Weekly Update

December 16- Lockdown Drill

December 18 - Hot Cocoa Drive Through- Virtual Read Aloud 5:00-5:45 supply pick up, 6:00 Virtual Read aloud - see flyer below

December 20 - Winter Sing a Long STARTS @ 1:00 CLES gym Families welcome to attend- come sing a long! Please arrive between 12:45-1:00

December 21-January 5 - Winter Break

January 6 - First Day Back to School 2025!

Jan 6-10- No ExCEL

Winter ExCEL starts Jan 13

On Dec 16th we will practice our Lock Down Drill with Hood River County and City Law Enforcement staff. You may see Law Enforcement vehicles on site during the drill. Cascade Locks Elementary School has emergency drills each month, including two lockdown drills over the course of the school year. Other emergency drills include earthquake and fire drills. Emergency drills allow us to practice the response to specific emergency conditions. Our teachers take time at the beginning of the year and again prior to a drill to teach students the drill procedures. If you would like to review this lesson or read it along with your students, you can locate it here. During a lockdown drill students move away from sight, maintain silence, and do not open the door. Adults recover students from the hallway, lock the classroom door, turn out the lights, move away from sight, maintain silence, do not open the door. Students are always released from a lockdown by law enforcement. An officer will unlock the door and release students from the lockdown. For more information regarding District Safety plans, please follow this link or families can refer to this brochure for information about emergency procedures. (English version / Spanish version)

• 5:00-5:45 Drive through event at school- Come pick up a goodie bag, and a hot cocoa treat for the cozy read aloud later that night! QR code to virtual read aloud will be included.
• 6:00-6:30 Surprise Winter Read Aloud- Tune in using your student i-pad (we will send them home) to a live read aloud. Click here to join at 6:00 pm. Please mute yourself.
• Return your iPad to school the next day in exchange for some egg-celent eggs for being a responsible AVID student!

All families and community are welcome to join the entire school in a winter sing along. The students have been working all year to learn songs in music class and are ready to share some next Friday December 20th at 1:00. Please arrive at 12:45 as we will start promptly at 1:00. All grades will be taking turns singing in front of the audience. Families and guests can take a seat on the bleachers but please leave the front row for students.

Current ExCEL students DO NOT need to re-enroll.

Hello everyone it is time to register for WINTER ExCEL! ExCEL, Extended Community Enriched Learning, is a HRCSD afterschool program that is funded through a five-year grant administered by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE). ExCEL is an academic enrichment program that offers activities for students after school. ExCEL is free to all students who enroll. Because ExCEL is a competitive grant attendance in the program is critical. Students will be expected to maintain consistent attendance to stay in the program

Please click here to begin your registration. Current ExCEL students DO NOT need to re-enroll.

Please note it is not first come first serve. Excel is a federally funded program that requires students with the highest needs to have priority access. Registration closes December 22 and families will be notified by December 27about enrollment. ExCEL will start January 13. Transportation and an evening meal is provided. Current ExCEL students DO NOT need to re-enroll. Any questions please reach out to Sheri.holloway@hoodriver.k12.or.us

ExCEL will operate Monday - Thursday 2:05-5:00

No ExCEL January 6-9

Winter ExCEL starts January 13

Winter ExCEL ends March 20.

Spring ExCEL begins March 31

Last Day of ExCEL May 22

Shout out to all the awesome students below who wrote and illustrated their very own books! These books were laminated, bound and entered into our library system, barcode and all, so peers can check them out and read them! Students have been checking out these books for a while now and the winner by peer vote was Lila Rodriguez with the Students' Choice Best Book Award for her book, A Magical Place by Lila Rodriguez. Congratulation Lila! Lila earned a pizza party for her class. There will be another contest in March so start thinking of ideas!

If we have a 2 hour delay school starts at 9:35. Buses will run 2 hours later than their original pick up times. So if your bus usually comes at 7:08 it would pick up at 9:08. Students who are being dropped off at school should arrive at 9:15 to eat breakfast and be ready to start in class at 9:35. If we have a 2 hour delay there will be NO ExCEL

This year we will also be having 1 hour delays when the weather is just icy to start but likely to warm up later. These will occur mostly in the early spring when mornings are still very cold and frosty but the day will warm up and melt off or in the event of early morning black ice. Arrival would be 8:15 with an 8:35 start time. Buses would run on their Monday late start schedules. ExCEL will operate as normal on 1 hour delays.

Reminder our students will all go outside no matter the weather. Please send your child to school with a warm coat and appropriate footwear. Winter accessories are a good idea too, scarfs, hats and gloves! A change of clothes including socks and underwear is always recommended as clothes get soaked through and feet get wet. If you need help obtaining any of these items please let us know as we can help outfit your child to be warm and dry.

We live in Cascade Locks and with that comes some stormy weather! Students will go outside on rainy and snowy days. Please help your children experience success at recess by sending them to school on wet days with appropriate footwear and raincoats. Know that it may be dry in the morning but start raining mid day... Always have a coat for the wet weather at school. We also recommend leaving a change of clothes in their locker for ALL ages because nothing will stop a kiddo from going down the slide (not even water, frost or snow). If they soak through their clothes they can quickly change if they are prepared with a spare set of clothes and it will save you a trip to drop off clothes in the middle of the day! AVID students are always prepared!

Familias Unidas are regular meetings for families of Hood River County School District students. These meetings aim to bring our community together to learn about ways to support student success. They are held at Mid Valley Elementary in the cafeteria. A session is held in Spanish from 5pm to 6pm. A session is held in English from 6pm to 7pm. All HRCSD families are encrgaged to attend. Please check out the topics below!

January 16: Attendance matters

February 20: Family and school partnerships

March (date TBD): Helping students connect in school

April 17: Family relationships

May 15: Fostering youth mental health

These dates/topics are subject to change. Please visit the school district website for the most up-to-date information.

Cascade Locks is an AVID elementary school. AVID stands for, Advancement Via Individual Determination.By teaching and reinforcing academic behaviors and higher-level thinking at a young age, AVID Elementary teachers create a ripple effect in later grades. Students develop the academic habits they will need to be successful in middle school, high school, and college, in an age-appropriate and challenging way. Students learn about organization, study skills, communication, and self-advocacy. AVID Elementary students take structured notes and answer and ask high-level questions that go beyond routine answers.

Mission: Our mission is to empower and engage students by providing them with opportunities, instilling confidence and critical thinking skills, as well as the ability to collaborate effectively.

Vision:All students are lifelong learners who have the confidence to take risks, discover their passion, and achieve their goals and dreams.

We are now using Peachjar! Parents/guardians receive digital flyers containing school and community resources that aim to improve the trajectory of students’ lives. This transition will also save our schools time and money while ensuring important information makes it home to parents.

Please visit this Peachjar web page to see current opportunities for Cascade Locks Elementary School.