Dozens of students from all four West Linn-Wilsonville middle schools presented projects that were the result of months of hard work at the annual Middle School Science Fair on Friday, March 15. Students presented research covering fields of behavioral, medicine, and health; physics, chemistry, and math; electrical and mechanical engineering; energy and environmental engineering; earth and environmental sciences; and life sciences. 

In total, eight students also qualified for the Broadcom Masters competition, and 33 students qualified for the Northwest Science Expo. Athey Creek Middle School's Madeline Santoso won Best of Fair for the Individual category while Rosemont Ridge Middle School's Sienna Kim and Logan Levasseur won Best of Fair for the Team category. Congratulations to all of our young scientists! 

The West Linn-Wilsonville School District announced the selection of Mike Strande as the next Principal of Wood Middle School effective July 1, 2019. Mr. Strande was selected following a thorough round of interviews with an advisory committee comprised of administrators, parents, classified staff and teachers, followed by secondary interviews with Superintendent Dr. Kathy Ludwig.

Mr. Strande has spent the last 12 years in the Hillsboro School District as a teacher, instructional coach, and as the Principal of Rosedale Elementary K-6 since 2013.

With a strong belief in building collaborative, positive relationships with students, staff, and community, Mr. Strande shared his dedication to ensuring that each and every student feel a sense of belonging and joy in their learning at Wood Middle School.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know the Wood staff and community and working collaboratively with teachers and parents to support all the great things currently happening in and around the school," he said. "My goals coming into my new role are to learn about the strengths of each student and staff member in order to support teachers as they deliver the best learning experiences for students."

As a bilingual educator and experienced Dual Language teacher, Mr. Strande also shared his excitement for continuing the strong dual language program in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District as well as a deep commitment to the equity work so pivotal at Wood Middle School.

Mr. Strande takes over for Principal Kelly Schmidt, who will serve as Principal of Wilsonville High School next school year. She takes over for Principal Dan Schumaker, who is retiring at the end of the school year. Please help us in welcoming Mr. Mike Strande to the Wood Middle School Community!

Wilsonville and West Linn High School Robotics will both be competing in their first District competition of the season March 7 and 8, competing against 39 teams from Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Hosted by Wilsonville High School's Error Code Xero Team 1425, high school students from throughout the district will compete for bragging rights. West Linn High School's To Be Determined Team 7034 will participate in their second year as a program, looking to improve on an impressive inaugural season. Team Error Code Xero won the hometown event last year.

The competition will take place from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, March 9. The event is open to the public. For more information, or to live stream the event, visit https://www.thebluealliance.com/event/2019orwil.

Nearly 150 projects carefully crafted by some 230 West Linn-Wilsonville high school students lined the walls of the Wilsonville High School gym on Tuesday, March 5. Those projects represented months of dedication and hard work, culminating in the 18^th annual CREST Jane Goodall Science Symposium.

Students from West Linn, Wilsonville, and Arts and Technology High School took part in the Symposium, which is part of Intel’s International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). The Intel-ISEF competition inspires the world’s best and brightest young scientists to engage in science exploration, as well as share their own research with the entire science community.

In addition to awards and prizes, the top 49 projects from the March 5 Symposium advanced to the Northwest Science Expo (the state-level science fair) in Portland this April. Reviewed by more than 30 expert judges, student projects were selected based on a wide-ranging criterion. [READ MORE ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM, INCLUDING PARTICIPANTS AND AWARD WINNERS]

The West Linn-Wilsonville School District will host the 18^th annual CREST Jane Goodall Science Symposium on Tuesday, March 5 at Wilsonville High School. Part of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) program, the CREST Jane Goodall Science Symposium allows student researchers to conduct authentic studies in fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and behavioral sciences.

High School students from across the district will share their work the community starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Wilsonville High School auxiliary gym, followed by two keynote speakers at 7:15 p.m. and an award ceremony at 8:30 p.m. The entire community is invited to attend this free event.

Students from West Linn, Wilsonville, and Arts and Technology high schools will present a total of 142 projects during the March 5 Symposium. Reviewed by more than 60 expert judges, 49 student projects will be selected to progress to the Intel NW Science Expo on April 12 at Portland State University.

