The Lumberjack Edge
Cedar Mill Elementary School
September 28, 2018
Dear Cedar Mill Community,
I am currently reading Collaborative Leadership - Six Influences That Matter Most by Peter DeWitt. DeWitt has worked closely with educational researcher John Hattie (Visible Learning) and describes six influences that have the most impact on students learning.
- Instructional Leadership puts focus on learning, bringing stakeholders together in order to keep that focus.
- Collective Teacher Efficacy values each stakeholder’s strength in a school, bringing staff together to maximize those strengths as they align to student learning and growth.
- Assessment Capable Learners are students who can assess their own learning, take risks, reflect on and set goals, and are focused more on growth than achievement.
- Professional Development is most beneficial when it is ongoing and focuses on learning and aligned with goals of teachers and the school community.
- Feedback fosters growth in stakeholders and themselves.
- Family Engagement allows opportunities for parents to know what changes are happening in the school and feel they have a voice.
These are areas where Cedar Mill staff will also focus our learning together as we aim to collectively support student learning and growth for all students. We look forward to further engaging families. More information to come on ways to further partner with you!
Be on the lookout for Parent-Teacher Conference sign-ups in the next week. Conferences will take place on October 24th and 25th, with no school for students on October 25th and 26th.
Our first professional development with Teachers College staff developers are scheduled for October 17th and 18th for kinder, first and second grade teachers and November 5th for grades 3-5. We are excited for this opportunity to further our practice in the area of literacy.
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Amy Chamberlain, Principal
In This Issue
- Upcoming Events
- BSD Parent Resources
- Gotcha Drawing
- Early Release Collaboration Updates
- Be There. Get There.
- Independence in the Cafeteria
- Thank You!
- Fun Run Reminders - Pledges due on Wednesday!
- Music Minute
- Talented and Gifted
- BSD Learning Options
- Meal Benefits Expire on October 8th
- Safe Routes to School-Walk and Roll to School on October 10th
- Safety is a Priority
- Community Flyers and After School Enrichment Opportunities
- PTC-Parent Teacher Club
Attachments:
- How to Update Your Volunteer Profile
- Options Programs Open House Information
- Washington County Health & Human Services Letter on Influenza, Norovirus & Whooping Cough
- T-Shirt and Sweatshirt Order Form
Upcoming Events
October
2nd: Lapping Lumberjacks
3rd: Gotcha Store
3rd: Early Release
4th: Lapping Lumberjacks
4th: T-Shirt & Sweatshirt Order Forms Due
5th: Lumberjack Spirit Day
8th: 1st Grade to Apple Orchard
9th: Lapping Lumerjacks
9th: PTC @6:45pm
10th: Walk and Roll to School
10th: Early Release
11th: Lapping Lumberjacks
12th: Picture Day
15th/16th: 2nd Grade to WA County Museum
16th: Lapping Lumberjacks
16th: District-wide Earthquake Drill
17th: Gotcha Store
17th: Early Release
18th: Lapping Lumberjacks
19th: Lumberjack Spirit Day
19th: Treats and Talk (rescheduled)
19th: Passport Testing
23rd: Lapping Lumberjacks
24th: Vision Screening
24th: PM Conferences
25th: Conferences All Day - No School for Students
26th: No School for Students
Gotcha Drawing
The following students were caught being safe, kind, and/or respectful this week. Congratulations for showing your Lumberjack Pride!
Amalia (Weber)
Olivia (Frainey)
Shaym (Thacker)
Jackson (Nichols)
Layla (Weber)
Megahn (Weber)
Samatha (Nichols)
Colleen (Frainey)
Camille (Weber)
Wesley (Weber)
Early Release Collaboration Updates
- Various teachers in grades K-3 are engaging in a book study around writing, using Ralph Fletcher's Joy Write, with the aim to further collaborate around teaching practices following their study.
- Third Grade teachers met as team to thin slice writing samples to inform their next teaching points. Thin Slicing is a method to quickly determine patterns of strengths.
- Fourth and Fifth grade teams spent time setting up the Notability app on their iPads as a tool to record goals and conferring notes for students.
- Mrs. Cole and Mrs. Thom collaborated on ways to integrate music and technology.
These are just a few examples of how teachers are working together to improve their practice. Look for updates in future newsletters!
When it comes to attendance, every day matters. According to the Oregon Department of Education, more than one in six students in chronically absent. Chronic absenteeism means a student misses 10% or more school days. That’s about two days per month.
Regular attendance will help children do well in elementary school, secondary school, college and at work. According to the Attendance Works Organization, by 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of school. By 9th grade, regular and high attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.
Attendance habits are set the very first week of the school year, so please start building good attendance habits early. As a parent, you can help by establishing a regular bedtime and morning routine. You can also avoid medical appointments during school hours, as well as extended trips when school is in session. We will be sharing more helpful tips and information throughout the school year.
Independence in the Cafeteria
Encouraging independence helps children feel confident and secure in making decisions. Giving students opportunities to practice opening containers at home transfers over to independence at school in the cafeteria as well.
Thank You!
Thank you to co-chairs Lee Carson and Kylan Pimley for all their work in coordinating another successful Fun Run! Credit must also be given to the numerous volunteers who helped set up, count laps, pass out Otter Pops, clean up at the end of the day, as well as many more tasks. Appreciation is also given to the corporate sponsors and the many family members and friends who helped contribute to the fundraiser as well. THANK YOU, Everyone!
Lumberjack families,
We are incredibly proud of our runners at the Fun Run last Friday! The sense of school spirit from the whole community was overwhelming and the kids really felt the love! A huge thank you to all the volunteers and visitors!
