Dragon News
Findley Elementary School
October 29th, 2018
Our school has been an exciting place these last few weeks. The Dragon Dash Awards Assembly combined with Donut Day made for an exciting way to celebrate our successful Dragon Dash! A huge thanks to Dana Rodman and her team for pulling off another successful Findley Fall Festival. We enjoyed seeing our parents collaborate last week with their teachers at the fall goal setting conferences.
This newsletter contains some very important information. Please read carefully and let us know if you have any questions. Please join us tonight at our PTO meeting! It begins at 7:00 pm i the cafeteria.
Dr. Marsh
School and District Report Card
School and district report cards for the 2017-18 school year are available at: http://www.ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/reports.aspx. (Select Beaverton in the District Selection drop-down menu). Copies of the report will also be available in the office later in November. I welcome the opportunity to share this information with you on the progress we are making to improve academic achievement for each student in the District. We are making progress.
State report cards began fifteen years ago when the 1999 Oregon Legislature passed a law requiring every public school and district to receive a report from the Oregon Department of Education about how they are performing overall. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015, replaces the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and affords states greater flexibility. ESSA encourages schools and educators to innovate and create systems that address local needs. As a part of this work, the Oregon Department of Education redesigned the School and District report cards to engage and inform families about their school’s approach to learning, academic and extracurricular offerings, and student performance. Reports cards also serve as an important tool for continuous improvement planning by local and state policymakers, in conjunction with the communities they serve.
At Findley, WE are committed to using this information to help tailor our school improvement plans and academic programs to meet the needs of every student.
If you have questions about our report card, please contact me. You may also have suggestions for improvements. Please share them! Thank you! Dr. Sherry Marsh
Health Curriculum: Erin's Law
At our school, we teach children important skills for getting along with others and doing well in school. It also helps our school be a safe and supportive place where everyone can learn.
An important component of our curriculum is to help children protect their bodies, get support when abuse has occurred, and report to a trusted adult. In accordance with Erin’s Law, we are educating children about sexual abuse and promoting awareness within our communities. The Oregon Department of Education has required all Oregon schools to comply with Erin’s Law.
In these lessons, students will learn three types of skills:
- Personal Safety. Students will learn ways to determine if a situation is safe or not. Students will also practice strategies to avoid peer pressure in unsafe situations.
- Touching Safety. Students will learn about safe, unsafe, and unwanted touches, and rules about touching private body parts. They’ll also learn to say no to unsafe or unwanted touches, and to tell an adult if someone breaks rules about touching private body parts.
- Assertiveness. These lessons will also give students a chance to practice asking an adult for help, telling an adult about an unsafe situation, and being assertive to get out of unsafe situations.
Your child’s teacher will be sharing these sexual abuse prevention lessons with you prior to teaching them but you can also find them on fightchildabuse.org. I highly encourage you to take a look at these and familiarize yourself with the information we will share with your students. The requirement of Erin’s Law is four lessons a year at each grade level, K-12. Instruction is scheduled for February through May, 2019.
More specific dates will be sent out by your child’s teacher as they get closer. Please contact myself or your child’s teacher if you have any further questions or for opt out information. Thank you for helping us to make our school a safe and supportive place where everyone can learn.
Sincerely, Sherry Marsh, Ed.D Principal Findley Elementary
Please read the important information about best ways to prevent Head Lice from our school nurse.
Head Lice Information for Parents/Staff
Head lice is a common condition and is not associated with lack of cleanliness. While lice are a nuisance, they are not dangerous. Please take care to check your child’s head for lice on a regular basis.
Educate your child on these preventative methods:
● Head lice are mostly spread by direct head-to-head contact. Lice do not jump or fly.
● Avoid head-to-head contact during play and other activities at home, school, and elsewhere such as sports activities, playground, slumber parties, camp.
● Less often, lice are spread via objects that have been in contact with a person with head lice, such as hats, scarves, hair ribbons, combs, brushes, stuffed animals or bedding.
● Do not share these personal items.
● Pets do not get lice.
What to Look for:
● Itching/scratching of head, especially at the back of the head and neck.
● Nits on the hair, close to the scalp. These are usually pearly-grey or brown in color and are tightly attached to the hair shaft.
● Dandruff is easily removed, whereas nits cannot be brushed or swept away.
What to Do If You Find Lice:
● Treat your child with lice treatment recommended by your healthcare provider or pharmacist. Follow all instructions carefully.
● Seat child in a well-lit area, check the hair in small sections looking for lice and nits.
● Work to remove nits by using a nit comb and/or pulling them off the hair shaft with fingernails and dispose of in a sealed plastic bag.
● Check heads of household members. Treat if live lice are found.
● Daily head checks are recommended for the next 2 weeks.
● Wash your child’s towels, bedsheets and recently worn clothing in hot water and dryer.
● Clean combs and brushes used by the child by soaking them in water at least 130°F, for 5–10 minutes.
● Place non-washable items, such as stuffed toys in a sealed plastic bag for 2 weeks. Hatched nits/lice cannot survive more than 2 days without a human host.
● Vacuum furniture, rugs, floors, and the vehicles where the child has been.
