Centennial Blue Jays

Greetings, Blue Jay Families!

We hope you all had a wonderful winter break! The days are getting longer again and we are excited about the second half of our school year! Let's make a New Years Resolution to get students to school on time so they don't miss out on fun early-morning activities and learning opportunities!

We are so grateful to the family members and community members who stepped up to help make the holidays a little brighter for many of our families!

Thanks to our fabulous PTO (and families' fundraising support) we are pleased to offer some very fun sessions for every student with artists from Lane Arts Council. More details below! And we hope to see lots of faces at the upcoming Family Swim Day!

PTO Needs YOU! Speaking of the PTO, they are looking to fill some PTO board positions for next year: President (2-yr term), Vice President, and Secretary (both 1-yr terms). Interested parties should reach out to the PTO at contact@cespto.org ASAP. Voting for these positions will take place at the February PTO meeting on Feb .3.

Also, a heads-up that we have district-level testing starting soon in Reading (easyCBM) and Math (iReady). Please try to be sure your children are well-rested!

This month's character trait is EMPATHY. We hope you will join us in encouraging your kiddos to have empathy for others this month.

Have a great January!

Don Hakala, Principal

Calli Dean, Assistant Principal

Jan. 5: No School, Collaboration Day

Jan. 6-7: Free Dental Screening/Treatment Clinic

Jan. 6: PTO Meeting, 6 p.m. Childcare, snacks provided

Jan. 9: Flock Friday (wear Blue Jay gear or the color blue!)

Jan. 12: Safety Week Begins - Drills each day

Jan. 16: MLK Assembly

Jan. 16: Early Release/Flock Friday (12:30 p.m.)

Jan. 18: PTO Family Swim at SPLASH (starts at 11:45 a.m.)

Jan. 19: MLK Day, No School

Jan. 21: OBOB Practice (5-7 p.m.)

Jan. 23: Flock Friday

Jan. 30: No School, Collaboration Day for Staff

We are excited for our Annual Family Swim Day!

Join us at Splash! to enjoy an afternoon of swimming with your Centennial family and friends.

• Admission is FREE for Centennial students and their families.
• Please be sure to arrive by 11:45 to take advantage of free admission.
• Everyone is welcome to stay for the public swim from 1-5 pm at no cost!

That's up to 5 HOURS OF FREE SWIMMING! Plus, you get to do it all with your Blue Jay friends!

This year, our school will be celebrating Martin Luther King's legacy in a different way.

• There will be a short assembly on Friday, Jan. 16.
• Students can still participate in the annual Art Contest by creating poems, art, or essays, but judging and viewing will happen here at school. We will have a Gallery Walk though the school to see all the artwork.
• Students will be creating "words of love" to share withour local community.

Those whose wish to march can join the Eugene-Springfield March & Celebration on Monday, Jan. 19, which starts at 9 a.m. with a welcome message and continues to The Shedd, followed by a program from 11 to 1. Free LTD bus service is available.

Congratulations to our December Super Students in grades 1–5, acknowledged especially for their ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE: Avery B, Colson, Sapphira, Emma, Madelyn, Alex S, Edwin BD, Iris, Fernando, Madison F, Zac, Eli S, Sonny, James, Eva, Willa, Yasmin, Ramon RR, Anya, Charlie, Tiera, Hollyn, Eisley, Cheyenne, Jessica SN, Kian, Kaliyah, Matthew, Daniela C-C, Sarah, Kevin, Kyson, and Bryson! Keep up the great work kids!

We seem to be doing a good job of making families feel welcome and of teaching students our expectations about behavior. The big 4: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Kind! Here's a snapshot of the results.

Some of the things people like about Centennnial:

• "We love seeing Ms Hodgin high five every kid and tell each one good morning every single day."
• Staff commitment to teaching
• Ability to work with my kid's learning level and accommodations
• "The teachers and staff are beyond wonderful."
• Events
• Quick response to issues that come out
• Teachers' support of the kids, even outside of the classroom
• "They work with me and have always helped my family out."
• Good communication
• "Every time I go to the school the hallways & bathrooms are clean. Please thank the custodians!"

Some things that could improve:

• More field trips
• Longer lunch time, more choices
• More resources for advanced children
• More after-school clubs
• More security
• Need another bus route, too long a ride
• The building/parking lot
• Better playground activities
• Bring back "Coffee with the Principal"
• Behavior management: Limit punishing the whole class; follow-through regarding hitting

We will take these comments under careful consideration. We take security very seriously, and we appreciate everyone's patience as we limit visitors during school hours. As for the parking lot, we do appreciate everyone's patience and courtesy as we try to dismiss students as quickly as possible. For advanced students, please see details below about TAG referrals. And we are always working on adding to our playground activities and behavior management techniques!

