Helix School District

A huge thank you to all those who donated to the Helix Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive. Your generosity helped make this event very successful.

Umatilla County Health Dept will be hosting drive thru school age vaccination clinics on: Mon. December 7th 1-6pm at Gib Olinger Elementary in Milton-Freewater Tues. December 8th 1-4pm at Gib Olinger Elementary in Milton-Freewater Please note: 1. Pre-registration is required 2. There will be no out of pocket costs, but insurance will be billed if they have it 3. All vaccines recommended for school age kids (grades K-12) will be available, including the flu shot

Parents, Just a reminder that Friday, Nov. 20th is the final day for the Helix SD canned food drive. Please have all items to your child’s teacher by 1pm on that day. Thanks, Darrick Cope

The Helix School is continuing our past tradition of collecting food prior to Thanksgiving. It will be donated to the food pantry at Athena Christian Church which serves the surrounding communities, including Helix. If you don’t have students in school and would like to donate, you can put your donation on your porch, call the school and we will have it picked up for you. helping others is a great way to brighten your day. If your family could use assistance, please contact the school also. We hope everyone has a safe and bountiful holiday. The food we are collecting is listed below.

Parents, ODE just confirmed that schools are not directly impacted by the Governor’s 2-week “freeze”. Helix will be able to continue with our Limited In-person instruction (LIPI). There will be a travel advisory for those leaving the county or state. The Governor really wants families to stay home for the next two weeks, and keep your interactions to 6 people or less and a maximum of two households. Have a great weekend! Thanks, Darrick Cope

Parents, As of this afternoon, I heard that Limited In-person instruction may be exempt from the 50 person max rule by ODE and OHA during the “pause”. I have advised the K-8 teachers not to make any changes to AM & PM classes until after my 2:00PM ODE meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10th. Sorry for the confusion, but it seems this info changes by the hour. Thanks for your patience, Darrick Cope

The Helix School District will be closed on Wednesday, November 11th in observance of Veterans Day. This means ALL Virtual and In-Person Instruction will not occur.

A huge thanks to the Helix SD parents and students for their perseverance as we all navigated 1st quarter via CDL. I was totally amazed and proud to learn the K-12 students had a participation rate of 98.38% for 1st quarter. That is AMAZING! Keep up the good work and extend some grace as we begin CDL for 2nd quarter. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Parents, Last week Governor Brown and 0DE announced adjustments in the metrics used to reopen schools. These variations will not allow any immediate changes for the Helix School District. We will continue with Limited In-person. To open full-day, in-person, the weekly Umatilla County COVID case count will need to be around 35. Check the school Facebook and webpage for updates. Thanks, Darrick Cope

A huge thanks to Dr. Derek Earl and his staff from Family Health Association in Hermiston for taking the time to conduct ImPACT concussion tests and sports physicals for our students on Tuesday evening. The ImPACT test has two primary uses: before the onset of an activity, a baseline test is conducted to measure the athlete's performance baseline. Baseline test are taken every other year. In the event of an injury, a post-injury test is administered and compared to the baseline. The resulting objective data is then evaluated by a trained ImPACT Consultant (Dr. Earl) and a plan is created to track a student's safe return to activity.

Parents, Parent teacher conferences will occur Thursday, Nov. 5th 8:00am-8:00pm and Friday, Nov. 6th from 8:00am-Noon. You should be contacted very soon to choose a date, time and format that fits your schedule. Contact your student’s teacher for more information. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Parents, Just a reminder, Dr Derek Earl is offering free physicals today (Wed., Oct . 28) from 2:00-5:00pm in the multipurpose room. Call the school office if you have any questions. Thanks, Darrick

7th - 12th Grade Parents, For information about 1st Quarter grades, please go to the Helix School webpage, click on Helpful Links, 1st Quarter Grades. Call the office or talk with your student’s teacher, if you have any questions. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Parents, Good morning. Following the Limited In-person guidelines, it appears that the Helix SD has the capacity to allow the 4th & 5th grade to attend in-person, a couple of days per week. Please contact your student’s teacher or the office for more info. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Dear Parent(s) of Seniors or graduates, As a current senior or recent graduate, it is time to complete the FAFSA for the 2021-2022 academic year. FAFSAs can be completed at www.fafsa.gov. By submitting it prior to December 1st, you will maximize the financial aid eligibility.

Parents, The 6th - 12th grade teachers will have a Character Strong training Tuesday, Oct 20th. Students in those grades will not be involved in Zoom classes with their teachers, on that day. However, students in grades K-5th, will follow their normal class routine. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Registration Open for AWS Girls' Tech Day Amazon Web Services Girls’ Tech Day is going virtual this year! We hope that you will encourage your students to join us on a magical and adventurous journey to explore Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Coding, Virtual Reality, Robotics, and more! This complimentary event will inspire and motivate girls and young women, ages 8-24, to develop and pursue their interests in technology. Girls’ Tech Day includes: Speaker Sessions – Learn about the experiences of students and women in technology. Interactive Coding Sessions – Compose a melody, code virtual models to walk a runway, program an online robot, or build avatars using artificial intelligence. Fun with STEAM – Create magic with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Mathematics), download the Girls’ Tech Day playlist, and much more. Activities are designed so that students can go at their own pace, and join the event as many times as they like between November 14 – 28. Our program also supports teachers and staff who want to participate with their classes, girls’ tech groups and clubs. If this sounds exciting, we ask that you share this information with your faculty, staff, parents and students. Only parents, guardians and teachers may register participants under the age of 18. All activities require an electronic device like a computer or mobile phone with Internet connection. Registration is now open, and simple. If you would like to learn more about Girls’ Tech Day, or register, click here http://www.cvent.com/events/aws-girls-tech-day/event-summary-bd517818d92949a99198c428f7b8a8bf.aspx , or contact me at deoldham@amazon.com. Donna E. Oldham, APR (she/her/hers) Amazon Web Services Community Engagement Manager – Americas

It was great to see the 3rd graders in the classroom today. Hope you all had a wonderful time and are ready to come back tomorrow.

As Thursday came, so did the 2nd Graders. Great to see more students in the building, even if it is only for two hours.

The 1st graders are here, let's give a cheer!! Yeah, I know its corny, but it rhymes. =-) Glad to see another group of students taking advantage of the Limited In-person instruction.