This next week begins our Survey Week! If this is new to you, it is where we survey our students, families, and staff members about their experience within our school system. Based upon that feedback, we create an improvement plan. We look at our scores to celebrate our successes and identify priorities to improve. Without your feedback, we can't take an appropriate action. We craft the plan no matter the number of participants, but we want as much input as possible, so please be on the lookout for the survey information coming out on Monday and we hope you will give us your honest feedback.

As we continue to target family and school connection, we want to thank our 1st and 2nd grade families who joined us for our Family Night. We are grateful for the opportunity to spend more time with you and hopefully bring clarity to some things you were wondering about. Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade's Family Night will be on Oct. 3rd at 5:00pm and your HomeTown Tickets are available now! If you have a child in a younger grade, a fair amount of the information shared will be the same, but we will also discuss some items that are specific to third, fourth, and fifth graders.

Our Jog-a-thon is on Thursday! This is one of our biggest fundraisers that puts money directly back into the classrooms. We ask families who are willing, to please support their child to collect pledges. This is an extremely fun event and we would love volunteers to help as well. If you are interested, please be in touch with your child's teacher.

We will be having our first student of the month celebration on Thursday. New this year, we will be welcoming families of recipients (you will be notified) to come and watch our assembly. We ask that you do not take photos of the entire group, but wait until it concludes to take a photo of your child. This will ensure that those who do not want their child's photo shared are respected. Thank you for understanding and we look forward to having you be a part of our event.

We have had some significant trouble with delays at our dismissal time. Please, please update Pickup Patrol. We cannot accommodate students coming to the office at the end of the day to find out where they are going. At the end of the day if Pickup Patrol has not been updated, we will rely on your child's default plan. If you want something different, we need you to update PickUp Patrol by 1:35 each day. Thank you for understanding as we prioritize your child's safety.

Remember, there is NO SCHOOL on Friday, October 6th due to it being an Inservice Day.

Sincerely,

Corinne Johnsen

Principal, River Mill Elementary

johnsenc@estacada.k12.or.us

As our district continues to work to accommodate a rapidly growing student population, we will be installing a third portable building on the annex side of River Mill Elementary's campus to house students. Construction to prepare the site for the placement of the portable will begin next week, and this area (outlined "construction zone" in a photo below) will be closed for both pedestrian and vehicle traffic from 8:30-2:00 each day next week. The area will be open to accommodate traffic during student drop off and pick up times. Please support us in maintaining a safe and hazard-free construction site by avoiding this area at all times ​with the ​exceptions of drop off and pick up times.

The portable classrooms are expected to open shortly after winter break, following placement and renovation efforts. To learn more about the district's proposal to accommodate growth in a long-term and permanent way, please visit estacadaschoolbond.org.

The Estacada School District is seeking several exceptional candidates to join our team as one of our part time Lunch/Recess monitors. Our Lunch Recess Monitors play an important role in a student's day as they encourage playground safety and offer adult supervision while our students are releasing their energy!

Hours vary per position up to 4 hours per day 4 days per week; Monday - Thursday and an occasional Friday while school is in session. Openings available for our K-8 buildings. (Times vary from 10:00am - 2:00pm).

In order to help you all know what the week looks like, we will list it out clearly for you each week. REID days for are invited students and will change each week. Students are invited to REID days for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's to extend or challenge a student, and other times it might be to provide extra help on a particular skill. On those days, our doors open at 7:50 and dismissal is at 10:00am. If you have questions about this week's schedule, please let us know!

This Week:

• Oct. 2nd: Regular School Day - Surveys Begin!
• Oct. 3rd: Regular School Day - 3rd, 4th & 5th Grade Family Night, 5:00pm
• Oct. 4th: Regular School Day - Picture Day!
• Oct. 5th: Regular School Day - Jog-a-thon Day!
• Oct. 6th: No School, Inservice Day

Upcoming Events:

• Oct. 11th: 3rd & 4th Grade Family Breakfast
• Oct. 13th: REID Day, by invitation only
• Oct. 18th: PTO Meeting, 6:00pm
• Oct. 20th: REID Day, by invitation only
• Oct. 26th: Harvest Festival, 5:00pm - 8:00pm
• Oct. 27th: REID Day, by invitation only
• Nov. 3rd: REID Day, by invitation only
• Nov. 10th: No School, Veterans Day
• Nov. 17th: No School, Grading Day
• Nov. 20th: No School, Conferences
• Nov. 21st: No School, Conferences
• Nov. 22nd - Nov. 24th: No School, Holiday Break

Want to stay informed about what's happening at River Mill? Follow us on Facebook.

We will be continuing our annual tradition called One School, One Book. This year, our school will be reading the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio which takes us through a heartwarming story about a character named Auggie who looks a little different than his peers, and how those around him begin to understand and appreciate him for who he is, despite his differences.

This year, we will not be purchasing books for families, but we will be reading and sending you a video of a section of the story on weeknights. We want everyone to just enjoy this story as a family and as a school community. We hope this helps students to establish a routine of reading and enjoyment of books! If you want to explore checking the book out at your local library or purchase a copy yourself, we highly encourage you to do so.

All Smiles Community Oral Health will be providing free dental screenings, sealants, and fluoride at your child’s school in the week of October 30th. Healthy teeth are important to your child’s overall health. A dental screening is a quick look inside your child’s mouth to check the overall health of their teeth. Dental sealants are protective coatings put on the back teeth to prevent cavities and fluoride is a vitamin that is brushed on the teeth to make teeth stronger and prevent cavities. Click below to sign the permission form for your child online.

Our lost and found is already overflowing! Please make sure your child's name is written on as many of their layers of clothing and lunch boxes as possible. We know these items are costly and want to get them back to their rightful owners. If you recognize any of these, please let us know.

My School Bucks is an online payment service that provides parents the ability to securely pay for meals, monitor student cafeteria purchases, and receive email notifications for low account balances. Please note: currently, a convenience fee of $2.75 will be applied for each transaction. All transactions are processed and applied to students' accounts nightly. To enroll, please follow the link below and have your student's ID number handy.

We have noticed the last week that the weather is beginning to change. Please make sure your child has layers of clothes and a coat or jacket with a hood and long sleeves. If they do not, they will need to remain under the covered area during recess time when it is raining.

If your child gets super wet at recess or has a bathroom accident, we do not have extra clothes for them. For all students, Pre-K to 5th grade, please have a spare outfit (including socks) in your child's backpack. This will help make them more comfortable while they are at school.

If you wish to send snacks or gifts for your child’s birthday, the office will be happy to call your student out of class to see their surprise. To minimize classroom disruptions, our policy is to keep flowers, balloons, gifts, etc. in the office until the end of the day. When the student is released for the day, they can pick up their gift and take it home. Please contact your child’s teacher to make necessary arrangements for celebrations that can be scheduled at a time that is compatible with the day’s learning schedule. State law requires that snacks fit the healthy criteria for the Oregon Smart Snack law.

Every Student. Every Day. Whatever It Takes!

Principal Corinne Johnsen

Go Timbers!

Email: johnsenc@estacada.k12.or.us
Website: www.rmes.estacada.k12.or.us
Location: 850 North Broadway Street, Estacada, OR, USA
Phone: 503-630-8517
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiverMillElem
Twitter: @RMTimbers