Canby High School Family Newsletter

For the Week of January 6th to 12th, 2022

Principal's Message

Good afternoon Canby High School Students and Families!

Welcome to the new year! We hope your break was enjoyable and relaxing. We’re excited to be back in session.

While I would like to ignore it, we need to talk about COVID……A couple of months ago, we were hopeful that our restrictions would be reduced as we headed into 2022. It has been unfortunate that the “Omicron” variant of the virus has appeared and changed this outlook. We are already seeing a significant impact on the community and a number of events have been cancelled. While we hope there won’t be further restrictions, we need to be flexible and prepared for change.

There has also been a lot of information about changing CDC recommendations and state protocols to test out of quarantine. This has created some confusion. While the CDC may make a recommendation, the Oregon Health Authority and Clackamas County Public Health create the guidelines for our schools. Please take a look at the information below about rapid testing and shortening required quarantine. We continue to encourage all students to follow protocols to help us slow the spread.

With the new year, we welcome our new School Resource Officer (SRO) Maria DeLuna to our team. A six year veteran of the Canby Police Department, Officer DeLuna is originally from Gladstone and is an avid softball and soccer player. She is excited to meet our students and connect with families in either English and Spanish. Students, stop by and introduce yourselves!

Stay healthy and strong, Canby!

Go Cougars!

Greg Dinse

Principal

#CanbyProud

Upcoming Events

1/6, Thursday: Swim Meet, Home, 4:30pm

1/17, Monday: NO SCHOOL-MLK Holiday

Academics

Our 9th grade after school intervention program CATS starts today! This program is for freshmen that failed 1 or more classes 1st trimester and we give them extra support for success in 2nd trimester. CATS runs Mondays and Wednesdays 2:50-415.
ACT Testing for all juniors is April 5th. We will also administer the PreACT for all 9th and 10th graders. The PreACT is a practice test for the ACT. Juniors are encouraged to prep for the ACT and can access free online practice tests, study guides, online test prep and events through ACT. Go to this link for ACT prep: (https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation/free-act-test-prep.html). 12th graders have the day to visit colleges and explore post high school options.
Oregon State Assessment - 11th graders are still required to take the Oregon State Assessment (OSA) per state and federal requirements. They will start testing next week in reading. Note that this assessment could potentially be used in lieu of college placement exams with satisfactory test scores (check with the college for more information). Parents who want to opt out their students can go to this link and click on “Opt-Out Form” in English or Spanish: https://www.canby.k12.or.us/en-US/oregon-state-assessments-bb3efb0f.

Here is the testing schedule:

Jan. 11 - 14 - Reading - testing in US History C classes
Jan. 18 - 21 - Writing - testing in English classes
Jan. 24 - 24 (tentative) - Math - testing in math classes
Jan. 11 - April 15 - ELPA - testing in EL classes

Activities and Arts

The Canby Theater program, under the new direction of Ms. Sullivan Mackintosh, presents The Importance of Being Earnest. Performances are scheduled for January 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28. More information is coming.

Athletics

Athletics has recently had a lot of cancellations and postponements. Please check the athletics website at CanbyAthletics.com for the most up to date information. Often cancellations happen with little notice, but we will do our best to communicate it out as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

CHS Dance Team is sponsoring a Kids Dance Clinic on Monday January 17th. Please visit this site for more information and to register.

Other Information

COVID Testing

We are anticipating updated guidance from our local public health agency in response to CDC's announcement around shortened isolation and quarantine periods. Until then, we continue to offer expanded options to significantly reduce missed class time after COVID-19 exposures, all while minimizing risks of COVID-19 transmission. That includes "Test to Stay" for exposures at school and a shortened 7-day quarantine in addition to our previous options. Note that the new Test to Stay option requires parent permission for testing at school. Please fill out the permission form and return it to your student's school. For an overview of the four quarantine options following an exposure, see the OHA/ODE COVID-19 Quarantine Guidance here, which we will follow until we receive updated guidance.

From Nutrition Services

Breakfast and lunch are free to all students this 21-22 school year!

The Oregon Department of Education allows one free meal per student, per meal type.

One breakfast is allowed per student, before school starts or during break, not both. One lunch is allowed, including one entree, one milk, and as many fruits or vegetables as they would like.

Starting on Tuesday 1/4/2022 we will have students enter their school ID numbers at the register when they get a meal. This system is used only to count students, not to charge for first meals.

If your student chooses to take a second breakfast or second lunch (after the first free meal), they will be charged on their lunch account, regardless of free or reduced status.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call Nutrition Services at 503-266-6742.

Winter Weather Prep

Please subscribe to Canby School District on FlashAlert.

As the temperatures continue getting colder, it’s time to start preparing for winter weather and the snow bus routes, school delays, or closures that can come along with it.

When inclement weather strikes, the district will make decisions about school as early as possible -- sometimes even the night before, but our goal is by no later than about 5:30 a.m. on the day of the weather event. The message will go out via FlashAlert and will then be reported on most news websites and TV stations.

To make sure you’re set to receive the information, again, please subscribe to Canby School District on FlashAlert. Now is also a good time to update your text preferences online by listing your phone number. For more information, please see our inclement weather page.

CSD COVID Updates

https://www.canby.k12.or.us/covid-19-information-ea60611d

SafeOregon Program

Canby School District is now offering the community a simple way to report student safety threats. SafeOregon is a 24-hour anonymous tip-line individuals can use if they see or hear about instances of bullying, violence, threats, drug use, suicidal thoughts and more. The goal is to keep students safe by preventing threats from coming to fruition.

There are a number of ways to report, including:

Texting or calling 844-4-SAFE-OR (844-472-3367)
Emailing tip@safeoregon.com
Online at safeoregon.com
Via the SafeOregon app

Please help us keep Canby’s kids safe by utilizing this program.

Cougar Store is Open Online

Check out new apparel and CHS Cougar items in the online shopping mall, https://canbyhs.canby.k12.or.us/en-US/the-cougar-shopping-mall-36c32d45

Join Us-Employment in Canby Schools

While parent volunteering continues to be on hold until further notice, we do have employment opportunities in our schools for part-time positions like instructional assistants, nutrition services, custodians and more. We are also seeking on-call substitutes for those positions, which would provide even greater flexibility. Visit our employment website to view all current opportunities.

Attendance and Sick Students

To ensure the accuracy and efficiency of our attendance process, please remember the following guidelines:

To report an absence, call our attendance line at 503-263-7210 or email chs-attendance@canby.k12.or.us.
Please report an absence as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours after the absence.
If your student needs to leave class for an appointment, inform the attendance office as soon as possible. This will help us ensure that your student receives a note to leave class in a timely manner.

Remember that attendance matters and students who attend class regularly are more likely to stay on track, graduate on time, learn deeply, and get the most from their high school experience. Please partner with us to ensure great attendance and to remove any attendance barriers.

Bus Transportation