Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations so let's show patience, grace, and kindness to ourselves and others during these uncertain times. 

Here are some helpful resources for coping with stress:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html

https://calmingroom.scusd.edu/home

https://sites.google.com/apps.district279.org/virtualcalmingroom/home

We are committed to developing and sustaining successful family – school partnerships in Colton School District.  Family and community engagement is critical to student success in school.  We believe partnerships with multiple shareholders are essential to the quality of public education and student success.  Please join us on Monday, October 21^st from 7-8 AM at the Colton School District Office for coffee and donuts with school leaders.  We would love to hear from you on how you would like to engage in school partnerships, and we would like to share a little about the Student Success Act and Student Investment Account.  During this time, you can share your perspective on school and district priorities for the investment account funds as well as discuss how to engage in schools to support student success.  Like in previous years, there will be several opportunities for family, community and school engagement in the 2019-20 school year.  We look forward to collaborating with you! 

'Tis the season for support and encouragement! Let’s Carry the Banner in Colton Community and reach out in support of our community members in need.  As we enter into another amazing holiday season, I wanted to share some resources in the Colton community and Clackamas County Region:

Colton Area:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community-Center/Colton-Helping-Hands-Food-Bank-477699025612301/

https://www.facebook.com/146451795426496/photos/colton-aid-network-holiday-basket-forms-are-available-at-the-colton-fire-station/1232144103523921/

Sandy Area:

https://www.sandyactioncenter.com/donate-goods/      

Oregon City Area:

http://www.tfhstreetministry.com/

http://www.gleanersofclackamascounty.org/

Estacada Area:

http://estacadafoodbank.org/

Molalla Area:

Molalla Community Services Directory

Canby Area:

https://thecanbycenter.org/

Milwaukie Area:

http://www.ourhouseofportland.org/contact/

Portland / Clackamas Area:

http://cscoregon.org/

https://sunshinedivision.org/

https://www.wlwv.k12.or.us/cms/lib/OR01001812/Centricity/Domain/43/TEEN%20Resources.pdf

https://www.clackamas.us/behavioralhealth/services.html

Pet Food Bank:

https://www.thepongofund.org/

I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful weather with family and friends. I had the pleasure of visiting Los Angeles with my family, and it was spectacular! We will do some camping and hiking around Oregon as well. Other than that, I plan on spending most of my time by the pool reading a good book or two. For your convenience, I have included a list of possible summer activities near you and summer reading lists for all ages. Enjoy! I look forward to seeing you again on September 4^th. 

Molalla Summer Activities:

http://www.cityofmolalla.com/library/page/library-summer-events

https://clackamasartsalliance.org/event/molalla-library-wednesday-summer-programming/2018-07-18/

http://www.cityofmolalla.com/calendar

Estacada Summer Activities:

https://estacadasc.org/

https://www.cityofestacada.org/calendar/month?field_microsite_tid=32&field_microsite_tid_1=All

Oregon City Activities:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g52007-Activities-Oregon_City_Clackamas_County_Oregon.html

https://www.orcity.org/parksandrecreation/summer-2018-day-camps

North Clackamas Summer Camps:

https://ncprd.com/summer-camps

Best Kids Activities in Clackamas:

https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Kids+Activities&find_loc=Clackamas%2C+OR

Summer Activities in Portland:

https://www.pdxparent.com/40-ideas-for-a-fun-portland-summer/

Summer Reading List for Adults:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/entertainment/summer-books/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.82b284de3d4f

Summer Reading List for Kids:

https://www.weareteachers.com/summer-reading-list-for-kids/

Summer Reads for High School / Young Adults:

https://www.fastweb.com/college-search/articles/fun-smart-summer-reading-lists-for-students

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/2018-best-fiction-young-adults

 

Happy Spring Break Colton Community! 

Enjoy your family and friends!  Here are some cool ideas for Spring Break: 

 Spring Break Activities 

North Clackamas Aquatic Park

More Spring Break Ideas

Portland Kid's Calendar

My thoughts are with the community of Parkland, Florida.  At times like these, we often wonder if there is anything we can do to support those who are hurting. I appreciate the Broward Education Foundation for creating a gofundme fundraiser for the Stoneman Douglas Victims.  I thought I’d share the link with our community. 

