited for him to be dedicated to our school and helping us and playing with us. We play football with Officer Moe, he is a really good kicker. He also plays Gaga balls with us and that's pretty fun. I feel very happy and joy when he’s here and he’s in our class because we are just really excited to see him. Truly, Officer Moe is a really kind man and does a lot to be with us.”
Deputy Moe began working full time for DCSO in 2020 and joined our district as our School Resource Deputy at the beginning of the school year. He serves Sunnyslope, Green, Winchester and Melrose elementary schools. SRO Powers is a master officer with over 16 years of law enforcement experience and joined our district in January.
When Deputy Moe joined us as an SRO this year, he said, “I believe my duty as a School Resource Deputy is the responsibility of safety and crime prevention in school with the utmost importance of protecting our children. To educate and mentor in a manner of virtue. Lastly, to imprint a positive impact that will last for generations to come in our youth. To me, this truly hits home with my two beautiful girls and my amazing wife.”
A huge THANK YOU to our security team for your dedication, compassion, and commitment to ensuring a secure and supportive environment for all. Your presence makes our schools safer and our community stronger! We are grateful for everything you do!
Commissioners honor FFA week
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Douglas County Commissioners Chris Boice, Tim Freeman, and Tom Kress for honoring the hard work and dedication of our students. Their proclamation, recognizing February 17-24 as FFA Week in Douglas County, underscores the pivotal role that FFA youth programs and agricultural education classes play in shaping our future leaders. It's through these initiatives that our students gain invaluable skills, excel in leadership roles, and proceed on paths to real-world success.
MEET OUR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS
SCHOOL BOARD CLIPS
Highlights of news and actions at School Board meetings and work sessions. Learn more on our Board Meetings web page.
OUR STRATEGIC PLAN
JOIN OUR TEAM!
Classified and licensed openings
We post new positions regularly! Apply online through Frontline Education.
Current openings:
- Varsity Volleyball Head Coach, Roseburg High School.
- Instructional Assistant 1 (7 hours), Learning Resource Center, Joseph Lane Middle School.
- Instructional Assistant 1 (6 hours, temporary), Fir Grove Elementary.
- Instructional Assistant III (7 hours), Developmental Learning Center, Hucrest Elementary.
- Instructional Assistant III (5 hours), Developmental Learning Center, Sunnyslope Elementary.
- Instructional Assistant III (7 hours), Secondary Resource Center, Roseburg High School.
- Instructional Assistant III (6.5 hours), Developmental Learning Center, Hucrest Elementary.
- Food Service Assistant (3 hours), Roseburg High School.
- Food Service Assistant (4 hours), Roseburg High School.
- Food Service Assistant (7 hours), Hucrest Elementary.
- Food Service Assistant (6 hours), Roseburg High School.
- Food Service Assistant (5 hours), Roseburg High School.
- Mathematics Teacher, Roseburg High School.
- Office Assistant (6 hours), Melrose Elementary.
For more information, call Human Resources at (541) 440-4008 or visit our HR page.
COMMUNITY EVENTS AND IMPORTANT DATES
Take "A Peek into Pre-K"
Applications are now being accepted for our district pre-K program for the 2024-25 school year.
All families living within the district boundaries are encouraged to apply now for their child to be considered for placement in the program. To be eligible, children must turn 4 years old on or before Sept. 1, 2024. Families will receive notification regarding potential placements on or before June 9, 2024.
Applications will remain open throughout the 2024-25 school year. After May 1, 2024, applicants will be added to a waitlist. Those at the top of the waitlist will be contacted if slots become available.
Those interested in applying are welcome to attend “A Peek into Pre-K” from 4 to 6 p.m. April 10. At this optional event, potential applicants can visit any one of the district’s three pre-K sites and learn more about the program.
For more information, please visit our website at https://bit.ly/49QP5jI.
To apply starting March 1, visit https://bit.ly/3wy1KJV.
Celebrate the new softball field
Join us as we celebrate the completion of the new softball field at Roseburg High School.
The celebration will be from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, at the new ballpark located behind the Finlay Field bleachers on the RHS campus. Please be sure to park in existing lots on campus; there is no additional parking near the new field.
The event will feature free food and the chance to check out the field and its features. The district has also invited the many local contractors and businesses who contributed to the field’s completion since construction began last summer.
The RHS varsity softball team will hold its season opener at the new field at 4:30 p.m. March 13.
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING? CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW!
About us
Website: https://www.roseburg.k12.or.us
Location: 1419 Northwest Valley View Drive, Roseburg, OR, USA
Phone: (541) 440-4014
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoseburgPublicSchools