The Falcon Flash

Dear Skamania Families,

As we welcome the dawn of a new school year, I cannot express enough how thrilled we are to see our students back at Skamania School. It is with tremendous joy and excitement that we embark on this journey together.

Our dedicated team of educators and staff have been working tirelessly over the summer break to ensure that our halls are filled with enthusiasm, knowledge, and a nurturing environment for all our students. We are fully committed to creating an atmosphere that promotes academic excellence, personal growth, and the overall development of each and every child.

This upcoming school year promises to be filled with new opportunities, challenges, friendships, and achievements. We have lined up a host of engaging activities, events, and academic programs that will spark curiosity, foster critical thinking, and pave the way for success. It is our collective responsibility to seize these opportunities and make the most of them.

At Skamania School, we firmly believe in the power of collaboration and partnership. Education is a shared endeavor involving parents, educators, and students. Your support, involvement, and engagement in your child's education are invaluable. We encourage you to stay connected with us, attend school events, and communicate with your child's teacher to forge a strong and enduring relationship.

Finally, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to all our parents, guardians, students, and staff for their unwavering support, resilience, and adaptability over the past few years. Together, we have shown immense strength and determination, and I am confident that we will continue to triumph over any obstacles that come our way.

Welcome back to Skamania School! Let us embrace this new school year with open hearts, open minds, and an unwavering dedication to excellence. I look forward to witnessing our students thrive, grow, and achieve great things.

With warm wishes,

Katie Chavarria

Head Teacher

kchavarria@skamania.k12.wa.us

We are pleased to announce that Skamania School's meal program will be supplemented by Meals for Washington Students funds for the 2023-24 school year. Meals for Washington Students funds are available to select WA schools participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.

What does this mean for your student(s)?

In schools supplemented by Meals for Washington Students funds, all students receive a nutritious breakfast and lunch and no cost, regardless of family income.

Will Free and Reduced Meal Applications still be required?

Yes. The information you provide by returning the free and reduced-price meal application impacts the funding that each school receives from the federal and state government. The Meal Application is used to capture information and ensure the Skamania School District receives all of the funding it is entitled to for federal meal programs and state educational programs.

What do you need to do?

If you haven't already, please complete and return the free and reduced-price application to Amber Warren in the school office. Your assistance in helping us maintain our current funding levels is greatly appreciated.

If you have any questions, please contact Amber at 509-427-8239.

Thank you!

September 19

Hearing Screening

K-3rd, 5th, 7th grades

October 9

Picture Day

October 13

8:00-8:30 AM

Pastries with the Principal

Come enjoy a breakfast treat with Mrs. Chavarria and discuss your thoughts on the school year so far.

Save the Date!

October 28

Annual Trunk or Treat

• Please contact the office if your child is supposed to ride the bus home with another student or get off at another student's stop. Sometimes there may not be extra room on the bus for additional riders. We also like to hear from a parent on both sides to make sure everyone is on the same page.

• If you need to make an afternoon transportation change, please contact the office before 2 pm (12 pm on Wednesdays).

• Cell phones must remain in backpacks during the school day. Phones that are taken out will be held in the office until the end of the day.

• Please fill out the following survey to indicate your interest level in receiving at-home health and behavioral supports: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhrSB3vbi2gpCDykPzPhWENgeoG1urMqpA6-XpP6U8LXxBXg/viewform

• Gum is not allowed at school. Please help to remind your child of this policy.

• Watch for information on Highly Capable testing coming home next week. We will be screening all students in 2nd and 5th grades. Students in other grades can be tested at teacher or parent request.

• Our lost and found runneth over! Please come take a look within the next couple of weeks to see if you recognize anything. We will be donating the leftover items soon.

• During school hours, please avoid parking in the staff parking lot on the side of the building.

• If your child arrives after 8:00, an adult must walk him or her into the office and sign in.

• If your child will be absent, please call or email the school to let us know.

