NCSD News
Hey NCSD families…want the scoop on all our 30+ schools? How about stories about sensational students…or terrific tales about teachers…anecdotes about admirable assistants…or positive pictures of principals? You’re not going to want to miss a week of NCSD NEWS, our fast-paced social media news show bringing you the latest and greatest stories from all around the district!
In many ways, Gabriel Jumpingbull is just like hundreds of his classmates who graduated from Adrienne C. Nelson High School last spring. He enjoys meeting new people and asking questions about what they might have in common. He likes to snack on chips or crackers between assignments. He likes to send emails back and forth between his large circle of friends. And he loves laughing at adults while showing off his technology skills.
But Jumpingbull’s path after high school looks quite different than other 18-year-olds. Born with cerebral palsy, he’s never known life without a wheelchair. His snacks are sometimes eaten through a feeding tube. And although he realizes his speech is difficult for others to understand, he’d rather use his own voice instead of a talking device attached to his chair. Still, the ever-optimistic jokester rarely stops smiling as he navigates his power chair from table to table in one of two Adult Transition Program (ATP) classrooms located between NCSD’s Sabin-Schellenberg Center’s two campuses.
Laura Premo still remembers how welcome she felt at Oregon Trail Elementary as a first-time mom, nervously walking her then five-year-old son through the front doors for his first-ever day of kindergarten.
“I just fell in love here,” explained the ever-energetic mother of two, who was working at a nearby preschool at the time. “The staff here is amazing, welcoming, kind, friendly…you just come in and you can tell they’re here for the students.”
Fast forward ten years, and with that once kindergarten son entering his freshman year at Clackamas High, Premo thought it was the perfect chance to once again utilize her Early Childhood Education training and re-enter the workforce. But she never dreamed she’d be able to join the same staff she admired for so many years while her children attended Oregon Trail.
At exactly 10:17 a.m. on 10/17, many NCSD schools joined more than 500,000 people across the state participating in the Great Oregon Shakeout—an annual earthquake preparedness drill reminding people to Drop, Cover, and Hold On as if a major earthquake occurred at that very moment. We take an inside look at how the drill played out at Mt. Scott Elementary School, where NCSD Security & Emergency Management Specialist Kimmy Boone was happy to be at the epicenter of NCSD students and staff perfectly practicing our district’s Standard Response Protocols.
Every other Thursday morning, a small shuttle bus slowly pulls down the long bus lane at Spring Mountain Elementary, stopping just outside the school's front doors. But this shuttle isn't painted the bright yellow you'd expect to see in the school's parking lot, and the only riders getting off haven't been in elementary school for more than five decades.
Many Milwaukie High School students were happy to miss a few minutes of class time this week, especially as "word-of-mouth" spread quickly about a special group of annual visitors ready to brush up the Mustangs on their dental health.
The Mustangs were greeted by staff from the Smile Squad, NCSD’s Oral Health Program, who offered free dental screenings for students at no cost.
This quick check up is extremely beneficial for students, and removes barriers to accessing dental health care. Families don’t have to take time off work to drive their students to an appointment, and students are missing less class time.
Six-year-old Kellen Brady shimmied and squirmed as he held out his hand, showing classmates the result of his latest assignment from his guest teacher. “It really tickles,” shrieked the frazzled first grader. “I can’t believe it’s crawling all over my hand.”
Brady and his 20 classmates in Michelle Emra’s first grade classroom at View Acres Elementary know this is no ordinary assignment. In fact, the lesson isn’t even taking place in the group’s ordinary classroom. Every few Friday afternoons, Emra’s students trade in their tennis shoes for rubber boots…and parade behind their teacher out the school’s front doors, through a crosswalk across the parking lot, and into a large outdoor garden nestled within view of the school’s office.
Fridays are “Garden Days” for View Acres students, led by guest teacher Sable Kellison, who spends her Fridays leading classrooms like Emra’s in weekly hands-in-the-dirt, interactive lessons covering ecology topics ranging from planting seeds, to food webs…to today’s first grade lesson about a common garden critter. “Today was about roly polies,” laughed Kellison. “We talked about why they need to roll into a ball, and then we talked about how to observe them like a scientist.”
Early on a Tuesday morning, long before the first bell usually rings at Happy Valley Middle School, sixth graders and their families gathered in a mix of excitement, anticipation, and even a few nerves.
For the next three nights and four days, the happy Herons will trade in their classrooms for the great outdoors as they head to Outdoor School.
After shuffling their way through neighborhood streets, the last stop for thousands of North Clackamas students and families who walk to school each morning often comes at a crosswalk, where they’re met by a friendly crossing guard who makes sure drivers stop at the flashing lights blinking from all directions.
But what if all those flashing lights were actually woven into the friendly crossing guard’s clothes? That’s the case at Oregon Trail Elementary, where rain or shine every morning, students and families are guided across SE 152nd Avenue by volunteer Gordon Hubbard…who lights up kids’ faces by always reporting for duty decked out in blinking multi-colored lights from head to toe.
“I’m just trying to help out my community,” said the 77-year-old Hubbard, who first started volunteering at Oregon Trail seven months ago after a long stint volunteering at a local hospital. “Wearing all these lights in my clothes came from me just being silly and helping people get outside their comfort zone. It’s been great to see all the smiles on kids’ faces and just pass it on. I think we all need to do that more.”
It was just another day when the phone rang in Robert Parker’s office seven years ago, when the practicing architect was busily going about his routine of drawing plans and scheduling meetings with clients. He never dreamed that phone call would change his life forever, when a local school principal was on the line.
“They had a need and they were desperate,” explained a smiling Parker. “They invited me in and I got in the classroom and I realized this is a good fit for me—I just like the feeling, I like the excitement, and I like the impact you can have on young people, so I got hooked…and here I am.”
“Here” is NCSD’s Sabin-Schellenberg Professional Technical Center, where the start of Parker’s third period class was suddenly interrupted this week by several district and regional education leaders. That’s when to the excitement of cheering students and colleagues, Parker was named the 2024-25 Regional Teacher of the Year for Clackamas County.