11.10 Boosters Meeting

11.11 NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day

11.13 SENIORS Cap / Gown Orders DUE

11.23 - 11.24 NO SCHOOL - Conferences

11.25 - 11.27 NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break

12.01 Senior Pictures DUE

12.01 Yearbook Name Change DUE

12.04 - 12.05 Fall Play

12.08 Boosters Meeting

12.11 - 12.12 Fall Play

12.15 Choir Concert

12.17 Winter Band Concert

12.21 - 01.01 NO SCHOOL - Winter Break

At Sheldon, we have made a commitment that supporting student attendance is a top priority this year.  One barrier to good attendance can be simply that students (and parents) might have some common misconceptions about attendance.  Here are some common thought patterns that it may help to think about a little differently:

Every time your student is absent, it means they are missing time that could be used for their education.  While excusing an absence helps with making sure they’re gone for legitimate reasons, it doesn’t cancel out the fact that they’re missing the things being taught to their classmates.  When students miss class, even for athletics or personal and family activities, excusing the absence makes it seem ‘all okay’, but it’s also important to recognize that they are missing out on the educational opportunities that continue to happen without them.  If your student is struggling academically, it might not be the best choice for them to take time away from class.

Since Covid, we all have our guard up (which is important) and many folks might plan to stay home for any symptom of illness.  While we definitely don’t want students to force themselves to be here if they feel unwell, many illnesses are no longer contagious even when minor symptoms still linger.  If students feel well enough, as long as they have not had a fever or vomiting in the last 24 hours, they should probably plan to be here.  There are a few other things to look out for, so if you have any questions, students or parents can check in with our school nurse or use this helpful Health Guidance Handout from The Oregon Department of Education:

With modern shifts to technology, students have been fortunate that teachers are able to present their course material in many different ways.  While this can be an excellent way to support what happens in the classroom, it is by no means a replacement for the valuable work our teachers do every day.  There’s a reason most students go to school in-person and not online.  There is often crucial information shared and learned in day-to-day lessons that doesn’t show up on Canvas, and being physically present is the only way students have access to the full process of learning that happens daily in their classrooms.

State law requires that we notify parents when students have an absence and our automated phone system is great for that.  When students miss multiple days of school, our Attendance Clerk and Administrators try to personally reach out to families when possible, but it takes a lot of time to keep track of the 1300+ students who attend Sheldon. When students are in class but marked as Tardy there isn’t a phone call made home, but there are still ways for parents to stay in-the-know. The best way to keep track of your student’s attendance is by setting a daily or weekly reminder to log in to ParentVUE to make sure there are no attendance marks that you aren’t aware of.

In a perfect world, all of our students could be here 100% of the time, but we know that’s not realistic.  That’s why we have set a goal for our students to have 90% or better attendance.  Families are such a crucial support to help our students see the value in being here as much as possible.  Every day they are here is an opportunity to learn something new!

Go Irish!

Mike Ingman

Principal

Sheldon High School

Requests to excuse absences must be received within 48 hours of the absence. If your student will miss 3 or more days of school due to a planned reason, use the Pre-arranged Absence Form available in the Attendance Office or on the Sheldon Website.

As a reminder, families can excuse their students' unplanned absences electronically as the district has moved attendance notifications to ParentSquare starting this school year.

Please note: You cannot reply directly to a notification email or text to excuse an absence. Family members must be registered in ParentSquare to send electronic attendance notes. To register, visit www.parentsquare.com/signin, and register using the email address or mobile phone number you provided your student's school.

As you look at your student’s attendance in ParentVue please ask your student about any attendance codes that may be coming up. If you need help signing up for ParentVue please do not hesitate to call Sheldon High School and we can help set that up for you.

A spot for our Class of 2027 to find upcoming deadlines, graduation information, and other news.

Parent groups from both Junior and Senior classes are trying to get connected! Events for seniors (like the Grad Night Party) are organized solely by parent volunteers and it needs a lot of willing hands to make it happen!

Please fill out the Google Form(s) below to share your contact information so you can be in the loop.

Please fill out this form if you are a parent/guardian of a current senior (class of 2027)

Please fill out this form if you are a parent/guardian of a current junior (class of 2028).

You may also want to consider joining this group’s Facebook page for additional information and updates.

We'd love to have your help! Our ambition this year is to assemble a regularly updated list of volunteers to assist with day-to-day needs here at Sheldon. Some of these people are parents, former staff members, and/or community members, all people like you!

So far, we have been getting started on planning with groups in the area to find ways folks can help. These are team efforts: Food Boxes or Food Drives, Clothing Drives, Personal Care Drives, Collecting for Prize Wheel Prizes, Prepping Staff Meals for specific events, Clothing Sorting.

What we would like to offer soon are some smaller opportunities for Individual Volunteering. Folks like yourself that might have 1-3 hours at a time to come in and help in small assignments throughout the building. There are some areas which can ALWAYS use a regular, ongoing volunteer to help (such as the Front Office greeting and answering phones). There are sometimes opportunities for projects that might last a few days or a couple of weeks (such as in the College and Career Center organizing materials and signups for specific scholarship opportunities). We would love to have a people standing daily at the various points of entry to the building to welcome students as they come in for the day or back from Lunch.

Our goal is to welcome volunteers in various areas, even sometimes for just one or two days at a time to see if certain tasks are a good fit and try to pair people who are helpful with the students and staff who could really use the help.  

All volunteers will need to go through our 4J Volunteer Application, so if you haven't already done so, that will be your first step. The application only takes about 5 minutes and the clearance usually takes about a week or two to get an email response back.

Once you have completed this step, please email Higgs_L@4j.lane.edu to express your interest in joining our building volunteer team. Please include any specific tasks or roles you are interested in pursuing. We can then arrange a brief Introduction to Volunteering meeting at Sheldon. These meetings typically last 30 minutes to an hour and can be scheduled individually or with a small group.

We are already slowly growing a small crew of recurring volunteers this year who've joined us on a regular basis. We can't wait to have more community support join us in our building!

Thank you all for your willingness to help our kids and GO IRISH!

Eugene School District 4J is committed to transparency, family engagement, and protecting student privacy. Federal and state laws, along with district policy, provide parents/guardians and students age 18 and older with important rights related to education records, privacy, directory information, surveys, statewide assessments, human sexuality education, and more. All parents and guardians are encouraged to review the information and forms provided by the district to learn more about these rights, including opportunities to review instructional materials, opt out of certain activities, and access student records. If you have questions or concerns, please contact your school administrator—we’re here to help support informed families and a strong school community.