Lincoln Elementary School
January 17, 2025 - Family Newsletter
Hello Lincoln Community,
Brrrr ... it's the cold time of year outside! Please remember to send your students to school with warm enough clothes. Also, because on occasion schools close due to inclement weather, toward the end of this email is information on the Flash Alert system, which is how our district communicates with families and staff regarding weather and related news. Please follow the steps to sign up to receive text alerts as decisions are made.
This Week: We enjoyed having 5-days of school this week, getting fully back to routines, and continuing to promote our school-wide S W I M expectations. In classrooms and during community time we took time to instruct students on the upcoming Martin Luther King Holiday. Additionally, in every class students have been showing how much growth they've made in reading and math by taking MAP tests, which they take three times each year. The results from these tests help teachers confirm what they know and learn more about the skill-level individual students have, as well as provide insights into what they're ready to learn next.
Update Your Contact Information: As we approach the mid-point of the school year, we want to remind you to make sure to keep your contact information current. If you've moved, changed email addresses or phone numbers, or if you have any changes to emergency contacts, please let us know. It's important that we have the most current contact information for our parents so we can connect with you as needed. Please contact our office with questions.
Smart Snack Program: Our school participates in the Smart Snack Program and you can find information on this at the link below. When celebrating birthdays we are asking parents, instead of bringing sweets, to select from the list of smart snacks. Thank you!
Questions: As always, 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
Now - 1/24 - Reading and Math MAP Testing
1/20 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday - No School
1/22 - Kindergarten Literacy Night
1/23 - 3rd-5th Grade Community Meeting (every Thursday)
1/24
- K-2nd Community Meeting (every Friday)
- Last Day of Quarter 2
1/27 - Teacher Work Day - No School
1/30 - ELPA Testing Begins (ELPA - English Language Proficiency Assessment)
1/30 or 1/31 - Report Cards to be Mailed Home
1/31 - Spirit Day - "Twins Day" and PBIS Assembly
2/3 - Professional Development Day - No School
2/10 - Site Council Meeting - 6:00
2/12 - Volunteer Gathering - 6:00
2/17 - Presidents Day Holiday - No School
District Calendar for 2025-2027: Share your input.
From the Woodburn School District
Dear Families,
In an effort to lower anxiety for students, staff, and families, we wanted to reiterate the federal and state policy in place regarding Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officials. We
understand that this is a sensitive topic, however, we are committed to eliminating barriers that may prevent students from attending school, and fear and/or anxiety related to this topic is real for many.
Under Oregon’s “Sanctuary Laws,” no public resources may be used to assist with federal immigration enforcement actions and they must not occur on school district property. Even under federal law, schools are designated as sensitive locations where immigration enforcement activities should not occur. Students, staff, families, and community members need to feel welcomed and safe when accessing our campuses.
If an ICE official does come to campus, they will be asked to provide identification and will speak to an administrator. The District is prohibited by law to allow an ICE official to access any part of a school building beyond the school office. We want to be clear, such officials do not have the authority to remove a student from school unless a judicial order is provided. Our district does not collect information about immigration status. If student records are requested, they will not be provided. Student records are protected under federal and state law and will not be shared.
We do want to stress that we have not had officials attempt to access students while at school. We will continue to strive to create safe, welcoming campuses for our entire school community
More information from the Oregon Department of Justice can be found here:
Next week in Library Specials class, students will be learning about Lunar New Year. They will be bringing home booklets, stickers and coupons from Panda Express. Lunar New Year this year starts on January 29 and it is the Year of the Snake. Thank you Panda Express for your partnership and fun learning tools!
If you would like automatic Woodburn School District notifications related to closures and delays, you can register to receive email or cell text messages by clicking on the link below and following the steps listed. See also the link below for a video tutorial.
Registration Instructions:
Create an account.
- Click on link.
- Then enter your email address and click "Subscribe".
- You will be asked to confirm your email address and set a password.
- Then click "Create your Account"
- Portland/Vanc/Salem.
- Marion Co. Schools (3).
- Woodburn Sch. Dist. Then press "Subscribe" button.
- You may add one or two more email or text message addresses. Choose the type of message and enter the address. If it is a cell text address, select the carrier that the phone uses.
- After you have added the addresses, click on "Click here to send validation message".
- The system will send a three letter code to each address (by email or text), which must be entered into the account page to confirm that address is correct. Then click "Update".
- When addresses are validated, you may click "Log Out" at the top right.
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.
