It has been a while since my last update. Once again, it hard to believe that so much of the school year has passed. Seniors are frantically making sure they have met the criteria and completed the courses for graduation. The 8th grade students are eagerly working towards bidding Driftwood goodbye and moving forward as they join the ranks of Pacific High School.
Some of you may have heard I was stricken with a rare condition that left me temporarily paralyzed. I am back in the saddle and expected to make a full recovery. Thank you for all of the cards, flowers and well-wishes.
Spring is a busy time of year in schools and districts. The District is currently in the budget cycle. The administration prepares the budget for the coming year and presents it to the budget committee. The Budget Committee is made up of volunteers from the community and the regular 2CJ school board. They meet a number of times to review the proposed budget, ask questions and make comments or suggestions. Once the budget committee approves the proposed budget it will be approved and adopted by the school board at a regular board meeting. Districts are required by law to develop a balanced budget. This year we were charged with cutting our current budget by $271,000. The main reason for the deficit is continued declining enrollment and roll-up costs and increases such as unemployment, insurance and so on. The challenge becomes, how can we offer as much as we can to our students and keep everyone safe too. The cuts came from across the budget, personnel, maintenance and some short-fall days to name a few. There are no good solutions and as we move forward we will need to ask the tough questions and be creative.
The calendar for the 2012-13 school year is being proposed at this time. We are considering a calendar that starts after the Labor Day holiday and goes through June 5th, with two weeks at Christmas, Spring Break, and 10:00 late start each Monday to allow for professional development.
A big thank you to everyone that helped with fund-raising for the playground equipment. It has arrived and will be installed at Driftwood this summer.
Attendance continues to be a major concern. Driftwood has seen a considerable decline in attendance since February; we average 88% on a daily basis. The state’s goal for schools is 93%. Driftwood fell short of meeting the state report card requirements for the 2010-11 school year, due to attendance. PHS struggles as well. It is important to share that attendance remain one of the ways that ODE is going to measure whether students are on track for graduation. It is critical that the schools, parents and community work together to create a culture of going to school. We need to keep our kids in school and learning including, half-days, days before holidays and Fridays.
Graduation and Eighth Grade Promotion are quickly approaching; we congratulate the students and parents for their accomplishments and wish you all the best in the future.
Go Pirates!
-Chris
District 2CJ is now placing public surplus items online for auction. You can view current items for sale here.
I just wanted to pass on to all students, parents and community members that due to safety reasons we are condemning our outside grandstands at PHS. Safety signs and caution markings have been placed and we ask that you help us keep people out of the stands until we can have them removed permanently in the near-future. Thank you for all you do to help keep Pacific safe. If you have additional questions please feel free to call me directly.
Thanks,
Graham Hughes, PHS Principal
As you prepare for the next sports' season and school year, athletic departments have a great opportunity to let families in your community know about Healthy Kids! Youth who participate in sports are required to get a physical and have health coverage -- they are also more likely to stay in school and gain the skills that will help them succeed in adulthood.
Healthy Kids provides no-cost and low-cost health coverage for uninsured Oregon children and teens up to 19 years of age. No family makes too much money for Healthy Kids and the parent's income will determine whether a child is eligible for the no-cost or low-cost coverage option. For example, a family of four that earns as much as $67,200 a year may qualify for low-cost coverage - paying on average about $60/month to cover their kids. Coverage must renewed annually.
Healthy Kids covers all health needs, including primary care visits, dental care, vision, mental or behavioral health services, prescriptions, and sports' physicals. Youth will not be turned away due to preexisting conditions, or be put on a waiting list.
The Office of Healthy Kids is conducting extensive statewide outreach to ensure that youth and families know this program is available and, if already enrolled, remind them to renew annually. We have free materials and resources you can use to spread the word about Healthy Kids coverage, and we have community partners available to help youth and families apply for coverage across the state.
For more information about your school community, our work to reach youth and families in your area, and how you can get involved, please contact Samantha.J.Shepherd@state.or.us or call 503-269-0716.
http://www.oregonhealthykids.gov/
Now is your chance! We are selling beautiful 3x8 black plaques engraved with gold lettering. These plaques will be permanently affixed to the new bleachers on the North side of the PHS gym.
