Greetings Fir Grove Families!

We have seen that disregulated behaviors are on the rise not only at Fir Grove and across Beaverton schools, but also on a state and national level. We continue to work at understanding the whys and to work as a community to help support all students across their entire school day. Some of the ways we do this is to teach kids how to solve problems as they arise, to play well with others, and to teach them tools and strategies that can work with different people in different settings. Our staff has been doing some focused work around recess expectations and behaviors throughout the Fall and will continue to do so in the weeks/months to come. We wanted to share that work with families to develop common understanding and language and to invite your partnership in this work.

Throughout each day, we work with all our students to help them to be thoughtful problem solvers and critical thinkers in their academics, at recess and in all aspects of their lives. A strong community will always have to work through conflict and issues as they arise. To this end, as a school we are helping students understand the power of their words and importance of relationships by:

• helping them understand that when we listen carefully to others, we learn how what we say and do can have a positive or negative affect on one another
• learning to acknowledge the feelings of others and our role in the problem
• learning how to apologize and forgive and that both of these actions show strength of character.

This is powerful and important work and we enjoy the many positive moments of helping kids to solve problems, grow in all situations and to move forward after making a mistake. Your kids are amazing and it is a gift to work with them at Fir Grove.

An important tool to support students at recess is Kelso’s Wheel. We use the tool to help guide students through problem solving. We might ask, "What is another way you can solve this problem? Let's go look at Kelso's Wheel." Ms. Caryl, our school counselor, introduces this tool in Kindergarten and continues to teach about it to First and Second Graders. It is revisited as needs arise. At older grades, students are able to have more sophisticated conversations (that go deeper than this wheel), but it is a great starting point. As a staff, we decided to send all of our families a copy of Kelso’s Wheel to let our families in on one of our school tools. Perhaps it may even serve as resource or tool at home, with siblings and neighborhood friends.

As for recess duty personnel, we follow the Beaverton School District recess supervision guidelines. Some recesses have two adults and others have three adults supervising. Each person on duty has a walkie talkie to communicate with the office and each other in case any students need additional assistance or need to go to the Health Room.

The Recess Rules are posted on the window next to the playground. They can be referred to if there is a question about rules. Recess rules are also reviewed at least three times a year in the classroom. I have attached the recess rules below if you'd like to review them with your child.

As an addition to an outside recess, we are fortunate that this year PTO Volunteers are hosting an indoor recess option on Thursdays for First and Second Graders in the library. Crafts, games and fun are a big draw for up to 30 students. Other supports at recess include two undercover areas for students when it's raining and we open the Technology Lab or the Multi-Purpose Room with drawing and board games to provide other options for students.

Recess is not only about playing, but it provides opportunities to practice and learn social emotional skills. These are the skills that help us navigate interactions with others. How do I ask someone to play with me? How do I wait my turn? What do I do if I can't play my favorite game? What do I need to do if I have a problem with another person? These social emotional skills are reinforced daily at recess. And the adults on the playground are there to help navigate and problem solve. There is so much learning happening on the playground!

We are working together to help students...Be Safe. Be Responsible. Be Respectful.

Our theme of the month is COURAGE. Courage is doing something even if it is scary or new. Courage is about perseverance. We want our students to have the courage to try and try. We want them to have the positive mindset that even if they can't do it NOW, at some point, they will be be able to do it. They just haven't learned it YET!

Thanks for reading, for caring, and for sending such incredibly gifted and amazing young people to us each day.

Warmly,

Erin Miles

This short film illustrates how we help students to resolve recess problems and restore the harm that has been caused.

JANUARY

1-3 NO SCHOOL/Winter Break

6 Back to School

8 K-3 Puppet Theatre Assembly

9 Vision Screening

9 Principal Chat, 6:15-7:00pm

9 PTO Mtg, 7:00-8:00pm

20 NO SCHOOL/MLK Day

23 Family Literacy Event, 5:30-7:30pm-Postponed

27 NO SCHOOL/GRADING DAY

30 Eth-Noh-Tec Storyteller Assembly

31 Report Cards Go Home

FEBRUARY

6 PTO Mtg, 7:00-8:00pm

13 Music Performance Grades 2, 5, 6:15-7:15pm

14 Valentine’s Party

17 NO SCHOOL/Presidents Day

18 NO SCHOOL/Staff Development

26 Spring Picture Day

28 PTO Friendship Dance

Fir Grove students have three wonderful performances in store for family, friends, and neighbors. Please mark your calendar for our grade-level concerts:

1st & 4th Grade — Thursday, December 12th (It was wonderful!)

