Bulldog Bulletin

4/17: School Board Meeting (7:00pm via Zoom)

4/18: Site Council Meeting (5:30-6:30pm, Room 16)

4/19: PTO Family BINGO Night (6:30pm, Gym)

4/22-4/26: ELA State Testing (3rd - 5th Grade)

4/25: Conscious Discipline Parent Series: Session 6 (5:45-7:30pm, Gym)

4/26: 4J Kindergarten Welcome Event (5:00-7:00pm, River Road/El Camino Del Río Elementary)

4/29: Awbrey Park Kindergarten Orientation Event (5:30pm, Room 16)

5/1-5/3: 5th Grade Outdoor School (Camp Havenroot)

5/1: School Board Meeting (7:00pm via Zoom)

5/1: 3rd Grade Field Trip: Eugene Public Library (9:00am-12:00pm)

5/6-5/10: Math State Testing (3rd - 5th Grade)

5/6: Awbrey Park PTO Meeting (6:30pm, Room 16)

Dear Awbrey Park Families,

Wow, I cannot believe we are half way through the month of April. With that said, we have a lot of new information to share with you this month including our PTO Family BINGO Night, spring picture day orders, and upcoming kindergarten events.

If you are currently participating in our Conscious Discipline Parent Series, we sent out an update this afternoon regarding a date change for session six. Our next session will be on Thursday, April 25th from 5:45-7:30pm.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Have a great Monday!

Sincerely,

Jared Tiecke, Principal

Join us on Friday, April 19th from 6:00-7:30pm in the Awbrey Park cafeteria for our PTO Family BINGO Night! This is a great opportunity to get connect with friends, family, and the Awbrey Park community.

If you have any questions regarding the event or need special accommodations, please contact the school office at 541-790-4050. We hope to see you there!

Are you interested in volunteering and/or helping to organize events at Awbrey Park? If so, consider joining the Awbrey Park Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)! Our PTO meets on the first Monday of each month from 6:30-7:30pm.

Our next meeting will be on Monday, May 6th at 6:30pm in Room 16. Parents/Guardians are welcome to enter through the purple hallway doors.

See our April Awbrey Park PTO Minutes below for all the latest news and updates!

For more information, please contact our PTO Co-Presidents, Caitlin Alcorn and Brian Richardson at awbreypto@gmail.com.

If your student participated in spring picture day last week, but did not turn in a picture packet, you can still order school pictures online at mylifetouch.com, Picture Day ID EVTKC7638 (see picture packet order form here).

For questions, please contact Jade Chrissis in the school office at 541-790-4050.

On Wednesday, April 10th our 5th grade students participated in a class photo!

5th grade class photos can be ordered online at mylifetouch.com, Picture Day ID EVTQJSW8T (see picture packet order form here).

Please contact Jade Chrissis in the school office at 541-790-4050 for additional questions.

5th grade outdoor school is almost here! Coyote Outdoor School will be held at Camp Havenroot May 1st - 3rd (students will return to school at 1:15pm on Friday, May 3rd). If you have not done so already, please be sure to complete the required 4J permission form and turn it into your child's classroom teacher at your earliest convenience.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child's teacher or our Student Success Coordinator, Kristen Gianforti (gianforti_k@4j.lane.edu) for more information.

Do you know a child who will be 5 years old by September 1st? If so, it’s time to register them for Kindergarten! Registering now will help your student and our school prepare for their first year.

Join us for a repeat presentation of our Kindergarten Orientation Event on Monday, April 29th from 5:30-6:30pm in Room 16. You will learn about our kindergarten program, enrollment process, meet Awbrey Park staff, and have an opportunity to ask questions. Childcare will be available from 5:30-6:30pm.

If you are unable to attend the orientation and/or have questions about the enrollment process, please contact the school office at 541-790-4050. We look forward to seeing you!

Have any old electronics collecting dust? If so, Awbrey Park is participating in an electronics recycle competition with other Lane County schools! If an item is mostly metal, has a plug, or takes batteries it counts. E-waste examples include microwaves, TVs, printers, old cords and cables, cell phones, computers, and audio/visual equipment.

Now through May 15th, drop of any old electronics at NextStep (245 Jackson Street, Eugene) and let them know you are supporting Awbrey Park Elementary School. We will also be hosting our own on-site collection box April 22nd-25th near the front office.

The school with the most “e-waste” collected wins a $500 grant and a Next Step Robot made by a local artist. For questions, please contact Jade Chrissis in the front office at 541-790-4050. Help support Awbrey Park by recycling some old electronics!

State testing will begin the week of April 22nd and conclude the week of May 27th.

Consistent routines are important to student success at school. Nutritious meals, rest and positive communication are essential to supporting your child during this time. Thank you for your ongoing support in these efforts!

During the month of May, students in grades 3-5 will be offered to take a survey called the Student Educational Equity Development Survey (SEED).

