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Wednesday, October 14, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Sisters School Board snapshot
Sisters Elementary
preschool has openings
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
The preschool conducted
by Sisters Elementary School
and funded through Oregon9s
Preschool Promise Grant is
still accepting applications
from qualified families.
The preschool has hired
teachers and is ready for
students, but the opening
has been delayed for a few
weeks due to a backlog in the
Early Learning Hub9s abil-
ity to process applications
for Sisters and other schools
in the region, according to
Mylee Card, lead teacher of
the preschool.
Card has been working
with principal Joan Warburg
to reach out to families
known to qualify for the pro-
gram, which targets 4-year-
olds. At the October 7 school
board meeting, Warburg said
that she is aware of at least 18
families that could take part
in the program.
The preschool is free to
qualified families.
According to Card, Sisters
has one student fully enrolled
and five others that have
applications under review.
<We are ready to go with
these first six,= she said. <Our
goal is to ultimately have 18
students and we hope to open
October 19 once the five
applications being processed
are approved.=
According to Card, the
preschool will run from 8:45-
2:30 Monday through Friday
and the staff and facilities are
prepared to meet all COVID-
19 guidelines. Card noted that
this age group is not required
to wear masks, but they are
optional.
The Preschool Promise
program is overseen by
the Oregon Early Learning
Division (OELD), which
is a branch of the Oregon
Department of Education.
Warburg also acknowl-
edged at the board meet-
ing that qualified families
may have enrolled in other
programs in Sisters which
opened in September, while
others may be not fully aware
that they qualify for this free
program.
Interested families can
contact Sisters Elementary at
541-549-8981, visit the front
page of the elementary school
website (linked from www.
ssd6.org), or go directly to the
links listed below.
The basic standard for
qualifying economically is
children in families who are
living at 200 percent of the
poverty level.
According to the OELD
website (https://oregonear-
lylearning.com/preschool-
promise), the Preschool
Promise <is a model for a
publicly funded, high-quality
preschool system.=
Links to enroll in the
Sisters Elementary Preschool
are: https://forms.gle/
Q3QmTdfibF3iy8mA9; or
Spanish: https://forms.gle/
fTeamNPDbK9J2Co1A.
" Martha Hindman, spe-
cial programs administra-
tor, gave an update at last
week9s school board meet-
ing on mental-health sup-
port still available through
the Child Center with some
changes. Students referred
will now have access to
therapists assigned to them
based on student needs
rather than having just one
therapist for all types of
cases. Two paraprofessionals
have been hired as support
staff. Hindman remarked
how good it was to see the
K-3 students back in school
when she spent time at the
elementary doing some
observations.
" Sisters High School
Principal Joe Hosang
reported that distance learn-
ing is underway, but added
that some small groups have
been meeting in person per
health guidelines, including
biology and woods students.
Counselor Lindy Weddel
and assistant Lynne Fendall
made some house calls over
the past weeks to check in
with students who were
struggling as the school year
got underway. Grade-level
team members also checked
in with students via phone.
Hosang also alluded to
the impact, response, and
outreach of the deaths of two
high school seniors and one
2020 graduate in the past
two weeks and reported that
support will continue.
" Tim Roth, Sisters
Middle School vice princi-
pal spoke about supporting
students and staff follow-
ing the recent tragedies.
Counselor Brook Jackson
and Community Liaison
Gabe Cobos made 17 home
visits in recent weeks to help
engage some students who
had fallen out of touch dur-
ing distance learning.
Like the high school
students, some have been
served in in-person small
groups, including tutor-
ing and ECOS class. Roth
proudly announced that
the middle school had 95
percent attendance for the
first month and handed out
<Strive for 95= hats to each
of the board members. Strive
for 95 is the program imple-
mented last year to improve
and sustain good attendance.
Roth reported that 27 middle
school students are using
Sisters Educational Options
this school year rather than
being enrolled in compre-
hensive distance learning
and that things appear to be
going well.
" Elementary School
Principal Joan Warburg
spoke about how happy
K-3 students are to be back
in school during the past
two weeks. In fact, even the
fourth-graders who came in
to do diagnostic testing in
small groups had smiles on
their faces to be back in the
building.
<When have we ever
seen kids happy about being
tested?= she asked.
Warburg also gave an
update on the Preschool
Promise (see related story
on this page) with hopes
to open the preschool for
4-year-olds by October 19,
following a backlog of appli-
cations being processed at
the county level.
" Superintendent Curt
Scholl reported the district
has seen a small bump in stu-
dent enrollment while also
losing about 50 kids to other
educational options due to
the pandemic and will con-
tinue to reach out to those
families as the school year
progresses. The new trans-
portation facility located
behind SPRD is fully func-
tional and buses are being
moved over to the site in the
days ahead.
<It9s night and day com-
pared to the facility that
has been used for so many
years,= he said.
ADA-compliant side-
walks are being completed at
the elementary school after
being delayed due to the
heavy smoke in recent weeks
that stopped construction.
The next school board
meeting is scheduled for
Wednesday, November 4
at 6 p.m. at Sisters Middle
School.
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