Lake Grove Elementary

Dear Lake Grove Families,

What am amazing, busy, and joyful week of learning together we've had! Thank you for sharing your amazing children with us. Our students consistently demonstrate Lake Grove's values of being inclusive and welcoming to one another and it's filled my heart with gratitude to be able to be with them this week.

We love learning together as a community! Thank you for your partnership.

Be well,

Principal Knapp

This week, school staff will be focusing on providing all elementary students with appropriate and up-to-date technology. Devices are used by students in school throughout the year; our one-to-one technology initiative is part of our curriculum and instruction tool kit. Kindergarten through second-grade will have an iPad. Third, fourth, and fifth-graders will have a Chromebook. Note: In the transition and support next week, some students may be without their device for a few days.

Some things to remember regarding technology throughout the school year:

• Please be sure your students bring their devices to school every day, charged, and ready to go!
• If your student forgets their device, a loaner will only be provided for essential activities.
• Regarding damage: if the device gets damaged at home, please submit a tech ticket. If it gets damaged at school, one of our staff members will do that.

This Fall, all students in Grades 1-8 will complete two online i-Ready assessments in class. One is for math and the other is for reading. i-Ready is a program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform and tailor instruction to accelerate growth. This is the first of three i-Ready assessments we give each year, and results will be shared with parents in October (at conferences).

The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s skill level. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.

At Lake Grove, the Fall i-Ready testing window will be between September 7 and September 24.

LOSD needs parents-guardians of all students enrolled for the 2021-22 school year to log into ParentVUE and review/update your students' information through the Register/Verify tab.

This ensures schools have accurate information to reach parents and other contacts in both emergency and non-emergency situations. Verification is important even if your address or contact information has not changed over the past year because the school may have incorrect information from a previous year.

If you have forgotten your ParentVUE password, go to the login page, click "I am a Parent," then click "Forgot Password." If you are unsure whether you have a ParentVUE account, contact your student's school. For assistance with the verification process, refer to the user guide on the LOSD website or contact your student's school.

The Oregon Department of Education publishes an annual notice regarding state assessments in English Language Arts and Math. Please review the Annual Notice for Statewide Tests for information regarding why participation matters, an explanation of the right to opt out,

and test windows.

Food Service Update:

Thank you LOSD parents/guardians for participating in our free breakfast and lunch meal programs. We made a change to our Grab-N-Go take home breakfast process and want to share it with you. In the morning your student can order a breakfast meal with their teacher. It will then be delivered near the end of the day. You do not need to order lunch in order to receive a breakfast meal. We also want to let you know that due to supply and staffing issues there may be changes to our menu next week. We will do our best to substitute a menu item for a similar option when available. Click here for a link to the menus.

Picnic lunches have been going well. Thank you to the PTA who generously provided the tents that many classrooms are using during lunch. Here is a video

Students sit spaced 6’ apart outdoors in the designated areas supervised by their classroom teacher for lunch. Dress accordingly, as we will be outside whenever possible.

On rare days when the weather prevents us all from eating outside, students will sit spaced 6’ apart in the classroom supervised by their teacher for lunch. Some students will move to designated spaces outside, under the PTA purchased canopy, or in another supervised space in the building.

If your child would like to bring a towel, reusable plastic grocery bag or cushion to sit on, they are welcome to do so.

• Thank you for your grace as we collaborate with STA to train new drivers to learn all the new students and their routes.
• Please complete this Google Form to let us know your child's bus stop (cross streets). We will create a bus tag for each rider to help ensure the drivers know when to help them exit the bus.

• Also, please be aware that students may only ride the bus to which they are assigned. If you are planning a playdate, please plan to provide your own transportation if your plans include a bus rider.

If your child has medication to be taken at school, please be sure to call the office at 503-534-2357 and let us know when you can drop off medication and fill out the intake forms.

For September, we have two Social Emotional Learning (SEL) themes: Courage and Respect. These character traits are essential to our return to full-day school days and re-establish our school community.

This month we’re talking about the virtue of Courage - to help our children be courageous and learn to conquer things that frighten or scare them. Children need reassurance that fear is one of our feelings and to help them understand that it’s okay to feel afraid. Courage isn’t fearlessness, but instead our ability to choose the right thing even when we are scared! The definition we will be talking about is: Courage is to choose what is good, right, and kind even when it is hard or scary.

During the week of September 27th, we will be exploring the character trait of Respect as we continue fostering our school community during “Start With Hello” Week. Stay tuned for more information later this month. The dictionary defines Respect as the value of admiring another person for who they are and what they do. The definition we are using is: Respect: seeing good in people and things (and treating them with care). We are also talking about Respect in the context of using good manners, not using inappropriate or offensive language, being courteous to one another, resolving conflicts peacefully, and treating one another as we would want to be treated (and how they want to be treated!).

We believe involving families in our Social Emotional Learning is important. The letters linked below include activities, conversation starters, reading lists and more for you to explore Courage and Respect as a family.

Courage:

K-2 Courage Parent Letter (English) K-2 Courage Parent Letter (En Español )

3-5 Courage Parent Letter (English) 3-5 Courage Parent Letter (En Español )

Respect:

K-2 Respect Parent Letter (English) K-2 Respect Parent Letter (En Español)

3-5 Respect Parent Letter (English) 3-5 Respect Parent Letter (En Español)

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about our SEL curriculum. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I can be reached at postw@loswego.k12.or.us or 503-534-2357.

Sincerely,

Wendy Post

School Counselor/Social Worker

9/6 - Labor Day - No School

9/23 - School Picture Day

9/28 PTA General Meeting (Zoom 7pm)

10/8 - Professional Day - No School

10/13 - Back to School Night

Grovers are enjoying the PTA-purchased canopies during lunch. Thank you to our Lake Grove community for the generous donations which made these outdoor spaces possible for all students!

JOIN THE PTA TODAY

Families are welcome to join the Lake Grove PTA! Joining the PTA helps amplify your voice as our organization provides support to students, staff and teachers. Easily make your credit card payment online at https://lgs.ejoinme.org/2021PTA. If you have questions about the benefits of membership, email lakegrovepta@gmail.com.

VOLUNTEER WITH US!

The Lake Grove PTA is only as successful as the volunteers who manage and support our programs. In early September, our team will proceed in planning our year of programs and activities following health and safety guidelines set by the school district. If you’d like to volunteer in support of our mission, please sign up for a general area of interest. We welcome new volunteers in the areas of fundraising, enrichment, community building and social responsibility, membership and administration.

We are now accepting volunteers to serve as room parents. Lake Grove teachers have requested one parent per room to help serve as a liaison between the teacher and parents on PTA topics like parties and fundraising. We will accept one “back-up” volunteer per room, in the event the primary volunteer can no longer serve in this role at some point during the school year. Volunteer here to be a room parent: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080b4ea5ab2caafa7-room

For questions about volunteering, email lakegrovepta@gmail.com.

COMMUNITY BUILDING AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Watch for more opportunities to volunteer with us after Labor Day! We will have more watering dates through the end of September and then a garden cleanup date.

Stay tuned for exciting announcements about how Lake Grove Cougars are going to build their community and grow sustainable relationships.

At Lake Grove, we are an inclusive school community fostering social, emotional, and academic growth for all students.

Website: https://www.losdschools.org/lg
Location: 15777 Boones Ferry Road, Lake Oswego, OR, United States
Phone: 503-534-2357