• BSD, licensed staff negotiate contract
• Middle School schedules changing
• Changes to High School “bell schedule”
• West TV alumni scholarship offered
• Big Book Giveaway

BSD, licensed staff negotiate contract

The Beaverton School District (BSD) has opened contract negotiations with the Beaverton Education Association (BEA) that represents licensed staff. “The goal is to establish a collaborative and mutually respectful process that allows us to agree on a contract that benefits students and staff while also being good stewards of public funds.” You can watch bargaining sessions on the district’s YouTube channel from 12-4 p.m. For future dates/times and recaps, please visit the BEA-BSD Labor Negotiations webpage. The next session is scheduled for Tuesday, March 7.

Middle School schedules changing

The current schedule used by our nine neighborhood middle schools—Cedar Park, Conestoga, Five Oaks, Highland Park, Meadow Park, Mountain View, Stoller, Tumwater and Whitford—was implemented in September 2021. It was originally adopted to bring more consistency between schools in terms of class time minutes, elective offerings, and the frequency of elective classes. It also separated Humanities into Language Arts and Social Science, and it created Math and Science classes that were longer than other classes.

During the 2021-2022 school year, we started to hear feedback from students, parents/guardians and staff about some unintended consequences of the new schedule—class periods were too short for sustained learning; there were too many transitions during the day that disrupted learning; teachers didn’t have enough time to make meaningful connections with their students or collaborate with other teachers; and concerns about the potential impact on academic outcomes.

In December 2022, BSD contracted with Education Northwest to study the issue. In addition to reviewing research literature, the district solicited feedback from students, parents/guardians and staff via surveys and focus groups. We listened to additional community input during the strategic planning process. And reviewed 40 schedules from middle schools in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

As one model began to surface as the best fit for BSD, work continued with middle school principals and assistant principals, the Equity Advisory Committee, in addition to the Multilingual, Human Resources and Information Technology Departments to ensure that the new schedule not only met the objectives of our strategic plan but also met the requirements of our labor contracts and regulations from the Oregon Department of Education.

Starting next school year (2024-2025), the NEW schedule for neighborhood middle schools will be as detailed on this page.

Changes to High School “bell schedule”

The district will be adopting a new schedule for school start and end times—what we refer to as our “bell schedule”—for next school year.  Research and recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics indicate older students benefit from later start times in terms of academic success and mental well-being. For younger students, research indicates that earlier start times have a near-zero effect on academic outcomes, meaning that there’s no measurable negative academic impact from moving to earlier start times at the elementary level. As we look at start times in neighboring districts, we see that nearly all the districts have already followed the research and shifted to later start times for high school students.

Starting next school year in August 2024, we’ll be changing the bell schedule for all schools as outlined here. Based on the transportation needs of the district, elementary schools have been assigned as either early- or late-start schools:

Early-start elementary schools: Aloha-Huber Park K-8, Barnes, Bethany, Fir Grove, Greenway, Hazeldale, Hiteon, Jacob Wismer, Kinnaman, McKay, McKinley, Nancy Ryles, Oak Hills, Raleigh Park, Ridgewood, Sato, Vose, and West Tualatin View

Late-start elementary schools: Beaver Acres, Bonny Slope, Cedar Mill, Chehalem, Cooper Mountain, Elmonica, Errol Hassell, Findley, Montclair, Raleigh Hills, Rock Creek, Scholls Heights, Sexton Mountain, Springville, Terra Linda, and William Walker

We recognize that this change may impact after-school child care needs for some families. It’s worth noting that 29 of our 34 elementary schools do have some form of on-site, after-school care provided by third-party vendors. In addition, we’re working to ensure that buses will be able to deliver students to all off-site child care providers within their particular school’s boundary.

West TV alumni scholarship offered

Application deadline April 26

In 1990, the Parent Teacher Club at West TV Elementary School honored long time secretary Debbie Olson by creating a scholarship in her name. Ms. Olson was a strong supporter of higher education and extremely proud of the students at West TV. A scholarship is given to a West TV alumnus who exemplifies the mission of the school to “ensure that each child will learn at high levels” through academic achievement, community service and extracurricular activities.

$1500 will be awarded in the form a check payable to the school or college of the scholarship winner’s choice. Visit this page to learn about eligibility and application instructions, or contact Cristi Lawson.

Big Book Giveaway

Saturday, March 9, 11 am-2 pm, William Walker Elementary School cafeteria, 2350 SW Cedar Hills Boulevard (east of Cedar Hills Park)

Get ready for another BSD Big Book Giveaway! We have ten pallets of books that are no longer used in our classrooms or libraries. * Rather than recycle them or throw them out, we’re giving them away to families. We’ll be set up in the cafeteria with tables of books for children of all ages.

*These are books that, for various reasons, we no longer use in our classrooms or libraries. Some are surplus; others may be outdated. Please select books that are appropriate for your family.