Sauvie Island School News

photograph of a winter landscape with trees and a river

December 7th, 2024

On the Horizon

  • Teacher work day, no school for students : Dec. 9th

  • PTC auction planning meeting: Dec. 12th, 6:30pm SIS Cafeteria

  • Middle School Dance: Dec. 20th, 1:15-2:45

2nd Grade Updates with Ms. O'Malley

Second Grade is coming to the end of their Farmers Market Storyline. Storyline is a teaching method that connects multiple subject areas and includes problem-solving, critical thinking, role-play, and hands-on activities. Students have solved problems at the market like a lost child customer and a problematic coworker. Second grade will be creating their booth next week and will have real customers (kindergarten, first grade and 7th grade buddies) come visit their booths before winter break. Second grade will be kicking off their American West Unit with a field trip to the Oregon Historical Society at the end of January.

2nd graders working on math on the carpet
Olin and Ryker work together with math manipulatives
Anna and Rylee doing math on the carpet

4th Grade Updates with Mrs. Roberts

It was a busy fall in 4th grade. In October, while learning about Lewis & Clark, students read about Fort Mandan and learned how to make Great Plains Stew. Students prepared the stew to serve at the Harvest Festival. For our National Park Storyline, students selected an animal that could be found in the park they created, to research and prepare a ranger talk for. Students will be giving their ranger talk to guest classes and will share about what they learned about their animals’ adaptations. They have also been learning about nature journaling in our classroom habitat during the storyline. To wrap it all up, students will be given their free national park pass through the Every Kid Outdoors Program, which encourages every 4th grade student to get outside and see America’s natural wonders. Thankfulness and teamwork have also been a focus in the classroom throughout the last month as well. Students took a moment to reflect on what they are thankful for and decorated leaves to update our tree in the hallway. Lastly, students wrapped up their second unit in math where they learned about multi-digit multiplication and early division and just completed reading Love That Dog for our Great Heart literacy module.

4th grade student doing a nature journal
4th grade students working on the habitat
4th grade Halloween photo
4th graders serving stew during the Harvest Festival

Middle School Updates with Ms. A and Ms. Ferris

 Ms. A: In 6th grade math we are just about to finish up our unit on rates and percentages.  It can be hard to remember which number to divide into when figuring out a unit rate, so we've been covering multiple strategies.  By the end of December we will take all of this knowledge (including unit conversions) and figure out how much paint (and how much it will cost) to paint a classroom!

7th grade Language Arts just finished up the cookbooks they have been working so hard on...we even ended the trimester with a celebration of getting to see everyone's final printed products and sharing recipes.  It was so fun to get to see their personalities come out with choosing their themes, writing their Introductions, and Author Biographies.  A few have even requested that copies be added to the school library for students to check out!  I will be emailing parents the PDF of their cookbook sometime this weekend (they might make great holiday gifts!)

Ms. Ferris: I loved teaching 8th graders this Fall! They are earnest and feisty and engaged and did a great job learning about tough stuff (we covered the Holocaust this trimester). For our final project, students chose a Holocaust-related topic to research, then gave a presentation (without notecards!) and wrote an essay. Though we did take a field trip to the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education last month, it didn’t feel appropriate to take photos. Instead, here is a photo of one of my 8th graders bravely volunteering to hold a lizard during the Reptile Man assembly. 

Oscar shows Mrs. Begley his work
Haven and Sawyer check over his cookbook copy
Zak and Cedar laughing as they work on their cookbooks
Jasper holds a beared dragon at the Reptile Man assembly

Volunteer Corner

Thank you all that donated their time to help clean up our school’s native habitat. Your helping hands were very much appreciated and the habitat is looking great!

The annual SIS Clothing and Book Exchange will be coming after the first of the year on January 31st. Start saving your gently used adult and youth clothing and books now to donate  between January 21st-28th.  Be on the lookout for upcoming volunteer shout outs with details/specifics for volunteer needs during this much loved event.  

Ongoing volunteer opportunities can be found in the newsletter and on the SIS and SIS PTC Facebook pages! Check them frequently to stay up to date on any volunteer needs we may have

A reminder that all volunteers need to have a clear/up to date background check on file with the school office.  Please reach out if you are unsure if yours is up to date and we can verify for you.  These need to be renewed every two years.  As always, feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns or if you would like to be added to the email list for ongoing volunteer opportunities at volunteers@sauvieislandschool.org.

Best,

Kelli Magnia and Mashell Pastorino 

SIS Volunteer Coordinators

PTC Updates

Brown and green flyer for January PTC meeting

Flyer with a simple wreath saying thank you for the candy fundraiser

Blue bag bottle drop flyer

Looking for auction volunteers flyer

Community

Community Notice Disclaimer:

Sauvie Island School offers community organizations the opportunity to post information that may be of interest to students and families.  Sauvie Island School does not endorse or recommend any of these organizations, services or products.  The responsibility is on families to evaluate the organization and its services and products.  Sauvie Island School will not be held responsible for any actions or inactions connected to these organizations.  

SafeOregon logo

SafeOregon and the Oregon State Police remind students, parents, school staff, and community members that everyone plays a role in school safety. SafeOregon is a school safety tip line to report potential threats against students and schools confidentially or anonymously. 

SafeOregon asks that if you see or hear something concerning to let someone know. Tips may be submitted 24 hours per day, 7 days per week: 

All tips are immediately received by a tip line technician and are forwarded to designated school personnel or law enforcement to respond to reported incidents. 

SafeOregon receives tips focused on school safety, including:

  • Safety threats

  • Violence or threats of violence 

  • Fights

  • Drugs, alcohol, or weapons on campus

  • Bullying, harassment, or intimidation 

  • Cyberbullying 

  • Friends or peers discussing self-harm or suicide

Call 911 for situations requiring an immediate emergency response. It is a violation of Oregon law to make false reports to SafeOregon. For more information about SafeOregon, visit our website at safeoregon.com. 

Odds and Ends

  • Busses, Arrivals and Departures: Please arrive at the bus hub by 7:45am. Halls open at 8:20, school begins at 8:25. Please do not leave students in the parking lot unattended!

  • School dismissal is at 3pm, 2pm on Wednesdays. Any changes to your child's pick-up routine must be made with Ann at the front dest at least one hour prior to dismissal.

  • Please check Lost & Found for any missing treasures! It's only the 2nd week of school, but lost belongings are already piling up!

    You can access old newsletters by going to Documents-->About Us-->SIS newsletter in your SIS App

    or by clicking here in your browser or phone.

Grange Hall Rentals

The Sauvie Island Grange is available to all as a rental space for private parties, meetings and gatherings. You can rent the building by the hour or half-day. The hall space can be rented separately from the kitchen or together based on need. Grange members thoroughly sanitize the hall and kitchen before scheduled use. Please visit this link for more specifics on rentals or contact Katherine Topaz at 503-708-0008. 

Be in the Know!

  • Download the new Sauvie Island app today! Visit the iOS App Store or Android Play and enable notifications.

  • Visit Facebook and Instagram for important updates and photos of activities! Visit our new website to see what's going on!