Scappoose School District News

Remember to Click Below!

Below, you will find links/hot buttons to each school. In this format, click on your chosen school logo, and you will find the same familiar updates and newsletters from your schools.

For more SSD news- be sure to follow us on:

Facebook Scappoose School District

Instagram @Scappoose_Schools

Grant Watts’ Literacy Night was an absolute blast! With the help of an early literacy grant, families came together for an evening of fun, learning, and community connection. Parents dove into engaging sessions led by our amazing educators, picking up tips on choosing books, boosting vocabulary, tackling sight words, and building reading fluency—all to support their young readers at home! Meanwhile, kids had a fantastic time in the gym, learning and laughing the night away. A huge shoutout to everyone who made this event such a success!

This week at SHS, the excitement was in the air as the Valedictorian and Salutatorians for this year were revealed! Parents of the honored students were invited to the school for a special moment, greeted by Principal Jerimy Kelley, Superintendent Tim Porter, and School Board Chair Phil Lager.

The best part? The students were totally surprised in class when their hard-earned graduation honors were announced! The pride and joy on the parents' faces was priceless, and the room was filled with emotions and pure happiness. Huge congratulations to Valedictorian Molly Heimbuck and Salutatorians Maverick Heimbuck and Taj Forney! What an incredible achievement! The future is bright for these students, and they’re sure to keep shining in all their endeavors!

This week, Warren Elementary students were in for a treat as officers from the Scappoose Police Department joined them for fun read-alouds! It was the perfect way to celebrate Read Across America Week and create even more positive connections between our school and local heroes. These shared stories and laughs build positive lasting bonds between our students and the officers who keep our community safe!

Scappoose 4th graders wrapped up their two-month exploration of Oregon Native American history with a memorable grade-level Potlatch celebration! Traditionally, a Potlatch brought together members of a tribe, and sometimes neighboring tribes- for a special gathering filled with feasting, games, trading, and crafts, often held in winter or to mark significant events.

As part of the experience, students learned to make traditional fry bread with Mrs. Longtain and Mrs. Murphy, played Native American games led by Mrs. Richard and Mr. Anderson, and crafted their own rain sticks with Mrs. Bean and Mrs. Swatzell. In the hallway, they participated in a book trade.

This hands-on celebration was a fantastic way for students to engage with Native American traditions, bringing history to life in a meaningful and interactive way!

Grant Watts staff had an incredible opportunity this week to learn from Barbara Steinberg, founder of PDX Reading Specialist, thanks to our Early Literacy Grant funds! She provided hands-on professional development, modeling lessons and guiding educators through debrief sessions. Staff deepened their understanding of foundational skills instruction, identified key instructional components through guided observation, engaged in reflective practice, and gained practical insights on applying the Science of Reading in their classrooms. Exciting things are happening in literacy!

This week, the Legacy trauma education team returned to our campuses to present to 6th-8th grade students from Otto Petersen Elementary and Scappoose Middle School. The session focused on crucial safety topics, including bike safety, pedestrian awareness, and brain protection during various activities. Students were actively engaged as they learned practical ways to stay safe both at school and beyond. It's fantastic to see them taking these important lessons to heart!

Last week, Scappoose students officially surpassed the 100th day of school—that’s 100 days of learning, growing, and having fun! From mastering new skills to making great memories, our students have been absolutely crushing it!

To celebrate, many students dressed up in fun 100th-day outfits, bringing extra energy to the day. Elementary students stepped back in time, grooving to music from the 1920s while also putting their vocabulary skills to the test—using dictionaries to write down 100 words!

The number 100 took center stage in classrooms, with students exploring it in creative ways. They built objects with 100 LEGO bricks, designed play-doh cakes topped with 100 candles, made colorful art using 100 pieces of straws, and put their problem-solving skills to work assembling 100-piece puzzles.

It marked a full day of fun, learning, and milestone moments—way to go, Scappoose students! Keep up the amazing work!

