Centennial Blue Jays

Greetings, Blue Jay Families!

It's been so great to have everyone back!

We appreciate everyone's patience as our construction – both on the street and in the building – have challenged all of our patience and flexibility!

The road construction is nearly done – thank you, Springfield voters, for a beautiful, smooth new street! And big thanks to the crew who were able to pull off the bulk of the work before school started!

The work inside the building making it safer and more earthquake-ready should be coming to a close soon. Big thanks to the great crew at Essex for minimizing the impact as much as possible on the start of school.

As we roll quickly into October, we look forward to seeing everyone at our Open House tonight with an opportunity to see your kiddo's classroom, meet the specialists who help the teacher every day, and connect with our Family Resource Coordinator. The Jog-a-Thon follows tomorrow – it's one of our amazing PTO's biggest fundraisers, and the kids absolutely love it! Even the smallest contribution helps!

We've been doing baseline data collection in easyCBM and iReady math to get an understanding of student learning gaps. Stay tuned – there's lots more learning and fun in store!

See you soon!

Don Hakala, Principal

Oct 1: Open House, 4:30–6:00 p.m. (see more below)

Oct. 2: Jog-a-Thon

Oct. 5: Healthy Moves restarts

Oct. 6: PTO meeting (child care, snacks provided)

Oct. 7: Walk & Roll to School Day

Oct. 7: 4th Grade Field Trip to Bauman Tree Farm

Oct. 9: No School (Teacher Prep day)

Oct. 15: Picture Day (watch for flyers in backpacks)

Oct. 20: Kinders' Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Oct. 23: Early Release (12:30)

Oct. 23: Trunk or Treat

Oct. 26: Fourth Grade Swim at Willamalane Pool (see more below)

This item is first because it's so important!

Communication with our families is absolutely essential if we want parents to be our partners in educating their kids. Gone are the days when everything is advertised in a paper flyer and stuffed into a backpack. We do occasionally send flyers home, but please understand that we do most of our communication electronically.

• Facebook: Big stuff like events are always posted on Facebook because it's so dang easy. It's also the easiest place for us to share photos.
• SeeSaw: The best method of two-way communication with your kiddo's teacher. Having trouble connecting? Call Ms Deb, she can help you get going. The school will also often send important messages this way.
• Email: Many of our communications go out via email blast. We understand that emails can easily got lost in a sea of spam these days, but we encourage you to figure a way around this. Most mass emails will come from Ms. Deb, Deb.Jolda@springfield.k12.or.us. But remember that you can't generally reply to mass emails. Ask your teacher or Ms. Deb for your teacher's direct email address.
• Text: We will occasionally send text messages with urgent info. We try to limit this as much as possible to avoid spam.
• Face-to-face: Most teachers are happy to chat briefly at pickup time.
• Call: You can ALWAYS call our office for information - 541-744-6383.

Choose your schools and get quick access to our news and school calendar!

We are so excited about this day! The kids absolutely love the chance to run against their peers. They can run, jog, or walk as much as they are able. Be sure to check your kiddo's backpack for Jog-a-Thon pledge envelopes and pledge if you can! Any amount is helpful to our amazing PTO and helps provide motivation to your kiddo. Grades K-2 will run for 20 minutes, 3-5 for 30 minutes. All kiddos get popsicles afterward. Families are welcome to come and watch.

Please wear your Blue Jay gear OR the color blue!

There will be prizes based on laps run and funds raised. Every student who participates will get a T-shirt and sticker.

Our district's Safe Routes to School team would love all families to really embrace this idea today! We challenge you all to get to school a different way on this day. If you normally drive your kiddo to school, make extra time to walk or ride or scoot together. Have to work? Team up with a neighbor or friend to walk with the kiddos or start a "walking school bus." Have to drive? Try carpooling instead. If your kiddo participates, they will let their teachers know and will be entered into a drawing for special prizes.

Speaking of Safe Routes to School, let's talk about pickup and dismissal. We are all aware of the limited amount of parking we have at the school. We also understand people's busy schedules and time crunches. However, there's no excuse for compromising student safety or the safety of our neighbors. At those critical before- and after-school times, we encourage everyone to be extra safe and cautious wherever kids are present. Be patient with the traffic, drive slowly, and when you're lining up, please try to be mindful of not blocking neighbors' driveways.