Each plaque will cost $50.00 and include up to two lines of text. All the engraving will be done by our very own PHS FFA/Ag Dept. Purchasing one of these plaques not only supports our Vocational Education Program, the profits from this fundraiser will go towards the purchase of a set of bleachers on the South side!
There are a limited number of plaques. Don’t miss your chance to be advertise your business, remember a love one or make your family a part of our Pirate history! Samples can be seen at either Sterling Bank or Chetco Credit Union, along with order forms.
Plaques will also be sold at the home basketball games. We have a few plaques installed already if you would like to see the final product.
This fundraiser is sponsored by the Pacific High School Booster. We support our students in both athletics and academics.
Questions, please call: Nancy Jensen at 348-2473 or Deborsha Lashway at 332-0535
Interested in staying up-to-date on issues involving the 2CJ District? Sign up to be a key communicator and receive email communiations from the Superintendent, newsletters, and various mailings related to keeping our members informed.
Applications are now being accepted online for free and reduce priced student meals. Please follow this link to sign up.
Children in households getting SNAP (formally known as Food Stamps) or TANF and most foster children can get free meals regardless of family income. Also, children can get free price meals if household income is within the free limits on the Federal Income Guidelines.
Become a member of our site! Join and interact with your community. If you already have a Google, Yahoo, Myspace, Facebook, or AIM account you can simply login using your credentials from one of those sites. If you don't have any of those accounts, create a new Gmail account and join our site!
Once you've signed in, check out some of our other new members at the bottom of this page. Add them as friends, check out their activites, or join them in commenting and rating articles on our site.
By giving of your time and skills, there are many ways you can serve our students, and we desperately need you.
Volunteer to help in classrooms. Teachers always need help, whether it be working with students, correcting assignments, creating bulletin boards, or making copies. This is important work, and will give you a new appreciation for what happens in the classrooms.
Tutoring students before and/or after school to help those kids struggling to learn. Even though we have the highest quality staff, there are not enough of us to always provide the individual help that gives students the best chance for success. Do you have skills in reading, math, or science that you could share with the students? If you could commit to as little as an hour per week, it would help us tremendously.
If you are interested in helping shape the instructional program, and making a difference at the District level, consider joining the Site Council. In 1989, with the passage of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century, school site councils were delegated the responsibility of developing, administering, and assessing programs of school improvement. The councils are composed of teachers, classified employees, building administrators, parents of students and members from the community at large. The specific duties of our Site Council are:
The development and implementation of a plan to improve professional growth of the schools’ staff.
The improvement of the schools’ instructional programs.
The development and implementation of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century at the school sites.
Many of us are under the false belief that we aren’t welcome in the schools, that the teachers can’t use all the help they can get, and that we don’t have the skills to help our students. Everyone has the ability to contribute to our students’ educations, even if it is just attending Board meetings, sports events, or other school sponsored activities.
Let the kids know that we notice and care about them by spending time in the schools and supporting the District programs. Please share yourselves with our students – it’s a blast!
For a volunteer packet, click on the link on the right of this page under the heading "Become Part of Our Future".
Contact your local school, call the District Office at 366-2111, or email cnichols@2cj.com to volunteer. Thanks so much.
The Port Orford-Langlois School District 2CJ is seeking the following positions:
High School Science Teacher - $31153 to $49874. 2012-2013 School Year.
Substitute Custodians - $9.78 per hour
Substitute Bus Drivers – Varies according to route driven
Substitute Educational Assistants - $8.73 or $9.78
Substitute Food Service Workers - $8.05
See the employment page for additional details and application forms.
These positions are call-as-needed positions throughout the year. No previous experience required as training will be provided. Fingerprinting/background check required. Cost is $62.00.
An orientation will be scheduled in the near future. To be included in the orientation or for further information, contact Brenda Culley at 366-2111. District 2CJ is an equal opportunity employer.
The Port Orford / Langlois School District invites you to become part of our Key Communicator network. For more information, click here.
Driftwood Bulletin
Pacific High Bulletin
