Lincoln Elementary School
December 20, 2024 - Family Newsletter
Hello Lincoln Community,
Happy final day before Winter Break! We wish you all a happy and joyful holiday break! At Lincoln we've enjoyed a festive winter week with classroom parties, pajama day, an assembly, ugly sweater day, the blanket and sock drive, a door decorating contest, a fire drill, and a Winter Festival. We hope you enjoy the many pictures from our week which our included in this Newsletter.
2025 is Just Around the Corner: After the two-week winter break, our first day back for students will be on Wednesday, January 8. We start Wednesday because 1/6 is a teacher work day and then 1/7 is professional development day. While we welcome the next two weeks to rest, rejuvenate, spend time with family and friends, and celebrate the holidays, we're looking forward to the start of 2025 and getting back to teaching, learning, and continuing to promote an awesome elementary school.
Shop with the Principals: A couple of our students had the opportunity to shop with the principals this week. These two families won the drawing after completing the YouthTruth survey. Thank you to everyone who gave us your feedback through YouthTruth. We look forward to using the results to build on our strengths and make improvements as needed.
Winter Festival and the PBIS Assembly: Wednesday evening this week we had a huge turnout--324 people--for the Winter Festival, in fact even the Dolphin and Rudolph the Reindeer joined in the festivities. We had lots of fun crafts and projects that families completed throughout the evening. Then today (Friday) we hosted an afternoon whole school assembly. We celebrated good attendance, positive character, and academic excellence, we had another visit by the Dolphin, we had a competition, we danced and sang, and we finished with a whole school sing-along to Feliz Navidad.
Appropriate Clothing Reminder and Flash Alert: As we return in January we anticipate cold temperatures and wintery weather. With that in mind, we are asking that students please bring appropriate winter clothing. Also, because on occasion schools close due to inclement weather, please be prepared. Toward the end of this email is information on the Flash Alert system, which is how our district sends out communications to families and staff regarding weather and related news. Please follow the steps to sign up to receive text alerts as decisions are made.
Happy Friday and Happy Holidays: We hope you and your family have a wonderful winter season and enjoy celebrating the holidays together. Thank you for your partnership and for the privilege of being able to serve such an amazing and supportive community. We wish you the best as 2024 comes to a close and we look forward to being back together at the start of 2025!
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
12/23 - 1/7 - Winter Break for Students - No School
1/6 - Teacher Work Day - No School
1/7 - Professional Development Day - No School
1/8 - School Resumes - First Day of School for Students in 2025
1/8 - 1/10 - PBIS Rotations - School-wide Review of Expectations
1/8 - 1/24 - Reading and Math MAP Testing
1/9 - 3rd-5th Grade Community Meeting (every Thursday)
1/10 - K-2nd Community Meeting (every Friday)
1/13 - Site Council meeting at 6:00
1/15 - Volunteer Gathering
1/20 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday - No School
1/22 - Kindergarten Literacy Night
1/24 - Last Day of Quarter 2
1/27 - Teacher Work Day - No School
1/31 - Spirit Day - Twins Day and PBIS Assembly
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.
What is the Integrated Plan? The Woodburn School District - Integrated Plan is a framework designed to ensure that our District is focused on equity, academic achievement, and the well-being of all students. Whether it's improving curriculum, enhancing mental health support, or creating safe learning environments, this plan lays the foundation for lasting success.
Please Review our Plan: A link to access the Integrated Plan is provided here:
It includes links for the Slide Deck in English, Spanish, and Russian. It also provides informational videos, as well as the Survey in multiple languages.
Provide Feedback: Additionally, we would like to get your input to help us identify priorities for the 2025-27 District Integrated Plan and our School Improvement Plan.
Please complete this survey. You can read the questions or you can listen to the questions.
Woodburn School District is committed to preparing every learner with academic knowledge and skills necessary for success beyond high school. Oregon’s statewide assessments in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics are fully aligned to Oregon’s State Standards and provide students in grades 3-8 and 11, along with their families, one measure of academic achievement and growth. Assessment results identify your child’s strengths and areas for improvement in English Language Arts and Math. Each subject will be broken into categories and will show how well your child performed in each area. The assessments measure student learning on a scale that allows for comparisons across time.
While no single assessment can give a complete picture of your child’s progress, having your child take the statewide assessments provides educators, administrators, and parents with one source of information about what educational approaches are working and where additional resources may be needed. The data from state assessments helps inform district systems, supports and professional development for educators. Your child’s participation is important to ensure our schools receive the targeted resources they need to help all students succeed. Lincoln Elementary will share your child’s scores with you at the end of the current school year or the beginning of the next to help support your child’s success as they move from grade to grade.
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.
