Principal's Message 8.12.22
The start of school is just around the corner and our staff is busily planning and preparing to welcome you all to Lake Grove for a fun-filled year of purposeful learning!
This weekly Newsletter for families comes out each Friday to keep you informed about school news and events. We've decided to add a Table of Contents this year to help you better navigate all the information. Each week it begins with a note from me that lets you know what we're currently excited about learning. Then you'll find the Table of Contents that will highlight new information and let you know which topics are repeated from a previous week. Towards the end of each Cougar New Edition you'll find the Save the Date section with important calendar items to track, and below that, closing the newsletter are always any updates from our PTA. New families should read all the way to the end for an opportunity to be paired with a buddy family.
As always, if you can't find what you need to know here, please email or call our office with questions.
Be well,
Principal Jennie Knapp
Thank you for riding the bus!
Student Transportation of America provides bus transportation for Lake Oswego School District (LOSD). Our bus drivers look forward to getting to know your child and being a part of their amazing school experience.
Students who live further than 1 mile away from their resident elementary school are eligible for transportation services. However, service is typically provided much closer to avoid crossing busy streets.
Bus registration is not necessary.
Access points -- or what most call bus stops -- are made available by mid-August. Look for an email from LOSD notifying you when access points are posted on the district and school websites under losdschools.org/transportation.
Help prepare your child to ride the bus.
Select the access point(s) that work best for your family.
Visit your access point before school starts to help familiarize your child with their designated stop.
Look for visual clues to help identify when it’s their time to get off the bus.
Set Up Meal Accounts, Applications
The universal free meals waiver with USDA expired on June 30, 2022. That means starting this school year LOSD will be serving meals under the free, reduced, and paid categories.
Please be sure to set up your student's meal account or apply for free/reduced meals. Look for Meals under Find it Fast on district and school website homepages for account setup and application information, and more.
Arrival and Dismissal Routines
We anticipate traffic being congested during arrival and dismissal this year -- especially the first week as we establish the routine. Thank you for being patient and considerate. Safety is our top priority.
Students will wait outside of the building, in designated areas, rain or shine until the first bell at 8:10 when they will be encouraged to walk to class.
Drivers may not enter the parking lot until 2:30 and must continue circling the neighborhood streets if they arrive earlier than that. We cannot block through traffic by stopping on the streets. There will be no parking, except in special circumstances. Email Principal Knapp if you need to request a parking pass.
Parents must remain in their vehicles. Staff will assist your child to load/unload if needed. If needed, please encourage your child’s developing independence with their own seatbelt and carrying their backpack.
Please pull up as far as possible along the route map linked here and have a sign with your students’ first and last name and teacher’s name displayed in your passenger side front window or on the passenger side dash board at dismissal. (We will provide signs during the first week of school or you can make your own.
If you are walking your child to/from school, please plan to say goodbye/meet them on the sidewalk by the red gate between the building and the field. Parents waiting to pick up walkers can wait in the parking spaces behind the silver fencing.
Be sure to communicate your regular go-home plans (and any changes) with your child’s teacher. After school teachers will walk students to the buses, to meet walking parents, or help them into cars for pick up.
Champions is Hiring
We are so excited to have Champions Learning Program joining the Lake Grove family, partnering with us to lead our Before and After School Program. The enrollment, thus far, is more than double what was anticipated, so Champions is still needing to hire SEVERAL more staff members to ensure all enrolled families can be supported.
They have added large Cash Commitment Bonuses for staff hired between now and the start of school. In addition, they will be provided 2 weeks of free tuition to a Champions family, for any referral hired. They even are offering donations to the charity of your choice if you refer someone who is hired on to the Champions Team.
If you, or someone you know, loves connecting with children, this is a great Part Time Job with Full Time Benefits. Think about who you would recommend and trust with your own children…. They might be the perfect person interested in working a few hours a day.
For more details on the above incentives, or to apply or send a referral … please reach out to the Area Manager Stephanie Scanlon. Email: stephanie.scanlon@discoverchampions.com
Lake Oswego Summer Library Challenge
The Summer Library Challenge “Read Beyond the Beaten Path” is the Lake Oswego Public Library’s 2022 summer reading, learning and exploration program for ALL ages and abilities. It will take place beginning June 1st and ending August 31st. We are excited to invite you to participate. Sign up online at lopl.org/summer to track your summer reading, complete outdoor challenges and enter your scavenger hunt finds. Babies, kids and teens may visit the children’s library for a FREE book courtesy of the Friends of the Lake Oswego Public Library and a BOGO coupon for The Booktique. Kids read all summer long and earn raffle tickets for one of 24 end-of-summer prize drawing bags full of prizes from local sponsors. Teens earn raffle tickets for weekly drawings for a Powell’s gift card.
