Dorena School Family

  November 21st, 2025 We have a short week next week! We hope everyone has a wonderful winter break!  Announcements: We are gearing up for our Holiday Student Store, every year students save up their Panther Pride tickets to exchange for gifts for their family members for the holidays. We are looking for new or gently used items to add to our store. We are also in need of paper or gift bags. Thank you!  We have our family conferences on Monday and Tuesday, this is an opportunity for teachers to connect to families about how their student is doing academically, behaviorally, and socially. This is the time to celebrate growth and to talk about concerns. Data that will be reviewed are reading, math, writing, behavior, attendance, and social emotional.  We are working on food support for our families. Our plan is to have food and essential items available for families to pick up what they need after the conference during Family Conferences on 11/24 and 11/25. If you are ...

  November 14th, 2025 We have some wonky weeks coming up! Make sure you check the calendar to see when are our half days for conferences and when we do not have school! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  Announcements: Mrs. Pixton dropped the ball (literally) We will have our first Donuts and Dodgeball event of the school year this upcoming Thursday, all students who have been a self manager or student leader by exhibiting strength or progress with our Character Trait of the month will be eligible to participate.  We will have our emergency drills this upcoming week, just a reminder we practice our emergency drills once a month. We practice Lockdown, Earthquake, and Fire/Evacuation drills. Twice a year we will add an additional ALICE drill to our sequence; the rally point drill. The  Rally Point drill  is a crucial component of the  Evacuate  option within the  ALICE  (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) protocol for active shoot...

  November 7th, 2025 What a week! We successfully completed the first full week of November. Kids are tired, staff are tired, and everyone put forth an incredible effort. As we approach some unconventional scheduling, please be sure to check the school calendar carefully. We wish everyone a wonderful, restful four-day weekend! We look forward to seeing you all back on Wednesday! Announcements: No school Monday 11/10 for a teacher grading and professional development day, no School Tuesday 11/11 for Veterans day, thank you to all of our service men and women!  We will have our first Donuts and Dodgeball event of the school year this upcoming Friday, all students who have been a self manager or student leader by exhibiting strength or progress with our Character Trait of the month will be eligible to participate.  We will have our emergency drills this upcoming week, just a reminder we practice our emergency drills once a month. We practice Lockdown, Earthquake, and Fire/Ev...

  October 31st, 2025 That's a wrap on October! We hope your weekend is filled with fun, safe celebrations and a little time to rest up. We'll see everyone back on Monday! Announcements: We know that families are going to be affected by SNAP benefits and wanted to share some local resources:  Our school is actively working to create food support that will be distributed from the school directly to students.  Backpack Food Program:  This continues to provide extra food support for students over the weekends.  (Please note: snack bags will not be available during the week of conferences and may be distributed the week prior.) Elks Lodge Deliveries:  The Elks Lodge in Cottage Grove is delivering food to  Dorena. Community Sharing:  Families can continue to access food and essentials through Community Sharing, which will also be offering  holiday food boxes  in the coming weeks. Mobile Food Pantry:  Available on the  2nd and 4th We...

  October 17th, 2025 We're looking forward to a busy and fun final week as October comes to a close! Our monthly Attendance Challenge is wrapping up, and we've seen some big successes, especially in our 2nd/3rd grade classroom and with our 7th and 8th graders ! Thank you for prioritizing being at school every day. This week, we'll be celebrating our students' hard work with our first classroom pizza party ! Classrooms have been working hard to earn points throughout the month for: The best daily attendance The most "Panther Pride" shown on Fridays The fewest daily office referrals The most good news referrals for the week It's been wonderful to watch students focus on these positive behaviors. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Announcements: We had an awesome first week of our afterschool STEAM program, we have talked to students that attending STEAM is a privledge. Students must be in good attendance standing and have safe, respectful, and resp...

  October 17th, 2025 Happy Friday! Our Dorena staff are working very hard to ensure that every student is learning at high levels. Our school's value is clear: we believe all of our students are all of our kids . This means the success and well-being of every child in the building is a collective responsibility shared by the school staff, and most importantly, by you, our essential partners.  We ask for your ongoing support and collaboration with our dedicated staff. Your efforts at home—checking in, encouraging attendance, and communicating needs—are the vital thread that completes our safety net. Let’s continue to work side-by-side to ensure that every single one of our students has what they need to succeed. Announcements: Middle School and K/1 Start swimming this upcoming week, every student needs to bring a swimsuit and towel to school on Monday or they will not be able to participate.  Our STEAM program officially starts this upcoming week 10/22, 12:30-2:30pm, noti...

  October 10th, 2025 Three Day Weekend, we hope everyone has a wonderful extra day off!  Announcements: It's PICTURE DAY time, school packets went home a week ago, pictures will be taken 10/15 8:30-10:30am.  We have had some donations made for our school to help support Middle School electives, Holiday food baskets for families, and for our student celebrations. We want to give some much gratitude to these donors that wish to remain anonymous, without you we couldn't have the full experience for our students that we hope for.   STEAM program sign up forms are going home today! Please bring them back by Monday 10/13, it will be first come, first serve for our 35 slots. If you are interested in volunteering with this program please reach out to the office, we would love to have you!  Friday 10/17 will be DORENA NIGHT at the CGHS home football game! All students will get to attend for free! Let's show our Panther pride supporting our Lions!  PANORAMA Surv...