Eccles Weekly News

Dear Eccles Families,

With all of this winter weather, it is hard to imagine spring around the corner. But spring is around the corner, and with it comes our parent/teacher conferences. This is an exciting time for teachers, students and families to reflect on the progress made this year and plan for the remainder of the year.

Conferences will take place the week of March 20-24. They will be held in person in individual classrooms. However, a Zoom conference can be scheduled upon request. Check the schedule for your teacher’s specific conference times.

We use a scheduling software called PTCFast for all of our conference scheduling. Be on the lookout for a separate conference scheduling email with more details.

Your partnership in the education of your child is critical. We value this partnership and we look forward to the opportunity to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress.

Sincerely,

Kelly

Friday, March 3: Character Trait Assembly & Disney Dress-up Day!

Monday, March 6: PTA Meeting (7:00 at Eccles Library)

Mon-Fri, March 6-16: 2nd Grade Swim Lessons (Canby Swim Center)

Mon-Wed, March 13-15: 6th Grade Outdoor School (Camp Gray, Newport, OR)

Friday, March 17: NO SCHOOL (PD/Progress Day)

Thursday, March 23: NO SCHOOL (Parent/Teacher Conferences)

Friday, March 24: NO SCHOOL (Staff Comp Day)

Monday-Friday, March 27-31: NO SCHOOL - Spring Break

Stay up-to-date with the Eccles calendar via our website or the Canby School District calendar page.

Each month, Canby School District and the Canby Kiwanis Club will highlight a different school in our district and will recognize a staff member from that school with the CARE Award. Eccles will be highlighted during the month of March. So, if you know of an Eccles staff member who has made a difference in your life, the life of a child you know, or in the community, please consider nominating them for the CARE Award.

The 2023 Eccles Jog-A-Thon is coming and the PTA needs your support. If you or your business would like to sponsor this event, please contact Jessica Roberts at ecclesptafundraising@gmail.com. Eccles PTA is a non-profit organization and all deductions are tax deductible. Thank you for your support.

We’re thrilled to introduce this great new concept to your school! This year, we’re accepting

entries grade 4 through 6.

The idea behind this event is to help educate the kids in HEALTHY EATING HABITS. Too often we

hear about kids not making the right choices in terms of their eating habits. Plus, eating healthy

should be fun! That’s why we want kids to submit recipes to COMPLETE THE PLATE WITH THEIR

FAVORITE FRUIT OR VEGETABLE SIDE DISH.

Judging will be based on the following criteria:

• Originality
• Kid Friendly
• Ease of Preparation
• Healthy Attributes
• Plate Presentation
• Taste
• Student Chef Presentation to Judges

Timeline of the event:

1. A flyer will be sent home with the students describing the event. Recipes cards are available by request should the student need that instead.
2. A distinguished panel of administrators will evaluate recipe submissions and narrow the number of finalists down to 2 kids per school.
3. Those finalists will be formally invited to a Culinary Competition “Cook-Off” on March 17th, tentatively scheduled for 10am-2pm.

All Finalists will receive a framed plaque, recipe book of all finalists’ recipes, chef coat, apron and

hat. More detail will be provided if your child is selected as a finalist.

This note won’t apply to all of our families, but it will eventually. 🙂

Eccles has an “Away for the Day” cell phone policy. This means that students should not have their phones out while at school. A few other notes about cell phones:

• We know many students have cell phones and they use these phones to communicate with families. That is fine before and after school. Communication between parents and students during the school day should go through the office or teacher.

• If your student has a cell phone, please remind them to have it stored securely during the school day. We cannot be responsible for students’ personal devices that are lost or damaged.

• Cell phones should not be connected to headphones during the day.

• Check your child’s cell phones. Afterall, you are the one paying for it. Cell phones are a big responsibility and students are learning how to use them, and technology, responsibly.

Thank you for your support with this!

If the weather is severe enough to cancel school, the first day of inclement weather will be a snow day for all! Any inclement weather day thereafter will be an online learning day. Elementary school families, this means you may see iPads come home with your students if questionable weather is forecasted.

In the event of an online learning day, Canby High School will begin at 8:40 a.m. and all other schools will begin at 9:30 a.m. Students should watch for Zoom links from their teachers. If students have trouble connecting or need help, they should reach out to their teacher. Canby School District strives to make the most of this valuable educational time, but please know that students will not be penalized if they are unable to connect.

To make sure you’re set to receive information about school delays, or closures, and online learning days, 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.

Thank you for supporting your child’s participation in Oregon Statewide Assessments. Assessment is an important part of each student’s academic experience. Beginning in kindergarten and through grade 12, learners in the Canby School District experience a variety of formative, interim, and summative assessments. Oregon Statewide Assessments are one example of a summative assessment administered in grades 3 through 8, and grade 11. Students in these grade levels are required to participate in English Language Arts and Math assessments annually. In grades 5 and 8, students also participate in Science. Assessment tasks are tied to grade-level standards and units of study. Each assessment is an opportunity for students to demonstrate cumulative growth and learning over the course of their school experience.

Canby schools begin Oregon Statewide Assessments in March; and Canby School District, like all districts in Oregon, is striving for 95% or greater student participation. This goal is essential for understanding the depth and breadth of learning for student groups across our schools, and for evaluating programs and resources. Oregon Summative Assessment data provides information to the Canby community and to district teams about our successes or strengths and areas for improvement.

Your principal and teachers will be communicating additional information about Oregon Statewide Assessment dates and ways to support your student’s success. Please reach out to your school principal or classroom teacher if you have further questions. Canby School District appreciates your partnership.

*When a family chooses to opt-out of OSAS, students will work in a separate location to complete a similar Math, Reading, Writing or Science work sample while OSAS is administered in their class.

The following two items need to come to school with students each day:

• Water bottles - For health and sanitary reasons, the mouth spout of our drinking fountains have been turned off, but the water bottle filler is still on.
• Jackets - Temperatures are still near freezing when some students have first recess and it has remained cold throughout the day.

If your student is in need of assistance getting one of these items, we can help. Please don't hesitate to reach out to the office staff at (503) 263-7120 or eccles-office@canby.k12.or.us.

Please remember to review our district and school health stay home guidelines. If you have any questions about whether a student should stay home, please don't hesitate to contact the office and we can put you in touch with our Health Assistant or District Nurse. We appreciate your help in keeping not only your student, but all other students, staff and families healthy this school year.

Check out important information below from our Library Assistant, Mrs. Adams...

Eccles Elementary Kindergarten Kick-off will be Tuesday, April 18. We can’t wait to see you and your incoming student.

Dual Language Program Info. Night

Families with incoming kindergarten students, there will be a Dual Language Immersion Information Session located at Trost Elementary School on Monday, March 6 at 5:30 p.m. (English) and 6:30 p.m. (Spanish). Please attend to find out more about our Dual Language Immersion program at Trost, which is open to all families in our district and provides students the opportunity to learn in English and Spanish.

Your children may qualify for free meals or for reduced-price meals, and we now offer expanded income guidelines to qualify more families. If you plan to have your child eat school-provided breakfast or lunch, please fill out a Meal Application online at https://www.ode.state.or.us/apps/frlapp - Our district ensures that our nutrition programs are easily accessible to all families.

> Click here to put money on your child's lunch account <