![page background](https://cdn.smore.com/u/backgrounds/custom_bg-59ad4f2cc724b60011b296ab-b6be71632566.jpg)
Dragon News
Findley Elementary School
December 3, 2021
Message from the Principal
Greetings Findley Community,
What a busy time of year! This week we implemented new indoor procedures and it could not have gone better. Students have quickly adjusted to eating while sitting on the floor, and in most cases the trays are keeping our carpets free of spills. I would like to say THANK YOU to our lunch time volunteers. It doesn't work without you, and we are so appreciative of your help and support. I'll be setting up new sign-ups for 2022 the week before we break for the Winter Holiday, thank you in advance for signing up to help!
We have some of the most generous families around. Our Giving Tree program started Monday and we only have handful of STARS left. Thank you for your generosity, kindness and care for others in our community. Other ways to give this season include our Sock and Underwear Drive and our Canned Food Drive. Both running through December 16.
Lastly, you may have read in the most BSD Covid Update, masks are no longer required outdoors on school property. This includes during arrival, dismissal, and recess. Teachers are talking to students about how to safely store their masks on their person if they chose to take them off during while outside. Additionally, we are having conversations about respecting others' decisions about mask wearing when outside. We want all our students to feel safe and respected while they are here in our care.
Enjoy the weekend~
Sherry Marsh, Ed.D.
Principal
Giving Tree Information
Please join us as Findley spreads joy to local families during this holiday season. We will be collecting gifts and toys for families in need.
When: December 1st- December 14th
Who: Anyone can participate!
How: Select a “star” from the Giving Tree in the main office.
Where: Return wrapped items to Findley by December 14th 3pm
This is a special opportunity for our school community to once again give back and support some wonderful families during the holiday season.
Read about how you can help without coming into the school. This link also downloads the form needed for our student to get a star off the tree.
Volunteering
You must be cleared and have a valid COVID Vaccine card on file in order to be in the classroom with students.
Here is the link in order to complete the background check.
NEEDED FOR OUR HEALTH ROOM
Please drop any clean items by the office between 8am and 3:30pm daily.
Thanks
MEET OUR BEHAVIOR HEALTH & WELLNESS TEAM
At Findley we are excited to announce and have you meet our Behavioral Health and Wellness Team. This team is a multi-disciplinary school based team that will receive referrals from staff or requests from parents and families regarding students in need of behavioral health and wellness supports in order to successfully engage in school. We are a team of 10 support staff who have experience working with students and families. We will profile 2 team members each week so you know who we are and the services we provide. You are welcome to reach out to any member of the team for support.
This week we’d like you to meet our Academic Coach and School Nurse.
Academic Coach-Shannon Bauck
Hello everyone!
My name is Shannon Bauck, and I am the Academic Coach at Findley. I helped open Findley in 1997 and have only been away for a small break with my twin girls who are now in college! Findley has always been a place near and dear to my heart. I have worn many hats at Findley from classroom teacher, extra support, OBOB coach, and reading specialist. Currently, the many hats I wear are reading specialist, dyslexia support, TAG coordinator, and a member of our Behavior Health & Wellness team. I enjoy working with teachers and students to help them succeed in all areas of literacy. I work with teachers to implement new curriculum and meet with students for extra support or just to recommend some great books! Please feel free to reach out if you need anything! shannon_bauck@beaverton.k12.or.us
School Nurse-Hunter Rudd
Howdy Findley! My name is Hunter Rudd and I’m the school nurse for Findley Elementary this year. Though this is my 1st year at Findley Elementary, this is my 3rd year within the district. I am a Registered Nurse (RN) with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree from the University of Texas at Austin—which is also where I’m from! My role is to bridge academic and health needs and help support students with various diagnoses or health concerns—to foster their independence, improve their attendance, and remove health barriers to learning and attending school! This means I may:
- Write health management plans to provide information on student’s diagnoses and how to manage them
- Suggest accommodations or actions to improve access to education when a health concern leads to issues with attendance or learning in the classroom environment
- Provide direct care and support to students with complicated health needs or to those who present with injury, illness, or other needs during the day that require assessment and intervention
- Offer information and resources to support students and families with new diagnoses and ongoing health concerns.
- And more!
Another significant part of my role this year is to help schools manage the COVID side of things. This means many different things, but mostly involves tracking different symptoms of illness and advising students, families, and staff on current district and county guidance regarding primary symptoms of COVID and the need for COVID testing in certain scenarios. I can also provide different resources and locations for COVID tests and can help to answer questions or offer information on various topics, such as vaccination, symptoms, quarantine/isolation, and more. I am also heavily involved with extensive contact tracing in school buildings to determine close contacts in the event of a positive COVID case exposure at school. I work closely with Washington County and school staff for any positive cases and possible exposures and report all tests done at school to the county.
