Ashland School District

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Previous Smore Newsletters

Email: Jacqueline.Schad@ashland.k12.or.us
Website: ashland.k12.or.us
Location: 885 Siskiyou Boulevard, Ashland, OR, USA
Phone: (541) 482-2811
Facebook: facebook.com/ashlandpublicschools/

• Superintendent’s Message
• Staff Vaccinations Required
• COVID Safety Precautions
• Summer Celebrations
• Truth to Power BIPOC Mural Approved
• Free Weekly Testing
• Vaccine Information
• Smoke Mitigation
  
• Walker Bond Project
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Update
• New Website and Facebook

Staff, Parents, Guardians, Families and Students;

I am looking forward to a new school year of learning and connection in person. Over the summer, we held summer programs that served students from kindergarten through twelfth grade with recovery dollars provided by the state of Oregon. Our K8 program joined with community partners including SOU, Ashland YMCA and ScienceWorks to provide enrichment experiences after a morning of academic support and reconnection with peers and staff at school. Our high school students earned a number of credits in-person that were a struggle for some during distance learning last year. The power of being back at school and in-person is exciting.

SAFE AND HEALTHY SCHOOLS

As we look to the start of school the week of August 30, we are preparing for a safe, healthy year of connection and learning. In addition to the state mandate for indoor mask use, Ashland Schools has developed a set of rigorous COVID safety protocols to keep our kids’ healthy and in school for the coming year. You can review the safety protocols on our redesigned website here. We continue to monitor local active case rates and work closely with Jackson County Health to guide our safety practices. Parents and guardians will be notified whenever there is an update to our protocols.

Keeping schools open and kids learning is our primary goal as we head into the new year. The Delta variant has spread rapidly in our community. Our best defense in school is adhering to COVID safety practices that keep staff and kids’ healthy and in classrooms.

In addition, Ashland School District staff are required to vaccinate against COVID, with exemptions allowed under Oregon law for certain health conditions and religious faiths. Ashland made this as a local decision prior to the Governor's announcement on 8.19.2021 that all K12 staff in Oregon will be required to be vaccinated against COVID.

Students are not required to have the COVID vaccine. We urge parents and guardians to work with their medical providers and consider vaccination for eligible children as the most effective measure to reduce spread and avoid serious illness.

FREE WEEKLY COVID TESTING FOR STUDENTS

Regular weekly testing is available for any student free of charge though your child's school Please see details below.

WALKER SCHOOL BOND PROJECT

We are excited to share that Walker School will be located on the grounds of ScienceWorks for the 18 months of bond construction. Through partnership with Science Works, SOU, the Rogue Growers Market and the City of Ashland, we are locating temporary modulars on the ScienceWorks grounds. When the bond construction on Walker is complete, the modulars will be removed and the infrastructure that supported them will remain for use by Science Works and the Rogue Valley Growers market including electricity and water. We are so grateful for this partnership and to ScienceWorks for welcoming the Walker Wolves to their temporary home. Please see additional details in the newsletter below.

TRANSPORTATION TO THE YMCA AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM FOR JMOS AND WILLOW WIND

As part of our recovery efforts, we are looking forward to providing transportation to the YMCA after-school programs for John Muir Outdoor School and Willow Wind for the coming school year. Historically, parents/guardians have provided transportation to the Y for those programs.

NEW WEB SITE

We have completed a much-needed redesign to our web site to make it easier to use and find what you need. If you have questions, please email Christine McCollom, Interim Director of Instruction and Programs. You can also like us on Facebook.

Please take a few minutes to scroll below and learn more about the achievements of our students, the good work of our staff, and the great gifts of the broader Ashland community to our students.

Together, we will make this an amazing year for our kids. Thank you for your support of our schools and for making our schools great places to learn.

Samuel

Samuel Bogdanove

Superintendent

Ashland Public Schools

Pronouns: He, Him, His

Summer sessions at Ashland High School brought 184 students to the school to achieve credit retrieval for grades 10-12 and summer enrichment for incoming 9th graders. Students enjoyed a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere after more than a year of distance learning.

Grades K-8 welcomed 340 students for academic support in reading, writing and math. English Language learning students received daily instruction. The students enjoyed afternoons filled with enrichment activities including lacrosse, rock climbing, poetry, mosaics, music, junk art, outdoor education opportunities and trips to ScienceWorks and SOU.

Check us out on Facebook for more summer program celebrations!