Sauvie Island School (SIS) just wrapped up an exciting school-wide OBOB tournament with record-breaking participation this year! Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is a statewide reading competition where teams read 16 books selected by the OBOB committee and compete in trivia-style battles for a chance to advance to the regional level in mid-March.

This year, SIS saw an incredible 75% participation rate in grades 3-5, an outstanding turnout for this event! Each grade formed 4 teams, sparking some intense and lively battles. The dedication and hard work of students was evident as they progressed through the competition. In the end, a 4th-grade team, The Book Keepers, claimed the championship title and will move on to represent SIS at the regional competition in Hillsboro on March 15th. SIS will be celebrating their success and wrapping up the season with an ice cream and certificate party in late March!

This week, we celebrate our outstanding classified employees! While we appreciate their tireless work behind the scenes year-round, this week is a special time for us to express our heartfelt gratitude!

Without their hard work, attention to detail, and unwavering commitment, our students wouldn’t be able to receive the kind of support and education they need and deserve to be successful.

Our secretaries, educational assistants, food service workers, IT support, custodians, grounds, and maintenance staff ensure our schools are an environment where students and staff thrive. They ensure our District operates smoothly and functions safely. Their efforts make a significant impact, and we appreciate our classified staff more than words can express.

Please join us in recognizing and celebrating the extraordinary contributions of our incredible classified staff members.

This Week in the SSD School Libraries:

"Check Out" what our Warren students were up to this week - pun intended! This week our little Eagles celebrated National Nutrition Month with a lesson about how authors sometimes have so many ideas it doesn't fit into one book, so they create a series of books like Jory John's Food Group books. These are great books with a lot of play on words examples, which was perfect with our kiddos learning the word "pun" in their "un" Word Family work this week!

At Grant Watts, we hosted an amazing Book Fair! The largest book fair we have ever had and the Book Joy was so much fun! Every GWE student (regardless of ability to pay) went home with a new book due to the generosity of our community and our proceeds will put many new books on the shelves for our students. Many thanks to all our volunteers and the wonderful support of our community for a successful event!

OPE students dove into the history of American Sign Language in celebration of Deaf History Month--their enthusiasm for understanding this new language emptied our "Languages" section of all our sign language books and many other language books when they got there. We also learned about where we could find books about music, art and women in history as these are topics of focus in the month of March.

It was so much fun to watch our 6th-12th grade students experience their first Big Kid Book Fair! They combed the display cases for great reads and, of course, went home with some sparkly pens and fuzzy diaries! Thank you for your support of this spontaneous fundraiser for our MS and HS libraries. It was a lot of fun for both the kids and our staff!

The Scappoose School District is doing great things in our libraries and it is wonderful to be a part of it! Keep reading everyone!

The winter months bring with them the possibility of busses being on snow routes, school closures, or delayed openings due to severe weather conditions, power outages, or other unexpected events.

With student safety leading these decisions and an understanding of the disruption these closures and delays cause our families and staff, SSD is committed to announcing changes to the school schedule as early as possible. If conditions are severe enough to threaten the safety of students traveling to and from school, a decision will be made the night before. Otherwise, decisions will be made by 6 a.m.

How we will notify you:

• FlashAlert.net
• Phone call
• District email
• SSD App notification
• Facebook
• Instagram

2024-2025 SSD Snow Routes can be found on our website HERE. Additionally, snow routes are listed on the District and individual school websites at the top of each page. If you have questions about bus pick-up or drop-off locations, please contact First Student at 971-290-4020.

We hope that providing this information will make inclement weather days easier to navigate.

Keeping our students healthy is a top priority, and we need your help! Please keep your student home if they are experiencing a fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or any symptoms of contagious illness. Staying home when sick helps prevent the spread of illness.

Click the links below for some important guidelines about recommendations on when to keep students with symptoms out of school.

As the school year begins, we must prioritize safety around our school grounds.

