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Sign up for Summer Academy
Summer Academy classes are filling up. Registration ends June 11. Visit the Summer Academy webpage for more information and registration forms. Sandy High Summer Academy Slots are still available. Sign up for math or literature courses, Film Studies, Blues Dancing, Digital Imaging Photography, and much more. See attached flyer. Middle School Summer Academy Slots are still available. Sign up for Mountaineer Movement, Catan, Intro to Film Production, and more. See attached flyer. Elementary Summer Academy Currently full with a wait-list. If you are interested but have not registered your child, go ahead and register to be added to the wait-list. We will notify parents soon if we are able to accommodate additional students.
Friday, Jun 04 2021
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Updated Mask Guidance
Good morning, In light of the guidance recently released by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), we want to reaffirm that students and staff must continue to wear masks while in attendance at school despite their vaccination status. There is good news regarding the recently released guidance as it relates to sports. We will attend to the following guidelines: Outdoor School Sports As per the current OHA guidelines, the Oregon Trail School District (OTSD) will not require students, staff, and spectators to wear face coverings at outdoor sporting events. Previous physical distancing and overall capacity restrictions still apply. Indoor School Sports As per the current OHA guidelines, OTSD will permit fully vaccinated students, staff, and spectators not to wear masks based on OHA’s validation process. Previous physical distancing and overall capacity restrictions still apply. In accordance with OHA, if fully vaccinated attendees would prefer not to wear masks, they will be required to provide photo identification and a digital or hard copy of proof of vaccination upon entry to each event. Outdoor Youth Sports on School Property As per the current OHA guidelines, OTSD will not require students, staff, and spectators to wear face coverings at outdoor sporting events. Previous physical distancing and overall capacity restrictions still apply. Indoor Youth Sports on School Property OTSD is unable to accept requests for indoor facility use at this time.
Friday, May 21 2021
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Oregon Trail educators talk benefits & challenges of...
Tracy Rock, Cari Swoboda, Jessica Minch express excitement around having students back in classrooms When schools went all-digital last year to slow the spread of COVID-19, it took a lot of adjustment for students, parents and teachers alike. Now that all grades are on four-day, in-person instructional weeks under hybrid format, teachers said they still face challenges though they appreciate having students back in their classrooms. "I think a big thing for us is we want parents to know how hard we're working," Minch said. "We want the best for the kiddos, and we're doing the best we can to get them what they need." Read the full Sandy Post story by Brittany Allen, Reporter
Friday, May 14 2021
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High school students are invited to attend 4 days pe...
Oregon Trail Parents & Students, As of Thursday, May 6, all high school students, grades 9-12, are invited to attend in-person classroom instruction 4 days per week – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The 4-hour daily schedule will remain as is. Students may also choose to remain on the current schedule of two days in-person and two-days virtual. Students who selected to stay in Comprehensive Distance Learning will continue to do so. Students - Please screen yourself for symptoms While we are equipped to accommodate the allowed 3-foot physical distance, Clackamas County Public Health still considers 6 feet to be the threshold of close contact for exposure. That means we need you to screen yourself for symptoms each morning before coming to school. If a classroom of students is exposed to one symptomatic student, it is possible the entire class would need to quarantine for fourteen days.
Tuesday, May 04 2021
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Administrative changes announced
Oregon Trail School District Superintendent Aaron Bayer is happy to announce several administrative changes for the upcoming 2021/2022 school year. Sa ndy Grade School Cassiday Hopkins has accepted the position of Principal at Sandy Grade. She served as the school’s Title 1 Teacher since August 2015 and as Interim Principal since January 2021. Cassiday has been an elementary school educator for 17 years and has taken on various leadership roles throughout her career. She looks forward to partnering with the community and said, “I love the Sandy Grade community. I feel like I’m right where I’m supposed to be.” Sandy High School Sandy High will see a shift involving two key administrators. Principal Kim Ball has accepted the district position of Curriculum & Instruction Administrator, and Sarah Dorn has accepted the position of Interim Sandy High Principal. Kim Ball was hired by Oregon Trail as a teacher in 1997 and has served the Oregon Trail community at various district schools. She became Sandy High Principal in 2013. During her tenure, graduation rates and state assessment scores have increased dramatically. In her new role as the Curriculum & Instruction Administrator, Kim’s initial project will be coordinating the district’s first K-12 summer school program. Kim said, “I have treasured the eight years I have spent as Sandy High’s Principal. I am proud of the hard work by our staff that has led to tremendous gains for our students. I look forward to new challenges and being able to support students and staff at a different level.” Sarah Dorn was hired in 2019 as Vice-Principal and has established herself as a valued member of the school’s leadership team, earning the respect of students and staff alike. Kim Ball has the utmost confidence in Sarah as she moves into the principal position, stating, “Sarah came to Oregon Trail with a wealth of knowledge in curriculum and has spent her time at Sandy High as an integral part of the administrative team supporting curriculum, student behavior, and as the Leadership teacher.” Sarah looks forward to the challenges that will come with her new role, “ I am blessed to work alongside an amazing staff every day. We will remain focused on graduating every student by providing them with quality instruction, respect, and care. It is an honor to serve this community!” Maria O’Meara has accepted the role of Interim Vice-Principal. Maria has worked for Oregon Trail since 2012, and is currently a Special Education Coordinator. Her expertise working with families and staff to develop Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for students with disabilities will be a valuable asset to the Sandy High leadership team. Maria said, “I am super excited about joining the high school team and working with a great staff! I look forward to working with everyone to help students continue to grow in their education.” Superintendent Bayer stated, “Over the years OTSD has been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to hire many great educators. In doing so we are able to help them grow and leverage their skill set to continue advancing our collective cause. I couldn’t be more proud of the dedication, hard work, and collective skill these administrators possess. I have the utmost confidence all will be highly successful in these new roles and continue to build on the amazing growth our district has seen over the last decade.” Ball, Dorn, O’Meara, and Hopkins will formally begin their new roles effective July 1, 2021. ###
Thursday, Apr 29 2021
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Lights, camera, education
Former film maker Carrie Scaife explains how education stole her heart 17 years ago Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up! From May 3-7, let your teachers know how much you appreciate their hard work. The plan for Carrie Scaife, after obtaining her bachelor's degree in film from Pacific University was to be behind the camera. Like all best laid plans, this one took a bit of a detour that then became a full-fledged career. Instead of behind a camera, for the past 17 years Scaife has been in front of a classroom at Cedar Ridge Middle School. Read the full Sandy Post story by Brittany Allen, Reporter
Wednesday, Apr 28 2021
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Help the Sandy High Art Department win $50,000!