Dear Skamania Families,

This year, Skamania School District is making a special effort to ensure that all students fully benefit from their education by attending school regularly. Student attendance is an essential first step for students to learn. The pandemic created many barriers for students, and we want you to know that our school is committed to supporting your student(s) to attend and access their education. Your students’ future is our first priority, and we want to partner with you to ensure their success.

DID YOU KNOW?

• By being present at school, your child learns valuable social skills and has the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with other students and school staff.

• Absences can be a sign that a student is losing interest in school, struggling with schoolwork, dealing with a bully or facing some other potentially serious difficulty.

• Starting in kindergarten, too many absences (excused and unexcused) can cause children to fall behind in school.

• Missing 10 percent (just two days a month or about 18 days in a year) increases the chance that your student will not read or master math at the same level as their peers.

• Students can still fall behind if they miss just a day or two days every few weeks.

• By 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of high school.

• By 9th grade, regular and high attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU

We miss your student(s) when they are not in school and we value their contributions to our community. We would like you to help ensure that your student attends regularly and is successful in school. If your student is going to be absent, please contact the school office at 509-427-8239 or via email at attendance@skamania.k12.wa.us

OUR PROMISE TO YOU

We know that there are a wide variety of reasons that students are absent from school, from health concerns to transportation challenges. There are many people in our building prepared to help you if you or your student face challenges in getting to school regularly or on time. We promise to track attendance daily, to notice when your student is missing from class, communicate with you to understand why they were absent, and to identify barriers and supports available to overcome challenges you may face in helping your student attend school.

SCHOOL POLICIES AND STATE LAWS

It is important that you understand our school policies and procedures, as well as Washington State Law, to ensure your child is successful in school. State law for mandatory attendance, called the Becca Bill, requires children from age 8 to 17 to attend a public school, private school, or a district-approved home school program.

We, the school, are required to take daily attendance and notify you when your student has an unexcused absence. If your student has three unexcused absences in one month, state law (RCW 28A.225.020) requires we schedule a conference with you and your student to identify the barriers and supports available to ensure regular attendance. The district is obligated to develop a plan that requires an assessment to determine how to best meet the needs of your student and reduce absenteeism if they are in middle school. In elementary school after five excused absences in any month, or ten or more excused absences in the school year, the school district is required to contact you to schedule a conference at a mutually agreeable, reasonable time with at least one district employee, to identify the barriers and supports available to you and your student. A conference is not required if your student has provided a doctor’s note or pre-arranged the absence in writing and the parent, student and school have made a plan so your student does not fall behind academically. If your student has an Individualized Education Program or a 504 Plan the team that created the plan needs to reconvene. We are required by state law to file a petition with the Juvenile court sometime between your child’s seventh unexcused absences in any month or fifteen unexcused absences within the school year, alleging a violation of RCW 28A.225.010, the mandatory attendance laws. The petition will be automatically stayed and your student and family will be referred to the Skamania Juvenile Court or other coordinated means of intervention. If our collective efforts are not enough to increase your student’s attendance, the stay may be lifted and the court may require a hearing.

Getting into the habit of daily attendance is more important than ever. It helps to:

● reduce stress

● make it easier to connect with friends and teachers

● support learning

Please call us if you need help with attendance.

We are working to make our school environment a place where everyone can be safe, healthy and learning. We will do our best to listen and partner with you so that our children have a successful year. Do not hesitate to reach out to me with questions or concerns.

Please make sure we have your correct email and the best phone numbers where we can reach you.

Sincerely,

Milt Dennison

Superintendent

All About Me:

Hello, I am thrilled to be your new school counselor at Skamania School!

Before graduating with my master’s in occupational therapy, I received my bachelor's with a concentration in psychology, education, and health. I worked for over 25 years as a mental health advocate for families, and children in a variety of settings to include residential homes, schools, and clinics. I used to be a yoga teacher, mindfulness educator, and a rehabilitative pilates instructor. I love spending my free time with my husband, Mr. Boyd, and my 11 year old son, Owen. We love our pets; four sweet chickens, and an adorable elderly dog.

I love hiking, trail running, crafting, and reading. I am so excited to begin working with the students at Skamania School. I look forward to a great year!