We are near our $50K goal! You have until THIS Wednesday, October 3rd! to submit your pledges at www.pledgestar.com/cedarmill. No donation is too small. Even just a walk to a neighbor's house could get us closer to our goal! If you need a paper pledge form, you can print it here: http://www.cedarmillptc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/FR-PLEDGE-FORM-2018.docx.pdf
There is ONE last pizza party to be awarded to the class with the class with the most dollars raised! Deadline is Wednesday, October 3rd!
Matching funds are very important. We understand it's an additional step and we appreciate your hard work to make it happen. If you're an Intel family, here is a simple step by step guide to submit your Pledgestar receipt for matching funds to the Cedar Mill PTC!
Thank you all again for all continued your support for our students at Cedar Mill.
For questions about the Fun Run, contact funrun@cedarmillptc.org.
With gratitude,
Lee Carson & Kylan Pimley
Fun Run Committee Co-chairs
Music Minute
Did you know, before 1900, jumping rope was mainly a competitive sport for boys! They did tricks, and jumped in endurance challenges. By the time the 1920’s rolled around, girls took up the sport, and added rhymes. Jumping rope became more cooperative. Nowadays, both boys and girls jump rope, and some even join jump rope teams and enter competitions.
You might have noticed more jump rope activity going on around Cedar Mill lately. Well, in 2nd-4th grade music classes, we’ve been learning about playground songs and rhymes, and Ms. Cole has been writing out a few of the jump rope rhymes for students to practice on the playground. One of our favorites in class is, “Miss Lucy Had a Baby.” Two children hold the ends of a long jump rope and twirl it while a 3rd child jumps to the rhyme. We’re hoping to progress to “jumping in” and “jumping out” of the twirling rope. As we improve, we hope to have up to 4 children jumping all at once! Keeping a steady beat is a very important music skill, and jumping rope is one way we can learn to internalize that beat!
TAG (Talented and Gifted)
Every year students are considered for Talented and Gifted services in the Beaverton School District. These services are provided by your child's classroom teacher(s). If you think your child might qualify, you may wish to complete the Parent Information Form that is available in our school’s office. Completing this form gives our school TAG committee more information about your child, but it is not required. All qualified students will be considered regardless of its completion.
Oregon law and District policy define gifted students as those who score at or above the 97th percentile on a standardized, nationally-normed test of mental ability and/or academic achievement. Behavioral, learning, and/or performance information is also considered before a student is identified for TAG services.
The Parent Information Form must be completed and returned to our school’s TAG facilitator, Sally Weber, or the school’s office by October 26, 2018.
Beaverton School District Learning Option Schools Open House Schedule for the 2019-20 School Year
The Beaverton School District will begin accepting applications for Learning Options Schools for the 2019-20 school year on October 23, 2018. In order for you to determine if an option school would be best for your student, a series of open houses will be held at option schools. You are encouraged to attend these presentations with your student to gather information about the schools and programs. More information about Learning Options click the button below. Additional information about open houses is available in the attachment to this newsletter. Applications will be accepted until 4:00 p.m. on December 7, 2018. Applications received after that will be considered on a space available basis.
Meal Benefits expire on Monday, October 8th, 2018!
TIME TO REAPPLY!
Families who are currently receiving meal benefits, who have not yet applied for meal benefits for the 2018-2019 school year, must reapply before October 8th to continue to receive free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch for their children. Unless the Meal Benefits Office has received and approved an Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals by 10/08/18, meals will be charged at full price as shown below:
Breakfast: Elementary School $1.45 - Middle School $1.50 - High School $1.60
Lunch: Elementary School $3.05 - Middle School $3.25 - High School $3.60
Please complete an application for Free and Reduced Price Meals right away if you haven’t yet applied for the 2018-2019 school year. Applications are available in school cafeterias and school offices.
If you’d rather complete an application online, go to www.schoolcafe.com.
Please call the Meal Benefits Office at (503) 356-3957 if you have questions or need assistance in completing a new application. I’m here to help!
Laurie Bishop
(503)356-3957 NS-MealBenefits@beaverton.k12.or.us
Walk + Roll to School Day on October 10, 2018 promotes healthy transportation choices and being active before, during and after school. It’s great for our kids and it’s great for the community. Why?
- More walking, biking and taking the bus will reduce traffic congestion near schools.
- Less traffic congestion means increased community traffic safety.
- More walking and rolling means increased physical activity.
- It’s FUN!!
Mark your calendars and get ready to walk or roll to school on October 10th!
School Safety is a Priority
Maintaining a safe school environment is a priority of the Beaverton School District. Many factors are critical to fostering a “Safe School Climate”. A critical ingredient in creating a safer school environment is classroom response to an incident at school. Weather events, fire, accidents, intruders and other threats to student safety are scenarios that are planned and trained for by students, teachers, staff and administration, in partnership with our first responders.
The Beaverton School District, in collaboration with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO), Beaverton Police (BPD) and Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue (TVFR), has implemented the Standard Response Protocol (SRP).
The SRP is not based on one individual possible scenario but on the response to any given scenario. One large benefit of the SRP is the standard language used by all responders; this includes students, parents, staff and first responders. The protocol also allows for a predictable series of actions as an event unfolds.
The SRP is based upon four actions: Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate and Shelter. Each has specific staff and student directives that are unique to the action.
Do you know the difference between a Lockout and a Lockdown? Watch the following video to find out! https://youtu.be/jkhAfTtYRTE
Cedar Mill PTC
Cedar Mill Elementary School
Email: amy_chamberlain@beaverton.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/schools/cedar-mill/
Location: 10265 NW Cornell Rd, Portland, OR, United States
Phone: 503.356.2050