Herbicide Notice

PSD Facilities anticipate putting down an herbicide treatment across the district grounds the week of March 24-28, 2025, weather dependent.

Jillian Samp

Welcome to PSD – Jillian Samp

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Jillian Samp
4th Grade Teacher
Sherwood Heights Elementary School

Jillian was born in Pendleton and has lived here all her life. She graduated from Pendleton High School in 2020.

She attended Eastern Oregon University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Multidisciplinary Studies.

About working in the Pendleton School District, Jillian said, “I’m super excited to be back in my hometown teaching and getting to teach with some amazing teachers in our district.”

In her free time, Jillian loves to spend time with her family and her dog, Scout.

Jillian Samp

Sherwood Elementary Focuses on 24-25 Year

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Sherwood Heights Elementary has a new Principal and new Assistant Principal for the 2024-25 school year. Principal TJ Presley was previously the Assistant Principal. The school’s new Assistant Principal is Faith Lindley. They are focusing on these goals this year:

  1. Building safety
  2. Engaging learning environment
  3. Academic growth

Presley said staff and student safety has always been a priority, but this year, in addition to the standard monthly drills for fire and lockdowns, the staff is emphasizing active supervision. This means adults have high awareness and move around when supervising students inside the building and on the playground. “We have 450 students in our school to monitor so we want people to say something if they see something unsafe so we can address it,” Presley said.

Goal number two is geared toward developing a fun, positive atmosphere where academic and social emotional growth are happening daily. Presley said Sherwood has a great staff to work with. The school’s leadership team, including himself, Lindley, Lisa Roberts, Child Development Specialist, and Taylor Wilson, Behavior Specialist, collaborate to develop a positive school climate.

To further academic growth this year, the school added 10 minutes of extra time to reading and math skills. In addition to Sherwood’s strong teachers and 17 dedicated paraprofessionals, other adults are supporting learning. Volunteers from Altrusa of Pendleton are at Sherwood every week to help students with literacy, students from Eastern Oregon University are providing support in classrooms and some students from Pendleton High School are volunteering in second grade. “Growth is happening,” Presley said.

Head Secretary Amy Kline said Sherwood’s new administrative team is great to work with and supportive of the staff. Every new school year, Kline said, “it’s always fun to see the kids grow into a new grade.” Rhonda Daggett, the school’s Assistant Secretary, said the start of the year has gone smoothly, and she looks forward to seeing the students who struggle realize success throughout the year.

Here’s to a great year, Sherwood Spurs!

To read more about Sherwood Heights Elementary, visit their website at https://ses.pendleton.k12.or.us/ or find them on Facebook and Instagram.

Sherwood Staff

 

Alexis Keene

Welcome to PSD – Alexis Keene

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Alexis Keene
Special Education Teacher
Sherwood Heights Elementary School

Alexis grew up in Pendleton. She attended Washington Elementary and then Helix School District for middle and high school.

She attended Western Governors University to earn a bachelor’s degree in Special Education Mild-to-Moderate.

What is Alexis most excited about working in the Pendleton School District? “To continue to work with my Sherwood team and to support students as they achieve & succeed at their learning & life skill goals.”

In her free time, she likes to spend time with family & friends, especially if it involves fly fishing, hiking, baking, or going out for frozen yogurt or sushi.

Alexis Keene

Veterans Day Sherwood

4th Graders Learn About Veterans Day at Sherwood Elementary

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Some fourth graders at Sherwood Elementary spent some time in November learning about Veterans Day. In teacher Hailey Kendrick’s class, student groups were assigned a piece of reading on a branch of the U.S. Military. After reading the information and identifying the main idea and supporting details of the text, students had the opportunity to share their learning with each other by presenting the information they learned as a group.

Kendrick said students enjoyed learning about the different branches of the military and that while some were familiar with a few of the branches, almost all were excited about learning something new. “Additionally, many students were proud to share about family members and important people in their lives who are Veterans. They were able to feel a deeper connection and admiration for them through learning more about how they served our country,” Kendrick said.

Then, the students completed a craft honoring the American flag. Kendrick said the students really liked learning more about the American flag and its history and persevering through a fun yet challenging art project depicting the flag.

What does Kendrick hope her fourth graders take away from the Veterans Day lessons? “I hope students have an even deeper sense of respect for the people who serve our country and protect the freedoms we enjoy every single day. I also hope they are walking away with an understanding that the American flag is a figure that represents these freedoms and liberties, which is why we do certain things like standing for the national anthem, taking hats off when the American flag enters an arena or stadium and saluting the flag if they are comfortable,” she said.

Jacey Dirisu, another fourth grade teacher at Sherwood, also worked with her students to explore Veterans Day. Her students read an informational passage about one of the six military branches of their choosing (they worked on the U.S. Army as a whole class, for example) and then identified the main idea and supporting details from the text. After that, groups made a poster to represent what they learned and gave a mini-presentation to the rest of the class.

Dirisu said her students mainly loved making the posters because they were able to use their creativity and teamwork skills and that most of them put a lot of effort into this project.

What is one thing Dirisu hopes her students take away from this project? “I hope my students took away from this activity how important each branch of the military is in keeping our country safe.”

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Sherwood PD

Using Monday Late-Starts for Effective Professional Development

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Sherwood Heights Elementary Principal Ronda Smith is thankful for several things this November, but one of the biggest is late-start Mondays in the district. With that time on Monday mornings, Sherwood teachers and paraprofessionals are participating in robust Professional Development that is supporting strong teaching and learning.

“I really want to share with the public how powerful our PLCs on Monday mornings are and how grateful we are for this dedicated time to work on important instructional strategies,” Smith said.

PLC stands for Professional Learning Community, which is a grade-level team that works collaboratively to achieve better results for the students they teach. PLCs operate on the premise that the key to improved learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning for educators.

On some Monday mornings, Sherwood has all-staff meetings, which include 10 minutes of instructional strategies that can be used by all staff in the building. These focus on topics like learning targets or guiding student discussion in the classroom. On other Mondays, PLCs meet to discuss curriculum, and sometimes all grade-level teachers from different schools gather to collaborate.

In addition to Monday mornings, on Tuesday through Friday, all of Sherwood’s paraprofessionals engage in 15 minutes of Brain Smart Start activities led by Jolene Hudson, Intervention Specialist. These activities use current brain research methods and strategies to support students who are struggling with behavior that may impede learning. “The learning that happens in these morning sessions is so targeted and specific that our paraprofessionals walk out of the room and use it,” Principal Smith said.

Cami Carlisle, Paraprofessional at Sherwood, said the Brain Smart Starts have helped her this year. She has been using the Q-TIP motto, “quit taking it personally,” which has helped her manage difficult interactions with students. “I have learned to take a breath, step back, and get back to the executive brain function in myself to help the student who is in survival brain mode,” Carlisle said.

Reminders about the strategies they are using are posted in the Staff Room. The entire staff also works on being connected as a team, like sharing wishes and shout outs on bulletin boards.

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Pendleton School District
107 NW 10th Street, Pendleton, OR 97801
Phone:  541.276.6711  Fax:  541.278.3208

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