Sandy High School is a National Finalist (Top 50) in the Van Custom Culture Shoe Competition! The top 5 automatically win $15,000 Voting starts April 26th and ends May 7th VOTE EVERY DAY! Go to: https://customculture.vans.com/2021/login Click on the link Enter your email to begin the voting process Vote for Sandy High School We have made it to the top 5 before, and I know we can do it again. Let’s win $15,000 or $50,000. Thank you for your support! Dan Shanklin, Sandy High Art Teacher
Monday, Apr 26 2021
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Sandy High Robotics Team selected to represent Oregon
The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation has selected Sandy High’s robotics team to represent the Oregon region to compete in the Live Remote VEX Robotics World Championship this May! Kam Yee, Regional Support Manager said, “Throughout this robotics competition season, your students have demonstrated perseverance through teamwork and creativity in their engineering design process. We are so proud of your students’ accomplishments! Thank you so much to your school staff, your valuable volunteers, and your dedicated families for fostering the technical and interpersonal skills necessary for students to succeed in the 21st Century.” Congratulations to our inventive Robotics students!
Monday, Apr 26 2021
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OTSD budget approved for 2021-2022
At their meeting on April 20, the OTSD Budget Committee approved the 2021-2022 budget proposal as presented. A public hearing will be held on June 14, and the board will consider adoption of the budget at their year-end meeting on June 28. Superintendent’s 2021-2022 Budget Message The past year has proven to be exceedingly challenging on a number of fronts. Despite the challenges, we have made tremendous strides toward 1:1 devices across the district, increasing the collective digital acumen of our students and staff while learning to work in an ever-changing environment. In recent years we have improved graduation rates, increased college credit offerings, and continue to increase FTE. Maintaining this trajectory will prove to be a bit more difficult as we continue to navigate the effects of the pandemic and adjust to a state budget that is less than the projected roll-up costs for the next biennium. Our mission for the 2021-2022 school year is to intentionally leverage our resources to resume the progress we have witnessed over the last decade. Through this budget, we aim to advance our collective cause to Unite, Learn and Engage by: ● Continuing to add classroom teachers to reduce class sizes, ● Increasing the number of specialists assisting students with diverse needs, ● Continuing to expand our outreach through our ELD community engagement specialist, ● Hiring staff dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of our Title III, Title I, Online Programming and Extended School Year grants and programs, ● Exploring new instructional software and curriculum, and ● Acquiring new classroom furnishings. We developed the 2021-2022 budget based on a $9.3B funding level from the state. Though there is some degree of uncertainty at the state level, we believe advocacy from education groups across the state will be successful in arriving at a 9.3-billion-dollar budget despite the current allocation being $9.1B. This proposal also carries in it increased funding for SIA, and maintains funding for Measure 98. These funds are less general in nature and have a higher degree of targeted account. In addition, PERS rates are down due to legislative action, and new one-time Federal COVID Relief Funds are available through 2023. The budget presented takes into account all of the current agreed-upon employee contracts for the next biennium. Operating a public school system has distinctly different fiscal challenges than other organizations. We will be balanced in our view of Oregon’s budget forecasts and continue to pursue opportunities to grow our staff and students. Addressing the current state of the economy Though we anticipate the state’s budget to be 9.3B and our local tax growth remains healthy, estimated to grow over 4% (these funds are capped and represented within the State School Fund), we will still face a deficit of $617,000 this year. A budget of 9.3B does not cover the roll-up of our current service level. The state’s budget does not provide the funding for our district to keep pace with current expenditures. It is not enough to cover these escalating costs. That said, historically, we have strong relationships with our employee groups; everyone recognizes the importance of keeping our sights on driving down our deficit and creating internal stability. The estimated budget deficit is within reach of previous deficits. We are confident we can mitigate this deficit over the year. As in prior years, we intend to actively manage the budget and leverage our reserve to span the gap. State school funding is outside our control. As we have grown accustomed to doing, we will manage our resources to help us maintain a healthy perspective about our current state and future funding. We will remain steadfast in our focus on the academic future of all children in the Oregon Trail School District. I respectfully submit the 2021-2022 proposed budget for your consideration and approval. Aaron C Bayer Superintendent Oregon Trail School District 2021-2022 Proposed Budget
Wednesday, Apr 21 2021