4J Parent News

Information for Eugene School District 4J parents and guardians

• Top Chefs: 4J's new culinary leaders creating nutritious meals that "kids are excited to eat"

• Raising the Bar: District honored for breakfast bar made with all local ingredients

• Free Meals: New federal rules mean virtually all 4J schools qualify for no-cost meals

• CRUNCH Time: 4J students celebrate local farms during first annual statewide event

• School Board: Ericka Thessen joins school board following appointment to Position 2 seat

• Cold Season: Child feeling under the weather? Learn when to keep them home

• Upcoming Events: Mark your calendar for fundraising runs, and North Eugene open house

• School News: Local residents offering a helping hand, and much more!

• Work With 4J: Serve local youth and the community—apply for a 4J job today!

In 2019, 4J brought meal service in-house to emphasize locally grown and produced foods and scratch cooking. But that effort was paused just nine months in as our district rapidly shifted to community feeding, providing millions of meals to local youth and families during the coronavirus pandemic.

With 4J schools back to regular operation, our nutrition service department is seizing the opportunity to finally “flex that culinary muscle,” in the words of Jill Cuadros, who heads the department, so our students are eating delicious and nutritious breakfasts and lunches with as many local ingredients as possible.

To accomplish this, the department has brought on three chef managers — Tim Hill, Shawn Savage and Teresa Sutten, all certified chefs with at least a decade of experience – to oversee operations and training of kitchen staff at all of 4J’s schools, while leading catering, menu preparation and production cooking, respectively.

“We’re really focusing on the chef side and the culinary aspects of our food,” said Cuadros, also a certified chef. “We’re improving recipes and making new ones. We want to still focus on our scratch cooking, while providing the foods that kids are excited to eat.”

Our nutrition services staff has raised the bar, literally — as their delicious, locally sourced strawberry and rhubarb breakfast bar won the Oregon Department of Education's Farm-to-School Summer Celebration competition.

Chef Teresa Sutten and Production Coordinator Maja Caya worked together with their team to create this delicious and nutritious farm-to-school breakfast bar using 100% local ingredients: MiffysFoods certified gluten-free muffin mix (West Linn); Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods old fashioned oats (Milwaukie); Oregon Growers honey; Brice Creek Croft rhubarb (Dorena); and Sweet Leaf Organic Farm and Groundwork Organics strawberries (Lane County).

Students can enjoy the bars at school breakfasts on Oct. 9 & 23 — a delicious way for our students to get a taste of what Oregon has to offer!

New federal rules mean students at virtually every 4J school will continue to receive breakfast and lunches for free without requiring families to apply for free and reduced-price meals.

Our district continues to encourage families to apply for free and reduced-price meals. Updated guidelines mean a family of four can qualify even with an annual household income of up to $90,000. Qualifying for free and reduced meals helps offset our cost to provide breakfasts and lunches to students whose school doesn’t qualify for free meals. It also provides benefits to qualifying families, including low-cost Internet, discounts for fees assessed for sports, activities and college admission tests, and more.

You can apply for free and reduced meals online, or in-person by completing a paper application available at our district office, 200 N. Monroe Street, or at one of our schools. This is a confidential program; the only people who will know your child is receiving benefits are the nutrition staff.

No cause for concern if you heard a loud crunching sounds emanating from 4J schools on Thursday, October 5.

Students bit into Asian pears provided by our nutrition services department in unison to celebrate the first annual statewide Oregon Farm to School CRUNCH! The event coincides with October's National Farm to School Month, a time to celebrate food education, school gardens and lunch trays filled with healthy, local ingredients.

Our district works with about a dozen local farms to provide our students a bounty of fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables that they eat in their school meals, including: apples • berries • carrots • cantaloupe • cucumbers • kale • lettuce • melons • mixed salad greens • peaches • peas • pears • peppers • plums • rhubarb • spinach • squashes • strawberries • tomatoes • and more!

Next week, October 9–13, is National School Lunch Week, which seeks to raise awareness of the importance of child nutrition programs in schools.

Ericka Thessen has joined the Eugene School Board as its newest member.

