Otter News

Exciting news! Columbia City Elementary has been granted $100,000 to create a great play area for our students and community. The new playground will take time to plan and construct, but we are hopeful to have our new play area by the end of the 23-24 school year.

Over the last couple of weeks, a planning crew consisting of parents, our PTO, and staff has met to begin planning our space. At our first meeting, we read an outstanding article called "10 Principles of Playground Design: Design a playground shaped by children's natural play drive". We used this article to create a criteria list for what we would like to design.

Our list includes the following:

• Thoughtful Design

1. Play designed for multi-levels of skills and interests

2. Quiet, active, creative, group and individual play

3. Controlled risk

4. Nooks and crannies for discovery and investigation

5. Consider engineering, tools, pails, blocks, sandboxes,

6. Flow-movement of students

• Serve the Whole Community

1. ADA

2. Adults and community

• Theme or design that fits our setting

1. River

2. Boats

3. Nature

• A landscape that enhances play

1. Logs

2. Shrubs

3. Hills

4. Mounds

5. Drainage

6. Good padding system

• Basics considered

1. Storage

2. Water

3. Shade

4. Coat Rack

5. Garbage cans

While $100,000 seems like a lot of money, it will go quickly with demolition, landscaping, and materials. For safety reasons, the playground will need to be professionally installed. We will be looking for assistance from our families for demolition and grant writing support to offset the cost of our playground. More information will be coming soon.

Thursday 2/2

• End of 2nd Quarter

Friday 2/3

• No School-Teacher Work Day

Tuesday 2/7

• Report Cards Sent Home

Friday 2/17

• All-School Crew

Monday 2/20

• No School-President's Day

Book Fair February 27th-March 3rd

Looking Ahead

Spring Break March 27th-31st

Better World Day May

April 24th State Testing Grades 3-5 Begin (See information below)

The PTO has some fun events coming up, and we need volunteers to help make these events a success! We'll send an email to our volunteer list next week, so join the list now to hear about the upcoming events and ways you can get involved!

Sign up HERE

OR Email us at ccpto2017@gmail.com

Do you know an AMAZING Columbia City Staff Member?

Nominate them NOW!

Nominations can be for ANY school district employee.

The nationwide waiver to provide all K-12 students with free meals regardless of income expired June 30, 2022. Meals will no longer be free to all SHSD students in the 2022-23 school year.

Full-priced meals:

Breakfast costs:

Elementary $1.50

Lunch costs:

Elementary $2.50

Families can submit an online or paper Confidential Family Application to see if they qualify for free, reduced-priced meals.

The Oregon Fueling Students For Success provision allows many more families the opportunity to qualify for meal benefits. For instance, a family of four will qualify if their annual income is under 83,250.00 (For each additional household member, add $14,160.00 annually). Income guidelines can be seen by clicking on the application packet tabs below.

Applications are included in your back-to-school packets, available at each school and at the SHSD District Office, and can be printed below.

You may also apply online by clicking this link:

https://family.titank12.com/application/new?identifier=PPAXM8

St. Helens School District volunteer applications can now be completed Online, see the link below.

Volunteers can really make a big difference in the educational experience for our students. From helping out in the classroom, supervising a field trip, to reading with students, volunteers are welcome and appreciated at all of our schools. And whether you’re interested in a one-time, one-hour project or an ongoing opportunity, we can find something for you!

Thank you for your interest in being a volunteer in the St. Helens School District!

Apply Here

8:10 - Doors Open

8:10-8:25 Breakfast available in the cafeteria

8:30 - School Day begins - start bell rings

3:00 - School Day ends - dismissal bell rings (Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri)

1:30 - EARLY RELEASE - dismissal bell rings (every Wednesday)

Please feel free to contact me by email, phone or Parent Square.

Email: jenniferv@sthelens.k12.or.us
Location: 2000 N 2nd St, St. Helens, Columbia County, OR, USA
Phone: 971.266.3307

We acknowledge that the land on which we sit and call Columbia City Elementary rests on the traditional and indigenous lands and village sites of the Native peoples of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde* and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. We take this opportunity to offer gratitude for the ability to learn, work, and be a community on this land, and we offer thanks to the original caretakers of this region. We recognize the historic policies of colonization, genocide, relocation, and assimilation that affected Indigenous and Native families both past and present and that will affect those in the future, and honor the resilience and revitalization of our Indigenous and Native communities. We pay our respects to the Elders, both past and present, who have been the stewards of this land throughout the generations.

*The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon is a federally recognized Tribe that includes over 30 Tribes and bands from western Oregon, northern California, and southwest Washington. These include tribal bands from the Kalapuya, Molalla, Chasta, Umpqua, Rogue River, Chinook, and Tillamook.