The Current

Message from the Superintendent

Honoring National Principals Month

Join Us: LO School Bond Town Hall

LOSD COVID-19 Information

• HEPA Filters In Classrooms
  
• Understanding COVID-19 Vaccines for Children

Dyslexia Awareness Month: What are the signs of Dyslexia?

Technology Consent Form Required, Device Damage and Loss Protection Program Offer

Black Student Union Mentorship Program

SSPAC Meeting

Community News

• City League Basketball Registration
  

• Spanish Language Health Workshops for Families
  

Regular Reminders:

• What's New at Community School
  
• Hunger Fighters
  
• Clothing Closet
• Safe Oregon
  
• Get Social with LOSD
• Subscribe to Lake Oswego Schools App
  

As an educator, building relationships and seeing students succeed means everything to us. I had an experience recently that reminded me why I love being here in LOSD. One of my former Lakeridge High School students invited me to be interviewed by her public health policy class at Case Western Reserve University. The class is studying mental health supports in public schools, a focus here in LOSD. As principals, our students are forever imprinted in our minds as the age they were at graduation. Seeing the “18-year-old” Lakeridge alum flourishing as a college senior made my heart sing. What struck me even more was her college peers saying how surprised they were that she could simply call and ask her former principal for help. The experience really spoke to the bonds between our principals, staff and students, and it reaffirmed why I will always want to be in LOSD. At our core, we are a community who values relationships. As superintendent, I am striving to make sure each and every one of our students has someone they can call, even after leaving our schools.

It is very fitting that I had this experience during National Principals Month. I was a principal in Lake Oswego for 14 years. It was one of the most rewarding and most challenging positions of my career. And I wasn’t even having to navigate through a pandemic! Now that I am in my new position, I have a different perspective and an even greater appreciation for our principals who are some of the best school leaders in education.

I am delighted we have the National Principals Month to recognize and honor our principals for their unrelenting commitment to our students, staff and school communities. Please join me in saying thank you for all that they mean to us during this and every month of the year.

All parents-guardians, students, staff and neighbors are invited to a Virtual Town Hall hosted by LOSD to share information about the Lake Oswego School District Bond on the ballot this November 2021.

Monday, Oct. 18

5-6 p.m.

Webinar: https://loswego-k12-or-us.zoom.us/j/81514078378

All LOSD COVID-19 information can be found on our district and school websites under the LOSD COVID-19 Information graphic (above). Included is information about guidance, protocols, notifications and more.

HEPA filters have arrived and are being installed in classrooms throughout the district to provide an added layer of protection on top of the other air flow and filtration measures in place. Location and type of HEPA unit is based on the type of unit currently serving the room.

Installing HEPA filters is intended to alleviate concerns in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and help reduce the spread of pathogens, pollens, smoke, and more. With temperatures cooling, the new HEPA units will help to modulate mechanical systems to keep windows only partially opened and will make classrooms more comfortable.

LOSD is hosting an Information Session with Boost Oregon to provide information about COVID-19 vaccines for children age 5-11.

Thursday, Oct. 28

7-8 p.m.

Zoom: https://loswego-k12-or-us.zoom.us/j/83744173393

Learn about COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5-11 from a compassionate pediatrician. The 30-minute workshop will discuss the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines for children, the process of developing the vaccines and monitoring their safety, and potential reactions to the vaccines. A 30-minute Q&A immediately following the workshop will address questions from participants.

The session will be led by Ryan Hassan, M.D., a pediatrician working at Oregon Pediatrics in Happy Valley. He attended Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso, Texas, where he completed his medical and public health degrees in 2014. He completed his pediatric residency in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2017, and moved to Oregon. Dr. Hassan leads community workshops on vaccines for Boost Oregon, a parent-led organization that provides science-based vaccine education to all Oregonians, and he trains other health professionals on counseling vaccine-hesitant patients.

Dyslexia is a common condition that affects the way the brain processes written and spoken language. It can be associated with trouble reading, but it also can affect writing, spelling and even speaking. Many children have one or two of these issues on occasion. But kids with dyslexia have several of these issues, and they don’t go away. Here are some signs to look for:

Preschool, Kindergarten, & First Grade:

Difficulties:

• Difficulty learning (and remembering) the names of letters in the alphabet

• Seems unable to recognize letters in his/her own name

• Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”

• Trouble learning common nursery rhymes

• Doesn’t recognize rhyming patterns like cat, bat, rat

• A family history of reading and/or spelling difficulties (dyslexia often runs in families)

• Reading errors that show no connection to the sounds of the letters on the page—will say “puppy” instead of the written word “dog” on a page with a picture of a dog

• Does not understand that words come apart

• Cannot sound out even simple words like cat, map, nap

• Does not associate letters with sounds, such as the letter b with the “b” sound

