Message from the Superintendent
Although most things about this year have not been traditional in any sense, one tradition I hope we’ll all engage in is that of amplifying gratitude during this season. We are all experiencing so many challenges, but we do all have many things to be grateful for as well.
One thing that I’m incredibly grateful for is the strong team I have the privilege to work with here in LOSD; a team who cares deeply about the challenging work we face together each day. I cannot imagine getting through this time without them.
I hope that you and your family have a very safe Thanksgiving and you find many things to be thankful for now and always.
Thanksgiving Break Schedule
Students have off all next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. Licenced and classified teachers and staff members will be participating in professional development sessions on Monday and Tuesday as part of LOSD's annual PD November event. These two days of training help continuously improve our practices.
Interim Executive Director of Student Services
We are pleased to announce Scott Schinderle has been appointed Interim Executive Director of Student Services for LOSD.
Scott will oversee the Student Services department, which provides a wide range of support and services for academic, mental and physical health, and social-emotional wellbeing. These services support all students in the district, including those with atypical learning styles and students receiving special education services. In this position, Scott will also serve as part of the superintendent’s executive leadership team.
Scott is recognized for his courage, collaboration and integrity, working steadfast in ensuring each student receives a quality education and working collaboratively with students, families and staff to make decisions as a community. He has built and maintained the trust of the Lake Grove Elementary learning community, and we are looking forward to sharing his leadership with all in the district. We will be appointing an interim principal who will serve Lake Grove throughout the rest of this school year.
Scott brings extensive experience and knowledge to his new position with LOSD. He is currently serving as principal of Lake Grove Elementary, a learning community that includes students in our special education Access program. Prior to coming to LOSD, Scott served as Executive Director of Student Services for Hillsboro School District, Special Education Facilitator for Beaverton School District and a Special Education Teacher for Sherwood School District.
Scott holds a bachelor’s of science degree in special education and general education from Central Michigan University, and a master’s of science in education from Portland State University.
Scott is replacing Patrick Tomblin, who is retiring in February. LOSD will also be conducting a search to fill the principal position at Lake Grove Elementary.
Please join in welcoming Scott to his new position.
American Indian Heritage Month, Land Acknowledgement Ad Hoc Committee
LOSD schools are located on the ancestral homelands of the Clackamas Chinook [Cha-nook] and Tualatin Kalapuya [Cal-a-poo-yah] peoples, as well as other Indigenous peoples who made their homes along the Willamette and Tualatin rivers, and Waluga Lake, also known as Oswego Lake. We acknowledge that these tribes were subjected to disease, death, and displacement as a result of the westward expansion by European colonists. We honor the rich history, culture, and spiritual practices that are tied to this land, as well as the resilience of the descendents of these and other native communities, some of whom we are fortunate to learn with and teach alongside in our schools, and who live in Lake Oswego.
We respect and are grateful to the indigenous stewards of this land. The Lake Oswego School Board is creating an ad-hoc committee to study how and in what form LOSD acknowledges the land that it occupies throughout the City of Lake Oswego and parts of Clackamas, Washington, and Multnomah counties.
Please click here if you are interested in serving on the ad-hoc committee. Interest form is due by Monday, Dec. 7.
School Board Meeting TUESDAY, Dec. 1
All are welcome to observe the meeting remotely.
Tuesday, Dec. 1
Regular Session 6 p.m.
The agenda will be posted on district website prior to the meeting.
You can observe the meeting and listen to the discussion remotely in the same way you can with other board meetings. Simply click on the "View Live" link on losdschools.org. You can watch the meeting live or a recording afterwards.
Procedures for providing public testimony: The Board of Education values public input. If you wish to comment on an agenda item or another item not on the agenda, please submit your comments by 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020 by emailing losdschoolboard@loswego.k12.or.us. IMPORTANT: Please type “12/1/20 Testimony” in the subject line and include your full name in the body of the email. Names of patrons providing input will be read during the meeting and their written testimony will be posted online under the agenda item for which their testimony pertains to. For testimony received after the 12:00 noon deadline, names of patrons will not be read during the meeting, however, their testimony will be posted online at the conclusion of the meeting in accordance with the aforementioned procedures.
Bond Accountability Committee Meeting
Thursday, Dec. 3
4-6 p.m.
Meeting link will be posted prior to the meeting on the district meeting and events calendar.
Meal Pickup Restarting Nov. 30
LOSD grab-and-go pickups are canceled on Monday, Nov. 23 and Thursday, Nov. 26 while students are out on Thanksgiving break. LOSD's regular grab-and-go meal distribution (Mondays and Thursdays) will resume on Monday, Nov. 30.
The USDA waiver has been extended through the end of the school year, enabling LOSD to provide FREE meals to all children ages 0-18. No sign-ups are required.
For more information about LOSD meals, please visit Food Services on the district website.
Recognizing Champions for Children
The Superintendent's Champions for Children recognizes teachers and staff who are going above and beyond for students. Following are our first four recipients of the recognition.
Tori Hamachek, fifth grade teacher at Forest Hills, created extra special bags of books, confetti and special notes and personally delivered them to each student, of course wearing a mask and watching distance.
Sarah Mock, AP Environmental Science teacher at Lakeridge High School, has given students hands-on experiences, creating at-home labs for an interactive project to gain information about soil microbial health all around Lake Oswego. Her class will use the data to figure out how much carbon our soil is holding, and how we can encourage it to hold more to help counter global warming.
Heather Bryant, sixth grade teacher at Lake Oswego Middle School, has created time daily for meaningful small and large group discussions and is an example of an educator striving to provide a safe place for all voices. One student wrote in the end-of-quarter reflection, "I really enjoyed how inclusive the class is and that everyone respects my opinions and also shares their opinions.”