Starting in 2023-24, The state of Oregon requires (HB 2656) school districts to make the Student Educational Equity Development Survey (SEED) available to all enrolled students in grades 3-11. The content of the survey varies by grade level. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and measures student perceptions in four core constructs:

• Access to learning resources
• Opportunity to learn
• Self-efficacy
• Sense of belonging

The middle and high school versions of the survey also include questions about extracurricular engagement and career and technical education. High school versions of the survey further include questions about post-graduation planning. A full list of survey items is available online.

Parents or guardians can opt their student out of taking the SEED Survey by completing the SEED Survey Opt-Out Form and turning it into the school front office. Please click on the following link to learn more about the opt-out process. Students may decline, at any time before or during the survey, to participate in the SEED Survey via their answer to the first SEED Survey question.

Families wishing to opt-out of SEED Survey must verbally notify the school or complete the required form in the link above and turn it into the school office prior to Friday, May 10th. To verbally opt your child out of the SEED survey, please contact Kristen Gianforti (gianforti_k@4j.lane.edu) at 541-790-4050.

In August, the Oregon Department of Education will release aggregated and suppressed SEED survey results to schools and districts through the Achievement Data Insight (ADI) application, and on ODE’s public website.

Though not a test, the survey is distributed via the OSAS (state testing) portal, and it's open during the testing window. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the school office for more information.

Each spring our 3rd-5th grade students participate in state assessments in English Language Arts, Math, and Science (the Science assessment is given to 5th grade students only). These tests occur during the regular school day and students are encouraged to take their time to do their best to demonstrate what they have learned in the past year.

Under Oregon law, a parent or student age 18+ may opt out of Oregon’s annual statewide math and language arts assessments by filling out an annual opt-out form provided by the Oregon Department of Education. Exemptions from the English language proficiency or science tests may also be requested based on a student’s disability or religious beliefs. Opt-out/exemption requests are only valid for the school year in which they are completed.

Please click on the following link to learn more about each test and the opt-out/exemption process. Families wishing to opt-out of statewide testing must complete the required form/exemption process in the link above and turn it into the school office prior to Friday, April 19th.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the school office for more information.

Are you interested in substituting as an Educational Assistant at Awbrey Park? If so, apply today through the 4J Educational Assistant Substitute Pool!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Awbrey Park Principal, Jared Tiecke at 541-790-4050 or at tiecke_j@4j.lane.edu.

We are excited to welcome volunteers back into our schools! If you are interested in volunteering at Awbrey Park Elementary School, please contact your child’s teacher for upcoming opportunities.

Volunteers will need to complete a volunteer application on the district website and be approved prior to volunteering. Please contact Jade Chrissis in the school office at 541-790-4050 for more information.

The Eugene School District 4J welcomes families who will have an incoming kindergarten aged student to join us for a special Welcome to Kindergarten Event on Friday, April 26th from 5:00-7:00pm at River Road/El Camino Del Río Elementary School.

Come meet other families, enjoy outdoor games, activities, story-telling, raffle prizes, and complete an enrollment packet with while you're there. Click on the flyer below for more information.

The Eugene Kids In Transition to School (KITS) summer program is intended for students who will be entering kindergarten in the Fall of 2024.

During the KITS program, your child will:

• Learn to make friends & cooperate
• Build beginning reading & counting skills

You Will:

• Learn to reduce parenting stress
• Learn how to connect with your child’s school

KITS is free and open to all incoming 4J Kindergarten students! We encourage all interested families to apply. Families are encouraged to apply by Friday, April 26th and enrollment will be based on a lottery system. Families will be notified about the status of their application by the beginning of May.

KITS is a 2-hour program and will run 4 days a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from June 28, 2024 - August 8, 2024 at three regional locations: River Road/El Camino del Río, Holt, and Chávez Elementary Schools.

Click on the link below for more information and see the KITS application here!

There is a strong correlation between good attendance and success in school. On the other hand, students who regularly miss school are also more likely to struggle in school.

Missed days add up quickly: Just two days a month (2 days x 9 months = 18 days/year or 10% of the school year) puts a child's success in jeopardy because students fall behind and disconnect. By third grade, it gets much more difficult to catch up. Students who regularly miss school can quickly feel hopeless, and returning becomes harder and harder (“Why Attendance Matters”, ODE).

It is our hope that we can work together to encourage your child’s regular attendance and success at school. When your child is going to be late or absent from school, please call the attendance line at (541) 790-4054, before 8:30am and inform our office staff. You may also leave a message on our voice mail if you are calling before regular office hours. Please leave your child's name, their teacher’s name, and the reason for the absence.

If we can be of any support to you or your child in improving their attendance at school, please reach out to our Student Success Coordinator, Kristen Gianforti at 541-790-4050 or gianforti_k@4j.lane.edu.

Email: tiecke_j@4j.lane.edu
Website: https://awbreypark.4j.lane.edu/
Location: 158 Spring Creek Drive, Eugene, OR 97404, USA
Phone: (541) 790-4050
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AwbreyPark