Eccles Weekly News

Dear Eccles Community,

It is so great to be back with our learning community. This is an important time for us to start fresh and begin the new year with renewed energy and with a solid understanding of the expectations and routines that will help us be most successful already in place.

During January, we will emphasize and highlight effort and improvement as our character trait of the month. Our school counselor, Ms. Siewell, will present lessons on effort and improvement to each class, our staff will emphasize the importance of effort in order to improve, and at the end of the month, we will honor students from each class who have exemplified effort to improve this month (and throughout this year).

As you discuss the new year and a return to school, I encourage you to reinforce this character trait. Encourage your student’s effort with honest feedback in phrases such as, “You worked really hard on that!” or “It’s OK that this was hard. Challenges help you grow!”

We know that the effort we make as a staff, and the effort our students make, will lead to improvement. We are helping students recognize how their effort is connected to their improvement. We look forward to reporting your child’s progress via report cards at the end of January and during spring conferences in March.

Sincerely,

Kelly

Tuesday, January 10: PTA Meeting (3-4pm @ Eccles)

Thursday, January 12: Vision Screenings (during school)

Monday, January 16: NO SCHOOL (MLK Day)

Thursday, January 19: Art Lit Volunteer Meeting (1-2:30pm @ Eccles)

Monday, January 30: NO SCHOOL (Grading Day)

Monday, February 20: NO SCHOOL (Presidents’ Day)

Monday-Wednesday, 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.

For all of you whose students ride the bus, we are excited to announce that bus route #4 is back. This will positively impact many bus riders. Please check the Traversa Ride 360 app or click this link to confirm your student's bus route and pick-up/drop-off times. Even if your student didn't ride route #4, their bus route and/or times may have changed.

Erin's Law Safety Lessons will begin at the end of the month. Letters with specific details will be coming home in your student's backpack on Friday. If you still have questions after reading the letter, please contact me at kelly.siewell@canby.k12.or.us.

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.

Each school year, the Canby School District leads a curriculum renewal process in a core content area. This school year we will be renewing our K-12 health curriculum and our 9-12 world languages curriculum. We are looking for 2-4 parents who represent different schools and levels to participate on one of our curriculum committees. Committee members will participate in professional learning, join committee meetings during the day or after school and observe the review process. If you are interested in participating or learning more about the committee, please contact your building principal. The Teaching and Learning team will then contact you with more information. Note that all parents, whether on a committee or not, will have the opportunity to view curriculum and provide input. We will hold information nights and input opportunities as part of our review process.

As we've fallen into grooves and the holiday crazies are upon us, we'd like to remind families to send students with water bottles and jackets each day. For health and sanitary reasons, the mouth spout of our drinking fountains have been turned off, but the water bottle filler is still on.

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

As the temperatures get colder, it’s time to start preparing for winter weather! 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.

As school begins and we are starting to enter the cold and flu season, 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.

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 <

Meals will always be provided to students, no matter their application status or meal plan balance.