Lenox Elementary

Greetings Families,

Thank you for attending conferences the first week of November. Our school to home partnership is extremely important in fostering our students' experiences and success at school. Thank you for being so supportive of our students and staff!

We are thankful that we were able to hire a new part time 5th grade teacher in late November to support those larger class sizes. Please welcome Ms. Linda Armstrong, who is teaching 5th grade math, social studies, science, health, art and technology. We are excited to be able to add a member to our team!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Gina McLain

• Mon. Dec. 4th: Booster Club Mtg., 7:00 PM in the library
• Thurs. Dec. 7th: College Wear Day. Wear your college gear (no hats) on the first Thursday of every month.
• Fri. Dec. 8th-Fri. Dec. 15th: Booster Club Scholastic Book Fair. More info on our Booster Club Website
• Mon. Dec. 11th-Fri. Dec. 15th: SPIRIT WEEK! (more details below)
• Mon. Dec. 18th- Mon. Jan. 1st: NO SCHOOL, Winter Break
• Tues. Jan. 2nd: School resumes
• Thurs. Jan. 4th: College Wear Day. Wear your college gear (no hats) on the first Thursday of every month.
• Mon. Jan. 15th: No School--Martin Luther King Day
• Wed. Jan 31st: End of 1st Semester
• Thurs & Fri. Feb. 1-2: No School--Teacher & Grade Prep days

Monday, Dec. 11th: Winter Colors. Wear your favorite winter colors! Red, green, blue, white, silver, and gold.

Tuesday, Dec. 12th: Fun Socks! Show your spirit with funky socks!

Wednesday, Dec. 13th: Accessories. Wear your winter jewelry, ties, pins, scarves, etc.

Thursday, Dec. 14th: Sweaters. Time to bring out the winter sweaters, sweatshirts, and

t-shirts.

Friday, Dec. 15th: ALL OUT. Wear anything festive. Go all out. Dress to impress.

Last year we met our School Improvement Goal in the area of attendance! Hooray! We reduced our Chronic Absenteeism Rate from 12.86% to 10%. Chronic Absenteeism is defined as having less than 90% attendance. This year we are striving for a Chronic Absenteeism Rate of 8%. If your child is showing signs of being sick, please click on this link for some guidelines for when your child is Too Sick for School.

Gratitude, the practice of being thankful, has significant benefits for children. Gratitude can:

• Boost overall well-being
  
• Encourage better grades
• Improve pro-social behavior
• Help promote good sleep
• Protect from negative emotions associated with loss or stress
• Enhance group/team morale

Practicing gratitude can be as simple as asking youth, “What are you thankful for today?” However, for many youth who have experienced trauma, thinking about even one thing to be thankful for when everything seems terrible is hardly simple. Many of us who ask that question will hear responses like, “I don't know” or “nothing.”

Finding the words to describe anything — good or bad — is difficult following trauma. As caring adults, we can help facilitate the practice of gratitude. The 5 Senses Practice below can help children practice being thankful in a direct, but easy way.

5 Senses Practice

• What do you see, hear, taste, touch or smell that you enjoy?
• Have you experienced any of those senses recently?
• If you have, be thankful. If you haven’t, how can you experience one of those senses soon?
• When you experience anything that looks, sounds, tastes, feels or smells good, stop and enjoy the moment and be thankful!

Ms. Jenny Jennings

Child Development Specialist

The music room is going full steam ahead this fall! K-2 are moving to “Italian Polka” by Sergei Rachmanionoff and “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” by Mozart. K-2 are also echoing “No More Pie” and “Purple Light,” making whale songs, glue dancing, playing a game called “Cut the Cake,” listening to a songtale called “The Crabfish,” singing “John Brown’s Baby,” “Mother Goonie Bird,” and chanting “When I Was a Baby,” and “Five Little Ladies.” 2nd-6th graders are reviewing rhythms and beginning new ones for the year. 3rd-4th graders are singing the round “Kookaburra” and 5th-6th are singing the round “Ah, Poor Bird.” 3rd graders are identifying verse and refrain. 4th graders are starting to learn their staff names. 5th-6th graders are reviewing staff names, writing mini-songs, and playing tonebars on “Five Note Fun.” 6th graders just finished adding harmony and singing solos in “Pizza Love.” Grades 3-6 just finished the dance “Kings and Queens,” and are learning “Heel and Toe Polka.” In December, some classes will have time to watch a few scenes from “The Nutcracker” in addition to the skill development listed above.