Smart Start Thursday, August 25 1-3pm
Smart Start is an opportunity specifically for our students with 504s and IEPs, and their parents/guardians, to make introductions with their teachers and feel prepared for the start of school.
Smart Start will be held in person at each LOSD school, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022, 1-3 p.m. Smart Start information
Annual Statewide Assessment Notice
Save the date!
8/24 - Class lists finalized - look for an email from your new teacher in the afternoon.
8/25 - Smart Start 1:00-3:00pm
8/25 - Supply Drop-off and Meet and Greet 3:00-4:00pm
8/29 - First day of School for 1st - 5th graders
9/1 - First day of School for Kindergarteners
9/7 - Back to School Night 5:30 to 7:00pm
COME OUT AND PLAY!
The Lake Grove PTA is hosting informal meet-ups and playtimes as we transition back to school. This is a time for families to reconnect before school is back in session and for kids to play together outdoors with others at their grade level. All meet-ups are hosted by PTA volunteers and will be held at Lake Grove Elementary. Clackamas County is currently classified by the CDC as “low” community level for COVID-19, which means masks are optional at school-sponsored events. However, these levels are constantly in flux and the CDC updates its guidance weekly. Updates are available at any time here https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html.
Location for all meet-ups: Lake Grove Elementary Playground
Kindergarten: Sunday, August 28, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. hosted by Courtney Blommer and Jessie O'Kane
1st Grade: Saturday, August 20, 10 a.m. to noon hosted by Kassidee Harrison
2nd Grade: Saturday, August 20, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. hosted by Yan Liang
3rd Grade: Sunday, August 21, 3:30 to 5:30 at hosted by Liz Herman and Sara Wolfe
4th Grade: Sunday, August 21, 10 a.m. to noon hosted by Ali Koper and Erin Quandt
5th Grade: Sunday August 28, 10 a.m. to noon hosted by Shannon Crain
THANK YOU to our volunteers for hosting these social gatherings and helping our Lake Grove community reconnect!
SCHOOL SUPPLY KITS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE FROM PTA
The Lake Grove PTA pre-purchased two school supply kits per grade from 1st Day School Supplies for parents in need of an easy way to buy all supplies at one time as the school year approaches. These will sell out quickly! If you’d like to purchase a kit that includes all the supplies requested by Lake Grove teachers for your student’s grade level, please contact Jenn Hooper by August 25 at hooperj@loswego.k12.or.us. After talking with Jenn to secure your kit, make checks payable to Lake Grove PTA and drop your payment in the PTA box in the school’s vestibule. Your supply kit will be delivered directly to your student’s new teacher.
Kinder $83.98: 1 available
1st SOLD OUT
2nd $72.98: 2 available
3rd $72.98: 2 available
4th SOLD OUT
5th $80.98: 3 available
OBOB SUMMER READING
Looking forward to being a 3rd-5th grader next year and curious about participating in Oregon Battle of the Books? It’s part reading marathon and part quiz show done with friends on teams of four with kick-off in fall of 2022. Learn more on the OBOB website and get back into reading as we transition back to school! https://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/
Check out these 16 OBOB books from your local public library this summer (3rd to 5th Grade Division):
- The Best of Iggy by Annie Barrows
- The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis
- From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
- Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
- Kinda Like Brothers by Coe Booth
- Letters from Cuba by Ruth Behar
- Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes
- Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte & Ann Xu
- Rescue on the Oregon Trail by Kate Messner
- Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer by Gillian Goerz
- Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret
- Snapdragon by Kat Leyh
- Spark by Sarah Beth Durst
- Ten by Shamini Flint
- The Trouble with Weasels by Rob Harrell
- A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat
We look forward kicking off another OBOB season in the fall!
Lake Grove Elementary
At Lake Grove, we are an inclusive school community fostering social, emotional, and academic growth for all students.
Principal: Jennie Knapp
Website: https://www.losdschools.org/lg
Location: 15777 Boones Ferry Road, Lake Oswego, OR, United States
Phone: 503-534-2357