2nd & 5th Grade — Thursday, February 13th

Kinder & 3rd Grade — Thursday, May 7th

All performances begin at 6:15pm in the gym

Doors open at 5:45pm • Performers dress for a special occasion and arrive by 6:00pm

It was a surprise for 10 lucky students. To support our school goals of being safe, responsible and respectful, we partnered with the Washington County Transportation Bike Coalition to give away 10 bikes and helmets to students who had earned Pawsomes. Pawsomes are awarded for being recognized as being safe, responsible, and respectful. We chose 10 random Kindergarten, First and Second names from the Pawsome Box. Being safe, respectful, and responsible always matters, but sometimes you can even be rewarded for it!

We will have more bikes to give away to students in 3-5th grade later in the year.

A community mural will painted in the along the hallway leading Fir Grove library. We are looking for your input. The library is the heart of our school and we want a mural that is inviting to all learners Preschool-5th grade.

THEMES

1. Destination Imagination

2. Wide Open World

3. Fir Grove Friends

VOTE HERE.

All community members are invited to vote. Please vote for your top theme choice by January 17th.

We have hired a new Principal Secretary, Karla Portillo. Mrs. Portillo has been in the Beaverton School District for many years working in elementary, middle school, and the Multilingual Department. She is bilingual English/Spanish. We are excited to have Mrs. Portillo be a part of our office. Stop by and say hi!

Dance fever is going to hit Fir Grove! Dance Club will begin on January 15 for grades 2 - 5 on Wednesdays from 2:35 - 3:30. (4 weeks)

All information is on our PE Teacher, Mrs. Villegas', website here.

Fir Grove will be having vision screening for all students on 1/9/20. If your child wears glasses or contacts, please make sure they are wearing them for the screening.

Hearing screening for grades K-2 will be on 1/10/20. If your child wears hearing aids, please make sure they bring them to school. Should your student fail the hearing screening, they will be re-screened approximately 2 – 3 weeks after the initial screening.

Only if your student fails either the vision or hearing screen will you be notified.

Please notify the office in writing if you do not want your student(s) screened for either or both of these services.

Fir Grove tendrá exámenes de la vista para todos los estudiantes en enero del 2020. Si su hijo/a usa anteojos o contactos, asegúrese de que los esté usando para el dia de la prueba de detección.

El cribado auditivo para los grados K-2 será el 10 de enero del 2020. Si su hijo/a usa audífonos, asegúrese de que los lleven a la escuela. Si su estudiante falla la prueba de audición, se le reseleccionará aproximadamente de 2 a 3 semanas después de la prueba inicial.

Solo si su estudiante falla, ya sea la pantalla de visión o de la audición, se le notificará.

Por favor notifique a la oficina por escrito si usted no desea que su(s) estudiante(s) sea examinado para uno o ambos de estos servicios.

The Beaverton School District is transitioning to electronic report cards for all students. The electronic report cards will be accessed through ParentVUE (mobile and desktop). If you have not set up your ParentVUE account, you will need to do that by January 2020.

There are resources and guidance on how to set up a ParentVue account. Please view the FAQ for instructions on setting up your account. There are several benefits to moving to paperless report cards. You will be able to view grades days after grading days, rather than wait up to two weeks for a report card to come by mail or in your child’s backpack. In addition, moving away from paper is environmentally friendly and cost-effective for the District.

Please contact the Fir Grove Office if you need help setting up or accessing your ParentVUE account or need assistance with a printed copy. We will be sharing more information about this transition in the coming weeks.