• Complains about how hard reading is; “disappears” when it is time to read

• A history of reading problems in parents or siblings

Strengths

• Curiosity

• Great imagination

• Ability to figure things out; gets the gist of things

• Eager embrace of new ideas

• A good understanding of new concepts

• Surprising maturity

• A larger vocabulary than typical for age group

• Enjoys solving puzzles

• Talent for building models

• Excellent comprehension of stories read or told to him

Second Grade through High School:

Reading

• Very slow in acquiring reading skills. Reading is slow and awkward

• Trouble reading unfamiliar words, often making wild guesses because cannot sound out the word

• Has a tough time sounding out unfamiliar words

• Avoids reading out loud

• Gets tripped up by word problems in math

School and Life

• Trouble remembering dates, names, telephone numbers, random lists

• Struggles to finish tests on time

• Extreme difficulty learning a foreign language

• Poor spelling

• Messy handwriting

• Low self-esteem that may not be immediately visible

Speaking

• Searches for a specific word and ends up using vague language, such as “stuff” or “thing,” without naming the object

• Pauses, hesitates, and/or uses lots of “um’s” when speaking

• Confuses words that sound alike, such as saying “tornado” for “volcano,” substituting “lotion” for “ocean”

• Mispronunciation of long, unfamiliar or complicated words

• Seems to need extra time to respond to questions

Strengths

• Excellent thinking skills: conceptualization, reasoning, imagination, abstraction

• Learning that is accomplished best through meaning rather than rote memorization

• Ability to get the “big picture”

• A high level of understanding of what is read to him/her/they

• The ability to read and to understand at a high level overlearned (or highly practiced) words in a special area of interest

• Improvement as an area of interest becomes more specialized and focused—and a miniature vocabulary is developed that allows for reading in that subject area

• A surprisingly sophisticated listening vocabulary

• Excels in areas not dependent on reading, such as math, computers and visual arts, or in more conceptual (versus fact-driven) subjects, including philosophy, biology, social studies, neuroscience and creative writing

If you have questions or concerns regarding your child’s learning, please contact the school principal and/or literacy specialist. Another great parent resource would be to contact your school’s Student Services Parent Advisory Committee (SSPAC) representative.

Each student must have a Technology Consent Form on file each year. Click here to directly access the 2021-2022 Technology Consent form. Please fill out one form per student. Payment instructions for those who opt in for the damage and loss protection plan will be communicated to participating families.

LOSD is once again offering a Device Damage and Loss Protection Plan to ease the financial obligation if your student's district device is damaged or lost. When you fill out the Technology Consent form, "accept" or "decline" participation in the Protection Plan. The cost is $20 per student, with a family maximum of $60. Participation in the program is completely optional. Fee waivers are available for those with financial need.

Click here to directly access the 2021-2022 Technology Consent form. Please fill out one form per student. Payment instructions will be communicated to participating families.

For a complete description of the Device Damage and Loss Protection Program, please visit the district website under Computer Networking Service or click here.

For fee waiver forms click here. Please mail the completed form to:

Lake Oswego School District Office

c/o James Miller

PO Box 70

Lake Oswego, OR 97034

Have a Technical Question or a device that's not working? Please submit a work order here: https://losdhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

The Black Student Mentorship Program is aimed at guiding and supporting elementary-aged Black students by working to develop supportive mentoring relationships with Black students from Lake Oswego High School and Lakeridge High School. The goal is to provide them with positive role models, while fostering representation in our community and in their lives.

If you are a Black student interested in becoming a mentor or mentee, please email: hilljaydenn@gmail.com and proboh1@gmail.com.

All are welcome to observe the Student Services Parent Advisory Committee meeting.

Thursday, Oct. 21

6-8 p.m.

Join Zoom Meeting https://loswego-k12-or-us.zoom.us/j/81851839917?pwd=dSs0Z3NJcFNjTEJLVS9SMmJWYnZiUT09

The LOSD Community School is offering virtual enrichment programs and activities for students of all ages including culinary, STEM, arts, language, and athletics.

Check out this week's edition.

Hunger Fighters Oregon Food Pantry offers assistance to anyone in the community by providing fresh, canned and boxed foods. A delivery program is also available. More info can be found at hungerfightersoregon.org.

I Love Lake Oswego Clothing Closet is a donation-based closet that provides clothing items and hygiene products for residents, students, and employees that work or live within Lake Oswego.

Open Saturdays

9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Visit https://www.ilovelakeoswego.com for more information.

Parents-guardians who have concerns about a student’s well-being are encouraged to reach out to their principal, and to maintain strong lines of communication and partnership between students, families, staff, and other resources.

SafeOregon is also an effective way to report a tip regarding safety threats or potential acts of violence to our students or schools.

https://www.safeoregon.com/

(Students should also be aware that intentionally providing a false report is a serious offense.)

LOSD has ramped up its social media presence. Please join us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @weareLOSD

Stay connected to the district and your school(s) and receive urgent notifications by subscribing to the Lake Oswego Schools App.

Email: info@loswego.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.losdschools.org
Location: 2455 Country Club Road, Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 534-2000
Facebook: facebook.com/weareLOSD
Twitter: @weareLOSD

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