gofundme

Trauma impacts all of us.  Research states, “Between half and two-third of all school-aged children experience trauma.”  According to the attached article, “Childhood trauma has been conceptualized as a response to a negative external event or series of events which render a child temporarily helpless and surpasses the child’s ordinary coping and defense operations.”  As a mother, I want to protect my children from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). It is not possible for me to control the world around us, but it is possible for me to help my children to cope with traumatic events in life.  When my daughter passed away from cancer at 27 months it was extremely difficult for all of us, and it continues to impact me on a daily basis.  However, I was an adult when it happened so I had better coping mechanisms to deal with such a traumatic life experience.  On the other hand, my nine year old daughter, at the time, was still at a critical stage of development making it more difficult for her to cope with such a tremendous loss.  As a family, we worked with the school and mental health providers to support her. If we had known more about trauma informed practices, I believe we could have supported our daughter better through her adolescent development.  All schools and educators work with children who have experienced trauma.  I have attached an article with information and resources on trauma and trauma informed approaches in school.  We have been implementing trauma informed practices across Colton School District over the past year.  Furthermore, we would like to invite you to a trauma informed practices workshop for families at the Colton School District Office, on January 24^th from 5:30-6:30PM.  After, we will hold a community listening and learning session for your ongoing feedback into our continual pursuit of excellence.  Please join us and learn more about the work we are doing in schools to provide stability and safe spaces for children. 

Trauma Informed Practices in School

I wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season.  Although this is a festive time of year, we may struggle with social, emotional, physical, and financial well-being.  I thought I’d share some supportive resources in Clackamas County.  Sending everyone wellness and joy this season! 

Clackamas County assistance programs

Locate resources, programs, and organizations that help with bills

http://www.needhelppayingbills.com/html/clackamas_county_assistance_pr.html

Clackamas Mental Health Services

 http://www.clackamas.us/behavioralhealth/riverstone.html

Alcohol and Drug Treatment Services

http://www.clackamas.us/behavioralhealth/alcohol.html

http://www.addicted.org/directory/category/clackamas-county.html

Clackamas County Resources for Teens

https://www.wlwv.k12.or.us/cms/lib/OR01001812/Centricity/Domain/43/TEEN%20Resources.pdf

 

Welcome Clackamas County Health Centers to Colton School District!  The Grand Opening for our new school based health center is at Colton High School on Thursday, November 2^nd from 9 AM – 1 PM.  The clinic will be open every Thursday from 9 AM – 1 PM for students K-12.   We are very excited for this partnership to better serve our community.  Please see the attached flyer to learn more information about the clinic and how to schedule an appointment.

 

School Based Health Center Flyer

Our CES principal, Nathan Meik, resigned as of June 30^th, 2018.  However, due to family circumstances, Nathan may leave sooner than June 30^th.  We are sad to see Nathan go, and we are happy for him and his family to embark on a new journey in the Midwest.  Due to this resignation, Grant Hayball, our current CMS principal, will transition to a K-8 principal.  Historically, CSD transitioned to a K-8 principal model about 8 years ago.  Last year, you started the year with a K-8 principal, and the budget continued to only support a K-8 principal.  We could be creative in funding a leader in each building because Nathan and Grant were both certified special education teachers.  Currently, Grant and Nathan are .5 principal and .5 special education teacher.  With Nathan leaving, we are unable to maintain one principal in each building because of the unique need for the configuration to financially work.  To support the transition back to a K-8 principal, we are hiring for a full-time special education teacher and increasing our Speech and Language Pathologist / Autism Specialist from 20 hours to 30 hours a week.  The majority of this person’s time will be spent at CES.  Our Campus Monitor and Interventionist will focus his time between CES and CMS for a while as everyone becomes more comfortable with this transition.  I will continue to be actively engaged in leading all three schools in collaboration with building principals.  There may be some inaccurate information floating around out there so if you hear something you don’t understand or don’t agree with please reach out to me or building principals. Further, to ensure accurate information is shared with our community, we have updated our communications plan to include a media communication and requests procedure.  The link to the communication plan can be found on my message page and located in this blog for your convenience.  I would also like the community to know we follow our record requests policy for any information requested of the district.  We have seen an increase of public records requests over the last couple of months and the financial impact on our district is a burden, therefore, we are charging for the requests per our policy, law, and the guidance of our school district’s attorney.  We cannot sustain a high volume of records requests without a fee and/or hiring more FTE in our school district office.  Over the years, we have cut our district level staff in order to keep the funding in our schools.  As tax payers, I feel you should know we always keep the majority of our resources and energy focused on our schools.  I will continue to be as transparent as possible and invite you to engage in meaningful conversations.  My door is always open, and I am readily available for our students, staff, and families.  I have opened my blog and twitter feed for public comment.  I look forward to communicating with you. 

Communications Plan

Public Records Policy

Public Records AR