Weekly Newsletter 4/11/25

 

April 11th, 2025

This week was a special week as we had the opportunity to share our Dorena Proud message with three different groups, CGHS, Chamber Music Amici, and Marcola Elementary.  Each group couldn’t stop commenting on the incredible feel of our school and how amazing it truly is.

This pride we feel comes from the strong partnership between our staff, students, and families. It’s heartwarming to see our kids embody the values of Dorena Proud every day—values rooted in the care and support they receive both at school and at home.

Thank you for being an integral part of what makes Dorena such a wonderful and inspiring community. Together, we’re building something extraordinary for our kids.

Announcements:

• PBIS Theme: Responsibility 
• Goals:
• I can ask for help with I need it. 
• I can be safe, respectful, and responsible in all areas of the school.
• I can follow directions the first time.
• I can take care of all our school spaces and materials.  
• It is nearing State Testing time, students in 3rd-8th grade a required to participate in the State testing for Reading and Math, 5th and 7th will also participate in Science. If you do not want your child to participate in testing please fill out the following form and turn it into the office PRIOR TO APRIL 21! 
  
• Math and Reading Opt out Form 
• Science Opt out form
• Seed (Wellness and Belonging) State Survey Opt Out Form
• It is time for our annual fundraiser! Each year we raise funds to boost the extracurriculars available to our students such as art, music, theater, etc. We are having a Read-A-Thon to raise money this year! Our Read-A-Thon officially starts Monday 4/14/25, forms are coming home in Friday Folders. The Read-a-Thon ends May 9th with forms and funds due the week of May 12th. This year the class with the most read minutes will earn an ice cream sundae party AND if our school reads a total of 5000 minutes as a whole Mrs. Pixton and Ms. Marcia will spend the night on the roof of the school! 

• THERE WILL BE NO ROBOTICS/STEM club this Wednesday 4/16/25
• We are in need of some clothing and shoe items! If you have gently used or new shoes in sizes kids 1, 2, and 3. And/Or pants in size 8-12 we would greatly appreciate them! 
• Our April Attendance is underway! Each class earns a point for having no more than one tardy and one absence. This month's prize is a trip to the movie theaters! Classes have voted and unanimously Minecraft came out on top! Some tips to help boost attendance are to ensure you have a plan to get kids to school by 8:05, kids arriving at 8:06am will be marked tardy. Try to schedule Medical or dental appointments after school or on Wed when we have a short day. And as always if students have a fever, vomiting, or have diarrhea they need to stay home. Thank you so much for your support with this, if kids are not in school they aren't learning and we have seen vast improvements over the last 2 months! 
• We have various illnesses going around and families asking about when to keep students home, HERE is the Oregon guidelines for symptoms to stay home for. 
• It is that time to renew our Attendance Exceptions for families that currently attend Dorena but are not living within our school boundaries. All families ARE required to turn in a new application. Please see it here. Please do this as soon as possible as we are already receiving requests for next year and have had a wait list for the past 3 years for some of our classrooms. 
• Current Afterschool program schedules:
• Garden Club Tuesday and Thursdays 2:30-3:30pm
• Theater (4th-8th) Monday, Tues, Thurs 3:00-4:30pm
• Robotics/Stem Wed 12:30-2:30pm  

Volunteers

• WE ARE SO GRATEFUL for our Volunteers! 
• We are always looking for more volunteers to help in our school. This year we have a new math curriculum and it requires a lot of prep! We also send home snack packs weeks and need help with assembly. If the activities listed below are something that you are interested in, please stop by our office and pick up a volunteer packet. Processing applications takes about 2 weeks so please get your forms in quickly. 
• Helping in the classroom
• Attending and assisting on field trips
• Helping with school events such as assemblies, field day, etc.

On the Radar:   

• 4/23 & 4/24 Conference Day
• 4/25 No School  
• 5/1 National Principal's Day
• 5/2 Lunch Hero Day

• Week of School 4/14-4/18

  Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
  Read-A-Thon Begins Theater 3-4:30pm	Garden Club 2:30-3:30pm Theater 3-4:30pm	Early Release 12:30pm  NO Robotics/STEM	Garden Club 2:30-3:30pm Theater 3-4:30pm	Panther Pride & Hat Day PBIS Earth Day Event with London School!

We are so happy that you and your students are members of our Dorena School family! We will partner together to have a fantastic school year. Thank you for all that you do.  Please do not hesitate to reach out if you ever have questions or concerns.

CGHS gave us a little presentation from their lion's pageant fundraiser to help raise money for the Children's miracle network. Go see the show at 7:00pm at CGHS tickets sold at the door!

We are proud of all of the electronic items we had donated to our school for the WISE competition, thank you to all of our families that donated! We anxiously await to see how we did! 

We are so grateful for the beautiful music performance by Chamber Music Amici, it was educational and entertaining. The musicians gave us big compliments stating we were their best audience, they can tell kids love being at our school, and kids seemed really happy! 

We had special visitors at our school this week from the Marcola School District wanting to learn from us about SEL and our reading supports!