Thanks for the responses! Remember that you can always call us with questions or concerns and we will do our best to figure it out!

Empathy is making an effort to understand how someone else is feeling, even when you aren't in the same situation. The expression "walking in their shoes" means that you try to see things from the other person's point of view, and imagine how you would feel in those circumstances. Empathy is an important social skill for all of us. You can help us by modeling empathy at home and talking about it with your student(s)!

The Centennial PTO will be treating all of our students to some cool art classes through Lane Arts Council in the upcoming weeks! The classes will each entail four sessions over a period of 45 or 60 minutes.

Grades K/1 ~ week of 1/26-1/30 ~ Creativity Through Clay with Andrea DiPalma

Grade 2 ~ week of 2/16--2/20 ~` Animals and their Habits with Merit Ferrell

Grades 3/4 ~ week of 2/2-2/6 ~ Wire Sculptures with Andrea DiPalma

Grade 5 ~ week of 2/23-2/27 ~ Making Decorative Masks with Larry Meyers

OBOB Battles begin the week of January 6 for our 58 students on 13 teams! There will be one more practice session on January 19th from 5 to 7 p.m. Volunteers will be needed to help keep time and score for each battle. Families will be able to come and watch the battles, but you must sign in at the office. Watch your email for more information and links to the schedule and info from Ms. Hodgin, and let her know if you're able to volunteer - madison.hodgin@springfield.k12.or.us.

Talented and Gifted (TAG) identification is right around the corner, and we are beginning to take referrals for our program. The SPS Talented and Gifted program assesses through district-wide tests and classroom work samples whether or not your student has the potential to perform at the 95th percentile or above in the areas of Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Intellectual giftedness in relation to their peers. The 95th percentile means that if your student were in a line of 100 students their same age, they would know more than the first 95 students in line. These students are at the top of their class and typically above most students in their entire grade level at school, and require more advanced work to meet them at their rate and level of learning to keep them challenged.

Teachers, families, and specialists can all refer students for identification if they feel they meet the criteria. Students must be referred for screening no later than February 6th for TAG contacts to be able to gather data for the upcoming testing session. After you refer them for screening, the TAG Contact will work with teachers to examine current data for the screening and be in contact with you about whether or not the student qualifies for further identification procedures and assessments. If your student qualifies, the TAG Contact at the school will share with you a few forms to begin filling out for your student to gather additional data and will provide additional information about further assessment.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your school’s TAG Contact: Lorene Corgain at lorene.corgain@springfield.k12.or.us.

We LOVE volunteers at Centennial! Parents are welcome and encouraged to come and help in their students' class(es) or at special events. Please do check with the teacher about days/times that might be best. There may also be projects you can help with outside of school. Community members are also welcome. We currently have volunteers helping teachers with tasks, helping with reading groups, helping tidy the lost & found, and helping Ms. Hodgin shelve books - a neverending task! It takes a village!

For everyone's safety, all school volunteers need to be registered and undergo a background check. If you're not sure if you're still current, please ask Ms. Deb.

Our website is a solid place to look for information such as menus. Facebook will be your best bet for quick updates and photos. We also frequently send information via email, so be sure to check your email frequently. Many teachers use the SeeSaw app to communicate via phone. Your child's teacher will send you an invitation to join their classroom SeeSaw community, and it's a great way to communicate directly with the teacher. And Ms. Deb is always available for questions!

Centennial has an outstanding PTO! We really appreciate all they do to support our staff and students at CES! We would love to have you participate with this group. Meetings are generally held on the first Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. Child care is always available, and they offer a light meal. You can visit their new website at www.cespto.org.

How to support our school:

• You can always get blue bags from the school office. This is an easy way to support the PTO through donations of bottles and cans. Just bring the bag to the Springfield Bottle Drop Redemption Center, scan the PTO bar code, and toss your bag.
• Stay tuned for more information on how to purchase Blue Jay gear for the whole family!
• Watch for upcoming fundraisers, and in the meantime, volunteer!

Email: deb.jolda@springfield.k12.or.us
Website: centennial.springfield.k12.or.us
Location: 1315 Aspen Street, Springfield, OR, USA
Phone: 541-744-6383
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CentennialBlueJays

CALL US - 541-744-6383. We are always happy to help!