While my focus is mostly on the medical side of things, I work with a multidisciplinary team to care and provide for all aspects of students’ wellness and try my best to help support students with emotional needs as well—when and where I can. I have a background in behavioral wellness and psychiatric nursing, so while I can’t do all the things a school counselor, social worker, or psychologist can do, I have a passion for mental health and try to advocate for and include this in my work!
I am happy to be a part of the Findley community and grateful to work with such amazing people. Thank you for having me, and don’t hesitate to reach out to me if there are every any questions or anything I can help with! Hunter_rudd@beaverton.k12.or.us”
Parent Partnership Series
Two years ago, our Social Emotional Learning Team created a Parent Partnership program to provide outreach to our families. The purpose of this series is to share and collaborate with our Findley families around social emotional skills and ways to support our students at school and at home.
Our team is growing (we’re 3 strong now!) and we are so happy to announce that we are continuing our Parent Partnership Series! Our first task is to get your feedback on what topics would be of interest/value to you. Please click this link and fill out a very brief survey that will help guide our planning.
Once we have topics of interest we will create and share a calendar of events. We hope you’ll be able to join us this year. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions or you need support from our team please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Susan Hargrave, Student Success Coach
OBOB
We have completed the registration for OBOB, we have 184 students (38 teams) participating this year!!! Battles will begin the last full week of January. Volunteers will be allowed to help moderate and run the battles ( as long as they meet all District requirements for volunteering in a school). Battles will take place during the grade level lunch recess. I will be asking for volunteers in early January. (We need approximately 6 volunteers a day).
I will be meeting next week with the all 3 grade levels to explain how the battles will operate and answer their questions. T-shirts will be given out and team photos will be taken after the break. I plan to host two two times for a parent meeting; Friday, January 7th, @ 8:35am-9:30am and 2:00pm-3:00pm. Hopefully, if you are interested you can make it to one or the other. Encourage your student to keep reading the books over the break!! I look forward to another fun-filled energized year of friendly competition!!!
Remember OBOB’s three rules are:
READ
GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP
HAVE FUN
Please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have regarding the OBOB program. Rita Vennes
Don’t let your guard down!
Lost & Found
Your student may always look for their lost items at the recess doors downstairs.
Please be sure to put your students names in all items, we do look frequently and try to return the items to the students right away.
OHSU Weekly COVID Testing
Our weekly COVID testing will resumed today. This means Monday Dec. 6 will be our collection day. All test kits must be into the office prior to 10 am. If you have opted in for testing, your student should have brought home a test kit. Please read through the instructions and return the vile with one of the labels on Monday. If your student did not get a test kit, we may still be waiting for labels from OHSU.
Below are some helpful links and videos:
Here is a link to the OHSU COVID-19 Screening Website
Here is a link to the English YouTube video on how to complete the screening test.
Here is a link to the Spanish YouTube video on how to complete the screening test.
Testing will not occur on weeks we have no school on Friday or Monday.
Updating student vaccine records
To input your vaccination dates and upload your student’s card with both doses recorded, login to ParentVUE. Select “Family Updates and New Student Enrollment” in the upper right hand corner. You’ll then select “2021-2022 Vaccination Card Upload” from the dropdown menu in the blue box at the bottom of the screen.
Thank you for doing your part to keep your child and our community safe.
Findley PTO
Findley PTO: Supporting our students by connecting parents, staff, and the community!
Visit our website at www.findleypto.com or email president@findleypto.com.
Annual Food, Sock and Underwear Drive
Who: Benefits Oregon Food Bank affiliated pantries and Beaverton School District Clothes for Kids.
What: Please bring donations of non-perishable food items, new socks, and new underwear.
Where: Kids can bring donations directly to their classrooms, or parents can place donations in the bins located in the front lobby.
When: December 1st thru December 15th.
Why: To help those in need within our local community.
Thank you for supporting these local charities!
Exciting Art Literacy News
Starting in January, we have permission to bring traditional Art Lit presentations and projects back into the classroom!
In order to get back to bringing creative-thinking and fun art-making projects to every Findley classroom, we need to first gather volunteers.
Please consider signing up to join us in this rewarding and rare volunteer opportunity! Link to sign up: https://sites.google.com/site/artlitfindley/sign-up-to-volunteer
NEW THIS YEAR:
● All volunteers will need to have a vaccination card on file BSD before coming to volunteer. No exceptions.
● Masks will be worn at all times.