Las boletas de calificaciones se enviarán electrónicamente y no en papel

El Distrito Escolar de Beaverton está haciendo la transición a las boletas de calificaciones electrónicas para todos los estudiantes. De ahora en adelante usted podrá obtener las boletas de calificaciones electrónicas a través de la aplicación ParentVUE (por celular y computadora). Si todavía no ha configurado su cuenta de ParentVUE, deberá hacerlo antes de enero de 2020.

Tenemos recursos e instrucciones sobre cómo configurar una cuenta de ParentVue. Por favor consulte la sección de Preguntas Frecuentes donde podrá encontrar esta información.

Hay varios beneficios de solo recibir las boletas de calificaciones de manera electrónica. Usted las podrá ver de tres a cuatro días hábiles después de los días de calificación, en lugar de esperar hasta dos semanas para recibir una boleta de calificaciones por correo o en la mochila de su hijo. Además, deshacerse de la opción de papel ayuda al medio ambiente y es mas económico para el Distrito.

Por favor comuníquese con su escuela si necesita ayuda para configurar o entrar a su cuenta de ParentVUE o si necesita ayuda con una copia impresa. Estaremos compartiendo más información sobre esta transición en las próximas semanas.

The Beaverton School District has held four (4) community meetings with the Middle School Boundary Adjustment (MSBA) advisory committee. Attendance boundaries for all of the middle schools are being considered for adjustment and the advisory committee is seeking community input from residents in the central and southern part of the District.

The City of Beaverton is planning for almost 7,000 new residential dwelling units in the Cooper Mountain area near Mountainside High School over the next 10-15 years. Which middle school(s) should serve these new developments? Do you have reasons why your neighborhood should attend a different middle school? Do you understand that changes to attendance boundaries in the north part of the District will impact other attendance boundaries? Are you concerned about the potential for the size of student enrollment at middle school?

If you are concerned about any of these questions, or if you have other questions about the MSBA project, please visit the District's MSBA web page (link). Read the materials, visit the advisory committee calendar, and/or submit written comment to the committee. Please come to an advisory committee meeting or watch the meeting livestreamed in real time. The district wants and needs to hear from you.

Thank you for your support!

Steven A. Sparks, AICP | Executive Administrator for Long Range Planning

Queridos Padres:

El Distrito Escolar de Beaverton ha tenido cuatro (4) reuniones comunitarias con el comité asesor de Ajuste de Límites Territoriales de Asistencia de las Escuelas Secundarias (MSBA por sus siglas en inglés). Los límites de asistencia para todas las escuelas secundarias se están considerando para que se les hagan ajustes y el comité asesor está buscando la opinión comunitaria de los residentes en la parte central y sur del Distrito.

La Ciudad de Beaverton está planeando casi 7,000 nuevas unidades de vivienda residencial en el área de Cooper Mountain cerca de la escuela preparatoria Mountainside en los próximos 10-15 años. ¿Qué escuela (s) secundaria (s) debería(n) corresponder a estos nuevos desarrollos? ¿Tiene razones por las cuales los niños de su vecindario deberían asistir a una escuela secundaria diferente? ¿Entiende que los cambios en los límites de asistencia en la parte norte del Distrito afectarán otros límites de asistencia? ¿Le preocupa el potencial para el tamaño de la inscripción de estudiantes a nivel de la escuela secundaria?

Si está preocupado por alguna de estas preguntas, o si tiene otras sobre el proyecto MSBA, por favor visite el sitio web del Distrito (enlace). Lea los materiales, visite el calendario del comité asesor y/o envíele sus comentarios por escrito. Por favor venga a una de las reuniones o vea la transmisión de estas en vivo. El distrito quiere y necesita saber de usted.

¡Gracias por su apoyo!

The Beaverton School District and our Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS) partners are expanding access to library materials and resources via the public library Youth Access Card (YAC) for BSD students who do not already have a public library card. This special library card allows students to check out up to five print books or audiobooks from any WCCLS library without any overdue fines. It also provides access to ebooks, digital audiobooks, and other online library resources that can be obtained directly from their BSD Chromebooks or other device.

Using the Sora app, students can link their WCCLS library cards to the BSD digital library so they can browse and borrow BSD and public library ebook/audiobook collections in one place. Rolling distribution of the YAC cards to BSD schools will begin starting in November and continue through January. For more details about these cards, please see the the BSD webpage about the partnership.

