EGMS Weekly Newsletter
January 6th
Upcoming Dates to Remember
- 1/13 - Winter Dance 5:30 to 7:00pm
- 1/16 - No School- MLK Holiday
- 1/26- Parent Teacher Conferences 4pm to 8pm
- 1/27- No School- Parent Teacher Conferences 8am to Noon
- 2/6- No School - District Inservice Day
Happy New Year Huskies!
Letter From Principal Nicklous
Principal Thoughts:
I hope the Winter break allowed you and your family to spend some quality time together! My daughter flew in from Virginia and my son returned home from OSU. It was wonderful to have our kids back home and spend time together as a family during the holidays.
Our teachers and staff are rested and ready to deliver important concepts to support your child’s academic, behavioral and social growth. This also requires students to come with their best effort each and every day. We know as adults that “learning isn’t a spectator sport!” Students must engage, ask questions, try, fail and most importantly, try again. This is an important lesson we must help our children learn and understand as they make their way through school and into adulthood.
Routines remain a critical piece for our student’s success. Returning to consistent routines at home after a long break will help your child transition back into school successfully. Sometimes routines may need to be adjusted based on sports or other after school or evening activities. Please work with your child to develop a routine that works for them and your family. If your child had a successful routine, help them re-establish it, if not please work with your child to develop a new routine that sets aside time each evening for completing schoolwork. Especially with older children, we often assume they are old enough to do it on their own. We know this isn’t always true as many adults use their phones or calendar reminders to help stay organized.
You will notice a section in our newsletter regarding social media use and helpful resources. Please read through this section and review these resources. We put new articles there weekly. We are aware of Instagram accounts using our EGMS logo without permission! Many of these accounts are spreading rude or hurtful information about our students and/or staff. This isn’t the culture we want at EGMS and need your help in ending this type of negative social media use. I appreciate the many parents/guardians who have called and let us know when you came across or became aware of this type of negative information. This partnership allows us to support our young people in and out of school together. Please have a discussion with your child about not posting or participating in rude, hurtful or mean interactions digitally or in person. If you come across negative or concerning Instagram accounts or other social media sites connected to EGMS please screenshot them and let me know directly. You can also message the account and ask it to be taken down. Our official Instagram account is @eltongregoryms
Sincerely,
Justin Nicklous
Principal, Elton Gregory MS
Dear Families,
It is with deep regret that we inform you about a recent loss to our school community. On January 2nd, Roberto Raygoza Franco, a 7th grade student at Elton Gregory died in a car accident. For those of us who knew Roberto, the days ahead may be difficult and bring many challenges as we share our grief and feelings.
During 6th period Monday, we shared this information with our students and offered support with our school counselors. Everyone works through grief a little differently; you can help your child process their feelings at home by letting them talk about loss. They may want to talk about Roberto or about death in general. Some students may want alone time to process the news. Reactions or behaviors you might see as a result of this sudden loss may include: shock, fatigue, anger, depression and sleeping problems. If you have questions or concerns about your child's reaction, please call the school to let us know.
Listed below is some information that may be useful to you in helping your child at home. If you would like additional information or need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our school counselors, Elizabeth Platt at 541-526-6440 x 6507 or Peter Hower at 541-526-6440 x 6511.
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Roberto and will make every effort to help you and your child as you need.
Sincerely,
Megan Storey,
Assistant Principal, Elton Gregory Middle School
Resources
988- The Suicide and Crisis LifeLine (National): call or text 988, 24 hours a day/7 days a week; free & confidential. Spanish: calls only at 988.
Deschutes County Crisis Line- call 541-322-7500 ext 9; free & confidential, 24 hours a day/7 days a week
Deschutes County Stabilization Center- 63311 NE Jamison St. Bend, OR 97703; 24 hours a day/7 days a week; free & confidential
YouthLine- Phone 1-877-968-8491 or text “teen2teen” to 839863. Trained peers answer the line 4pm-10pm; Trained adults answer outside of those times.
SafeOregon- call or text 1-844-4-SAFE-OR or email tip@safeoregon.com
Deschutes County Suicide Prevention Website: https://www.deschutes.org/health/page/suicide-prevention
Safe Messaging for Suicide Prevention: https://www.deschutes.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/health_services/page/589/dc_safe_messaging_final.pdf
First Step App: This app has quick links to some of the above resources: https://www.firststeporegon.org/
Many have asked how you can support Roberto during this difficult time. Below is the button for the Go Fund Me set up in his honor, to help pay for funeral expenses.
Honor Band Performs in Bend
Select 8th grade students from Central Oregon come together each year to form one band and rehearse for a couple of days before a culminating performance! There are 90 students participating this year and 12 of those are EGMS Huskies! They are performing tonight at Bend High at 7pm. Go check it out! We are SO proud of these kids!
ATTENDANCE
Donuts anyone?
Students who have ZERO absences for an entire week will be entered into a drawing to win a donut the following Monday! There will be one winner per grade, per river team! A DOZEN winners each monday! Yummy! You can do this Huskies!
