Sandy Grade School will ensure first and second year teachers have access to a district-trained mentor and opportunities to give leaders feedback to inform improvement to these mentoring supports. We will place staff in leadership roles and give multiple opportunities to advance their leadership skills and celebrate them.

Sandy Grade School will ensure relationships foster the necessary conditions for student-centered learning and high leverage instructional practices will be implemented with fidelity.

Sandy Grade School will require a welcoming, safe, and inclusive environment across all school activities and settings.  We will identify barriers to advancement and participation and replace them with inclusive and equitable practices.

OTSD provides ongoing support for Sandy Grade School to meet their implementation goals in a variety of ways. They support district-wide participation with ORTIi, including coaching for school teams in our implementation of student data tracking. In addition, databases and training are made available for schools to use to help us track and analyze our student achievement data. Standards-based curriculum and professional development is provided at the district level to help support our work in instruction. Support is also provided with access to behavioral support systems and training. The district also purchases and trains building staff on parent communication tools. Currently, the district is providing equity training.  Our staff will use this as we work through our goals. The district provides mentors who are seasoned teachers paid to mentor 1st-3rd year teachers to help support their growth. The district holds monthly meetings with school administration for ongoing feedback on the schools goals. An annual review of school goals and student achievement is another opportunity to receive feedback and support.

Professional development needs to be aligned with the building focus on growing students and increasing student achievement. This needs to be represented in the bi-monthly staff meetings and the weekly early release time for teachers and classified.

Communication between home and school (two-way communication) is fostered through weekly communication to parents, newsletters, hard copy letters going home throughout the month, parent-teacher conferences, ParentVue, Parent Square, Site Council, and monthly phone calls home to parents.

Information for Sandy Grade is posted on the reader board, website, emailed, messaged on Parent Square, and posted to Facebook.

Parents are informed of the school’s participation in Title 1 through newsletters, Site Council, and family Literacy Nights.  All Title 1 documents are given to families via ParentVue as well as hard copies available during Title information night to inform parents of their rights and opportunities to be involved. 

RtIi systems will be in place with Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 instruction in both reading and math.  ALL students will receive quality Tier 1 Core instruction in both reading and math.  Tier 2 instruction as well as Tier 3 instruction will take place outside of the Core Curriculum.  We will use iReady and Acadience data to ensure all students academic needs are met and receive accelerated or remedial instruction during tiered instruction.

All the teachers at Sandy Grade use high leverage instructional strategies that are grounded in evidence based practice.  Teachers are constantly looking for ways to increase the quantity and quality of learning time.  All students receive a minimum of 60 minutes of math instruction and 90 minutes of literacy instruction daily. 

Currently, our goal is to get students at or above grade level. This is a non-negotiable goal of the school and classroom.  In the spring we will incorporate post-secondary education and career awareness activities.

Our school counselor creates lessons around social-emotional learning and zones of regulation.  She also provides resources to students and their families as needed.  1:1 counseling takes place as well as small groups that focus on zones of regulation and social skills. 

MTSS will be used to track student behavior as well as our PBIS system.  We will focus on our three PBIS tiers and ensure expectations are taught and retaught as well as reinforced in all areas of the school multiple times a year.  This data will be reviewed twice a month to ensure our systems and structures that are in place are working for all students.

Sandy Grade has Head Start classes in our building.  We work together with CESD to assist with transitions between preschool and elementary school.

Sandy Grade School works hard to provide opportunities to meet challenging state academic standards.  All students receive 90 minutes of uninterrupted Core reading instruction and 60 minutes of core math instruction.  On top of this, all students receive another 30-45 minutes of Tiered 2 or 3 instruction to help close the gaps and extend learning. Instructional minutes are accessible to all students and do not get pulled for other services during Tiered instruction to allow for equal access to content.  

Sandy Grade School 

Parent Involvement Plan
 

Vision Statement: We, the parents of Sandy Grade School, recognize students do best in schools where there is strong parental involvement. The following is a comprehensive list of the wide variety of options for parent involvement.

1. Parent-Student-Teacher Compact: This is a document to highlight and formalize the ways we believe parents, teachers, and students can support each other in providing an excellent education. Together we have created this agreement, which is distributed to all families.

2. Title One Program: Sandy Grade is a Title One School which means it receives federal funding to ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards. Additional interventions for our students in literacy and math are provided through these allocations. If you would like to hear more about available interventions please contact Cassiday Hopkins, or Donna Yarbrough.