Ms. Amber Young

Lenox General Music and Band Specialist

As we are finishing the month of November and moving into December our K-3 students have been working on soccer skills and activities. We have focused primarily on ball handling and dribbling skills but have also worked on the very basic of passing skills. The next couple of weeks we will be performing another 15-meter Pacer Test and introducing information as to what kind of changes we see in our bodies when we exercise strenuously. Both of these activities are assessments in the strand of Fitness Concepts. In the last week prior to winter break (12/11-12/15) we will be involved in one of our students' favorite activities called Reindeer Races.

Our 4th-6th graders have just finished up our soccer unit. During our soccer unit we had a chance to work on ball handling, dribbling, and passing skill development through a number of partner activities and modified game activities. We finished up with having students play an indoor soccer game called Sideline Soccer. Intermediate students will also perform another 15-meter Pacer this week and we will discuss the Fitness Component of Cardio-respiratory Fitness. Reindeer Races will be enjoyed in the last week of school leading up to winter break.

Mr. Rick Karlin

P.E. Specialist

• Please pull forward as far as possible in the drop off lane.

• We strongly encourage your child to exit from the right side of the car and directly into the striped, drop off zone for safety purposes.

• If you need to have your child get out on the left side, next to passing vehicles, please guide them through getting out at a safe and appropriate time.

• If you need to get out of your car to assist your child, please pull up to the front of the lane before getting out of the car.

• After your child has gotten out of your car, please pull into the left lane and exit, thus allowing other cars to come into the drop off area.

• Please only have your child disembark from your car if you have reached the striped, drop off zone. Do not drop off before the striped zone.

• Please instruct your child to use only the crosswalks to the curb, even when no buses are parked along the fire lane.

Have you visited the NEW Booster Website? Here is the link. This is the place to go for info regarding all Booster events, activities, and news. Make sure to register so that you receive updates and emails for all things Booster Club!

The Hillsboro School District is launching SafeOregon. Please read the information below and pick up an information sheet in our lobby if you would like additional information.

SafeOregon is a program created for Oregon students, parents, school staff, community members, and law enforcement officers to report and respond to student safety threats.

The goal of SafeOregon is to prevent school safety threats from occurring by providing schools and communities with a relevant tool for reporting potential threats. Tips can be submitted in a variety of ways including email, phone calls, text, mobile app, and a web portal.

Visit SafeOregon for additional information or to report at tip.

With the winter weather season approaching, here are some ways to access School Closure Notification: District Website, Local Radio & TV Stations, Hillsboro School District app, and Flash Alert Emergency Notification System. For more information, please click the following link to visit the HSD website. HSD Inclement Weather Notifications

• Doors open at 7:15. Students can either go to the gym or eat breakfast in the cafeteria.
• At 7:35, the first bell rings and students are dismissed to class.
• Between 7:15-7:35, parents can walk students to either the gym or cafeteria. Be sure to sign in at the front office, get a visitor's badge and make sure the badge is visible. Please do not go to the classroom until the 7:35 bell has rung.
• Between 7:35-7:45, parents can walk students to class. Be sure to sign in at the front office, get a visitor's badge and make sure the badge is visible.
• At 7:45 the tardy bell rings and class starts. Any students coming in to class after 7:45 will be marked tardy.

Don't forget that if you would like to volunteer in the classroom, for school events, field trips, etc. you need to fill out the district volunteer application. Please do this as soon as possible so you are cleared to volunteer.

https://volunteerapplication.hsd.k12.or.us/

Website: https://www.hsd.k12.or.us/lenox
Location: 21200 Northwest Rock Creek Boulevard, Portland, OR, United States
Phone: (503) 844-1360