DOUGLAS GARDENS NEWSLETTER

It has been so nice seeing our students and families back at school where we have been able to connect with familiar faces and welcome the new. The 2023/24 school year is well under way and you will find some fun events in this communication. Our staff and students are hard at work as they engage in new learning. Please check your Seesaw communications regularly to stay updated regarding learning and events happening in each classroom. I also encourage you to visit our school website which is updated with a monthly calendar and check out our Facebook page.

While we love our students to be here each day, arrivals late to school are extremely disruptive to the classroom as well as your child's learning time. Please make every effort to have your child to school on time ready to go!

When calling the school to report your child's absence, please use the "Attendance" option. Calls reporting your child out should be made before 9:00 to avoid receiving the automated attendance call. When leaving the message , remember to include the following: Student's first and last name, Classroom teacher's name and the nature of the absence. If the reason for the absence is an illness, please leave a description of the illness. Many parents are leaving a message stating their student is "sick" and no other information. When no details are given regarding the nature of the absence, it will be recorded as an unexcused absence.

One of the ways we keep students safe at Douglas Gardens is to limit exposure to known allergens. This is facilitated during school meal times by separating school prepared meals and home prepared meals to different tables in the cafeteria. The ingredients in school provided meals are known and documented by Nutrition Services. In order to keep all students safe, we are unable to accommodate students bringing outside food for breakfast. This is due to the size of the cafeteria and volume of students we serve at that time. We kindly ask that students consume all outside breakfast items at home, or join us in the cafeteria for a school provided breakfast. We also ask for your assistance in following classroom rules/guidance regarding snacks from home.

Thank you for your support with this! ​

The PTO has hit the ground running this school year! We are currently running our coin drive through December in all of the classrooms. The funds from the coin drive go directly to funding our Popcorn Fridays. If we are unable to fund Popcorn Friday, then we have to charge for popcorn. Have your kiddos clean under the couch cushions and send that change our way! Harvest Festival is on 10/26 and will be one of our biggest yet! We will have multiple food trucks, trick-or-treating, a cake walk and a costume contest. If you are interested in volunteering for the Harvest Festival, please reach out to us by checking out our Facebook page, Douglas Gardens PTO Volunteers or on the Band app as well. Meat sticks will be going out soon and this fundraiser is set to run 10/16-10/27. If your child sells all their meat sticks and would like to sell more, they can return the funds they have collected and bring a note from their parent/guardian requesting additional bags. Funds can be turned in and additional bags can be picked up each morning from 8:00-8:30 at the PTO table outside the gym. Our next PTO meeting is going to be on November 15th, at 430pm in the DGE Library. At this meeting, we will be electing members to our board. PTO meetings are a great way to make your voice heard at the school. Come join the PTO! You are a PTO person, you just don’t know it yet.

Parents dropping off students in the morning can begin entering the school parking lot at 7:55. If you arrive earlier, you will be asked to pull through and re-enter at 7:55. Parents picking up students at the end of the day can enter the lot at 2:30. This allows staff, delivery drivers etc. important access to our building. For Early Release Fridays, entry at dismissal is 12:10.

Each month Douglas Gardens students and staff will be participating in DG Spirit Day. We will be celebrating this month with "Crazy Hair Day" on Friday, October 27th. This should be fun.

Safety of students and staff is a priority to Springfield Public Schools.

Our school will be participating with our local law enforcement partners to practice the ALICE method with students at our school. ALICE stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, and evacuate. It’s a training requirement and incorporates nationally recognized best practices.

The district reviews the material every year, and provides age-specific materials and concepts for the trainings. Our staff have already participated in the trainings.

To review a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) about ALICE, visit https://www.springfield.k12.or.us/services/business/alice

To the Student’s Parent(s): In order to more efficiently serve parents and patrons, Springfield Public Schools website has been updated to include information, in part, pertaining to annual parent/student notification such as Student Responsibilities & Rights Handbook, A Note to Parents About Directory Rights, Parent Notice Concerning Student Records, HIV/AIDS Curriculum Announcement, Teacher Qualifications, Parent Review of Materials. To review the above information, please access the website at www.springfield.k12.or.us Parents and patrons may also contact the school office for printed copies of any of the above documents.

We want to thank you! What a great event. Douglas Gardens families raised over $9000 for our school and we couldn't be more excited. These funds will be used for many things. This year we plan to use the proceeds for things like the purchase of library books, music and P.E. equipment. Also,each teacher will be given funds for individual classroom interests. Funds will also be used to help support future classroom celebrations....These are just a few of the ways your donations help Douglas Gardens.

10/13 Early Release, dismissal at 12:30

10/18 Dental Clinic

10/19 Dental Clinic

10/26 PTO Harvest Party 6-7:30pm

10/27 Early Release , dismissal at 12:30

10/30 Vision Screening

11/5 Daylight Savings

11/10 Veteran's Day - No School

11/14 Picture Retake Day

11/16 Second Grade Music Performance 6:30 Gym

11/17 Early Release dismissal 12:30

11/23-11/24 Thanksgiving Break

11/29 - No School

11-30-12/1 Parent Conferences

12/4-12/8 Book Fair