Hallinan Elementary

Dear Hallinan Families,

Your children - I love them all! Thank you for sharing them with us. My heart is full seeing and hearing your children learn, laugh and enjoy being back at school.

Please make sure to read the Back to School, Arrival and Dismissal, Bus Transportation and Lunch sections below for updated information and plans.

Have a fantastic long weekend, get outside and play and make sure to take some time to read a good book!

Melissa Griffiths

We hope you will join us at Hallinan's back to school night on next Wednesday, September 8. We are all very excited to welcome you in person, but please know it will look a little different than in previous years. By Friday, 9/3, at 3:30 pm, teachers will send out SUGs (Sign Up Genius) links for parents to sign up on one of two available sections, either 6 to 6:40 pm or 7 to 7:40 pm. To attend a session you must sign up for one of the available slots. If a session becomes full, you will need to sign up for the other session.

At Back to School Night, families (adults only) will arrive at their scheduled time and enter classrooms through the classroom exterior door. During your session, the teacher will show a brief video with school and district messaging and then share pertinent classroom information including curriculum and schedules. Once the session has completed, please exit in a timely manner through the exterior classroom door to leave the building. Principal Griffiths, joined by many of our specialists, will be in the front of the building to help direct families to classrooms and answer questions.

We look forward to seeing you all!

Arrival

Staff will be outside to greet and direct your children and traffic. Car riders will exit their vehicle on the passenger side. Parents must remain in vehicles. Staff will assist students if necessary as well as remind students to maintain social distance as needed. Students will wait, with masks on, remaining socially distant from one another until staff releases them to walk to their classrooms when the first bell rings at 8:10 am. Families, if you are present during arrival - or dismissal - we ask that you follow the same safety procedures as students and staff.

Dismissal

Teachers will walk students to the appropriate location for dismissal (bus riders, walkers and car riders). For car riders, drivers, please place a placard in the passenger window with student first name, student last name and grade, so that we can move the car line efficiently. Walkers will meet their families undercover.

Your student's safety is our utmost priority. We know this has been a stressful week for our bus riders and we hear, value and understand your concerns.

I hope you had the opportunity to read the email from Superintendent Jennifer Schiele (sent by Mary Kay Larson at 1:49 pm) with important transportation information. While Student Transportation of America (STA) has buses, they are experiencing a shortage of drivers. STA is actively recruiting, hiring and training drivers in order to provide better service and shorter ride times while ensuring all safety protocols.

At Hallinan we have put the following plans in place:

• If the buses leave Hallinan after 3 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Fridays or 2:20 pm on Thursdays, we will send out a text message to alert families of the delay.
• We created temporary stickers to identify how students are going home (bus, walk, ride) which include the route number for our bus riding students.
  
• We are in the process of creating tags, to attach to backpacks, for all of our regular bus riders traveling home. Please fill out this google form to help us properly identify your child's bus stop.
• We are working with STA to create daily attendance logs for contact tracing.

STA will continue to implement their required safety procedures, including lowering windows at least half way as long as it's 50 degrees or above outside and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.

I know this has been a frustrating and stressful few days. We are working diligently to solve all of our transportation problems. We thank you for your patience, flexibility, grace, support.

Outside lunch dining has been great! We are thankful for the beautiful weather we are having so that students may sit outdoors 6 feet apart, supervised by their teacher. We will continue to sit outside for lunch weather permitting, please make sure your children are dressed accordingly. Students are welcome to bring towels or blankets to sit on if they would like. Students are encouraged to bring a filled water bottle daily. We have refillable water stations throughout the building.

Grab and go lunches (and breakfasts) can be ordered daily. Click here for a link to the menus. Teachers will take counts each morning.

9/8 - Back to School Night

9/9 - Early Release Thursday at 2 pm

9/16 - Early Release Thursday at 2 pm

9/23 - Early Release Thursday at 2 pm

9/30 - Early Release Thursday at 2 pm

10/8 - Professional Day - No School

10/15 - Photo Day

MEET YOUR PRESIDENT!

New year, new PTO President! It is with joy and gratitude, we welcome Erin Saylor as the 2021-22 PTO President. Erin is a busy working mom with three children (grades 3, 2 and K) and has carved out time to step into this special role. Consider supporting Erin by volunteering for any of the important positions available. Please read Erin’s welcome letter attached below.

DON’T MISS OUT – UPDATE THE DIRECTORY!

Please take a moment to update your family’s information in the directory. This allows other families to stay connected through play dates and birthday parties. While there, you can conveniently pay your student fees. Simply go to https://hallinanpto.membershiptoolkit.com/login-form?r=%2Fdirectory

Questions about the directory? Email Nicole Blum at hallinandirectory@gmail.com

JOG-A-THON IS ON!

We are thrilled to announce the beloved Hallinan tradition is BACK! Save the Date for this year’s event on Wednesday, October 13.

Funding for this event relies on the generosity of our sponsors. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, email Selena Borne, selena.borne@gmail.com

Pledges can easily be obtained and t-shirt sizes selected at www.pledgestar.com/hallinan/

**PTO Parent Action Items:

• Register your student on the pledgestar website AND enter t-shirt size. ALL students receive a shirt! Go to www.pledgestar.com/hallinan/ to get started! To ensure correct t-shirt size, kindly register by September 10.

• Update the directory with current grade level and pay student fees

• Watch for Volunteer Sign Up Genius and join us!

Hallinan Families, our mountain is waiting, let’s get on our way!

This Fall, all students in Grades 1-8 will complete two online i-Ready assessments in class. One is for math and the other is for reading. i-Ready is a program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform and tailor instruction to accelerate growth. This is the first of three i-Ready assessments we give each year, and results will be shared with parents in October.

The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s skill level. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.

At Hallinan, the Fall i-Ready will take place September 7-17.

The Oregon Department of Education publishes an annual notice regarding state assessments in English Language Arts and Math. Please review the Annual Notice for Statewide Tests for information regarding why participation matters, an explanation of the right to opt out,
and test windows.

If your child will be absent, please email your student's teacher and copy the office at halattendance@loswego.k12.or.us. Please list the date your child will be absent and any illness symptoms. See the guide below for information on when to keep your child home from school.

The Lake Oswego HS cheer team is hosting a youth clinic this year. Please see the flyer below (with QR Code) or register here: https://forms.gle/DR8fDr9h78GAvsM16

Office Phone: 503-534-2353

Principal Melissa Griffiths - griffitm@loswego.k12.or.us

Secretary Lee Gates - gatesl@loswego.k12.or.us

Secretary Linda Stevens - stevensl@loswego.k12.or.us

Hallinan Website - Click Here!

PTO Website - Click Here

Lake Oswego School District Website - Click Here