Black Bear Bits

10/12: No School - Inservice Day

10/18: PTA Meeting 7:00 p.m.

10/19: School Picture Day

10/20: Art Lit Meeting 6:30-7:30 p.m.

10/22: Garden Work Party 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.

10/22-23: Art in the Burbs! 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Tigard High School)

10/28: Harvest Night Movie Night 5:00 - 7:30 p.m.

10:31-11/4: Fun Run Spirit Week

11:4: Fun Run

• Message from the Principal
• Special Parking Message
• Crosswalk Safety
• Verifying Student Information Online
• First Grade Music "Informances"
• Welcome Den Leaders!
• Walk+Roll to School - Photos!
• Farm-to-School Lunches - Photos!
• Now hiring! TEAF Coordinator
• Now Accepting Memory Book Photos
• Art in the Burbs is Back!
• Volunteering at Tualatin Elementary
• Important Links

Black Bear Families,

We had a busy week here at Tualatin Elementary. Actually, I should write that we had a busy Wednesday! Our Walk + Roll event started our day, with our wonderful PTA providing special prizes and treats for our students in the morning. Kids shared how they got to school by putting rocks in a bucket, and received pencils, stickers, activity books and special drinks to celebrate our day. One family shared that they began their walk at Ibach Park!

On that same day, we had KOIN-6 news visiting to celebrate our Farm to School meal program. That day, our students were treated to locally produced food. Some of the vendors who produced the food came to be interviewed. We ended up having nine students that came down to eat lunch and get filmed. They represented our school so well!

Here is the link for the story: Farm to School Lunches

One final note: We have designated disability parking spaces in our front and rear parking lots. Lately, vehicles with no visible disability parking permit are using those spaces during afternoon pickup. One of our families has been unable to access these spots because of this. I ask that you leave those spots open all day for our families who need them.

Thank you, and have a great weekend!

Working with you for our kids,

Jim Hiller

We have designated disability parking spaces in our front and back parking lots. Lately, vehicles with no visible disability parking permit are using those spaces during afternoon pickup. One of our families has been unable to access these spots because of this. We ask that you leave those spots open all day for our families who need them. It is unlawful for anyone to park in a disability parking spot without a conspicuously placed parking permit. Thanks for modeling respectful behavior to our students.

Now that the weather is changing and we are seeing fog in the morning, it's more important than ever to be watchful of students walking to school. We've had some close calls in our crosswalks--both with students and our staff helpers. We ask that you come to a complete stop at the crosswalks and wait until the individuals crossing are safely and completely through the crosswalk before continuing your drive.

Parents, crosswalk staff arrive at the crosswalk at 7:45. Please consider waiting until they are in position before crossing, if possible.

Thank you for recommitting yourself to student safety and following all safety laws in the school zone.

Each October, TTSD asks families to perform an online Student Verification. Through this process, parents are asked to verify and update, if necessary, contact information for parents and emergency contacts, student health conditions, and other information that may have changed since online registration. Verification will be open through Friday, October 14. You should choose the 2022-2023 Verify Student Information when you log in. Please refer to the knowledgebase article below for more clarification.

Verifying Student & Parent Information Online

Verificación de la Información del Estudiante y de los Padres en Línea

Each year, our students have highly-anticipated musical performances for families. Covid caused some adjustments and cancellations, but we are thrilled to be able to have some limited performances this year. First grade parents--Mrs. Hinkle will be sending home invitations on Thursday, October 13, so be sure to check your student's backpack.

Our Den Leader Program is up and running thanks to the hard work of our Dean of Students, Lisa Fetherston (who is also the advisor). Our Den Leaders are 5th grade students who have volunteered to be student leaders at Tualatin Elementary. They will perform a variety of tasks around the school--helping at activities and events, presenting to classes, helping teachers and the office, and being good role models to our school community.

Den Leaders for this term are:

• Livingston's class: Kadence, Fletcher, Annie, Abby, Maya, Jazlyn, Reagan, Landon, Isla, Camila
• Michaud's class: Sophia, Jacob, Ayla, Cora, Athziri, Karla, Jayda, Michelle, Kaitlyn, Adelynn
• Wharff's class: Acacia, Jackson, Champ, Jazlynn, Amira, Kevin, Darcy, Kayli, Claire, Timmy, Yael

On Wed, Oct 5th, we had a hugely successful Walk+Roll to School day! We had students on bikes and tandem bikes, roller blades and skates, scooters and skateboards. They walked, skipped, and ran to school, and they took the bus to school. Thanks to everyone who was able to join us in this fun day. We look forward to our Spring Walk+Roll to School day and hope we have even more families join us!