How I can help:

I am here to support all of the wonderful children here at Skamania School, and their families! I provide classroom guidance lessons, short-term solution focused individual counseling, small group counseling, and consultation services. If you would like support for your child’s social emotional needs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me any time – I’m here to help you!

Connect with me: abecker@skamania.k12.wa.us

Hello Friends,

My name is Lori Caccavo (sounds like avocado). I can’t wait to meet you and work with your wonderful children towards our musical goals. I have been teaching in a music classroom for two decades and it is one of my favorite places to be. Playing a musical instrument is an amazing way to grow brains, develop higher executive brain function, and create neural pathways from one hemisphere of the brain to the other. It is my job to help develop critical thinkers, create team/community building opportunities, and have a little fun doing so :) I use the Orff approach to music education incorporating movement, instruments, manipulatives, melody, and rhythm into almost every lesson. Thank you for your patience while I learn about your children and the Skamania community. It’s going to be a great year.

A little about me:

I have a bachelors and masters degree in music education from the University of Oklahoma and Baylor University. My husband and I have lived and taught in Montana, New Hampshire, Denmark, and Washington. My husband, daughter, and I enjoy tv, books, food, travel, and hiking. I have the most amazing and sometimes weird black lab named Leia. She is deathly afraid of ukuleles and recorders.

• K-8th Music

• 5th/6th Instrument Class

• 7th/8th Band

Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday

We are happy to announce that we are able to partner again with Youth BH Connect! YouthBHConnect uses video conferencing to provide students access to behavioral and mental health therapists along with connecting families to important community services such as housing, food access, transportation as needed. The program extends school structure and behavioral health programs (MTSS or similar) into the home by providing much needed support for after school, weekends, holidays, and summer break. This allows teachers, counselors, and support personnel to focus on students’ school time activities, knowing that there is an important “community hub of support” keeping the student/family engaged and on plan to grow their student’s socialization, education, and health skills.Students enter the program through recommendation of school/health counselor and completion of a Student Engagement Plan (signed by parents/guardians). Please contact Ms. Heather with questions or for more information.

Welcome back parents, guardians, and of course students! I am very excited this year to be

feeding and interacting with the kids again. So, as we begin our 2023/2024 school year

adventure here is a little bit of what’s going down in our food service program.

First, I always welcome feedback on anything from meals liked or disliked, to food safety

concerns, dietary needs, menu suggestions, and more. Please email me at

bbecker@skamania.k12.wa.us with any questions or comments. A quick reminder if your kiddo has a food allergy, we will need a note from your doctor to make special arrangements to accommodate them. Salads are always an option if your student does not want the item on the menu. Salads will have to be ordered during attendance in the morning, so we have time to make it before lunch. Chocolate milk is still an alternative to white milk, though I strongly recommend steering your kiddo to white milk to avoid the sugar. And there’s that word SUGAR! A parent’s nightmare. Love the stuff myself, but my observations of the lunchroom and with my own son, is most students will eat their packed sugary treat before the school lunch and therefore either don’t consume their meal or very little. If we can avoid students bringing sugary treats, our kids will eat better for sure. There is a wonderful 2014 hour and a half documentary on YouTube called ‘That Sugar Film’. It’s both funny and informative.

Franki (my awesome assistant) and I focus mostly on scratch cooking. This means most of our bread is made and baked in house, homemade sauces and soups, marinated and slow cooked meats, and more. We enjoy what we do and will continue to provide this service with a few constraints such as preparation time and finances. This in mind, we will be expanding our

menu and trying new things, using our school garden resources, and asking the kids for

feedback. Last year we introduced Chicken Tikka Masala, which was a success.

The last bit is employing the older students. We are working with grades 6,7, and 8 inviting

them into the kitchen for both preparing and serving food. This means, the students that wants to participate will be taking their Washington State Food Handlers Exam. The school will reimburse the exam fee if they chose to take it. Again, please reach out to my email address with any questions or concerns.

All the best,

Boyd Becker (Kitchen Manager)