Ms. Thessen was sworn in to fill the vacant Position 2 seat on Wednesday, October 4, a week after school board members voted unanimously to appoint her following its interviews with finalists for the position. A member of the 4J Budget Committee for the last two years, she was among 24 candidates who applied for the appointment.

Ms. Thessen, a physical therapist at Sacred Health Medical Center at RiverBend, is a parent of one current and two former 4J students. She has volunteered in 4J schools more than 15 years and served on the site councils for McCornack Elementary, Kennedy Middle and Churchill High schools. She is the current board president of the 86 Hunger Foundation, a local charity working to reduce food insecurity and food waste in Lane County. She previously served on the board of Whole Earth Nature School and Wiggly Tail Dog Rescue.

Ms. Thessen will serve the remainder of the existing term, through June 30, 2025. The seat became open following the July 8 resignation of former board member Laural O'Rourke.

Cold and flu season is upon us once again. Students should not come to school if they are ill or exhibit the following symptoms: fever (at least 100.4° F orally); persistent cough; difficulty breathing or shortness of breath; vomiting; diarrhea; headache with stiff neck and fever; skin rashes or sores; behavior change; jaundice (yellowing of skin); and eye redness and drainage.

More information about what you should look out for and when it is OK for your child to return to school is available here.

The fourth episode of Super Insights, our podcast featuring Superintendent Andy Dey, dropped today.

The podcast gives listeners an in-depth look at the major programs, priorities and issues for our district. The new episode focuses on the new North Eugene High School building and its state-of-the-art features to support student learning.

You can find this and prior episodes by clicking the link below. Happy listening!

Runners participating in the second annual 5K for 4J & Fun Run, Roll & Stroll fundraiser benefiting our students at Alton Baker Park on Saturday, October 14, will have a pacesetter of epic proportions: the Moon.

Prior to the start of the runs, organized by the Eugene Education Foundation, the Moon will begin passing in front of the Sun during an event known as an annular eclipse. At 9:18 a.m., the smaller Moon will block out all but the outer ring of our closest star, an event known as annularity where the "ring of fire" is visible, weather permitting. If the weather is cloudy, there still will be a noticeable dimming of the sky during this celestial event.

Outreach educators from Eugene Science Center will hold eclipse-related educational activities at 9a.m. prior to the runs. The fun run and 5K begins at 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., respectively. Free eclipse viewing glasses, which must be worn at all times to safely view the eclipse, if visible, will be included in registration packets for all participants.

Participants must register in advance; online registration is available here. Proceeds will be distributed by EEF as classroom grants to benefit the the academic learning and social growth of our students. Please join us. This will definitely be a run to remember!

• North Eugene High School Open House | Tuesday, October 10, 6:30–8 p.m.

Join us at 250 Silver Lane as we celebrate the grand opening of the new North Eugene High School building, the first traditional high school built in the Eugene-Springfield area in more than a half-century. There will be self-guided tours, light refreshments, speeches and, of course, a ribbon-cutting. We can't wait to see you there.

While you're waiting, check out this cool time-lapse video that shows two years of North Eugene construction in two minutes.

• Finding Refuge: Chávez third-grader settles into new life after arduous journey from Afghanistan
• "Wheel" Generosity: Local business donates $5,000 to help replace damaged, stolen bikes
• Building Community: Dozens attend NATIVES program's first back-to-school powwow
  
• Helping Hand: Rapid Access Network partners support 4J students in need
  

Assistant Principal • Autism Consultant • Bilingual Spanish Teacher • Building Behavior Support Assistant • Bus Aides • Bus Drivers • Coaches • Educational Assistants • Food Service Coordinators • Plumber Specialist • Registered Nurses • School Psychologist • Spanish Immersion Teacher • Special Ed Educational Assistants • Special Education Teacher • and more!

10/13 No School: Professional Development

10/14 5K for 4J & Fun Run, Roll & Stroll

10/18 School Board Meeting

11/1 School Board Meeting

11/9 No School: Grading Day

11/10 No School: Veterans Day (Observed)

11/15 School Board Meeting

11/20–22 No School: Parent-Teacher Conferences

11/23–24 No School: Thanksgiving Break

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