It is a privilege to write this message to you. I have great respect for the responsibility entrusted in me by the Eccles Community. I know I am part of an exceptional staff and a community that cares deeply for our children, and as one of the newer members of the community, I want to share some of my thoughts and my story as we begin our year together.

As we approach the first week of school, different emotions begin to swirl in the members of my household. We are excited! We will get to see old friends we haven’t seen for a long time and there will be new classroom communities. There will be new learning and a new teacher to get to know. And there will be fun fall activities to come together as a community. Yet, for all of the excitement, my wife and I and our sons experience the prospect of school with different feelings. There are adult concerns about bedtimes and making lunches, and there are kid concerns, too. Sometimes the kid's concerns present themselves in surprising ways. For example, our 8-year-old has become our shadow, never more than a foot away from us. Meanwhile, our 8th grader has proclaimed, “I have no rights!” regarding non-preferred dinner items. Our two high schoolers are soaking up every bit of downtime they can, and very clearly resisting structured, productive activities. I know that some of the behaviors and responses we are seeing in our children are due to the way they are feeling about the start of a new school year. I share this because I love my family and being a husband and father is who I am. And, I know I need to be intentional in my responses to my family right now and carry as much grace as I can during the transition back to school. My hope is that we can all give each other the attention, patience, and grace we need during this exciting time

We are going to have a great year! And not just because I am saying it, but because we have a plan and we are preparing for it. The Eccles staff and Canby School District are working hard to create a strong start to the school year. Back at the beginning of the summer, Eccles sent seven staff members to the AVID summer conference with over 70 other Canby School District employees. We are excited to bring this framework and these strategies back to our staff. This August, district leaders spent several days learning together about our new instructional framework, the 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning, and how it connects it to the AVID Framework. This clearly connects to our work with community engagement, assessment, and curriculum materials. I will speak to our work with these materials and initiatives as the year progresses. This past week, Eccles teacher leaders met to prepare professional development for our inservice week, and PTA members met to plan ways to support our staff and students this fall. Canby is investing in its kids, and its future, and I could not be more proud to be part of this work in this community. We are going to have a great year!

I hope these last few days of summer provide you opportunities to be together with your family as you prepare to transition to a joyful return to school. We are so looking forward to seeing you and your students soon.

Sincerely,

Kelly

Wednesday, August 24: Koffee with Kelly, 4:30-5:30 pm

Thursday, September 1: Meet & Greet (all grades), 4:00-5:30 pm

Monday, September 5: Labor Day (Holiday)

Tuesday, September 6: First day of school (grades 1-6) & Kindergarten Screenings

*Wednesday, September 7: Kindergarten first day (students w/last name A-M attend)

*Thursday, September 8: Kindergarten first day (students w/last name N-Z attend)

*Friday, September 9: All Kindergarteners attend class

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

Classroom Placements have been completed and your child’s teacher is now visible to you in ParentVUE. Woohoo! I know there is much excitement around who your child’s teacher will be (they are all awesome). A lot of time and energy is put into creating our classroom communities; which includes feedback from the previous teacher and specialists, and then thoughtful creation of new classroom communities based on that feedback.

For assistance getting into ParentVUE please see the district's ParentVUE page or contact our Registrar, Denise Sanchez Dominguez, by calling the office or email denise.sanchez@canby.k12.or.us.

*Kindergarten placements will be finalized by the end of the first week of school. Please read our Kindergarten Newsletter sent last week for more details.

We need your help! To start out each new year, families need to verify their student’s re-enrollment for the coming school year, which is what we also refer to as the ‘verification’ process. This is done by logging into ParentVUE. Click the ‘Family Updates and New Student Enrollment’ link in the right hand corner of the page, and it will help guide you through the necessary steps. Please make sure you are seeing the current ‘2022-2023’ school year listed. If you log in to see your student's class placement, it should walk you through this process.

Some of the items you will need to verify are address updates, emergency contacts & school closure plan, and transportation (arrival & dismissal plan).

If you have any questions, need your ParentVUE activation key, or need assistance resetting your password, please contact our Registrar, Denise Sanchez Dominguez, by calling the office or email denise.sanchez@canby.k12.or.us.

We have a new school schedule for the upcoming school year.

Our school day will now begin promptly at 8:00 am and end at 2:30 pm. Students can come to school starting at 7:45 for breakfast or to go straight to class. See the picture below for details.

Students will no longer have late start on Wednesdays, now we will have early dismissal. All students will be dismissed at 1:30pm on Wednesday afternoons to provide critical Collaborative Team (CT) time for teachers.

Please find this year’s student supply list included here, or it can also be found on our website at any time. Supplies can be brought in during our Meet & Greet event on September 1, or sent with your student on the first day of school.

If you are in need of help for a backpack and supplies you can register at The Canby Center. Please know we are here to help, and you can reach out to our office with any specific questions or needs as well.

Our office is back open for the rest of the summer and at least one of our secretaries will be available to assist you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!

(503) 263-7120

eccles-office@canby.12.or.us

Monday-Friday, 8:00am-3:00pm