¡Nueva asociación comunitaria que abrirá un mundo de lectura!

El Distrito Escolar de Beaverton y los Servicios Cooperativos de Bibliotecas del Condado de Washington (WCCLS) están ampliando el acceso a los materiales de la biblioteca a través de la Tarjeta Juvenil (Youth Access Card o YAC) para los estudiantes del Distrito Escolar de Beaverton que aún no tienen una tarjeta para la biblioteca pública. Esta tarjeta especial les permite a los estudiantes sacar hasta cinco libros impresos o audiolibros de cualquier biblioteca de WCCLS sin que reciban multas por regresar los materiales tarde. También proporciona acceso a libros electrónicos, audiolibros digitales y otros recursos de la biblioteca en línea que pueden obtener directamente desde sus Chromebooks del Distrito u otro aparato electrónico.

Al usar la aplicación digital Sora, los estudiantes pueden vincular sus tarjetas de la biblioteca pública de WCCLS a la biblioteca digital del Distrito Escolar de Beaverton para que puedan buscar y tomar prestados libros electrónicos y audio libros del Distrito y de la biblioteca pública en un solo lugar. La distribución de las tarjetas YAC a las escuelas del Distrito comenzará en noviembre y continuará hasta enero. Para obtener más detalles sobre estas y la asociación entre el Distrito y WCCLS por favor visite el sitio web del Distrito.

When the weather gets snowy or icy, school schedules may be affected. The District generally posts the announcement of delayed school opening or school closure by 5:15 a.m. All Portland Metro area media outlets announce the information on TV newscasts and online.

The District makes decisions based on the ability to operate school buses safely; the ability for students and parents to get to school safely, and the ability for employees to get to work safely and on time. The decision that is made will be for the entire District. As always, parents may choose to make different decisions based on their particular location.

The District will notify parents and staff via SchoolMessenger with a Non-School Hours Emergency message. Please manage your communication preferences in SchoolMessenger InfoCenter.

For the latest inclement weather information:

• Log on to the District website and a light blue message banner will be posted on the top of the main page with the status of District operations.

• Opt-in for SMS Alerts from SchoolMessenger

• Subscribe to Flash Alert for email or text message updates

• Like the Beaverton School District on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

• The Beaverton School District Inclement Weather Policy and transportation snow routes can be found on the Public Safety webpage.

• Subscribe to the District’s RSS Feed

School closure or delayed start decisions will typically be communicated to media outlets and posted on the District website, Facebook and Twitter by 5:30 a.m.

We encourage families to make transportation and attendance decisions for their child(ren) based on their own assessment of travel conditions at their location.

When all district schools and facilities are closed

• All daytime and evening activities/events on closure days are cancelled.
  

When there is a 2-hour delay in opening school

• All schools will open two hours later than regularly scheduled.
  
• The following classes are cancelled: AM early intervention, AM Preschool Classes, AM Health Careers, Auto Program & Terra Nova Program

• Buses are on snow routes
  
• There will be no bus service for Bonny Slope, Nancy Ryles and Sato elementary schools.
  
• Bus services will not be provided to McKinney-Vento students living outside of the district.

When school is on time and buses are on snow routes

• All schools operate on regular daily schedules.
  
• There will be no bus service for Bonny Slope, Nancy Ryles and Sato elementary schools
  
• Terra Nova Program is cancelled all day.
  
• If the weather forecast calls for declining weather conditions throughout the day, the district will implement snow routes for PM dismissal.
  

When weather conditions necessitate an early closure of schools

• We encourage you to refer to the BSD website, School Messenger and local media for more detailed information.
  
• All daytime and evening activities/events are cancelled.

Our Fir Grove community believes that by working together to create meaningful relationships, honor differences, and encourage excellence, students will develop a lifelong curiosity and joy of learning.

Office Hours: 7:30-4:00

Email: FRGRV-Communications@beaverton.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/schools/fir-grove
Location: 6300 Southwest Wilson Avenue, Beaverton, OR, United States
Phone: 503-356-2110
Facebook: facebook.com/FirGroveElementaryPrincipal