Note: Spending excessive time and money on house cleaning activities is not necessary to avoid re-infestation by lice or nits.
Do not use fumigant sprays; they can be toxic if inhaled or absorbed through skin.
The school would appreciate notification if your child gets head lice. All information is completely confidential. Please contact your child’s school office or school nurse if you have additional questions or concerns.
5th Grade Music Program
Exciting Upcoming Events with the Findley Choir!
Findley 5th/6th Grade TrailBlazer Performers
Please come and hear the Findley 5th/6th Grade TrailBlazer Performers sing and dance at the Portland TrailBlazer game on Friday, December 14 at 6:30 p.m. Game time is 7:00 p.m. See the information on the flyer for the discounted Findley tickets! They go fast so order from the Findley Group night website www.rosequarter/groupnights.com Discount code is FINDLEY!
Come and support Findley and watch the BLAZERS WIN!!!
Budget Listening & Learning Session Hold 'Em Exercise (Audience Participation)
Budget Listening & Learning Session
Hold 'Em Exercise (Audience Participation)
Monday, Oct. 29, 2018
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Statewide - Although Oregon is experiencing a strong economy and stable job market, the state budget is facing tremendous pressure from the PERS obligation. Currently, there is no revenue reform to help cover these rising costs and the projected kicker would reduce the ending fund balance of the current biennium.
Timeline: The Governor’s budget will be released by December 1st. The Co-Chairs Budget is usually released by late February and Legislature meets February through June. Final State budget is due by June 30th. Beaverton will start the staffing process in late February. Adopt budget by June 30.
There are also many unknown factors that will impact the budget for 2019-20:
- State Funding Level
- Increases to utilities
- Construction market conditions driving up maintenance and repair costs
- Costs for contractual obligations for staff
- Health insurance increases
Costs that we can estimate currently include:
- PERS increase
- Length of school year
- Current service level including step costs
Local Background
Enrollment: Beaverton School District has had relatively flat enrollment for the past few years. However, our enrollment is steadily growing on the borders of our district and declining in the center of the district. Our student demographics are also changing. Our students in poverty are decreasing as housing costs increase. We are also seeing a decrease in our English Language Learners. These changes have a negative impact on our State School Fund (SSF) allocation.
Student Achievement: In 2018, greater percentages of Beaverton students meet or exceed state standards on the Smarter Balanced and Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS) than their peers statewide in all subjects tested at all grades. We are also seeing improvement in our subgroup data. BSD graduation rates continue to be higher than the state average and the gap between BSD and the state is increasing.
Current Service Level: Beaverton has added nine instructional days to the school calendar during the last three years. Five of these days were additional days to the licensed contract. This is in alignment with School Board and Governor’s priorities. Our salaries and benefits have kept pace with the economic demand of the area.
Instructional Investments:
- Student Success Coaches at all elementary schools to address increased social and emotional needs of our students.
- CTE and High School Success - in response to Measure 98, Beaverton has increased Career and Technical Education opportunities at our high schools. We have also invested in graduation mentors to increase graduation rates and attendance.
- Early Learning - Beaverton has invested in ten pre-kindergarten classes at five elementary schools.
- AVID - (Advancement Via Individual Determination) All secondary schools have AVID tutorial classes and schoolwide AVID strategies have been implemented.
- Future Ready - Full secondary 1:1 device implementation and increased elementary technology strategies and devices. The Future Ready initiative necessitated technology infrastructure upgrades and modernization funded primarily through the bond.
- Social Workers and Counselors have been increased to support increased student needs.
- Professional Development - New curriculum adoptions have been supported with professional development for all teachers. Early release implementation has increased collaboration and professional development across the district.
Operation & Support Services Investments:
- Custodial staffing has increased commensurate with the addition of square footage in new facilities, maintaining staffing at the minimal 2012-13 funding level per square foot.
- Increased maintenance staffing resulted in an immediate improvement in client satisfaction. These increases have slowed but not reversed the growth rate of deferred maintenance.
- Operational costs have increased in response to additional buildings and square footage, upgrades to heating and cooling units, increased instructional days, unfunded mandates, community use of schools, and security and seismic updates. Operational budget increases have not accompanied these additions.
We will continue to communicate with the community throughout the budget and 2019 legislative process.
Upcoming Events
- 29th PTO Meeting @7pm
- 2nd Spirit Day
- 9th Grading Day NO SCHOOL
- 12th NO SCHOOL Veteran's Day (observed)
- 13th Vision Screening
- 16th Crazy Sock Day
- 21st-23rd NO SCHOOL
Findley 4/5 grade Choir will be singing at the Bethany Village Fountain for the Bethany Village Tree Lighting festivities on Tuesday, November 27th from 5:45-6:15. We have an full 30 minutes of music that will get you in the Holiday Spirit!
We will also be singing at the Beaverton German Holiday Market at the Beaverton City Park – in the parking lot where the Farmers Market sits, on Saturday, Dec 1 from 2:45-3:15 p.m. This sound like another fun and festive time! Come and hear our 66 Choir members sing! 🎶🎄