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HOA Happenings
December 1, 2023
for all K-12 families of Hillsboro Online Academy
In order to improve the account security of our students, Hillsboro School District is making changes to their password policy. Here is the new student policy:
- Default maximum password age of 375 days.
- Pre-K to Grade 2 student passwords never expire.
- Elementary student minimum length: 8-characters
- Middle school student minimum length: 10-characters
- High school student minimum length: 12-characters
The minimum password length setting will be applied to all students on December 4, 2023. If a user currently has a password that is shorter than the minimum length, the system will continue to allow them to sign in with that password. Only when they change their password will they need to pick a longer password if the policy requires it.
Before the policy change happens, impacted students will receive a warning via their school email that they should expect to change their password when the policy changes. Students who have reset their password at the start of this school should not expect their password to expire until next school year (2024-25).
Attendance reminder
We've started a backpack program at HOA! Through the support of community partners, we are able to help meet some families needs in providing daily lunch for their children! If you'd like more information or would like to help, please contact Mrs. Maher or Mrs. Kellar!
What's happening in the buildings this month?
Tamarack
12/7 - MS Get-Together
12/13 - Pajama Day
Oak Street
12/1 - Online Social
12/4 - HS Social @ 12:15 PM12/13 - 9th Grade NNAT @ 11:30 AM
Northwest Landscape Expo
Students are invited to attend our first high school field trip of our Ag CTE Program to the Northwest Landscape Expo on Thursday, December 7. Please see the flyer (below) for more information!
If you're interested in attending, please email Mrs. Saul at saulc@hsd.k12.or.us to register!
Click to see if you qualify & to apply!
Stop by Oak Street Campus to pick up your t-shirt & sweatshirt
order on Thursday, December 14 or Friday, December 15!
Kristina will be available 8:00 AM - 2:30 PM to help you!
We do have a few extra t-shirts available for purchase! Please contact Kristina at estradak@hsd.k12.or.us for assistance!
Winter Break tips
- Our office will be closed Monday, December 18 - Monday, January 1 for Winter Break.
- Classes resume on Tuesday, January 2
- Teachers are not available during Winter Break
- Winter Break is a GREAT time to catch up on missing work!
Parent Connect Meeting
Parent Connect is virtual this month! Grab a cup of coffee or tea & meet with our Administrator, Shannon Freudenthal, and our K-8 Counselor, Ken Ollis, along with some other HOA parents & make connections!
Log in to https://meet.google.com/pjg-wauw-bjm at 6:30 on Wednesday, Dec 13. This is a great time to ask questions that are coming up for you & your online learner! We'd love to see you online!
19th Annual Crystal Apple Awards
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce will once again celebrate excellence in education through their Crystal Apple Awards! This is the 19th year of the program, in which licensed, classified, and administrative and supervisory/technical staff are recognized for doing amazing work on behalf of students.
Visit the Chamber’s website for more information, and make sure to nominate outstanding staff members by 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Nominees will be surprised at “reveal” events in late February/early March, and recipients will be announced at the Crystal Apple Awards Ceremony on Thursday, Apr. 25, 2024 at The Venetian in downtown Hillsboro.
The NNAT (The Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test) will be administered on December 13th, 2023, during our 9th Grade Social / Party. All Hillsboro School District 9th grade students will participate in the district wide assessment. Teachers will use this information to inform their instruction.
The Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT), developed by Pearson Inc., is a standardized test designed to assess the reasoning ability of students ages 5 to 17. The NNAT is utilized extensively in the U.S. as an admissions criterion for gifted schools and programs.
The Naglieri test assesses nonverbal reasoning and general problem-solving skills in children. The NNAT is considered culturally neutral as it contains minimal use of language and directions, and does not require reading, writing, or speaking. Instead, the Naglieri test incorporates abstract shapes and designs, which allow for unbiased scoring regardless of a child’s primary language, education, and socioeconomic background. The use of only two colors in the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (yellow and blue) contributes to the unbiased nature of the test for students with minimal color vision impairment.
Results will be available to parents sometime in January. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Burnsed, Instructional Coach & 7-12 TAG Coordinator.
Thank you for your support,
Casy L. Burnsed
Instructional Coach & 7-12 TAG Coordinator