Family Involvement

3. Volunteer Opportunities:  Our Volunteer Coordinators and trainers can assist with questions about volunteering. An annual application and background check is required each year.  Once the background check has cleared, volunteers are required to complete the volunteer orientation training. If you have questions about volunteering, please email Loretta at sgsvolunteerloretta2023@gmail.com.

4. Parent Information: At SGS, parent communication and information will be shared in a variety of ways including a weekly update from the principal, monthly newsletters, classroom newsletters, a parent information area near the office, report cards, SGS code of conduct manual, teacher contacts, site council meetings and multi-disciplinary team meetings.  Parent information can be found on the website or Facebook.  

5. Multilingual Communication: At SGS we make every effort to provide newsletters, parent/teacher/student compacts, and event information in the languages of our students such as Spanish, English, or Russian. We do have bilingual staff available for support and they can be reached by calling the front office.  Please ask for Lidia Vento or Viviana Moreno. 

6. Parent Input: Parents at Sandy Grade School are invited to give input through participation in SGS Site Council, during conferences, and on surveys given online or at events. We complete yearly surveys concerning our school-wide Title I program.  Such feedback is used to improve subsequent programs and events. 

7. Literacy Support: During conferences, our Title I Reading Specialist will be available to share literacy information and suggest ways parents can be involved with literacy at home. SGS students and parents are encouraged to attend district sponsored Parent/Child Literacy events held during the year.  Literacy ideas and suggestions will also be published in the monthly newsletter or on the Sandy Grade website that parents can use as they feel appropriate.  

8. Family Support:  Our OTSD (Oregon Trail School District) McKinney-Vento Liaison, Sara Fox is housed at Sandy High School. She keeps us apprised of the needs of struggling families and students in addition to providing some resources needed by families with housing issues as well as supporting the Backpack Buddies snack program. Sara can be contacted through the SHS office number. Parents are also welcome to help with donations or business support for this program.  In addition to the support OTSD provides through McKinney-Vento, SGS is working to develop their own clothing closet, school supplies, and food bank to specifically serve the families of Sandy Grade.

During the winter months, Sandy Grade partners with Todos Juntos to host a free parenting class called “Making Parenting a Pleasure” through Todos Juntos.  The program is offered to parents of children ages birth to 8 years old.  During the class, parents will learn and share new parenting ideas around how to manage stress in healthy ways, the latest on your child’s development, ways to develop realistic expectations for parenting, and tools for positive discipline. For additional information, please contact April Dobson at (503) 320-0937.  

9. Technology Support: Our school web page provides contact information for staff, event calendars, and other school information for those parents with internet access. Information on the website is updated daily and provides a good glimpse into the daily operations of Sandy Grade.  Handouts, flyers, announcements, and celebrations of learning are all posted on the website.  Outside of the website, parents can also find information on the Sandy Grade School Facebook Page.  Sandy Grade also utilizes ParentSquare for mass emails, phone calls, and text messages to families.  

Information to help parents support reading and writing is available on the district web page under the “parent resources” tab. The Sandy Grade Academics page has links to grade appropriate websites under the tab “student.”

Parents can also access their child’s grades online.  In order to help facilitate constant communication about academic growth and progress, the Oregon Trail School District has opened ParentVUE for our elementary school families. As parents of elementary students, you will have access to attendance records, announcements, grades, assignments, and electronic report cards.  

Technology Help Desk phone number- (503) 668-1190

Events and Activities:

10. Annual Events/Family Activity Nights:  Open House and Back To School Night is at the beginning of the school year, Jog-A-Thon, field trips, field day, PAWS Store, Math and Science Night, Art and Writing Walk and Family Literacy/Annual Title One meeting nights are just a few of the events/activities SGS parents may choose to become involved in. The district also sponsors “Little Steps”, for parents of preschool aged children. We look forward to seeing you!

11. After-School Enrichment Opportunities: Sandy Grade School offers a variety of after school programs to enrich and extend student learning. After-school programs depend on budget and staffing variables. Please contact the school to find out what options are available to your child this year.  However, we do house a Champions program for students after school.  For additional information on the Champions program, please call 971-272-9704.

12. Preschool Intervention: Since we recognize that school readiness begins long before students arrive at school, we provide Little Steps Parent Education nights to reach preschool parents as well as share expectations for incoming kindergartners.  Sandy Grade houses a Head Start program, in addition to an Early Intervention Program through the local Educational Services District.  For additional information on the Head Start Programs, please contact the Sandy Grade’s front office.  For information regarding the Early Intervention Program please contact the Clackamas ESD at (503) 675-4041.