Centennial Blue Jays

Email: deb.jolda@springfield.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.springfield.k12.or.us/Centennial
Location: 1315 Aspen Street, Springfield, OR, USA
Phone: 541 744-6383
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CentennialBlueJays

Welcome to December! This month always flies by and is filled with a lot of energy! Students are looking forward to their winter break and we have many fun activities throughout the month. Our classrooms will be pairing up this month and sharing activities together. It's been a while since we've been able to do this and we've missed having our bigger kids connecting with our littles.

Thank you to the PTO and volunteers who help us accomplish so much at Centennial!

Please make sure to follow us on Facebook and check out the Centennial website (links above).

Sincerely,

Principal Williams

Like many things, compassion and kindness are qualities that children learn over time and through practice. There are many ways parents can help their children to grow into compassionate and caring people.

Model positive action. What you do and say is critical. Let your child catch you in the act of kindness. If a parent is consistently criticizing and judging others, the child will learn to do the same. Be mindful of how your behavior influences the behavior of your kids.

Let your child know that how they treat others matters to you greatly. Notice and comment when they do nice things for others without expecting something in return. Notice when they say encouraging things to family and friends.

Acknowledge kindness. Be sure to show your child that you notice when someone does something nice.

The more children practice showing compassion to those around them, the more it becomes a habit.

December 1 & 2 Conferences

December 9 Early Release - PJ Day

December 19-January 3 - Winter Break

Winter Break is the perfect time for students to get familiar with this year's OBOB books! These books are always great selections, a mix of classic and new on a variety of topics, and are available to borrow from our school and city libraries. Teams are forming now at our school in grades 3 through 5 -- students can talk to Ms. Phillips in the library to learn more. The teams will be reading and practicing together in preparation for battles in January for a chance to represent Centennial at the district tournament, and hopefully on to the regional and state tournaments! We are also looking for adult volunteers to help coach our teams!

Learn more about OBOB.

Download the book list.

PBIS is an integral component at CES and is our way to promote school safety and appropriate behavior. When we talk about the "Blue Jay Way" this includes the four aspects of PBIS: be safe, be respectful, be responsible, be kind.

In the month of November Centennial students spent extra time focusing on positive behaviors during specials (music, PE, library) classes. Specials teachers were handing out green Blue Jay Bucks to acknowledge students when they were safe, respectful, responsible, and kind. Each classroom set a class goal for the number of green bucks to earn. When classrooms reached their goal they celebrated with an activity and their classroom was acknowledged during morning announcements.

December’s focus is on building community across grade levels. Each class will partner with another class. Teachers will then create opportunities for their students to spend time together doing activities like buddy reading, shared craft time, or playing learning games. This is an excellent opportunity for our older students to be positive role models and mentors to students in the younger grades.

Centennial has an outstanding PTO! We really appreciate all they do to support our staff and students at CES! We would love to have you participate with this group. Please check them out! Information page link.

December Meeting

December 6 at 6:00 - meeting in the library at school

The Genesis Community Church on 1020 Janus St. has a clothes closet available to our CES families on the 2nd Saturday (10-12) and the 4th Tuesday (10-12) of every month. Please feel free to take advantage of this opportunity!

Hello Blue Jay families!

Please read through the following updates for important information about our school.

BELL SCHEDULE

8:00 Students may enter for breakfast. All others enter through the front doors to wait in the gym for class to start.

8:25 Students go to classes

8:35 Instruction begins (if you are tardy, you will need to check in at the office)

2:50 Dismissal bell

12:30 Dismissal on early release Fridays

Please do not drop students off prior to 8:00 as we do not have supervision available.

CONFERENCES

Conferences are on December 1 and 2. Please sign up for a conference with your child's teacher.

MEALS

• free breakfast and lunch available for all students
• Doors open at 8:00 for school breakfast.

VOLUNTEERS

• Click this link and fill out the online form f you are interested in volunteering

ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL

• parents and caregivers must remain on the west side of the upper driveway when walking students to school.
• use the right hand lane of lower driveway for vehicle drop offs and pick ups
• remain in your vehicle
• pull forward as far as possible
• Vehicles may not enter the upper driveway during arrival (8:00-8:45) and dismissal (2:15-3:15).

STUDENT PHONES

• students should not bring cell phones or other personal electronic devices to school
• If you feel your child must have a device with them, it must be kept turned off and stored in their backpack through the school day.
• Students may not have devices out during the day while in class or in other areas such as the playground and cafeteria.
• Thank you so much for your help with this!

STUDENT BEHAVIOR

• We expect our students to act safely, respectfully, responsibly and with kindness
• We do not condone inappropriate behavior towards other students or adults, whether on the playground, in the cafeteria, or in the classroom.
• Please help to remind your child of these school behavior expectations.
• Although your child may not see the consequences for another student's inappropriate behavior, this does not mean it isn't happening.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

We'd like to know how we can help support our community. Please click here and take a minute or two to fill out this brief survey and give us your feedback.

COVID-19 Update

If a student tests positive they need to stay out for five days from the start of symptoms or date tested, if they are asymptomatic.

COVID continues to be a concern for all of us and we appreciate your support as we work together to keep our students safe and healthy. Please make frequent handwashing, for 20 seconds, a normal part of your routine and keep your child home if they are experiencing symptoms such as fever, cough, upset stomach, or headache. Students must be symptom free for 24 hours to return to school. Please click here to check the SPS website for additional information about vaccines and other resources.

COVID Testing

We have free test kits available. You are welcome to stop by the office and pick one up!

The UO's free weekly testing program is still available. Please contact us for information.

VACCINES & BOOSTERS

Children 5-17 years old are up-to-date on their COVID vaccines if they have completed their primary series of vaccinations plus two weeks. Quarantine protocols are determined based on the level of vaccine that a person has.

We encourage all eligible individuals to ensure that they are up-to-date with this vaccine as it is one of the most powerful ways to limit the spread and seriousness of COVID-19 symptoms.

To find information about vaccination clinics available throughout our community visit www.lanecounty.org/vaxclinics.

We encourage our CES families to take advantage of this free parenting class! It is specifically designed to provide help for adults raising kids with challenging behaviors and will help you:

• Build skills & confidence in using the CPS approach
• Network & share information about community resources
• Develop new understanding of challenging behavior & learn new ways to help your child
• Rethink conventional approaches to behavioral difficulties and strengthen relationships
• Gain support from other parents, grandparents, and foster parents

The Collaborative Problem Solving approach is an evidence-based method to managing challenging behavior that promotes the understanding that challenging kids lack the skill - not the will - to behave; specifically, skills related to problem-solving, flexibility and frustration tolerance. Unlike traditional models of discipline, the CPS approach avoids the use of power, control and motivational procedures and instead focuses on collaborating with the child/ youth/ young adult to solve the problems leading to challenging behavior and building the skills they need to succeed.

The 8-week class is provided in an online setting.

For more information, please click here.