March 2th- March 6th

Whew! SO glad to have our writing assessments out of the way. Many of you have asked when students will be receiving notification back about them. The tests are in the possession of the Hillsboro School District, at this point. Teachers from around the area will be grading the samples during spring break, using a rubric with the Analytic Traits. (If you have any questions about these, the Six Plus One Writing Traits, please ask your child; If you haven't seen the flyers that have been sent home, chances are they're in your kiddo's backpack!) :) Sometime in April you will be getting their scores. I'll keep you posted.

Speaking of keeping you posted.... re: Fieldwork. As you may have heard on the news tonight, the End of the Trail Oregon Interpretative Center in Oregon City has been shut down. Our class was scheduled for a March 31st trip to the site. Disappointingly enough, I received word about the economic hardship that they were facing on Friday. Our trip was cancelled as their operations have been shut down. They will keep us in the loop about potentially resuming services. For now, however, it's a "no go."

On the calendar, however, I'd like you to keep the following dates open.

*March 7th at 8:00am- There will be a group of people meeting at the school to put our playground together. The funds were released at the last board meeting to make our playground a reality. I'd love to see several 4th grade families (Children are welcome!) supporting these efforts as I know our students will greatly benefit from the equipment.

*March 19th from 7:30am-4:30pm- Our first venture outside the walls of City View together as a crew will be to work together on a Challenge Course at Camp Yamhill. Though many of the kids have attended in years past, this Initiatives Course is exactly what our class needs to help us build a deeper sense of community and get some of our "big energy" out! More details will come in the next week or so: Please consider chaperoning (driving/taking part in the festivities, should you so desire). We expect it to be a wonderful time.

*March 31st- Pending approval, our class will be taking a trip to Fort Vancouver, in WA, to visit the fort, experience life at the Hudson Bay Trading Company, as well as visit the Confluence Project's Vancouver Land Bridge. We will take a hike and will see the Sacajawea statue that overlooks the Columbia River.

*March 30th-April 3rd- Pending approval, we will obtain two traveling trunks from the Oregon Historical Society entitled, "The Oregon Trail" and "Lewis and Clark." These trunks include documents, objects, and artifacts that will help us gain a "hands-on" awareness of the Corps of Discovery's experience. More information to follow.

*April 3rd from 7-9pm- Another gathering at Ms. Renée's house in NE Portland. (You think it's a long drive? Do it twice a day!) ;) Seriously though, with a new crew member (Austin) and his family among us, I thought it be a great opportunity to meet/greet/chill with one another socially. I thought a potluck would be appropriate. Do I have any volunteers to organize who brings what? Let me know. Thanks.

*April 7-8- Pending approval, our class will go to Fort Clatsop for an overnight. More details to follow.

*April 17th- Pending approval, our class will do fieldwork at the Forestry Center and Arboretum. More details to come.

*April 27th- I'd like for our class to do a Service Project this day, to be determined. (Any/all ideas for this will be considered... Let me know!)


Ruth Ellen will be contacting you about the details about chaperoning for our Fieldwork. Thanks for considering giving in this way to our crew. We appreciate you!!

Warmly,
Renée