A special thanks to the Tualatin Elementary PTA who worked tirelessly with Lisa Fetherston and

Hendrik Broekelschen from the City of Tigard in making this day so successful.

October is National Farm to School Month, and Oregon students are eating healthy and delicious foods for breakfast and lunch. This is thanks to hundreds of farmers, fishers and ranchers throughout Oregon. Tualatin Elementary was featured in this story on Koin6 News Farm to School Lunches

We are hiring a TEAF Coordinator to run the program for the 2022-2023 school year and into the future!

Tualatin Elementary Arts Foundation (TEAF) is a school enrichment program with emphasis on the arts, STEM, academics, and physical fitness. It is designed to provide our students with a variety of artistic, academic, recreational classes and clubs. This year there are 2 terms of classes during the school year (Winter and Spring) that in the past have included classes like chess club, hip hop, soccer, experiential science classes, ukulele, choir, Make a Music Video, Tae Kwon Do, gardening, ceramics, yoga, crafts.

If you think you might be interested in this rare opportunity, apply by using the job posting. If you have questions, feel free to email TEAFprogram@gmail.com.

What is a Memory Book you ask!?!? Our Memory Book is our school's yearbook that is put together by our amazing parent volunteers. It gives a full color snapshot of all the school happenings from the first day of school through April. This year, like the last two years, we invite all parents, staff and volunteers to submit photos to potentially be used in the memory book.

We are now accepting the following photos:

First Day of School - deadline is October 28th

NEW Walk & Roll to School - deadline is also October 28th

Are you volunteering...document your time in the school and send us your pictures.

Please send your photo submissions to tualatinschoolphotos@gmail.com AND label with the following information: student's grade, teacher's name, student's first and last name and the name of the activity, i.e. 2nd grade, Fossati, John Smith, First Day of School.

Have other memory book questions, please reach out to Ashley Young at tualatinememorybook@gmail.com. Sales won't begin until after the New Year.

Join us on October 22-23 from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. for Art in the Burbs. We'll be back at Tigard High School this year (9000 SW Durham Rd, Tigard) with local artisans, food trucks, and incredible raffle baskets! Suggested donation for entry is $2 and you'll be issued a free raffle ticket for that donation!

This popular art show, hosted by the Foundation for Tigard Tualatin Schools, is a fun way to get a head start on gift buying AND raise important dollars for the arts programs in each of our schools. 20% of artist sales will be used to support art programs in all of our 16 schools in the Tigard-Tualatin School District!

Please consider volunteering for the event! For more information, go to https://artintheburbs.org

We love our volunteers and are excited to welcome you back into the building this year! To volunteer at Tualatin, please follow the steps below. When your application is completed, you'll receive an email from the front office and you'll be able to schedule volunteer time at the school.

All volunteers must complete the checklist below to volunteer

• Complete a background check at: www.helpcounter.net/ttsd. (This needs to be renewed every three years.)
• Be vaccinated for COVID-19. Please provide vaccine documentation using the following link-TTSD Volunteer Vaccination Documentation or send a copy/photo of your card to the school office (athorderson@ttsd.k12.or.us)
• OR If you have a vaccination exception, please fill out the form that applies to you- Religious or Medical and submit to the following link- TTSD Volunteer Exception Documentation

• When the above has been completed, contact me (athorderson@ttsd.k12.or.us or 503-431-4800) and I will send you links to the training materials.

Masks will be optional in the building for volunteers that are vaccinated. We ask that if you are sick or have any symptoms, that you postpone your volunteering until you are well.

Volunteers with a vaccine exception on file will be required to:

• Wear a mask while on TTSD property OR;

• Be given a rapid test at the time and location of their volunteer assignment.

Please contact Amanda Thorderson (athorderson@ttsd.k12.or.us or 503-431-4800) with any questions.

Email: tualatinoffice@ttsd.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.ttsdschools.org/tualatin
Location: 20405 SW 95th Ave
Phone: 503-431-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TualatinElementaryGarden/
Twitter: @Tualatin_ES