● Each classroom will have 2-3 volunteers maximum to follow social distancing guidelines.
● Monthly Art Lit Volunteer trainings (for Classroom Lead Volunteers only) will be divided into 2 seperate times to allow for social distancing.
Art Lit training Schedule:
● Thursday Jan. 13th
● Thursday Feb. 17
● Thursday April 7
● Thursday May 12
ABOUT ART LITERACY:
No art background is required and all materials are provided.
Volunteers for each classroom are needed in both LEAD and SUPPORT roles.
More information about Findley's Art Literacy program can be found on our website: https://sites.google.com/site/artlitfindley/home
Please email Christa Brask (Art Lit Coordinator) if you have any questions: artlitfindley@gmail.com
We are all very excited about getting Art Literacy back into the classroom and hope you can support us by joining our team of volunteers! :-)
Passport Club
Dear Findley Passport Club members,
We are so happy that students are joining the virtual Passport Club at Findley!
We are now moving our way into the November countries!
Here is a summary of the steps to get in on the fun with more detailed instructions below:
1. Download this month's maps (We are moving to November this month)
2. Visit this month's virtual classroom
3. Learn this month's maps
4. Take the quiz when you are ready
This is a whole new experience and we understand that there will be a lot of questions, learnings and changes as we navigate this new virtual Passport Club.
Please rest assured that we are dedicated to making this the best that we can under the circumstances and ask for your patience and understanding as we all go through this process together.
With that being said, let's have some fun and travel the world together!
In addition, here is a reminder in regards to Passport Club:
Passport Club is a volunteer-run geography enrichment program offered at Findley to 2nd – 5th grades. This is an optional program and is not mandatory.
· Please practice with your child for several minutes a day to help them get ready!
Grade Level Clarification: · 2nd-4th grade students have the option of 5 levels of study to choose from. However, students are encouraged to learn all the items in each level up to grade level.
Grades. Grade level.
2nd Grade. Level 1 and Level 2
3rd Grade. Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3
4th Grade. Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4
5th Grade. Special Itineraries (SI) study maps
For example, a 2nd grade student would be asked to learn the following for the month of November:
- Level 1: Algeria, Mongolia, Canada, Panama, Turkey
- Level 2: Mali, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sweden, Uruguay
Sincerely,
Vothy Heang and Xiao Shi
Passport Club Leads
Step #1 Download this month's maps
Maps (password = findleypassport)
Step #2 Welcome to the virtual classroom
Step #3 Learn the Map for this month
There are lots of fun ways to learn each month's maps!
- Use Quizlet - Quizlet - November Passport Club Flashcards
- Color the maps - On the virtual classroom there is a password protected map that has suggestions on how to color each level's countries (password = HelloWorldDL)
- As always, the best way is to study with your parents
Step #4 Take the quiz
When you are ready, decide what level you want to test for this month. Here are the links:
Level 2 (Includes Level 1)
Level 3 (Includes Level 1 and Level 2)
Level 4 (Includes Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3)
Level 5 (Includes Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4)
Math Olympiad 2021
Is your student interested in joining the Findley Math Olympiad Team? Please click on the link to get more information and the date that registration opens.
Please DO NOT contact the school office as they do not have any information. Contact Urmila Kotak at findleymatholympiad@gmail.com.
Community Resources
Bethany & Cedar Mill Library. -October Newsletter
Talking to Children about Scary Events
Coronavirus and Covid: A book for Children about the Pandemic
FREE E-Book "I Love you" A story about not being able to visit relatives during the pandemic
Extensive list of Children's Books related to the Pandemic
COVID-19 Free Washington County Counseling (+accepts undocumented folks)To request an appointment, email COVIDCounseling@co.washington.or.us or call Washington County Behavioral Health at 503-846-4528.
Student Health Center - Catherine Kately Williams is the new mental health provider. KateleyWilliamsC@nhcoregon.org It is easiest to reach her via email as she does not have a specific phone routed to her. Cat is available M-F 8-5 and will conduct sessions via zoom. She will serve a bridge gap, providing up to about 10 sessions before she moves students on to a long-term counselor if necessary. They are set up to take every major insurance plan including Kaiser for OHP kids. They will also have an intake person who can help families get the kids on OHP.
Upcoming Events
December
3rd - Test Kits go home
6th-16th Canned Food, Sock & Underwear Drive
6th - Test kits returned to school - by 10am
6th - Hearing Screening K-3rd grade
10th - Test Kits go home
13th - Test kits returned to school - by 10am
14th - Gifts due to Findley office by 3pm
December 20 - 31 NO SCHOOL - Winter Break
January
3rd - RETURN TO SCHOOL FOR ALL STUDENTS