
Weekly Update
January 13, 2023
Information in this Update:
- Important Dates
- HROA Staff Highlight: NEW TEACHER/DIGITAL TECH COACH, CHRIS DIRKS
- Family Engagement Resources: Affirmation Cards
- ARTIST IN RESIDENCE COMING TO HROA JANUARY 25th! Info below
- HROA Community Enrichment - Swimming in January & Makers Space in January
- Are you BILINGUAL? You can earn high school credit!
- State Testing Opt Out Forms
- Resources (check out the yellow buttons near the bottom of the page)
Upcoming Dates
Monday, January 16th: No School - Holiday Observed
Monday, January 30th: No School - Teacher Inservice Day
March 16th: END OF TRIMESTER 2
March 17th: No School - Teacher Grading Day
March 20th: - March 24th: Spring Break
March 27th: START OF TRIMESTER 3
Meet HROA's NEW Digital Tech Coach & HS Math Support Teacher
Christopher Dirks
I have been teaching for 8 years in High School math and Alternative Education. Most currently, I have taught Geometry and Algebra 1. I am excited to be part of the HROA team and support through teaching and digital technology. This program allows for a diverse group of learners to be successful and I look forward to meeting and working with all of them!
I am from the Hood River area and attended Parkdale Elementary, Wy'east Middle School, and HRVHS. I attended Linfield University and was lucky enough to get a job back in the valley right after school. My wife, Ellie, works for Mid Columbia Children's Council and is the health and nutrition manager for all of the local Head Start programs. Our son Marcus is almost 2 years old and loves to be outside in the sunshine playing in the water!
Families First!
HROA Family Engagement Specialist, Jovita Robledo - Connecting HROA Families
This week - Family Activity Idea: Affirmation Cards for Kids
Click on the link to find a set of Affirmation Cards as a resource for our HROA students and their families.
Interested in seeing all the cards? Check out the resource on this site childhood 101
Artist in Residence Coming to HROA!
Calling all HROA students!
We invite you to work with an acclaimed artist and art teacher, Allison Bell Fox.
When: Wednesday January 25th, Feb 1st, 8th and 15th.
Elementary students: 9am-10am
Middle School students 10am-12pm
High school students: 12pm-2pm
We will be creating a collaborative art piece that will be installed in the building.
Students can also create their own individual painted silk piece.
Middle Schoolers - We would LOVE to see you at HROA Enrichment Group
Space Camp - Mission to the Moon!
This will be at least an 8 week Enrichment with Ms. A. (6th-8th graders) beginning on Thursday, January 13, 2023 from 9-10 AM. Each week we will work on one of 8 mission activities that will explore NASA, the moon, what it's like to be an astronaut, and other activities. It will focus on teamwork, learning about careers, learning science and engineering, and communication. It should be lots of fun! Please let Ms. A. know if your 6th-8th grader would like to participate.
January
Swim Lessons: 1/20 & 1/27
Learn to swim or improve your swimming skills!
Groups will be formed based on your ability level.
Classes taught by Hood River Valley Park and Recreation Swim Instructors
When: January 6th, 13, 20, 27
Where: Hood River Pool
1610 May Street.
Different times for different age groups
K-3rd graders- | 1:00pm - 1:30pm
4-7th graders | 1:30pm - 2pm
8-12th graders | 2:00pm - 2:30pm
Waiting for a sibling who is in a lesson?
We will have an art activity set up in the party room.
February
Maker Club February 3,10, 17, 24th
Have fun and be creative! Learn skills used by engineers and designers!
3rd through 6th Grader: 11:30-1 pm at the HROA Building
7th-12th graders: 1:15 to 2:45 at the HROA Building
High School Science Students: Earn Special Lesson Credit for participating!
February 10
Backpack Challenge
Special Guest: James Andreassen, Product Graphic Designer for Slingshot Sports. Work with a professional backpack designer!
Focus on the design thinking experience, going through
empathizing, brainstorming, getting feedback, prototyping, and iiteration.
Are you Bilingual?
Hello Bilingual or Multilingual High School Students!
If you speak a language other than English fluently, did you know that you can receive up to 2 high school credits by taking a test and showing your knowledge of your second language?
Please sign up for a meeting with Ms. Amanda to take the test in order to receive credit. You will need to be proctored in person, so plan to be in the building for anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour. When you sign up for a meeting with Amanda, put down that you are scheduling to take the "BYU FLATS Test".
Here is the link to schedule: https://calendly.com/amanda-phillips-hroa/hour-meeting-mon-tue-thurs-fri
2023 STATE TESTING Opting Out INFORMATION
Districts and public charter schools must provide parents with the ODE-developed annual notice at the beginning of each school year. School districts and public charter schools must use the 30-day notice and opt-out form provided by ODE to communicate with all parents about state testing requirements and their right to opt-out for high school students by December 4, 2022 and for students in Grades 3-8 by February 4, 2023.
Forms for opting out of the state testing:
ENGLISH FORM
https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/Documents/Annual_Notice_English.pdf
SPANISH FORM
https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/Documents/Annual_Notice_Spanish.pdf
HROA Building Hours
Monday - Thursday: 8:00am - 4:00pm
Friday: 8:00am - 3:00pm