WLWV Community Update

Trillium Creek fourth-graders made quite the impact on their community this Thanksgiving, donating more than 1,500 pounds of food for the West Linn Food Pantry. Their donation is the culmination of weeks of hard work that started back in October.

With help from fourth-grade teachers Jacquie Banet, Jose Guerrero, David Munoz, and Laura Zimmer, Trillium Creek students made posters, announcements, rehearsed and performed skits, and helped box up canned good for the drive.

The food drive is an annual event at Trillium Creek, where fourth-graders take time to give back to their community while learning important lessons along the way. Students aimed to raise awareness among their community, learning about food insecurity and the difference that people can make through action. Students provided collection bins for other Trillium Creek staff and students, making periodic school announcements and presentations at assemblies.

Each fourth-grade class concluded the annual food drive with a field trip to the food pantry, where students learned about how it works and who uses the service for food. Students received a tour of the facility before working together to weigh a portion of the food collected, sort the food into categories, and then help to store food in boxes to be placed in the storage from for future use.

The 1,500 pounds of food collected is even more than last year’s total of 1,400 pounds, which is approximately 15 percent of the West Linn Food Pantry’s total distribution for the year.

The West Linn-Wilsonville Long Range Planning Committee continued its conversation surrounding future high school options during its November 15 meeting, narrowing in on discussions related to school capacity.

The LRPC agreed during their meeting that the time is now to review the district’s Long Range Plan. The group decided the timing is also right to reevaluate capacities at each of West Linn-Wilsonville’s schools — an exercise the district utilizes every few years as schedules and programs change. The group noted that educational capacity differs from architectural capacity, and that the work of the Superintendent’s High School Study Group will coincide with the Long Range Planning Committee’s review of capacity definition and methodology.

Architectural capacity of buildings is fairly straight-forward — it’s calculated by multiplying every classroom by 25 students. Functional capacity, or educational capacity as WLWV has called it in the past, is much more complicated to calculate, however. That's because classes like physical education and choir perform best with large numbers of students, far surpassing numbers schools would want in a science or language arts classroom, for example. Operations Director Tim Woodley told the LRPC that his staff will research and compile a list of ideologies — as well as a glossary of relevant terms and definitions related to capacity — in the coming weeks.

The Long Range Planning Committee will then be tasked with reviewing the researched lists, then narrowing down methodologies and definitions that will work best for West Linn-Wilsonville as the district recalibrates its school capacities.

School schedules may be affected by snow or icy weather. The West Linn-Wilsonville School District generally announces school closure or delayed opening by 5:30 a.m. All Portland-Metro area media outlets announce the information on TV newscasts and online.

The School District will also notify parents via FlashAlert as well as via ListServ. Parents are encouraged to subscribe to both services if they haven't already. Even if you have previously subscribed to FlashAlert, it is important that you check your subscriptions as the FlashAlert service routinely removes subscriptions that have not been recently updated. Please note that FlashAlert is not a West Linn-Wilsonville system and the district can only provide limited help. Families are encouraged to consider getting the free FlashAlert Messenger app from the Apple AppStore or Google PlayStore.

The School District makes inclement weather 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 to open, close, or delay the start of school is made for the entire West Linn-Wilsonville School District. That means that while inclement weather conditions might occur in only certain areas of the district, the decision to close or delay the start of school will be made for all schools. Families will also be notified when the District elects to utilize snow routes due to inclement weather.

With Thanksgiving now in the rearview mirror, it’s natural to still have turkey on the brain. But before West Linn-Wilsonville staff gathered around the Thanksgiving table last Thursday, teachers and administrators spent Monday and Tuesday engaging in some high level professional development and learning.

Principals and their school teams spent their time without students working on a variety of subjects. At the primary level, many schools participated in work around word study — a cohesive approach to spelling that addresses word recognition, vocabulary, and phonics. By looking at patterns, word study is an alternative to the traditional method of simple memorization of random words. The district’s work around word study has been ongoing in an effort to increase reading comprehension and other relevant skills for WLWV students.

WLWV instructional coordinators, with the help of principals and district administration, recently finalized a comprehensive word study document that was made available for teachers of all levels. The resource provides specific lesson planning and assessment measures that aid in instructional planning. Primary school staffs reviewed the document and concepts of word study on Monday and Tuesday.

Primary school staff also engaged with math curriculum during their professional learning time, taking a closer look at recent Smarter Balanced data as well as interim testing through Measures of Academic Progress, also referred to as MAP testing.

Like primary schools, secondary schools also took advantage of their time on Monday and Tuesday to continue working on inclusive practices, student equity, and student efficacy. Teachers are focused on empowering students as learners, while bringing them into the conversation around their own learning.

Social studies teams revised lessons to add access points for students based on professional learning they participated in last week, while language arts, world language, and science teams also engaged in professional learning of their own by taking a look at assessment and instructional practice among other topics.

WLWV Staff will continue with professional development in the coming weeks, including during its next early release, professional growth Wednesday on Dec. 6.

Longtime CREST (Center for Research in Environmental Sciences and Technologies) volunteer Andy Schrank was named the program's Volunteer of the Year last week. Schrank volunteered multiple times per week throughout the school year and even during the summer months.

Schrank's commitment to CREST included pulling weeds, planting and harvesting crops, and working with WLWV students of all ages among many other duties. Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers! To learn more about volunteering in WLWV schools and programs, go the Volunteer Tab on the district website.

School Board Meeting: Monday, Dec. 4 — The WLWV School Board will hold a public meeting on Monday, Dec. 4. The meeting will be held at the district office; 22210 SW Stafford Road, Tualatin. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. and is open to the public.

Professional Growth Wednesday (Early Release): Wednesday, Dec. 6 — Professional Growth Wednesdays include a two-hour early release on select Wednesday afternoons to allow educators time to collaborate and participate in professional development opportunities.

Winter Break (No School): Monday, Dec. 18-Tuesday, Jan. 2 — School will resume Wednesday, Jan. 3.

• Updated 9/15/2017 Student Rights and Responsibilities

• FlashAlert

• ListServ

• Education Foundation

• Music and Arts Partners (MAP)

• Volunteer in WLWV Schools

• SafeOregon Tip Line

• Bus Routes

The West Linn-Wilsonville School District is nationally recognized for its high student and staff achievement, including one of the top graduation rates in the State of Oregon. West Linn-Wilsonville serves nearly 10,000 K-12 students across 16 schools in West Linn and Wilsonville, with a mission of creating learning communities for the greatest thinkers and the most thoughtful people for the world. WLWV strives to provide challenging education opportunities that prepare students to be college and career ready.

Website: https://www.wlwv.k12.or.us/
Location: 22210 SW Stafford Rd, Tualatin, OR, United States
Phone: 503-673-7000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WLWVschools/
Twitter: @WLWVdistrict