The Ashland High School Truth to Power (TTP) Club has been approved by the City of Ashland to install a mural, “The BIPOC of the Rogue Valley Celebration,” on the walls of Ashland High School, facing out towards Mountain Avenue! Truth to Power is a high school club that produces podcasts and takes action for social justice. The mural is one of many first steps taken by TTP--in companionship with Ashland and the high school--to create a safer, more diverse, inclusive community for Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color. After the shooting of former AHS student, Aidan Ellison, a Black teenager, TTP saw the vital need for this sort of an art piece and antiracism even more. This mural honors Aidan’s life by celebrating BIPOC changemakers. Keep your eyes out for more updates from Truth to Power Club, including a community painting day in September and a dedication ceremony in November.

Follow Truth to Power on Facebook and Instagram (Truth to Power Club) and visit truthtopowerclub.com !

The Ashland School District is proud to offer online options for families. Both Ashland Connect, an academy within John Muir Outdoor School for grades K-8, and Grizzly Online Academy at Ashland High School, are designed intentionally as online academies to provide flexible online instruction which students can master at their own pace, without the requirement of synchronous learning. Students in grade 9-12 may also take in-person Ashland High School classes to complement their online education. All students have access to Ashland's rich extra-curricular activities.

Ashland teachers and support staff work with an education provider called Edgenuity. If you are interested in learning more about Ashland Connect, please read more here. If you would like to learn more about Grizzly Online Academy, read more here. If you choose to enroll in either program, the commitment would be by semester. The end of semester 1 is January 28th.

Ashland Schools COVID Safety Protocols are here.

COVID protocols will be reviewed regularly as local active case rates change and as we learn new information on how to maintain safe and healthy school environments. Parents and guardians will be notified when there is a significant change.

Please read through the COVID protocols below and check with your principal if you have questions.

Regular weekly testing is available for any student free of charge. Students will test at school. The school mails the test kits to University of Oregon and results are emailed to the parent/guardian within 24 hours of receiving the test. The school relies on parents/guardians for notification of a positive case. If your child is symptomatic or has a positive test, do not send them to school and call the front office.

The parent consent form is here. You can sign your student up to participate here.

Who is eligible for a free vaccines?

All Oregonians aged 12 and up are eligible to receive vaccination against Covid-19.

Age 15 and up do not require parent/guardian consent.

Where can I get a free vaccine?

Click here for information on where to get a free COVID vaccine in Jackson County.

Ashland Schools monitor air quality levels when it is smokey outside. Each school follows Health Department School Activity guidance based on the AQI at the school to know if we need to move PE and recess inside or curtail an outdoor athletic practice or even. If you have questions or need to discuss your child’s needs, please contact the principal.

The Ashland Public Schools District and ScienceWorks have partnered to temporarily locate Walker Elementary School at the ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum field while Walker Elementary School undergoes a major renovation and addition. During the 18 month window, while construction at Walker Elementary School is occurring, students and administrators will occupy modulars at ScienceWorks. Currently site clearing and pad preparation is underway as modulars continue to be delivered. In total, there will be 25 classrooms, 3 restroom trailers and 2 office trailers at this location. ScienceWorks will continue to operate during this time and parking spaces will be dedicated for both ScienceWorks and Walker Elementary School.

Fortunately, no trees will need to be removed or impacted by the work and once completed, the power, sewer, water and data infrastructure will remain and provide a long-term asset for ScienceWorks and benefit future site users, including the Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market.

Additionally, when complete, students will return to a completely updated and seismically reinforced school.

Coaching for Educational Equity

The Ashland School District was well represented at the state-wide Coaching for Educational Equity training that was offered over four days in late June. The ASD team included seven district administrators, two school principals, one teacher, and one classified staff member. The team will reconvene for two additional training follow-up sessions this fall. Two of the goals of these sessions are to support participants to increase their awareness of racism and its effect on students and staff and to interrupt inequitable policies and practices in our schools​​.

Beginning Equity Academy

We are incredibly thankful for the thirty Ashland School District staff who participated in this two-day training lead by the Oregon Center for Educational Equity (OCEE) and organized by the Southern Oregon Education Service District (SOESD). School teams comprised of principals, teachers, and staff attended together to ensure that the discussions would benefit from multiple perspectives and that the information would be shared more broadly with other staff throughout the year. These teams will also help support the work of each school's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) plan.

Southern Oregon Black African Student Success Grant

Congratulations to the Southern Oregon Black African Student Success (SOBASS) grant team whose hard work was rewarded with an award notification that the program will be funded for a second two-year cycle. The grant will be used to support Black student achievement in Jackson and Josephine Counties through programs such as the Black Youth Leadership Summit and Black Youth Summer Institute. The grant offers programs to support students and families while also continuing work with school staff to provide training in culturally responsive teaching practices. The final award amount has not yet been announced.

ASD Web SIte has a new look: https://www.ashland.k12.or.us/

Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ashlandpublicschools