Drivers: Please exercise caution and be aware of the increased pedestrian and cyclist traffic during drop-off and pick-up times. Adhere to posted speed limits and remain vigilant for crossing guards and children crossing the streets. Your attentiveness can prevent accidents and ensure the safety of our students.

Walkers and Bike Riders: Please remain alert and follow all safety guidelines while traveling to and from school. Use crosswalks and obey traffic signals. If biking, wear a helmet and ensure your bike is equipped with lights for visibility.

Together, we can make sure that our children have a safe and positive experience as they travel to and from school. Thank you for your attention to this important matter and for your continued support in keeping our school community safe.

As we begin the school year, we would like you to be aware of how Scappoose School District communicates. We strive to develop and deliver clear, timely, and accurate information about the district and all that is happening in and around our schools. We seek to provide resources and materials to ensure families, students, staff, partners, and community members are informed about our key priorities, community events, our successes, and obstacles.

We look forward to communicating with you and your family!

Information is conveyed primarily via:

BlackBoard Messaging: Directly from the District or Individual Schools via a variety of mediums; email, text message, app notification, automated phone calls.

• The SSD App: To get the App, simply go to the App Store on your device and search for “Scappoose School District.” From there, you can choose which schools you want to get new/alerts from.

Scappoose School District Website:

• www.scappoosek12.org

• School-specific websites: (These can be navigated to from the SSD main webpage)

School Newsletters:

• These will be sent out every Friday to your email inbox

District social media sites: Please follow us!

• Facebook: Scappoose School District

• Instagram: @Scappoose_Schools

FlashAlert notifications:

• Scappoose Flash Alert Page This is mostly for inclement weather

Letters/emails to parents/guardians

To streamline our social media communication and ensure that accurate information reaches our community, we are transitioning to an information only/no commenting approach for our social media posts. This change is designed to minimize negative or irrelevant comments and to encourage direct communication with our District Office or individual schools. By doing so, we aim to prevent the spread of misinformation and ensure that the community receives official responses through the appropriate channels. We believe this approach will enhance the clarity, positivity, and effectiveness of our communications. If you have any questions regarding information in our posts, please connect the relevant school or District office directly. You can still look forward to all of our usual content and information throughout the year.

Thank you for being a vital part of our SSD family! We wish you the very best start to the school year!

Thanks,

Scappoose School District

Come out and Watch Scappoose School's Student Athletes Play!

For more information, you can find Scappoose Middle School and High School sports schedules on the schools’ web pages under “Athletics.”

See the links below for more information.

It’s one of the best ways to stay informed on both District and School specific information in real time, right on your smartphone!

If you don't yet have the app here is how to get it:

1. Search; “Scappoose School District” in your device's App store

2. Download the App to your phone/tablet and click “Open”

3. There will be a pop-up and click “Choose from list”

4. Choose the schools you would like to receive news/alerts from

5. CONGRATS! Your App should now be set up!

To become a substitute in the Little Lilu Preschool, you will need to apply through ESS and complete the Central Background Registry (CBR). This additional step allows you to be eligible to sub in the LIttle Lilu Preschool classroom at Warren Elementary.

Here is the Link to CBR

The CBR is an online application and will require free fingerprinting that individuals often coordinate with a local business (there are several options for fingerprinting in Hillsboro or up Highway 30).

Individuals with questions on the CBR application process can contact Jen Stearns, jstearns@scappoose.k12.or.us.

OEA Choice Trust (OEA CHOICE WELFARE BENEFIT PLAN) supports the well-being of Oregon’s public education employees. Scappoose School District has received a grant to support our employee’s well-being. OEA Choice Trust files an annual report with the Employee Benefits Security Administration, as required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). You can visit the OEA Choice Trust website to see how to request and receive copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof.

Website: https://www.scappoosek12.org
Location: 33589 SE High School Way Scappoose, OR 97056
Phone: 971-200-8000