Christin Chambless of Lakeridge Middle School takes to heart in creating connections with and for students. She has held one-on-one conferences with each of her students and hosted virtual lunch clubs for students to meet together, spending time with students they know and also making new friends who they might never have connected with in person.
Thank you for modeling going above and beyond to be champions for children.
Rotary's SASEE Award Nominations Open
Lake Oswego Rotary Club is seeking nominees for this year's SASEE Awards, which honor service above self in educational excellence.
Do you know an educator, support staff member, student or citizen who demonstrates a commitment to education through work, projects and activities that emphasize "service above self?" LO Rotary Club wants to recognize and support the people who make education in Lake Oswego exceptional.
Please click here to learn more and nominate someone.
LO Rotary Club awards thousands of dollars in cash and scholarships in several SASEE categories. In each case, SASEE Award recipients have the opportunity to “pay it forward” by passing their monetary award on to their school or project.
- Teachers, administrators and support staff: $1,000 for their school or project
- Students: $1,000 for their school or project
- Citizens: $2,500 scholarships awarded in their names to students who also demonstrate "service above self"
Info Sessions: iReady Diagnostic Assessments
LOSD is partnering with iReady to host an information session for parents and guardians to learn more about the diagnostic assessments being piloted by LOSD this year.
Thursday, Dec. 3
Grades K-5 Session: 4:30-5:00 p.m.
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://cainc.zoom.us/j/97537799714?pwd=YklPYnhua3VIa2NjS0ROaS91ZVMzQT09
Passcode: LakeOswego
Thursday, Dec. 3
Grades 6-8 Session: 5:15-5:45 p.m.
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://cainc.zoom.us/j/97537799714?pwd=YklPYnhua3VIa2NjS0ROaS91ZVMzQT09
Passcode: LakeOswego
Both sessions will be recorded and posted on the district website under Teaching & Learning Assessments and Intervention Pilots. Visit the site to learn more about iReady.
The iReady Diagnostic can help teachers determine what students already know and what they still need to learn so we can plan how to teach them best. This fall, and two additional times later in the school year, LOSD students in grades K-8 will be participating in iReady math and reading diagnostic assessments.
State Education Budget Outlook Update
The quarterly state revenue forecast released earlier this week showed modest growth over the September forecast, but again noted the state budget in the next biennium (2021-2023) will face significant financial challenges. While confidence has increased that state revenues for the balance of this 2019-21 biennium will be maintained, the forecast was completed before Governor Brown’s current freeze was announced; the extent and duration of the current freeze may reduce the March revenue forecast which will be released in mid-February 2021.
Preliminary estimates indicate state revenues in 2021-23 will be almost $1 billion short of keeping up with rising costs and population growth. If state shortfalls are made proportional to current state allocations, that would indicate a roughly $400 million shortfall in the State School Fund allocation relative to current service levels in the 2021-23 biennium.
For LOSD, as a preliminary estimate, this would translate into more than $2 million in additional annual operating deficits for the district’s General Fund, which would be on top of current operating deficits of roughly $2 million per year, assuming current service levels are maintained. This may require significant LOSD cost reductions at least mid-way through the next biennium, possibly sooner, especially if enrollment does not return to pre-pandemic levels by the start of the 2021-22 school year.
The Governor’s proposed 2021-23 budget will be released in roughly three weeks, at which time we will get our first look at how the Governor will propose a balanced budget to meet all of the state’s program obligations in the next biennium.
LOSD Covid-19 Case Dashboard
To clarify, the dashboard only has tally marks -- no identifying information is shared.
The LOSD dashboard will be updated daily. Please click here to view the dashboard on the district website. Please note that known close contacts and those needing to quarantine will have been notified by county public health, a district nurse and/or the school administrator before the dashboard is updated. In other words, if you see a new case count and have not been notified, you are not considered exposed.
District Website Under Construction
The district website www.losdschools.org has been switched over to an updated platform for improved functionality and we are currently reprogramming each page. During this time, you can access information on the site, but information may look different or links could be under construction. Thanks in advance for your patience during the process.
Weather Event Communications
Why do we need to notify during comprehensive distance learning? Because many of our staff, teachers and administrators are working from the school buildings, and many students are coming in for limited in-person instruction. Alerts will share information and plans for that day.
Download the Lake Oswego Schools mobile app and enable push notifications to receive important alerts and emergency notifications. Emergency information sent via @LOSD_Proud Twitter will also be sent as push notifications.
During setup, be sure to follow Lake Oswego Schools and the schools your students attend to receive district-level and school notifications. (Go to Settings, Follow schools)
3 Ws: Watch Distance, Wear Mask, Wash Hands
Local Testing Sites for Covid-19
For testing Covid-19 sites in our area, please click on the county:
Washington County COVID-19 Testing Sites
Multnomah County COVID-19 Testing Sites
Oregon Health Authority has also released a webpage that allows users to put in their address or zip code to find the nearest testing site. Click here to find a testing site near you
SafeOregon
Parents who have concerns about a student’s well-being are encouraged to reach out to their principal, and to maintain strong lines of communication and partnership between students, families, staff, and other resources.
SafeOregon is also an effective way to report a tip regarding safety threats or potential acts of violence to our students or schools.
(Students should also be aware that intentionally providing a false report is a serious offense.)
Lake Oswego School District
Email: info@loswego.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.losdschools.org
Location: 2455 Country Club Road, Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 534-2000
Facebook: facebook.com/LOSDProud
Twitter: @LOSD_Proud
Thanksgiving Break Schedule
Students have off next week in honor of Thanksgiving holiday.
Licensed and classified teaching staff will be in professional development sessions on Monday and Tuesday as part of LOSD's PD November event. These two days help continuously improve our teaching and learning practices.