Hello Lincoln Community,
Thank you for joining us for Fall Conferences over the past few days. Our teachers really appreciated the chance to connect with you, share current student performance levels, and provide details of your student's year so far. Conferences are important opportunities for us to partner with each student's parents, set goals together, and give an overview of the year ahead. In the March we will host Spring Conferences to look at progress throughout the year.
When at Conferences: We hope you were able to pick up a copy of the following.
- Your student's attendance report: There's a very strong correlation between good attendance and student success in school. Please see the attendance information toward the end of the Newsletter for more details.
- Your student's academic performance, including recent test scores: This includes reading and math assessment data, goals that have been set, and more.
- Our grade level overviews: These brochures include what your student will learn this year in language arts, math, social studies, science, and with their social and emotional learning. It includes ways to help your child get ready for the next grade level, as well as our three school goals (reading, attendance, and sense of belonging). Additionally, it lists the Dolphin Promise: I promise to do my best, respect others, and myself. I promise to follow our SWIM rules.
Professional Development Monday, October 14: Remember that on Monday next week our teachers and staff will be engaged in a full day of professional development. This means that there is no school for students.
More on Professional Development: We truly appreciate how our community values the ongoing professional development and learning of our staff. Among the many district-wide and school-specific offerings from Wednesday this week and Monday the 14th, our Lincoln staff is focused on the following:
- Specific instructional strategies to promote strong student learning gains (components of the Marzano Model)
- Core Review (Examining reading data and setting goals as grade-level teams)
- Part Two of Early Literacy (K & 1st), Math Best Practices (2nd & 3rd), and Bridging for English and Spanish (4th & 5th)
- Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) - School-wide and Classroom-specific Strategies (see PBIS informational item further down the Newsletter)
- Content-specific learning for various specialists
Questions: Please feel free to send your questions or feedback to us at teresa.alfaro@woodburnsd.org or pmcdougal@woodburnsd.org. Go Dolphins!
Sincerely,
Teresa Alfaro - Principal
Peter McDougal - Assistant Principal
10/14 - Monday Professional Development Day - No School
10/16 - Unity Day. Wear orange colors
10/17 - Great Shakeout - Earthquake Drill
10/17 - 3rd-5th Grade Community Meeting (every Thursday)
10/18 - Picture Day
10/18 - K-2nd Community Meeting (every Friday)
10/21 - Site Council Meeting at 6:00 PM
10/23 - Family Math Night to Start Learning About the New Curriculum Materials
10/29 - Spirit Day - Sports Day and PBIS Assembly
10/31 - End of Quarter 1
11/1 - Teacher Work Day - No School
11/6 - Volunteer Gathering
11/11 - Holiday - Veterans Day - No School
Earthquake Drill Next Week: Next week we will join many schools in the district, state, and nation to practice an Earthquake Drill. On Thursday, October 17th, the Great Shakeout is a time that many school's across the nation practice together. You can learn more about this Earthquake Drill at this link: Great Shakeout - Earthquake Drill.
Emergency Drills Completed So Far: Throughout the year we practice many different emergency drills multiple times to make sure we all know what to do. Drills we've completed so far this year are listed below.
- Evacuation Drill (monthly)
- Lockdown Drill (twice a year)
- Bus Evacuation Drill (twice a year)
- Reunification Practice
- Coming Soon: Earthquake Drill (twice a year)
Some of you may be wondering what our primary focus is for creating a safe, positive, and respectful school culture here at Lincoln. The following is an overview of what we prioritize and how we strive to actualize the kind of culture where everyone can feel safe a enjoy strong sense of belonging.
PBIS: Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a system designed to provide a safe environment here at Lincoln Elementary, where each student can thrive, grow, and belong. It consists of a system of strategies and supports that positively impact school-wide behavior for all of our students.
PBIS helps us to create a customized school system that support student outcomes and academic success. It is beneficial for our whole school. Approaches include instruction on what to do, as well as preventive measures we can use to ensure that our focus is on positive expectations and interactions, rather than negative behaviors. It helps each person to know what to do, to gain strategies and tools and it provides them with a sense of belonging.
Why Do We Have This Program? When we asked our staff this question, here's what they collectively came up with:
- "PBIS plays a vital role in education by teaching students responsibility and good citizenship in both the school and broader community. It fosters safe, positive, and accountable learning environments, emphasizing self-regulation and positive relationships. With a focus on equity, PBIS promotes safety, respect, and responsibility, striving for long-term behavior improvement within a shame-free and predictable setting. Its overarching goal is to establish a consistent, inclusive, and welcoming community, encouraging positive behavior, academic growth, and student well-being. In essence, PBIS aims to create a positive and equitable learning environment that prioritizes the development and success of all students."
How We've Designed PBIS Specifically for Lincoln: Here at Lincoln we're The Dolphins. And what do dolphins do? They SWIM. So our PBIS system promotes SWIM expectations for our students and staff. Here's what SWIM stands for here at Lincoln:
- S Safety First
- W We are Respectful
- I Inspire
- M Make Responsible Choices
In each classroom our students have helped to create SWIM expectations for their learning community. They know how others should treat them, as well as how they should treat others. They think about how to be safe, how to be respectful and responsible, and also how to inspire others to do the same.
YouthTruth Survey: Each year in Woodburn, our schools survey students, parents, and staff to listen to their perspective on how we're doing with meeting their needs. We then examine the data and continue with what's working well, while making changes based on stakeholder input. This year the YouthTruth survey will be available from October 28 through November 22. Our students will take it during their class time and we'll send it out to parents in multiple ways, including through the Newsletter.
More About YouthTruth: The mission of YouthTruth is to "empower schools to improve by listening to student voice." The nonprofit organization aims to help schools achieve "better academic outcomes and improved well-being" for students. The survey allows schools to hear directly from students in their own words about how adults can create positive change and support their success. You can access more information through this link: YouthTruth.
SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) is starting another year at Lincoln Elementary in mid October on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays from 8:00am - 9:15am. We are looking for volunteers to read with students one-on-one for this program. It is a great way to make a difference in some of our students' lives. You can apply by going to the website and fill out the application. https://www.smartreading.org/volunteer
Each year throughout the Woodburn School District we distribute the Student-Parent Handbook. This is an important resource that provides information about rights and responsibilities, expectations and accountability, and systems and procedures. It's linked here in English, Spanish, and Russian.
- English: Student-Parent Handbook
- Español: Manual Para Estudiantes y Padres
- Russian: Руководство для учеников и родителей
This year we are continuing to pay close attention to ensuring that children are present at school regularly, because Every Day Matters.
Setting High Goals: We're focusing on attendance because last year 58% of our students were regular attenders (attended more than 90% of the days) and 42% were chronically absent (attended less than 90% of the days). The 58% was an improvement from the previous year when we had 51% of our students who were regular attenders. For the current school year our school leadership has set the goal to improve from 58% up to 70%. WE CAN DO IT!
So Important: There's a very strong correlation between good attendance and student success in school. Please see the visual below for more information.
Safe Oregon. Feel Safe. Be Safe.
Remember, if you see something, say something. If you become aware of a safety concern please report it to our school office at 503-981-2925 or anytime of the day.
You can also report it to SafeOregon.com or call or text 1-844-472-3367 to report it. SafeOregon gives students, parents, schools, and their communities a way to report safety issues or threats confidentially or anonymously with a simple phone call, text, email or by using the web form or mobile app.
