Community Conversations

This theme was drawn from parent comments and questions about how to re-engage with schools and support their student's learning experience.

Many participants wondered about how to volunteer, how to support at the classroom and the school level, and how to build a strong school community.

This theme emerged from a series of questions from participants about supporting the many different aspects of student learning. While academics are central, there are also many ways to support students mental, social and emotional health, and participants requested the opportunity to dive deeper into these additional aspects of students' education.

Participants observed that the North Clackamas School District is large and diverse, and were interested in discussing how the Equity Policy is implemented to support the success of all students.

Participants also wanted to have deeper conversations about how schools and teachers are meeting the wide range of academic needs that students are bringing to the classroom. Teachers have always had tools to differentiate and individualize instruction, and these tools are even more imperative as families return from a variety of pandemic experiences.

Volunteers can select the area they'd like to volunteer when they submit their volunteer application, for example school site, Wichita, Lunch Buddy, etc. Details of the volunteer assignment would depend on the specific needs of each building and are directed by the site administrator. 

Teachers can discuss responsibilities outside of the classroom with their building administrators. Many administrators require teachers to pick one student club, activity or committee to support, and site councils and PTOs may be on that list of options. If these responsibilities occur outside of the teachers contract day, they will be compensated, per contract language.

Each PTO or PTA is encouraged to work with their school administrators to determine the school’s needs and how the PTO/PTA can best support the school community.

Yes, this often happens during “Back to School” night. Including volunteer training in a school event is always helpful. Our Volunteer Coordinator has an outline for the volunteer training in the Volunteer Coordinator Notebook. Be sure to work with your school administrator.

There is a link on the district website to the volunteer information page, including the telephone number and email address for the Volunteer Coordinator. This link can be included on each school's website as well. 

Volunteers Link

Yes, there are many after-school events/extracurricular activities that would appreciate volunteer support. For example, chaperone and set up at school dances, sport events, field trips, etc.

If you are looking to partner with your school, please reach out directly and work with your school's administrator.

Not at this time. The process is managed at the state level.

We recognize the tremendous value that school-sponsored athletics bring to our middle school students, and are proud to offer both Fall and Spring activities. While we are always looking to expand these offerings, our funding currently limits our financial support of middle school sports.

There is a link on the district website to the volunteer information page, including the telephone number and email address for the Volunteer Coordinator. The informational videos included in the volunteer application process are optional.

We made several considerations when planning the events. The location is geographically central to the district, and the 6:00-7:30pm time slot is to accommodate many parents’ work schedules. The offer of childcare and language interpretation have  also helped some families attend that wouldn’t be able to otherwise.

Many school websites have links for information about their PTA or PTO.  While there is no common site for all parent-teacher organizations, contact information for PTA/PTOs is often listed on each school's website.  Collaboration could be done via phone calls or email.  PTA/PTO boards could also ask schools to use a specific facility for a collaborative meeting.

NCSD uses an outside program called Classlink that is a great resource for single-sign on integration for students and staff. There currently is not an integrated program for community members or parents to access all student accounts or apps.

School office staff may work with parents and administration to post messages/announcements/newsletters on behalf of the PTO/PTA. These messages could be published via school communication tools such as ParentSquare and/or PeachJar.

Absolutely!  Please contact Curtis Long (longc@nclack.k12.or.us) or Gabe Storm (stormg@nclack.k12.or.us) directly.  PTOs are encouraged to “tag” the district social media accounts for immediate exposure.

The District’s Community Relations Department loves to share stories and relies on our employees, students and families to let us know when events are happening or if there are ideas for story ideas. Please contact Curtis Long at longc@nclack.k12.or.us.

Families automatically receive ParentSquare messages in their user-preferred language as indicated on the student registration form. Preferred language can be updated by contacting the school office.

We always have room for improvement in this area.  Our district has all districtwide messages translated into Spanish and also has a Spanish-speaking liaisons on staff.  The liaison's top responsibility is to make sure our Spanish speaking families are receiving information and the supports they need for their children to be successful in our schools. There is also at least one bilingual paraprofessional in each school; many of these are Spanish speaking. Our bilingual schools have multiple bilingual staff as well.

Please contact your school's principal or teacher if you would like to see more opportunities.  PTA/PTO organizations often sponsor organized discussions regarding school-related topics, so checking with PTA/PTO is often a good first step.

All schools offer a variety of events for families.  Some are school-wide events while others are focused on specific topics or groups. 

NCSD has leveraged a variety of funding sources to support equity and inclusion, including the addition of student and family advocates and community outreach facilitators, and funding for student and family activities.  Through community engagement activities, we have collected feedback from families that has  informed our supports for next year using the Student Investment Account, which is centered around equity and inclusion. 

PTO parents are encouraged to work with their principal to plan outreach and meeting details that will meet the needs of the diverse families in the community.  Communication structures, meeting times, format (virtual and in-person), and the availability of childcare are often contributing factors in a family's ability to participate.

Elementary:

• Submit a request to the teacher/administrator via email or telephone; be specific and concise. 

• Request a meeting with the classroom teacher, using some of the guiding questions from the conference brochure (i.e., What is “doing great?”). 

• Peruse the information from the district website. 

Secondary:

• Schedule a time to talk with the teacher and ask specific questions such as, “What can you tell me about my student’s reading level?” or “Is my student on track to move to the next level of math?”

