Peninsula Family Post

9/24- Back to School Night 5:30-7pm

9/25- Early Release Wednesday 11:50am

9/30-10/2- Dental Sealants 2nd & 3rd Grade

10/9- Picture Day

10/10-Fall Festival (time TBA)

10/23- Early Release Wednesday 11:50am

10/28-31- SPIRIT WEEK

Just a reminder to all families entering Peninsula School to please buzz in at the front door and check in at the office. For the safety and security of all our students, please do not let any other individuals into the school if you are being let in. Please also refrain from standing in doorways with the doors open. This helps us keep everyone safe.

Please call our attendance line at 503-916-6275, email Sara at sgilds@pps.net or update through ParentVue if your child is missing school with the reason they are out. If there are multiple unexcused absences it is a district wide protocol that a teacher or member of our team will reach out to see how we can best support with getting your child to school. We know it can be hard and we are here to problem solve and support you and your family!

School attendance is very important. When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects and chances for graduating.

Last year, 63% of students had good or excellent attendance (above 90%) and we are excited to increase those numbers this year! Chronically absent means missing 10% of the school year (or 17 days). Whether the absences are excused or unexcused the impact is the same. We know illness is unavoidable, so we’d like to encourage families to plan vacations and other appointments during non-school times so students can still have excellent attendance even if they miss a few days for illness.

Did you know:

• Students who miss just two days of school per month—excused or unexcused—are at risk of falling behind. The research shows these students score lower on reading and math assessments.

• Research published in the Journal of Educational Psychology showed that absenteeism had a negative effect on student motivation, self-esteem, and sense of belonging in school.

• A longitudinal study found that students who were chronically absent in kindergarten had lower academic performance in 1st grade, with the impact evident as late as 5th grade.

• By 6th grade, chronic absence becomes a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school.

We are working to increase the number of students above 90% attendance this year and in the years to come by providing outreach, school wide attendance awareness, and resources to students and families. This year is already starting off stronger with 81% of students meeting the attendance goal.

We are going to celebrate school wide when our attendance is over 93%. We’ve already had 7 days where we’ve met that goal.

If you have any questions about your child's attendance or if you need resources for your family to help support school attendance, don't hesitate to call the main office or our school social worker Kate Lefco directly at 971-276-1759.

Your students should have come home with back-to-school packets last week. Please make sure to fill out any forms and return them to the teacher or the front office.

To ensure your child gets home safely from school, families must submit a dismissal plan for your student(s). You can fill out your student(s) After School Plan here.

If you have a change for only one day, please call the office and the change will be implemented. Without a message to the office, we will not deviate from the plan. In the future, if there are major changes to the plan, please fill out a new form. If you would like someone to pick up your child after school, EACH person must be listed in our database.

PLEASE COMPLETE A SEPARATE ENTRY FOR EACH CHILD IN YOUR FAMILY

Our school is launching our Affinity Group Lunch Clubs for students. Click here to read more about these groups, how students can opt in, and support we need.

Are you in need of additional food? Through a partnership with Sunshine Division, I am able to pick up food boxes regularly for families. Please reach out if you would like one of these. They are all non-perishable food items.

Please click here and check out the full list of past resources shared. Most of these are ongoing resources available. If you or your family needs access to additional resources (energy assistance, mental health, childcare, food boxes, clothing, etc.) please feel free to reach out via phone or text at my work cell 971.276.1759 - hablo español. I work part time and I'm in the school and available via phone Mondays-Thursdays before 2:15.

Hello Panther Family!

It is time to register for SUN School for the Fall! For those of you who are interested in getting your student involved in our free after-school enrichment program, below is the information you will need.

Fall Program Information

Dates: October 7th - December 5th

Days: Monday - Thursday (No programming on Friday)

Time: 2:30pm - 5:00pm

List of fall classes: Robotics, Dance, Basketball, Creative Art, Pottery, Chess, BRAVO Orchestra

In order for your student to be considered for SUN School, we will need two forms to be completed:

1. SEI SUN Application for Enrollment - Adobe Acrobat Sign (adobesign.com)

1. Once this form is complete, and you have received a confirmation email that it has been completed, please do not fill it out again. We only require one form for the year to be filled out. If you have already completed this form, thank you for being on top of it!

2. SUN Fall Registration - https://forms.office.com/r/kAPvfTUtEb

1. The registration form is a Microsoft Form that we use to inquire how many students will be joining us each term, as well as allow you to pick your students' preferred classes. This form must be filled out prior to the start of every term in order to be considered.

Each class has a maximum number of students that will be able to participate and we accept students first, on a need basis, and then first come first serve. Please note that if maximum capacity for all classes is reached, your student will be placed on a waitlist. With that being said, please do not wait until the last minute to fill out the listed forms as that may have an impact on your students' admittance into SUN School. Confirmation letters to inform you of whether your student has been accepted or placed on the waitlist, will be sent out by September 27th.

If you have any questions, please reach out to our SUN Manager, Kylie via email at KylieA@selfenhancement.org.

We love having volunteers at Peninsula. Over the course of the year, caregivers will have several opportunties to volunteer either in the classroom or on field trips. All voluteers are required to complete a volunteer background check and training. Click here for information on the process.

It can take up to two weeks for your background check to be completed once you apply, so we encourage you to do it now just in case you decide to volunteer with us.

If you have completed the background check in the past, and are wondering if you are still active in the system, email Sara Gilds at sgilds@pps.net, and she will let you know.

For the safety and security of our students, we will continue to ask that parents only enter the building if they are volunteering, have an appointment, or are picking a student up. This helps ensure that we know who is in the building at all times.

When you do enter the building for one of the above reasons, make sure to check in at the office and, if you're staying, print a visitor/volunteer badge.

Thank you for your cooperation.