Heritage Weekly Update to Families

Message from the Administration Team

Dear Heritage Wolfpack Community,

Thank you for a FANTASTIC second week of school! Students came back after our Labor Day break rested and ready to learn!
Check out our attendance data and our data around classroom expectations.
Learn about upcoming events, like cafecito with administrators and safety/technology night.
Learn about Site Council.

🎉 This Tuesday marks the start of Hispanic Heritage month!

Many Latin American countries celebrate their independence this week, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Chile.

Have a great week, everyone,

Sherrilynn Rawson-Ybarra and Amy Solis-Gonzalez

📊 By The Numbers

Attendance

One of our continued areas of focus at Heritage is to improve our regular student attendance. The state defines regular attenders as students who are present at school for over 90% of all school days.

You can help! Make sure your child understands the importance of prompt and regular attendance, and help them to establish routines that make the morning transition to school as smooth as possible. And if you are facing challenges with supporting regular attendance, please reach out to us at (503) 981-2600, via email at HeritageElementary@woodburnsd.org, or to our Home School Contact, Monicka Tapia at mtapia@woodburnsd.org, (503) 981-2609.

Heritage Attendance, Week Two (9/8/25 - 9/11/25)

The second week of school, we averaged over 91.9% attendance; and our four year trend for regular attendance continutes to improve, year after year. THANK YOU for your support in getting students to school regularly, and on time!

Average Daily Attendance, 9/8 - 9/11

Regular Attendance, 4-year trend

Classroom rules and expectations

The first two weeks of school, we have focused on creating classroom conditions for a positive, welcoming environment. We know that one way to do this is to have clear classroom expectations shared and taught. Research tells us that when students know what is expected of them, they are more likely to follow them. We also know that when students are involved in creating classroom rules, they are more likely to internalize those rules and to follow them. This is an important part of our Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) approach at Heritage!

We conducted classroom walkthroughs the first two weeks of school; and by the end of the second week, EVERY K-5 classroom had classroom expectations posted, along with clear evidence of student involvement. THANK YOU to students and teachers for creating clear, positively stated, classroom expectations!

📆 September Events

📅This Week

Monday 9/14 Cafecito with admin
Wednesday 9/16 Site Council
Friday 9/18 Safety Drill

☕ NEW: Cafecito with administrators

Sherrilynn and Amy (your administrative team) are setting up monthly cafecitos to sit and chat with folks. We don't have an agenda; this is just an informal chance to meet with an administrator over coffee and snacks. If you have questions, comments, concerns, or want to share some thoughts or ideas, we'd love to hear from you. Our first cafecito is this Monday 9/14 from 7:30-8:30. Check in at the main office and we'll take it from there. We're looking forward to seeing you!

👪 Focus on Site Council

Our first Site Council meeting is this Wednesday at 5:30pm. Site Council is an important part of our Heritage school community! A team of parents and school staff work together to focus on school improvement.

We invite you to join Site Council!

Learn how decisions are made.
Share your ideas and perspectives.
Help guide school improvement efforts.
Support family engagement and school events.
Make a meaningful difference for students.

If you're interested or if you have questions, you can contact us at HeritageElementary@woodburnsd.org or by phone at (503) 981-2600. We look forward to hearing from you!

🔎 Focus on Safety

At Heritage, safety is always our first and most important focus. We follow the Standard Response Protocol guidelines and practice procedures regularly so that we can be prepared for emergencies.

You can help us to keep children safe!

ALWAYS check in at the office before entering hallways or classrooms. You can sign in and receive a visitor badge. This lets staff members know that you have been authorized to visit.
ALWAYS display your PikMyKid car tags when picking up students for dismissal. This lets duty staff know that you are authorized to pick up a student. If you forgot your car tags, you can also log into the PikMyKid app (see below) to show that you are authorized for pickup. Need additional car tags? Please notify the office at HeritageElementary@woodburnsd.org or by phone at (503) 981-2600. We will also send home an extra set of car tags this week for your use.
ALWAYS let us know as soon as possible about dismissal changes for your child. You can email us at HeritageElementary@woodburnsd.org, or by phone at (503) 981-2600.

Did you know: you can also input dismissal changes yourself in PikMyKid, if your phone number is listed as a parent/guardian phone number! Here's how:

Download the PikMyKid app on your smart phone's app store.
Once you have downloaded the PikMyKid phone app,you will press the "Sign Up" button and fill out the form.
After you press submit, you will be sent an OTP code by text message. Please enter this code into the next screen. This will complete your registration process!
If you are a parent/guardian and see a blank screen instead of your child's name, please contact support@pikmykid.com to correct the issue. It is likely that our school doesn't have your current mobile number on file.

For emergencies, the Woodburn School District follows the Standard Response Protocol. We practice regularly for many different kinds of emergencies. (We had an "Evacuation" drill last week, and we have a "Lockdown" drill happening later this week!) If you have questions about our safety procedures, please contact administrators at srawson@woodburnsd.org or amelia.solis-gonzalez@woodburnsd.org.

Speaking of Safety...

Mark your calendars! One of our first community events this year is our Safety and Technology Night, Thursday, September 24th from 5:30-7:00pm. We're inviting community partners to join us to share more about the work they do to keep children and families safe in the community, and will have information and resources available for families. Refreshments will be served. We look forward to seeing all of you!

😀 Get involved!

We welcome parent and community engagement! If you're interested, there are many ways to get involved:

Become a volunteer. Whether you're interested in helping out on a regular basis, or only on special occasions like field trips, or anything in between, we'd love your help! You will need to complete a volunteer application and view a presentation (linked below). Turn in completed forms to the main office, and Monicka Tapia, our Home School Contact, will reach out to you to complete the process.
Join Site Council. Our Site Council is a team of parents and staff members who work together to focus on school improvement. This year, our focus will be on improving reading achievement, attendance, and community engagement. We meet once a month on the third Wednesday of the month, and refreshments and childcare are provided. Our first Site Council meeting is next Wednesday, September 17th. If you're interested in joining Site Council, contact us at HeritageElementary@woodburnsd.org or by phone at (503) 981-2600.
Join PTO. Our Heritage Parent-Teacher Organization organizes fun events to involve the community, as well as raising money for school-related projects. If you'd like to know more, you can call the school at (503) 981-2600 and we'll put you in touch with PTO members.

Become a volunteer!