• Email the teacher and/or administrator with specific questions regarding academic progress. Counselors can also answer questions about the student’s educational plan, the credits they’ve earned toward graduation, and what is still needed for their diploma and/or college entrance requirements.

Elementary: 

According to information provided by Elementary Principals, volunteering within the schools is permissible. Volunteering in specific classrooms may have limitations for the following reasons:

• Specific classroom support is not identified nor requested by the classroom teacher 

• Other areas of the school building could benefit from volunteer support (schools have a predetermined list of options)

• Students and staff continue to build strong relationships within the classroom setting and may limit any external adult interactions or distractions 

• Some families support their own child(ren)’s classrooms; others do not, as it may cause distraction within the learning environment 

Secondary:

• Volunteers are welcomed in secondary schools. Principals direct the areas where volunteers are needed. 

While there are some volunteer opportunities during the school day, at the secondary level there are many events that occur after school and on weekends, and parent help with those events is very much appreciated.

Elementary:

• Distribution of Time.. Grades K-5 2022-23 is consistent within elementary schools. There is minimal variance due to the schedules of staff. 

• Small group instruction happens with all students; increased intervention support is provided to students who are experiencing an opportunity gap. 

• Students at/above grade level receive scaffolded support to enhance their learning. This may be done individually, with a partner, or peers. Oftentimes, a student may have an ICP (Individualized Classroom Plan) to support this type of learning. The purpose of the ICP is to ensure that students' academic gifts are stimulated and thriving through modification that is specific to meet the unique learning needs. 

• While parents might have the option to volunteer within the school setting, they might support a different group of students than their own. 

Secondary

• Students receive differentiated instruction within their courses that they take in middle and high school. This takes the form of intentional grouping of students, assignments that allow a variety of ways for students to demonstrate learning, and through the selection of elective courses so students can follow their interests.

• In high schools, accelerated coursework in AP and IB are available to all students. Students who have IEPs may receive extra instruction through support classes. All students have support during study halls, and there are many instructional resources for students to access anytime via digital curriculum to help individualize support for each student.

Elementary:

We presented a reading curriculum/practices presentation to the Board on March 9, 2023. 

Each classroom has more than 1 reading group per week. Reading instruction (small and large group) occur daily in each classroom.

Delivery of reading instruction is noted here.

College and Career teachers, Counselors and Aspire advocates are all available to support college readiness. All of these staff members work at each of the high schools and are happy to provide information on scholarships and FAFSA through the College & Career Centers. College and Career staff members visit classrooms to walk students through various college application processes and scholarship opportunities are published to students through College and Career Google Classrooms the student/parent newsletters.

At the high school level 9th-grade students take a semester of College and Career Readiness and a semester of study hall. At the 10th grade level students take one year of study hall. At these levels, students are scheduled into 8 periods and 7 courses and it is advantageous for them to have time carved out to focus on their coursework. This schedule supports on-time graduation by helping students pass the classes required for a high school diploma.

We are currently completing our 10 year long range facility plan right now, as required by the state of Oregon in order to put a bond on a ballot. In the next 12-24 months, we will be engaging the community and staff in a bond planning process. More information will be shared at that time.

Solar upgrades: 

House Bill (HB) 2496 Green Energy Technologies (GET) requires an investment in Green Energy Technology based on the cost and type of construction projects in the bond. 

Ten projects met the criteria for GET and the total requirement totaled approximately $2.2 million.

The district wanted to use the installation of solar panels as an educational opportunity for all students in the district, efficiently install one system and avoid spending money on redundant parts of the system at 10 locations. 

The district decided to consolidate the solar panel investment at Sabin-Schellenberg Professional Technical Center. By doing this all students in the district (especially high school students) can have access to the learning opportunities and the project aligns with the mission of the professional technical center.

Continued Energy Savings:

North Clackamas School District Facilities team will be entering 2023 rejoining the Energy Trust of Oregon Strategic Energy Management program. The team will prepare a plan to best utilize Energy Incentive funds available to Oregon Schools. These incentives help to offset total project costs associated with improvements to the school district's energy systems, including HVAC/controls, lighting (interior and exterior) to LED, window upgrades, insulation, and so on.

We will be selecting a handful of projects and schools that will meet the best criteria for the budget and provide the quickest return to the school district.

CARE is an extension of the school day. Just as we do during the school day, we need to keep our school grounds secure when running after school CARE. The school is not available for public use when students are occupying the building.

The discussion focused on the process for connecting students and families with mental health services. We discussed what those services look like, how the district engages with outside services, and additional staff members who can support students in school until they can connect with an individual therapist from a partner organization.

This portion of the discussion focused on how educators are trained to engage student wellness in addition to academic progress. Using the Danielson Framework for teacher professional growth, we were able to see the ways staff members are guided toward supporting student well-being as they plan lessons, influence classroom environment, teach engaging lessons, and connect with students' families.

Parents and staff members discussed the ways in which students are re-learning to be in community with each other. We discussed areas of concern around supervision, such as buses and restrooms, and the process of restorative justice when students have had behavioral difficulties.  All would like to see schools continue to grow in the areas of safety and belonging for all students.

This portion of the conversation explored ways of collecting feedback from students, families, and staff on school climate and culture, such as the Youth Truth survey. Community members wanted to know how staff members can turn survey information into action steps that align with the survey data and the school's improvement goals.