News from the Nest

Greetings Evergreen Community,

Twelve days remain until the first day of school for Evergreen’s incoming 7th grade class (13 days remain for 8th graders). There is a lot of information below so let’s get right to it!

The bell schedule for the upcoming school year has some slight adjustments. Classes will be 44 minutes long (up from 43-minutes) with passing time being 4 minutes long (down from 5 minutes). We will be working with students throughout the beginning of the year to ensure they plan their days accordingly to ensure they arrive to all classes on-time and prepared.

Connections Day will occur on Wednesday, August 28th. As you might remember from previous school years, Connections Day is a day during which your student’s Advisory teacher will connect with you via phone to welcome you and your student to the school year, hear positive things about about your student and learn if there are any resources that the Hillsboro School District might support you in accessing. If you are like me and typically don’t answer your phone when a number calls that you don’t recognize, this would be the day to answer the phone as you won’t want to miss out on this opportunity.

Back to School Night will occur at Evergreen Middle School on Wednesday, August 28th from 5:30-7:30.

In an attempt to accommodate family schedules and alleviate parking constraints, this year’s Back to School Night is structured as an open house style event. Please come at a time that works best for you and your family between 5:30 and 7:30. Once you arrive, please make your way to the Commons to pick up your student’s schedule. From there, your student can walk their schedule to visit their classrooms and meet their teachers. Teachers are available to answer basic questions and may provide you some information on this course.

Given the nature of this event and the high number of attendees, conversations with teachers need to be short (1-2 minutes). If there is a need to have a longer conversation with a teacher, please connect with them via email to schedule a time for that conversation to occur. For this event, it is important that all students and families have the opportunity to connect with each teacher. As a member of the Evergreen community, please play a part in ensuring this happens.

Two things regarding student schedules:

1. With over 725 students, each taking 7 classes (plus Advisory), there are over 5,000 individual courses that need to be scheduled. This is an incredibly complex task that takes countless hours to organize. In order to make the overall building schedule work, we cannot accommodate schedule change requests. There will be a Google form available during Back to School Night for issues like Dual Language Program placement, Connections class placement, etc.

Given the complexity of the overall building schedule, requests for elective class changes simply cannot be accommodated. We work incredibly hard to place students in the elective class they requested, but there are some circumstances that prevent this from happening. If your student is placed in an elective class they did not request, we need your support in reminding them that it is for one semester and that there will be ample opportunities to take other elective classes before they graduate from high school.

1. Along the same lines, the elective class, Careers in Action, has been added as a global alternative for many students. This means that as their classes are assigned, if they are not scheduled into their preferred elective or their alternatives, they will be scheduled into Careers in Action. Here is the course description of Careers in Action for your reference:

“The Careers in Action courses provide students experience that develops career ready practices through career exploration in the context of project-based learning. All knowledge and skills are based on career cluster and pathway standards to promote college and career readiness. Through hands on learning students will apply appropriate academic & technical skills to help them make informed decisions about career interests as they prepare for high school and post-secondary learning.”

We recognize that many of you are curious about the math class in which your student has been placed. We also recognize that you may disagree with the placement upon seeing your student’s schedule. Here is the process used for determining math class placement:

1. A wide array of data was compiled in the spring of 2024. This included the results of a series of assessments your student completed in April of 2024 assessing their foundational math skills as well as their proficiency with 7th grade (and for some, 8th grade) standards. Included in this data was a rating of your student’s desire to engage in higher level math courses. This data was reviewed by a team of EMS math teachers, counselors, and administrators to determine whose math level supported placement in Math 8.

2. The proficiency with 7th grade standards for all students will be reviewed again in late September once students have completed the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP). As part of HSD’s Single Subject Advancement process, student performance on MAP will be considered in conjunction with other available data including the observation of the student’s 7th grade math teacher to determine if advancement to Math 8 is appropriate. If movement to Math 8 is appropriate, communication with both students and families will occur prior to schedule changes being made.

Please know that in many cases, the needs of a student who is strong in math can be meaningfully addressed in a grade level math class. Being strong in math does not equate to being an appropriate math learner for Math 8. We ask for your patience as we work through our process to ensure students are appropriately placed for math.

There are quite a few changes in the area of technology for the 2024/2025 school year. Please be on the lookout for communication from the Hillsboro School District’s Technology Services Department outlining many of these changes. One thing to highlight is that all students at Evergreen will receive a brand new Chromebook during Advisory on Monday, September 9th.

Cell phones will remain in lockers during the school day at all four comprehensive middle schools in the Hillsboro School District. When students enter the building in the morning, cell phones need to be off and away (this includes any type of headphone). Once students are able to access their lockers on their way to class, cell phones (and headphones) are to be stored in their lockers. Students may access their phones when the dismissal bell rings at the end of the day.

Here is the process if a student is in possession of their phone at some point during the school day.

1. The first time a student is in possession of their phone, it will be held in the office for the remainder of the school day. The student can retrieve their phone at the end of the day.

2. The second time a student is in possession of their phone, it will be held in the office and a parent/guardian/caregiver will need to pick up the phone.

3. The third time a student is in possession of their phone, it will be held in the office, a parent/guardian/caregiver will need to pick it up, and, in collaboration with the parent/guardian/caregiver, a plan will be developed to either have the phone kept at home or phone stored in the office throughout the day.

While we recognize the convenience of being able to communicate with your student directly, your support is appreciated with ensuring students uphold these expectations. If you need to get information to your student throughout the day, please contact the main office.

With Eagle Pride,

Website: https://www.hsd.k12.or.us/evergreen
Location: 456 NE Evergreen Rd, Hillsboro, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 844-1400