Springville Families,

What a two weeks we’ve had! The onset of the omicron variant has certainly kept us on our toes. While we know it's a scary time to be a parent, we also believe that school is essential for our children, and to that end, we are doing everything we can to stay open and serving your children. We appreciate how cautious families have been in monitoring their students and keeping them home when they are sick.

As you are aware, there have also been lots of changes in the District's COVID guidance in the last two weeks. We know it is very confusing and can be hard to track. Please be sure to call our office if you need any clarification or want to talk through your questions.

With the many questions and ever-changing landscape of COVID, we have been planning some time to connect with you. Starting in February, we have scheduled monthly Principal Coffee Chats on Zoom. We have scheduled some in the morning and some in the evening so that we can try to catch up with as many families as we can. Our first Coffee Chat will be February 18 at 9:00am. Zoom information will be shared in an upcoming Saga. We look forward to spending time talking with you!

Be Well,

Robin Kobrowski and Ellen Arnold

Kits sent home Friday 1/28; collection Monday 1/31

Kits sent home Wednesday 2/2; collection Thursday 2/3 (No school on 2/4)

Kits sent home Friday 2/11; collection Monday 2/14

Kits sent home Friday 2/18; collection Wednesday 2/23 (No school on 2/21 and 2/22)

For those who are signed up to test here are a few reminders:

• Please do NOT test your students if they have tested positive in the past 90 days. Keep the tests until they can test again or throw them away.
• If you do not have labels or have signed up in the past 3 weeks you may not be in OHSU's system yet. If your student takes home a test please hold onto it until we send labels home.
• Tests must be returned by 10am Monday 1/24.
• If you have lost the labels, please write your student's name and date of birth on the tube and bag.
• If you would like to sign up the forms are in the office. OHSU gets them every 2 weeks, the next collection is 1/28. Labels are sent out 1-2 weeks after that.

Good afternoon schools and school districts,

We appreciate all of your efforts during this challenging time.

With the omicron variant surging, we are seeing more students testing positive for COVID. Those students who test positive should not participate in our program for 90 days after receiving their results, as they will continue to test positive during this time period. These repeat positive tests consume testing supplies and staff time, and distract us from helping students who are healthy or are just being diagnosed with COVID for the first time. Students with a positive result do not need to opt-out of the program, but they do need to pause their participation until the 90-day period has ended.

Best,

The K-12 COVID Screening Program team at OHSU

Household Exposure
If a household member (e.g. parent) tests positive and is unable to completely isolate away from an unvaccinated student or a vaccinated student who is 18 or older and eligible for a booster but has not received it, the student must quarantine at home for 5 days following the LAST day of exposure to the infected household member. This means that if household members share a living space and have contact with each other, the student is exposed each day during the household member’s infectious period (a full 10 days). After this period is completed, the student begins their 5-day quarantine period, so the total quarantine period is 15 days. The student can attend school on Day 16. If additional household members become ill with COVID-19, the total duration of quarantine may need to be longer. If the student becomes ill at any time during the total quarantine, they should be tested. For further clarification, contact your school nurse or health assistant.

Temporary Remote Learning (TRL)
In some cases, a single elementary classroom may be transitioned to Temporary Remote Learning rather than an entire school. In order to preserve continuity of learning and reduce the spread of COVID-19, both vaccinated and unvaccinated students will be required to transition to TRL with their class.

Since the beginning of the school year, school districts across the country have suffered bus driver shortages due to a tight labor market. To this point, we’ve been able to run all our routes by utilizing other transportation employees who are licensed drivers. However, like in our community at large, we’re seeing an increased number of bus driver absences due to COVID-19.

If we have 43 or more drivers absent, we’ll need to place up to 9 routes on a 90-minute delay. The delay would apply to both morning and afternoon routes. If your student’s route is impacted, you’ll receive a ParentSquare notification by 6:00 a.m. that morning. Unfortunately, we’re unable to give you more advance notice because we often don’t have a full count of absent drivers until the morning.

Schools with affected routes will operate on a normal schedule. Students who arrive late will not be penalized, and teachers will not introduce new material or administer tests when busing is impacted.

Welcome back to school! January is a perfect time to try walking or biking to school -- for your health, your community and the planet! 1 mile of walking each way to school equals 2/3 of the daily recommended 60 minutes of physical activity. Get your steps in while decreasing the traffic and air pollution around your school and neighborhood.

• Does your school have a walking or biking school bus? If so, join in the fun. If not, find your school's preferred walk/bike route on our interactive Safe Routes to School maps.

Elementary School Maps, Middle School Maps, High School Maps

• When you're out and about, keep your EYES and EARS OPEN, phones down and heads up. Know what’s going on around you. Have fun with your active commute!

• Need more tips and inspiration? Follow the Beaverton Safe Routes to School Facebook page.

¡Decídase a ser más activo!

¡Bienvenido de nuevo a la escuela! Enero es un momento perfecto para ir caminando o en bicicleta a la escuela, ¡por su salud, su comunidad y el planeta! Caminar 1 milla de ida y vuelta a la escuela equivale a 2/3 de los 60 minutos diarios recomendados de actividad física. Sea activo mientras disminuye el tráfico y la contaminación del aire alrededor de su escuela y vecindario.

• ¿Su escuela tiene un grupo de walking o biking school bus? Si es así, únase a la diversión. Si no es así, encuentre la ruta preferida para caminar/andar en bicicleta de su escuela en nuestros mapas interactivos de Rutas Seguras a la Escuela.

Mapas de escuelas primarias, Mapas de escuelas secundarias, Mapas de escuelas preparatorias

• Cuando esté fuera de casa, mantenga la cabeza hacia arriba, los OJOS y OÍDOS ATENTOS y guarde su teléfono celular. Esté alerta a lo que sucede a su alrededor.

• ¿Necesita más consejos e inspiración? Sigan la página de Facebook de Baverton Safe Routes to School.

Safe Routes to School invites all Beaverton Elementary School Classes, Kindergarten through 5th grade, to participate in our January Art Contest. Each elementary school teacher has been sent the instructions for students to create a Safe Routes to School piece of art depicting why they choose to walk or roll to school. A winner will be chosen for each grade, K-5th across the district. Each winner will receive a prize bag with items to help safely travel to school. A grand prize winner will also receive a full day art class from Gilchrist Art Camp. All submissions are due by January 31st. Ask your teacher for more details.

Our crossing guards work hard every day to help our children get to and from school safely. Whether on school property or in the community, if you see a crossing guard, please do what they are asking you to do. It takes all of us to keep the roads safe for everyone. Please be especially mindful in school zones, at intersections and crosswalks (marked and unmarked), near bike lanes and in neighborhoods. Thank you!

All students are expected to attend school daily. If your child must be absent, please call the attendance line to let us know (503-356-2481). Some excusable reasons for absence include illness, quarantine, bereavement, family illness, inclement weather, religious instruction or emergencies. Please note that vacations are recorded as unexcused absences per District policy. In the event that a student is absent for ten consecutive days, the student will be dropped from the roll and must be reactivated upon return to school. Please make every effort to schedule your child's appointments, family vacations, music lessons, etc. around the school day and calendar. Missed instructional time, even in small increments, quickly adds up and impacts your child's overall learning.

It is very important for your child to be on time to school so that they start the day with everyone else. The school day begins promptly at 8:30am. Children who arrive after 8:30am are recorded as tardy. In order to get your child off to a good start in the morning, and prevent disruption of classes, please help your child be at school on time. If you child arrives after 8:30am, you must park and escort him/her to the office to obtain an late slip.