WINNERS FROM 12/12 to 12/16
Deschutes:
6th: Wallace, Logan
7th: Neri, Yamila
8th: Wisell, Ali
Columbia:
6th: Povey, Kohen
7th: Smith, Sage
8th: Ortiz, Mason
McKenzie:
6th: Sanchez, Angel
7th: Rector, Eleanor
8th: Wasche, Holly
Metolius:
6th: Gregg, Kourtney
7th: Rodin, Sydnie
8th: Ebert, Annabelle
STAFF MEMBER:
Harding, Megan
Crime Scene Investigation!
6th graders in Mrs. Aguirre's social studies class had a big mystery to solve. What a fun and creative way to learn! Go Huskies!
Bullying & Harassment
EGMS has zero tolerance for bullying and harassment—regardless of where it occurs or how severe the offense. Everyone deserves to feel safe at school, and students are expected to treat each other respectfully and civilly. Students are expected to refrain from bringing online interpersonal conflicts (Instagram, Snapchat, etc.) to school; however, such events should be brought to the attention of school personnel in order to support prompt resolution. Incidents of harassment, bullying or threatening behavior will result in disciplinary action. Bullying that involves threats may result in a Risk Assessment Screener with potential referral to Deschutes County Mental Health.
What is being done at EGMS to address bullying?
2. From our investigation we will determine if it is bullying or a conflict between students.
3. Bullying is not tolerated and will be consequenced accordingly.
4. Conflicts are common among middle school students. Students are learning how to navigate relationships as much as they are learning school subjects. We like to take a restorative approach to conflicts and have students sit together with an adult and work out the issue and move on from it when it's possible. There are consequences if conflicts get inappropriate or physical in nature.
5. Counselors are teaching "bully proofing" lessons to each grade level this month.
Tech Talk Corner
How Can Unspoken Screen Rules Help in the New Year? Click the button to find out!
News from Nurse Grubb
Sports
Registration for Winter Sports-Girls Basketball and Wrestling will close on Sunday, January 8th @ 11:59pm.
7th/8th Girls Basketball and Wrestling Practice start Jan. 3rd
*7th & 8th grade Girls Basketball Practice M,T,TH,F 2:30-4:15 / NO PRACTICE ON WEDNESDAYS
*Wrestling Practice (Boys & Girls 6th, 7th & 8th grade) M,T,TH,F 2:30-4:30 / W-1:30-3:30
Students must be registered in FamilyID and have a current physical (one done in the last 2 years)
Practice schedules are on the school calendar on the school website
Game & Meet schedules will be handed out after the season starts & games/meets are confirmed
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTING EVENTS
Parents and guardians of middle school students who wish to attend high school athletic contests:
Middle school students attending high school games must attend with an adult. Middle school students need to sit in the stands during games. High schools do not have the staffing to supervise middle school students. Just like all Bend/LaPine high schools, Redmond high schools believe that middle school students can successfully achieve this goal. However, in the event that middle school students cannot stay in the stands, they will be required to sit with the adult who brought them to the game or be required to leave. Please help your student enjoy the game by monitoring them while on high school property.
Thank you,
RHS & RVHS Staff
2022-2023 EGMS Bell Schedule
Community Resources
CENTRAL OREGON COMMUNITY RESOURCES
(updated as often as possible; some resources/numbers may not be current)
Mental Health Resources:
Deschutes County Behavioral Health https://www.deschutes.org/
Information and appointments. 541-322-7500
Deschutes County Crisis Line https://www.deschutes.org/
24 hour crisis support. 541-322-7500 ext. #9 or call 9-1-1
Trevor Project https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
Suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ+. 866-488-7386 (24 hr)
Oregon Youth Line https://oregonyouthline.org/
Free, confidential teen-to-teen crisis and help line. 877-968-8491
Text: teen2teen @ 839863
Other Resources:
Central Oregon 2-1-1 www.deschutesunitedway.org
Connections to a wide-range of social services. Dial 2-1-1 or 541-389-6507
Thrive Central Oregon www.thrivecentraloregon.org
Housing, financial insecurity and other resources. 541-728-1022 (Se Habla Español)
Bethlehem Inn (24 hrs) www.bethleheminn.org
Emergency shelter and food for adults and families. 541-322-8768
Family Resource Center of Central Oregon www.frconline.org
Parenting education and support services. 541-389-5468
Latino Community Association (LCA) www.latca.org
Translation and interpretation services, employment services, 541-382-4366 (Se Habla Español)
dental and legal clinics.
NeighborImpact www.neighborimpact.org
Resources for food, energy assistance and shelter. 541-548-2380
Jericho Road https://jerichoroadofredmond.org/
Resources for food, shelter and hope. 541-699-2099
Saving Grace https://www.saving-grace.org/
Comprehensive family / domestic violence and sexual assault 541-382-9227
support services. Hotline available.
WIC (Women, Infants, Children) https://www.deschutes.org/health
Nutrition education, breastfeeding support and education, 541-617-4775
referrals and food vouchers for pregnant and postpartum women.