This year's Symposium is highlighted by two keynote speakers in West Linn High School Alumna Claire Offer and Wilsonville High School alumna Claire Mallon. Offer graduated from West Linn High School in 2011 and is now a chemical engineer working for NASA. Mallon, a 2012 WHS graduate, is a propulsion engineer for SpaceX. The pair of West Linn-Wilsonville standouts will share their journey through science and engineering before presenting category awards, scholarship winners, and the 49 student projects moving on to the state-level fair.

For more information, please contact ISEF Program Coordinator Dr. Jennifer Wells at WellsJ@wlwv.k12.or.us.

Following recommendations that the Long Range Planning Committee made to the School Board in January, the West Linn-Wilsonville School District held a Community Bond Summit on February 23, inviting more than 200 community members to participate in a day of bond-related activities. The purpose of the Bond Summit is to educate the community and also solicit feedback and input for the School Board to consider.

Bond Summit participants consisted of parent and teacher representation from all 16 WLWV schools, including Three Rivers Charter School, as well as West Linn-Wilsonville students, administrators, and classified staff. Community members in attendance also consisted of School Board Members, both West Linn and Wilsonville Mayors, West Linn and Wilsonville City Council Members, West Linn and Wilsonville City Staffs, representatives from the Education Foundation and Music and Arts Partners, local senators and state representatives, First Student Bus Company, West Linn-Wilsonville Long Range Planning Committee and Budget Committee members, district operations staff, local librarians, and many more.

While Board and Long Range Planning Committee discussions have been ongoing for the past couple of months, the Bond Summit signals the beginning of a potential Capital Bond. The Board will continue to solicit community input in coming months through polling and surveying, with the possibility of a Capital Bond going on the November Clackamas County Election Ballot.

To read community feedback from the Summit please visit the Bond Summit Webpage. To learn more about proposed projects please view the Capital Improvement Program portion of the district's Long Range Plan.

The West Linn-Wilsonville School District hosted its third joint-safety meeting of the 2018-19 school year on Feb. 13, joining first responders, board members, administrators, First Student bus partners, and others to discuss and practice around the topic of reunification.

What is Reunification?

Reunification is the process of controlled release of students. A reunification may be required if certain emergency events occur at a school, such as threats to safety in the form of weapon threats, bomb threats, or building evacuations due to extreme weather or earthquake situations.

The school district works in collaboration with the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, West Linn Police Department, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, and other community partners in the event of reunification. Safety agencies use the Standard Reunification Method, which is based on protocols established by the I Love U Guys Foundation.

Student and Parent Reunification is a protocol that makes the process of student release more predictable and less chaotic for all involved. Because a controlled release is not a typical end of school day event, a reunification may occur at a different location than the school a student attends. This is called an OFF-SITE reunification. The location of an off-site reunification will be announced to parents once students have arrived and reunification center has been established. The district does not pre-announce the off-site reunification locations because it is critical that district personnel can set up the location and that students have arrived before the reunification process begins. It is important to understand that the reunification location will be in a place where students are safe and being taken care of.

Notification of a Student and Parent Reunification: In the event that reunification is required, parents are advised to stay home until receiving communication from the district or law enforcement. This allows law enforcement and first responders to better secure the site prior to a controlled release reunification process. The reunification process will only begin once law enforcement has decided it’s safe to do so.

Parents will be notified about a reunification process in a number of ways. Parents will receive a broadcast phone message, text alert, and ListServ email, including instructions of what to bring and where the reunification center is. Parents are required to bring ID and will be asked to fill out a reunification form at the reunification site prior to their student’s release. If a parent can not immediately get to the reunification site, a student’s emergency contact may also pick up a student. To update this information, access FamilyLink and/or contact the school office whenever contact information changes.

For more information about the reunification process, please watch this student-parent reunification video.

Three Rivers Charter School was selected for the 2018 American Excellence Award amongst all its peers and competitors by the US Institute of Trade & Commerce (USITC) on Feb. 11.

Each year the USITC conducts business surveys and industry research to identify companies that have achieved demonstrable success in their local business environment and industry category. They are recognized as having enhanced the commitment and contribution of small businesses through service to their customers and community. Companies of this caliber enhance the consumer driven stature that USITC strives to recognize.

Three Rivers Charter School has consistently demonstrated a high regard for upholding business ethics and company values. This recognition by USITC marks a significant achievement as an emerging leader within various competitors and is setting benchmarks that the industry should follow.

As part of the industry research and business surveys, various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the selected companies in each category. This research is part of an exhaustive process that encapsulates a year-long immersion in the business climate of its industry.