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Oregon Achieves... Together!
A Message from the Director of the Oregon Department of Education Dr. Charlene Williams
The start of a school year signifies new beginnings for students in all of Oregon’s 36 counties – an opportunity to start fresh with renewed energy and excitement. This is true for me as I reflect on how public education has shaped me as a learner, teacher, and administrator as I arrive as the Director of the Oregon Department of Education.
The last few years have deeply challenged students, educators and families. Suddenly classrooms became virtual, highlighting disparities in broadband connection around the state. Stress and uncertainty about living through a global pandemic reinforced the need for better mental health for students and staff in our schools. The impacts of the pandemic continue to echo through our schools, reshaping the way our system must serve our students.
The Anchors That Help Us Serve Students
It was a pleasure to meet with so many dedicated leaders at the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators conference in Eugene earlier this month. As I said in my address, here are the anchors that I believe make all the difference in a public education setting, to help set a tone of care and connection for every student in every school:
- Centering students and supporting them – not just as learners, but as leaders.
- Consciousness and care as we work to improve our education system.
- Community and coalition building to bring people together and design solutions that work.
- Confidence and conviction to accomplish great things together.
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 One of the core investments of the newly passed Early Literacy Success Initiative is the Early Literacy Success School District Grants. These grants will provide $90 million for school districts and eligible public charter schools.
A strong, shared understanding of the content in Oregon’s Early Literacy Framework is an important first step in planning for this grant. The framework serves as a primary resource for strengthening student belonging and literacy instruction.
ODE created an overview of the new legislation as it pertains to applying and reporting for the Early Literacy Success School District Grants as well as an accompanying FAQ. These resources were developed with language directly from the legislation and will be updated as additional interpretation and guidance is developed.
More about the Early Literacy Success Initiative...
 Care, connection and community are the heart of education. Since the launch of ODE’s Care and Connection effort in 2021, school and district leaders have prioritized creating welcoming, safe and inclusive school communities where students, families, and staff can thrive.
We encourage you to take the time and space you and your staff need to grow and sustain safe, inclusive, invitational spaces that allow each person to be where they are at any given moment and offer creative opportunities for self exploration.
More about Care & Connection...
The week of October 9-13 is National School Lunch Week. The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA) are teaming up to raise awareness of the importance of child nutrition programs in schools.
Research shows that students who are adequately nourished at school:
- perform better academically
- behave better in the classroom
We invite school board members and superintendents to eat with students during that week to experience their local school lunches.
Encourage your board to participate by planning lunch with students that week. All they need to do is reach out to school nutrition staff and building administrators before their visit. Then they are encouraged to post to social media about their experience using the #NSLW23inOR hashtag and the ODE (@ORDeptEd) and OSBA (@OSBANews) handle.
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By: Patrick Massey, CISA Region 10 Regional Director, CISARegion10@cisa.dhs.gov
K-12 school communities increasingly contend with an evolving and unique set of threats, hazards, and security challenges, oftentimes with limited resources. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is dedicated to working alongside school districts to improve the physical security of our nation’s schools.
CISA is focused on helping schools build resiliency to outside threats. The K-12 School Security Guide Suite developed by CISA assists schools in conducting more robust vulnerability assessments and implementing layered physical security elements across K–12 districts and campuses.
More about the resources...
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