April Newsletter

April 30, 2025

Principal's Message

Dear Thurston Elementary Families,

This is a busy time of year when we have summer in sight, but we are still working hard and learning new content. Along with all that hard work, we also have a lot of fun things planned.

Our fifth graders are starting to learn more about middle school with a couple of visits coming up. One will be the middle school administrative team coming to our school and talking to students about what to expect and what will be offered. The other visit will be for our 5th graders to go to the middle school, have lunch, go for a tour and get an idea of what a day in the life at middle school looks like.

Our kindergarteners are about to complete their first year at Thurston Elementary and will be marking the occasion with a graduation event for students and families. (More information to come.)

There are also plenty of opportunities to volunteer this time of year. Many of our classes have upcoming field trips and classroom activities, and we will have school wide events including Jog-a-thon on May 30th and Field Day on June 11th. If you are interested in volunteering, please make sure you have filled out an application in Raptor and connect with the classroom teacher.

Spring is also when our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students begin the Oregon State Assessment. Fifth grade students will start with the Science assessment the first week of May. Then, all 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students will do English Language Arts and Mathematics during the last two weeks of May. One thing that is very important for students is to get good sleep prior to testing to help with focus and comprehension. We will provide snacks and encouragement throughout.

Warm regards,

Amber Mitchell, Principal

If you would like to stay up to date on the latest announcements and TES events, check out the links below.

TES Parent Teacher Group

TES Facebook Page

TES Website

Student Enrollment

As part of the registration process for the next school year, we ask current families to verify the information we have on their child. As in previous years, we will do that through ParentVue. The period for registering/verifying begins May 5th. New student enrollment begins at that date as well. If you have trouble logging into your ParentVue account, feel free to contact our office; we'll be happy to help you get started! We encourage you to do it now, as we plan classes around this info.

If you know now that your child will not be returning to Thurston Elementary in the fall, please contact Kathy to let us know.

Teacher Appreciation Week

Teacher Appreciation Day is May 6th, but we don't think one day is enough for our fantastic teachers, so we celebrate them all week - May 5-9th. If you appreciate your child's teacher(s), you may want to send a little thank you note, etc. You may send that with your child or drop it off at our office and we will make sure s/he gets it!

Kindergarten Search

We are already preparing for next year's kindergarteners! If you have or know of a student who lives in our attendance area and will be 5 on or before September 1st, they will be able to attend kindergarten here. Please contact our office (541-744-6411) and we'll put him/her on our pre-enrollment list. We plan to have our kindergarten orientation on May 6th at 6 pm.

Jog-a-thon

Our annual jog-a-thon is May 30th! Collection envelopes will be coming home with your child next week. We are shooting for $12,000 in donations this year, with incentives for various levels of earning - including the opportunity to throw a pie in Ms. Mitchell's face! All students will have a chance to run for half an hour, and volunteers are appreciated; contact our office if you want to volunteer and haven't already let us know. See below for information if you would like to volunteer and haven't yet completed your Raptor application.

SPARK Camp

Have you registered your student for SPARK camp yet? Join our summer program for fun, interesting weekly themes, hands-on project based learning, academic skills support, sports, music, art, choice time, and community building.

All participants enjoy snacks, drinks and lunch. Programs are available at seven elementary schools (including TES) for grades K-4 and all four middle schools for current 5th, 6th and 7th graders.

Volunteering/Apply through Raptor

We have a number of volunteer opportunities coming before the end of the school year.... In addition to field trips and standard classroom volunteering, we are hosting our jog-a-thon and field day. If you are hoping to help, make sure you have a valid volunteer application approved through Raptor. Click here to reach the application page; please allow us a week for processing. . Once you are approved, your application is good for two years. Thank you!

Call the office?

Please call the office by 9:30 a.m. to let us know when and why your child will be absent. Also, we try to have consistent after-school plans for each student. If your child's after-school arrangement is different than usual (i.e. being picked up at school rather than riding the bus), please let us know by 2 p.m., so that we can get a message to your child in a timely manner. The office phone number is 541-744-6411.

PTG activities

** May 1 - Parent Teacher Group Meeting 6 pm

** May 9 - Family Fun Night!

** May 15 - Dinners Out - Jersey Mike's

** May 23 - Heroes of the Hallway 10:30-12:30

Heroes of the Hallway

Heroes of the Hallway is a fun opportunity for dads, grandpas, and other significant people in a student's life to come into the school. As one of our Heroes, you can volunteer in a classroom or on specific days participate in special activities with our students and other Heroes! You must complete a district Raptor volunteer application (see above for the link). Our next Heroes date is May 23. Contact Collin Waldahl for more information.

TES Yearbooks

May 1st is the deadline for ordering yearbooks; they will be delivered in June. Cost is $25 for this quality product.

Students of the Month!

The day the Cheetah came to school!

As you can see in these photos, the cheetah was a hit! Our students (and staff) were so quiet and respectful, and "Arao" didn't get upset at all about being with us! He is a beautiful boy - we were all enthralled!!!