Special note for dismissal: Please do NOT park along the curb by the baseball field while waiting for your child to come out! This curb has yet to be repainted yellow, meaning "do not park," but please know that if you park here during dismissal you run a chance of getting ticketed. Cars parked here can disrupt the buses that have wide turning radiuses.

Packets will be in backpacks soon! ALL KIDDOS WILL GET THEIR PHOTOS TAKEN. You can preorder online or send purchase info to school with your kiddo, or you'll also have a chance to review the photos after the fact to purchase later. Don't worry – if your kiddo is sick that day, we'll have a makeup day on November 19.

All fourth-graders will once again get the opportunity for FREE swim lessons thanks to our amazing partners at Willamalane! Swim lessons will start on Oct. 26 and end on Nov. 5, Monday through Thursday. Students will be bussed to the Willamalane pool at their G St facility. They will not only learn basic swim, but also other water safety tips, vital for any child in our fabulous area surrounded by rivers and lakes! Families, please be sure to send your kiddos with clean swim gear each day! You'll be getting more information as we get closer to the date. Please contact your kiddo's teacher with any questions and concerns.

We want to give a HUGE shout out to our fantastic PTO! Our PTO helps our school immeasurably in so many ways! Did you like the Celebration? Thank the PTO! Looking forward to Trunk or Treat? Organized by PTO! The upcoming One Book One School event? Also, thank the PTO!

As is often the case, the bulk of the work is handled by a small number of people. We really encourage our families to chip in and help this dedicated team wherever you can! Use the QR code to learn how you can connect with the PTO. Can't make the monthly meetings? Sign up for their newsletter and learn how you can plug into events. Or check out their website – look at their event calendar or easily read the minutes from last month's meeting and find out what's going on. Meetings are also streamed online so you can tune in when it's convenient for you. Aren't able to contribute your time? Grab some blue bags from the office - the world's easiest fundraiser!

This year we are really going to be cracking down on attendance.

Look, nobody wants your kids at school when they are really sick. That's always going to be your call. But let's face it, we prefer your kids at school. We can't teach them if they're not here. Missing days or constantly being late leaves gaps in their knowledge and makes it harder for them to keep up.

If you have questions about whether they should come based on their symptoms, please give us a call! Mrs. Quigley in the Health Room will be happy to talk it through.

If they are not wanting to come to school for a different reason, we need to know about it so we can try to help fix it!

This goes back to COMMUNICATION! Please call us to let us know what's going on with your kiddo or if they're going to be late. Please keep in mind that teachers don't always have a chance to communicate parents' SeeSaw messages to our office team. Please also let the office know - call or email - as well.

Families, please meet Mrs. Julie Gifford, who is our school's family resource coordinator! Julie is your primary connection to any resources you may need to help your family be successful, whether it's food, clothing, school supplies, housing, counseling – you name it, she can help.

You can text her directly at 541-321-0394.

Our family resource center has a limited supply of clothing for students who need changes or cold-weather gear, or shoes for PE. They also have a small pantry with snacks and such.

Please take a few minutes to respond to this survey to let us know which services if any you would like help with!

Again this year, unregistered visitors will not be allowed during school hours for student safety. However, families and community members are welcome to volunteer!

Please use this link to access the online form and submit information for a background check. Call the office to see if you need to re-submit your application.

Once approved, please check with your child's teacher and/or the school about volunteer opportunities. The school library is one great suggestion. Ms Hodgin always needs help shelving books! We need help organizing our Lost & Found. Teachers always need help with projects. Please also consider volunteering through our very active PTO!

Although we do not have a strict dress code, please make sure your child is dressed ready for school each day. Students need appropriate shoes to run and play in, so high heels and flip flops should be saved for home.

** THIS YEAR your child's class will have PE on dedicated days of the week – for example, always on Mondays and Thursdays. Ms. Bush asks that you please be sure they are wearing appropriate footwear on PE days!

Student clothing should be comfortable for daily activities and physical education, and free of any images of drugs, alcohol, or weapons. Recess is held outside rain or shine, so please be sure your student is dressed appropriately for the weather.

All students are issued a device to use for schoolwork. Devices should have been returned to school at the end of last year, and will now be kept at school and used ONLY for schoolwork.

Need extra help with the holidays? Toy requests start today! Click the image for more information.

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