Corbett Grade School

Dear Families,

I want to express my appreciation to Steve Salisbury, facilities director, our facilities, Todd Williams, Seth Tucker, Chris Shaw, Carrie Evans, Catherine Arndt (and her family), Jenny Layton (and her fiancé, John) and Amy Johnson (and her family), along with many local companies that helped make the grade school warm and safe for our students and staff. We had many broken pipes, a lot of water damage, and no working boiler to heat our building. We are so fortunate to have such a hard working staff and such caring businesses that understood how important was to get our students back in school.

This month, we will be participating in the American Heart Association's Jump for the Heart Challenge. Each year our students work to raise money to help support this great cause. Last year, our school community raised $8146.40 to support the American Heart Association. These funds support children and keeping their hearts healthy.

Our focus this month will be on kindness. Learning about kindness can have numerous benefits such as improved social skills, a positive school culture, reduced bullying, and increased academic achievement. Teaching students about the importance of empathy, being an active listener, and cooperation, are essential for building positive relationships with peers and adults.

Please join me on Thursday, February 8, at 6:30pm for the monthly Corbett Grade School Principal Chat. This month's meeting will be virtual: Corbett PTA Meeting Link.

Michelle Dawkins

Corbett Grade School Principal

In this newsletter:

• Jump for the Heart Challenge
• CogAT Assessments for Grade 2
• Corbett PTA Information
• Playground Installation Planning Meeting
• Math is Cool
• Oregon Battle of the Books
• Kindergarten Kick Off 23-24
• Application to Attend 2024-25
• Cafeteria Menu
• Important Events
• 2023-24 Corbett School District Calendar

Kids Heart Challenge is kicking off on February 15! Together, we’ll empower our students to have happy and healthy hearts and brains, while raising lifesaving donations to help others with special hearts. The AHA is celebrating 100 years of saving & improving lives, and this would not be possible without YOU! Please join the AHA’s 100th birthday party by following these two steps:

1. Register TODAY at http://www2.heart.org/goto/Corbett or by downloading the free AHA Schools App for Apple or Android
2. Start Finn’s Mission to learn Hands-Only CPR & raise lifesaving donations to help special hearts

SPECIAL INCENTIVES:

• Any student that signs up before our kick-off will get a special shoutout during the assembly!!
• Students that complete Finn’s Mission will be entered into a weekly drawing for XL Avocado Stuffy!

The CogAT measures three different cognitive abilities.

• The verbal section measures a student's ability to remember and transform sequences of English words, to understand them and to make inferences and judgments about them.
• The quantitative section measures a student’s understanding of basic quantitative concepts and relationships.
• The non-verbal section measures reasoning using pictures and geometric shapes. This section reduces the impact of language on the student’s score.
• The composite score is a total score for all three batteries.

Each year, Corbett School District, administers the CogAT to students in grade 2. The purpose of the assessment is to help our school district identify students that would be eligible to receive Talented and Gifted (TAG) services. It is important to understand that the CogAT, like many cognitive tests administered to children, is an imperfect assessment measure that can vary greatly depending on a variety of external factors. Thus, while these scores can be important, they should not be taken as the sole measurement of your child's abilities and skills.

For further questions, please contact Dr. Shelia Morgan-Osborne (smorganoborne@corbett.k12.or.us).

Our Corbett PTA wanted to say thank you to all the families, students, and community members who made this years Book Fair such a success! This year's book fair provided new books for our classroom libraries, helped Santa secure books for our students, and raised money to be used for a saucer swing for our playground.

Our next meeting will be on February 8th at 6:30pm via zoom so make sure to follow the PTA's

Facebook page to have all the details (direct link to page attached).

Corbett PTA Facebook link

If you are interested in being a member or a room parent please reach out to corbettcardinalspta@gmail.com.

We are now ready to begin installing our new playground equipment. Joe Blubaum and Shawn Hill will be heading the installation. We will meeting Monday, February 12 at 4:30pm to plan out the installation and schedule weekend work parties for the month of March (weather permitting). Please join us for the meeting, if you are interested in helping. If you are interested in helping on a Saturday in March, please email me at mdawkins@corbett.k12.or.us.

Congratulations to our 6th Grade Math is Cool Team for taking First Place in the regional competition held at Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington. Members of the team are: Grace Cooper, David Enos, Lally Helzer, Claire Horton, Quincy McIntire, Colton Moon, Logan Nutting, Ian White, and Kai Unruh. Many thanks to the Corbett High School Math students that helped coach this team after school and for Mrs. Chiu for being the staff in charge.

Overall Individual Results:

• David Enos - 2nd place
• Claire Horton - 3rd place
• Kai Unruh - 4th place
• Lally Helzer - 6th place

The Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is a statewide voluntary reading motivation and comprehension program sponsored by the Oregon Association of School Libraries in conjunction with a Library Services and Technology Act grant. Students in 3rd-12th grade, regardless of ability, are exposed to quality literature representing a variety of literary styles and viewpoints.

OBOB’s mission is to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence, and to promote cooperative learning and teamwork among students.

This year our students in grades 3-5 have the opportunity to participate during and after school. Thank you to Carrie Viera and Denise Papin for volunteering to organize and supervise this year's battle. Readers will participate in the mini-region event on Saturday, March 16 at May Street School in Hood River.

Corbett's application to attend for the 24-25 school year is now open until March 30. If your child already attends Corbett School District, you do not need to reapply for 24-25. If you have a child that is not yet enrolled, you need to apply for admission. This is especially important for our new kindergarteners for the 2024-25 school year.

When we experience inclement weather in Corbett, it can often make getting to school safely a challenge. On days where the weather makes driving difficult we may have a school closure or a two-hour delayed start. You will be notified by email and text message. Announcements of closures or delays can also be found on our school district website and local news media. You can also subscribe to FlashAlert for additional communication about emergency messages and important weather closure information in our area.

We are always in need of people to substitute in classrooms and as educational assistants in our school. If you are interested just sign up with Edustaff. The process takes about two weeks and once you have completed their application just let us know that you are available to substitute!

If you would like to volunteer, please complete the volunteer form application. Once you have been approved, let us know when and where you would like to help out. We are always in need of extra help during our K/1 and 2/3 lunches and recesses. K/1 lunch/recess is 11:30am - 12:05pm and 2/3 recess/lunch is 12:15pm - 12:55pm.

Our cafeteria will be serving yogurt with granola and cold cereal for breakfast/snack choices while our kitchen is getting repaired. Lunch will be a meat and cheese sandwich, a fruit, a Nutri-grain bar, chips, and a milk. Once the repairs are completed and a thorough cleaning has taken place we will resume our regular menu.

February 9-11- A Midsummer Night's Dream

February 15 - Jump for the Heart Assembly

February 17 and 18 - A Midsummer Night's Dream

February 19 - President's Day NO SCHOOL

February 23 - Friday School Day

February 23 - Ties and Tiaras (CHAMPS Fundraiser)

February 28 - 4/5 Field Trip to Children's Concert downtown

February 28 - 4/5 and Grade 6 Band Concert

March 1 - Assessment Day for Trimester 2

March 25-28 - Spring Break NO SCHOOL

April 28 - May 3 - CGS 6th Grade Outdoor School