Westridge Wildcat News

Friday, Oct. 9 is the annual statewide professional inservice day for all teachers in Oregon. Students will not have classes tomorrow and schools will be closed. LOSD administration and childcare will be open.

For more information about the LOSD calendar, please click here for the 2020-21 School Calendar, which is located on the homepage of the district website.

What are the signs of Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a common condition that affects the way the brain processes written and spoken language. It can be associated with trouble reading, but it also can affect writing, spelling and even speaking. Many children have one or two of these issues on occasion. But kids with dyslexia have several of these issues, and they don’t go away.

Here are some signs to look for:

Preschool, Kindergarten, & First Grade:

Difficulties:

• Difficulty learning (and remembering) the names of letters in the alphabet

• Seems unable to recognize letters in his/her own name

• Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”

• Trouble learning common nursery rhymes

• Doesn’t recognize rhyming patterns like cat, bat, rat

• A family history of reading and/or spelling difficulties (dyslexia often runs in families)

• Reading errors that show no connection to the sounds of the letters on the page—will say “puppy” instead of the written word “dog” on a page with a picture of a dog

• Does not understand that words come apart

• Cannot sound out even simple words like cat, map, nap

• Does not associate letters with sounds, such as the letter b with the “b” sound

• Complains about how hard reading is; “disappears” when it is time to read

• A history of reading problems in parents or siblings

Strengths

• Curiosity

• Great imagination

• Ability to figure things out; gets the gist of things

• Eager embrace of new ideas

• A good understanding of new concepts

• Surprising maturity

• A larger vocabulary than typical for age group

• Enjoys solving puzzles

• Talent for building models

• Excellent comprehension of stories read or told to him

Second Grade through High School:

Reading

• Very slow in acquiring reading skills. Reading is slow and awkward

• Trouble reading unfamiliar words, often making wild guesses because cannot sound out the word

• Has a tough time sounding out unfamiliar words

• Avoids reading out loud

• Gets tripped up by word problems in math

School and Life

• Trouble remembering dates, names, telephone numbers, random lists

• Struggles to finish tests on time

• Extreme difficulty learning a foreign language

• Poor spelling

• Messy handwriting

• Low self-esteem that may not be immediately visible

Speaking

• Searches for a specific word and ends up using vague language, such as “stuff” or “thing,” without naming the object

• Pauses, hesitates, and/or uses lots of “um’s” when speaking

• Confuses words that sound alike, such as saying “tornado” for “volcano,” substituting “lotion” for “ocean”

• Mispronunciation of long, unfamiliar or complicated words

• Seems to need extra time to respond to questions

Strengths

• Excellent thinking skills: conceptualization, reasoning, imagination, abstraction

• Learning that is accomplished best through meaning rather than rote memorization

• Ability to get the “big picture”

• A high level of understanding of what is read to him/her/they

• The ability to read and to understand at a high level overlearned (or highly practiced) words in a special area of interest

• Improvement as an area of interest becomes more specialized and focused—and a miniature vocabulary is developed that allows for reading in that subject area

• A surprisingly sophisticated listening vocabulary

• Excels in areas not dependent on reading, such as math, computers and visual arts, or in more conceptual (versus fact-driven) subjects, including philosophy, biology, social studies, neuroscience and creative writing

If you have questions or concerns regarding your child’s learning, please contact the school principal and/or literacy specialist. Another great parent resource would be to contact your school’s Student Services Parent Advisory Committee (SSPAC) representative. Please see here to learn how to contact your school representative.

Thank you to the parents who were able to join Mr. Kieser and I at our first coffee talk with the principal. Our next coffee will be offered on Wednesday, October 14th from 9:00am - 9:30am. This is an informal time to just connect, ask questions, and learn together as we go through the school year. I will be offering these informal meetings twice per month. This next session, join myself and Mrs. Bates, our RTI Coordinator through the link below. Bring a cup of coffee, or just call in and let's connect!

Join Zoom Meeting

ID: 89488956670
Password: 537256

‪(US) +1 929-205-6099‬

Passcode: 537256

In preparation for students being able to attend school in person, we need to be ready to provide bus transportation for those who need it. We are encouraging families to walk, bike or carpool, when possible. If you think your LOSD student will need to take the bus to or from school at any time during the 2020-2021 school year, please register them now.

Click here to register for bus transportation for 2020-21 school year.

Registration will remain open until Monday, Oct. 5, before begin determining exact bus routes. The sooner people register, the fewer route changes need to be made once bus service begins. Thank you in advance for your prompt response in this essential preparation for onsite school.

