Greetings Fir Grove Families!

It is so good to be back in the swing of things with students in the building. A school is meant to be a lively place to learn. We have that down at Fir Grove! Our 386 students are building community throughout the day with their classroom teachers, peers, and all building staff. Please help us welcome our 70 Kindergarten families. The first few weeks of school are all about setting and teaching expectations, creating community, and getting to know each other better.

During the first weeks of school, we have flooded classrooms, the cafeteria and recesses with additional adults to supervise students, teach and reteach expectations and give students an opportunity to meet more building staff. We want to build connections with our learners across the building. Research shows that when schools create opportunities for relationships that leads to a strong community and to increased learning.

It is also important to take time to practice safety procedures. In the Beaverton School District, we follow the Standard Response Protocol. Each month we have a fire drill. Additionally, our school practices Lock Out, Lock Down, and Earthquake drills. Everyone in the building practices these drills, even volunteers! Please take the time to review our procedures.

SECURITY UPGRADE

You may have noticed that our Main Office door is now locked during school hours. As part of the District’s security upgrades, Fir Grove finally received its final upgrade that involves visitors interfacing with office staff via the camera and audio system prior to entering the building.

When visiting Fir Grove, please ring the bell and prepare to announce yourself and the reason for your visit. Once our office confirms your identity and purpose, our office staff will then buzz you in. Thank you for your patience as we work through this new system.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to me to chat or schedule a meeting. I am at each PTO Meeting. Additionally, I have several Principal Chats scheduled this year. It is a time to share what is happening at Fir Grove, answer questions, and connect with families.

• October 3, 6:15-7:00pm.
• November 7, 6:15-7:00pm
• January 9, 6:15-7:00pm
• March 5, 6:15-7:00pm
• May 15, 8:15-9:00am

Warmly,

Erin Miles

Fir Grove PTO is partnering with Beaverton Christian Church to provide school supplies for Fir Grove. We will purchase the majority of the necessary classroom supplies your student needs (paper, pencils, etc.). Students need only to bring a backpack and the specific supplies listed below by grade level.

We recommend a minimum $5 donation per student, cash or check, to be deposited in the PTO lockbox near the office door.

If you would like to contribute additional funds, it would be greatly appreciated and would help offset the cost for others in our Fir Grove community.

The school supplies will stay at school for the children to use in their classroom and will be distributed to the staff throughout the school year.

Here in the Beaverton School District, we teach children important skills for getting along with others and doing well in school. In order to help our school be a safe and supportive place where everyone can learn, we also provide age-appropriate health instruction. There will be two primary resources used for this instruction: The Great Body Shop to teach the adopted Oregon Health Standards and fightchildabuse.org to teach sexual abuse prevention in accordance with Erin’s Law. Continue reading for more information on each resource.

Oregon Health Education Standards

The Great Body Shop, published by The Children’s Health Market, will be used to teach the new Oregon Health Education Standards. It offers skills-based instruction that addresses physical, social, emotional, and mental health. Human Sexuality Education instruction is age appropriate, medically accurate, and relevant for all students. If you would like to preview the materials, this document outlines the process for previewing the curriculum and for information on opting-out.

Erin’s Law

An important component of our curriculum is to help children protect their bodies, get support when abuse has occurred, and report to a trusted adult. In accordance with Erin’s Law, we are educating children about sexual abuse and promoting awareness within our communities. The Oregon Department of Education has required all Oregon schools to comply with Erin’s Law. The Erin’s Law lessons address personal safety, touching safety and assertiveness.

Your child’s teacher will be sharing these sexual abuse prevention lesson outcomes with you prior to teaching them, but you can also find the full lessons and videos on fightchildabuse.org. Please contact me if you have any further questions or for opt-out information. Thank you for helping us to make our school a safe and supportive place where everyone can learn.

References:

Oregon Health Education Standards: https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/standards/health/Documents/2016ORHEStandards.pdf

Materials Preview Process: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eV2_2zifeQshFC4uOP8v3Fkvs4zvYSuTEXInyTvag2Q/edit?usp=sharing

Speak Up 4 Student Success: HB 3427 - Student Success Act Community Conversations

The Oregon Legislature passed and the Governor signed the $2 billion Student Success Act (HB 3427) in Spring 2019. This is an historic and much needed investment in K-12 schools. The Beaverton School District could be able to access an estimated $34 million per year through a state application process.

School districts are required to apply for funds, and must engage their community in a needs assessment process prior to the application for funds. All Beaverton schools will be engaging their communities in these conversations during September and October.

Please join us to talk about what student success looks like in our school and the Beaverton School District. What is going well in our schools? What areas/services/programs could we improve?

Your voice matters! We welcome your perspective and opinion.

Fir Grove Speak Up 4 Student Success Community Conversations offered in English & Spanish:

· October 3, 2019, 6:15-7:00pm

· Childcare will be provided

Beaverton School District’s Nutrition Services (NS) Department serves meals that meet nutritional standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These meals are funded from USDA reimbursements and meal sales. Breakfast and lunch are served at all schools.

Note: If your student does not bring a meal from home and has a zero cafeteria account balance, then the District Meal Charging Procedures will be followed.

For the school year 2019-2020, breakfast and lunch will be accessible at no charge to students who qualify for reduced price meals. The Oregon Legislature has provided funds to cover the costs of these meals.

Children may be eligible to receive free school meals. Please visit the Meal Benefits webpage for eligibility requirements.

For questions, please contact the Nutrition Services Meal Benefits Office:

• Phone: 503-356-3957 -or- 503-356-3955

• Email: NS-MealBenefits@beaverton.k12.or.us

Thank you to all the volunteers who worked alongside staff last week to get Fir Grove ready. We had community members box surplus items, organize school supplies, create first day packets, clean and organize rooms, make copies, and put up bulletin boards. Fir Grove couldn't have done it without you! Thank you for your time and efforts.