Gervais Elementary School

Hello GES Families!

I am excited to serve at the interim principal for the rest of the year. I've missed seeing our students and families over the last couple weeks! I hope you all had a wonderful break, spending time with family and friends. I was able to watch my son wrestle and my daughter play basketball! Such an exciting time to be a parent:).

We look forward to welcoming students back tomorrow (Tuesday, January 6th) at 7:50 a.m. Attendance is the single best way to improve student achievement. Please partner with us in helping your child arrive on time and attend school every day so they can fully engage in learning, build strong relationships, and continue making academic progress.

We had planned to share an important update with GES students today and to then message families afterwards, but with the unexpected school closure due to power outage, we did not get the chance to share the news with our students first. We will let them know in the morning, but we need to announce that principal Dusty Price has been reassigned to serve as interim principal at Gervais High School for the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year. Assistant principal Sarah Bradley will serve as principal at Gervais Elementary School when students return from Winter Break. 

Though Mr. Price is excited to work with the high school students, he will really miss our GES students and staff. We have an amazing team and have accomplished so much together. It is inspiring to see such incredible growth in our students. It has been a privilege serving the GES school community and Mr. Price feels very sad to leave. The wonderful work happening across the school will continue under the leadership of Ms. Bradley. She is a very capable administrator and compassionate educator. We will work together to make this a smooth transition.

Gervais School District has a 2-hour delay this morning. Here is the message sent by the district this morning: "2 Hours Late. Due to a power outage and toilets not being functional at GMS and GHS. The district may decide to close for the entire day should the weather continue to worsen. That decision will be made by 8:00 AM".

Come support our GES fundraiser at the Woodburn Burgerville on Tuesday, December 16 from 4:00-7:00 PM and enjoy dinner as a family. Mention Gervais Elementary and 20% of your purchase will be donated to the school. GES staff will be their welcoming students and families and bussing the tables. It will be a fun night together supporting our school. Thanks

Attached is our GES newsletter for December with some important updates and reminders. Please reach out to the school office with any questions or concerns at 503-792-3803 ext. 1030. We want to do anything we can to support our students and families. Thanks

This is the final day to take the YouthTruth family survey. Currently, only 16% of GES households have responded, and we really want to hear from more families about our student's experience at school and how we can better support them and your family. Please complete the survey here: http://www.ytsurvey.org/gervaisfamily25

We have been asked to share information about 211info's child care referral line and social services resources. They offer free information and referrals via phone, email, and text to all families in Oregon for various services, including child care, food resources, holiday assistance, housing, parenting resources, and more. See the attached flier for contact information:

• 211info.org

• facebook.com/211info

• twitter.com/211info

We’re excited to invite you to our Chipotle Fundraiser in support of the 2026 Graduating Senior Party! Take a night off from cooking, enjoy a delicious meal, and help us celebrate our seniors—all at the same time.

How it works:
Just show the attached fundraiser flyer (or mention the Gervais High School Senior Parents fundraiser at checkout), and Chipotle will donate a portion of your purchase to our event. Online pick-up orders using the fundraiser code CR6VVZQ count too! See attached flyer.

Your participation helps us create a fun, safe, and memorable celebration for our graduating class. We truly appreciate your support!

Thank you for all you do for our students—hope you can participate!

We want to again encourage GES families to take 15 minutes to complete the YouthTruth Parent Survey: http://www.ytsurvey.org/gervaisfamily25. This helps us understand what we are doing well as a school and in what ways can improve to better serve our students and families.

We have an exciting GES Family Literacy Night this Thursday evening (November 6) from 6:00-7:30 PM in the gym. We encourage students and families to come with pajamas and plushies to enjoy the hands-on Dr. Seuss themed reading activities. We really want to empower families to take 20 minutes to read with their kids each day. That will absolutely change their world!

Attached is a letter from the superintendent Dandy Stevens to all Gervais SD families in response to growing concern amongst some families about recent ICE activity in surrounding communities. We want to reassure families that our schools are safe places for students. We work incredibly hard to build strong relationships with our students and families and to create a real sense of belonging in our school community. We encourage families to continue to send their students to school every day on time. Please reach out to the school office (503-792-3803 ext.1030) if there is anything we can do to provide extra care and support for your student at this time. Thanks