Dear Westridge Families,

This month through our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons, we will be introducing the character trait of Empathy. Empathy is an important skill for creating connected and kind communities and developing healthy relationships. There is a growing need for more Empathy in our world. As anxiety increases in our culture, Empathy decreases. As more hate speech incidents occur in the world, as people use empathy less, we begin to see a divided and fractured community and world.

So, we are working to develop a few key skills in order to live more empathetic lives. As a school community, we will be examining how Empathy looks, sounds, and feels. First, developing an “emotional vocabulary” to make sure we have the words to understand and describe what we are feeling personally. Second, being able to connect with others based on their feelings, even though we may not have the exact same story or perspective as someone else. Finally, we will think about how being an upstander when empathy is not being used can help support our community members and stop harmful actions.

The definition students will be learning this month for empathy is: the ability to understand and connect to the feelings of another.

For your reference, here are links for extension activities if you would like to explore empathy further as a family:

K-2 Empathy Family Letter 3-5 Empathy Family Letter

K-2 Empathy Family Letter in Spanish 3-5 Empathy Family Letter in Spanish

Asynchronous SEL lessons will be available to students weekly by 8 a.m. each Monday morning. Students may complete these supplementary lessons at their convenience any time throughout the week. Students will find their grade level lessons in their respective Google Classroom:

• Westridge SEL (K-2): 76wnd6p K-2 Google Classroom Invite Link

• Westridge SEL (3-5): q53zivt 3-5 Google Classroom Invite Link

Sincerely,

Gary Kieser

Westridge Elementary School Counselor

Tech Information Sessions

LOSD hosted two Tech Information Sessions covering the “how tos'' for getting started with distance learning. The session recordings and presentations are posted on the district site under Resources/Tech Support for Families.

Tech Support Ticket

A majority of tech concerns can be resolved by submitting a Tech Support ticket -- the link is on all school and district homepages for easy access to help with passwords, log-ins, hardware fixes, etc.

Google Classroom Guardianship

By now all parents and guardians should have received an email requesting you to accept guardianship of your student's Google Classroom. If you need assistance with this request, please submit a request through the Tech Support button. Note: accepting guardianship simply gives you the option of selecting how often you would like to receive summaries (weekly, daily, or no summary) of your student's Google Classroom activity. Only student accounts have access to Google Classroom.

Technology Protection Payment Methods

If you have decided to insure your device, please see the following methods of payment:

Online payment through community schools

https://www.onlineregistrationcenter.com/register/207-6753

Check: Please put your child’s name and school in the memo area of the check and mail to:

LOSD Office c/o: Kim Wagner

2455 Country Club Road, PO Box 70

Lake Oswego, OR 90734

Fee Waiver: https://www.losdschools.org/domain/1838 mail to:

LOSD Office c/o: Kim Wagner

2455 Country Club Road, PO Box 70

Lake Oswego, OR 90734

Payment is due by October 1, 2020, to insure your child’s device.

Click here to view the latest version of the Student and Family Handbook

LOSD is providing free packaged breakfasts and lunches for all children who wish to participate in our Grab & Go meal service. New flexibility from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) enables LOSD to provide free meals to all children ages 1 to 18, even if the children are not enrolled in LOSD, now through the end of December 2020.

Children do not need to sign up for meals. However, it would be extremely helpful for our food service team to be able to plan ahead for the number of meals to serve. If children in your care are interested in participating in the Grab and Go meal service, please click here to complete a 30 second form.

The free Grab and Go meal service begins next week. Due to Labor Day holiday, next week's meal pick up will be on Tuesday, Sept. 8. After that, starting Monday, Sept. 14, breakfast and lunch meals can be picked up on Mondays and Wednesdays at the following locations:

• Lake Grove Elementary, 11 a.m. - 12 pm.

• River Grove Elementary, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

• Lake Oswego High School, 11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

• Lakeridge High School, 11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

Meals should be picked up at the school site located closest to you. Children may participate in one or both days of the week; they may pick up 2 days of meals on Mondays and 3 days of meals on Wednesdays. Face coverings are required at pickups.

The Oregon Department of Education publishes an annual notice regarding state assessments in English Language Arts and Math. Please review the Annual Notice for Statewide Tests for information regarding why participation matters, an explanation of the right to opt out, testing windows, and other resources.

All members of our community are committed to providing a safe and inclusive learning environment that cultivates empathy, creates challenging opportunities, and fosters lifelong learning.

Email: kari.montgomery@loswego.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.losdschools.org/wr
Location: 3400 Royce Way, Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 534-2371