Helix School District

Parents, For the first time in nearly 11 months, the Helix School District has K-12th grade students, in-person for a full day of instruction. A huge thanks to the Helix staff and parents for your perseverance since we had to shut down on Friday, March 13th, 2020. Please continue to self-screen your students and keep them home if they are sick or have COVID related symptoms. Please contact the school office if you have questions. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Parents, Good morning. Another great week in the Helix School District as we welcomed back the 6th-8th grade students. Starting next Monday, we will have all of the K-12 students in school for a full day of classes. We ask that the 9th-12th grade students return and check in their Chromebooks on Monday, Feb. 8th. Thanks for all your support and have a wonderful weekend! Thanks, Darrick Cope

Good evening and Happy Tuesday! A few busing related announcements: If you have a 6-8th grade student who will be riding the bus and do not know the AM or PM schedule, please contact the office. The noon bus for LIPI students that stops at Midway Elevator and Hwy 37/334 has not been used by anyone. We will run this route Wednesday and if no one utilizes it, we will discontinue it. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Good evening. First day back for full-day, in-person instruction for K-5 went awesome! With exception of one situation, we had 100% attendance today. Katie Zmuda, our new cook, prepared a hot lunch for the kids. The snow caused some issues for recess, but nothing we couldn’t handle. Last week’s positive COVID count for Umatilla County decreased, so all things are going well. Looking forward to 6th-8th grades coming in next. Thanks for all your support and have a great week!! Thanks, Darrick Cope

Parents, We are excited and ready for the K-5 students to be at Helix for a full-day, in-person, starting Monday, Jan. 25th. The AM and PM bus schedules have been distributed. Call the office with questions. We will also be offering a noon bus for the 6th-12th grade students in LIPI next week, with the exception of Thursday. The only stops will be Hwy 37/334 at 12:15pm and Midway Elevator at 12:35pm. Please call the office if you would like to have your student ride this bus. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Parents, Good evening. We have a plan in place to bring students back for full-day, in-person. K-5 will return Monday, Jan. 25th; 6th-8th will return Monday, Feb. 1st and the high school will return on Monday, Feb. 8th. For more information and a letter that explains this plan, go to the school webpage, click on Parent Resources, scroll down to the folder labeled Operational Blue Print Plan and open the .pdf file named Opening Plan Final Letter. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Thank you to the Helix School Board! January is School Board Recognition Month. Even during a pandemic, it’s worth taking time to thank our elected school board members for charting the future of our students and communities. The Oregon School Boards Association has set aside the month of January to honor the unpaid elected volunteers who serve on Oregon’s 197 local school boards, our 19 education service district boards, and our 17 community college boards. These dedicated local leaders give their personal time and energy to handling the critical tasks of budgeting and overseeing the management of Oregon’s public education structure.

On Tuesday, January 19th Governor Brown will be announcing changes to the school reentry metrics and guidance. Based on likely changes to our operational blueprint and potential liability coverage issues, I will be recommending to the board we push the start day back one week. So, K-5th start on Monday, Jan. 25, 6th-8th start on Monday, Feb. 1st and 9th-12th start on Monday, Feb. 8th. Sorry for the change, but compliance with ODE guidance is a necessity to open our doors and keep them open. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Good evening and Happy New Year! We will be continuing with LIPI for all grades, including 7th & 8th grades, over the final two weeks of 2nd quarter. The same AM & PM schedules will be used. Feel free to email me if you are uncertain of the schedule. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Parents, students and Helix community, As I’m sure you have heard, Gov Brown, ODE, OHA, and others are going to begin a transition from the current COVID metrics to a more locally controlled advisory status, which will eventually allow for in-person instruction. It appears the Feb. 15th date is still something the Gov is shooting for as a state-wide reopening date. I would anticipate the Helix SD will be running full-day, in-person in K-3, or maybe even K-8, a lot earlier than that. We are waiting for one more level of guidance from the State to be distributed in mid-January, but I will begin making plans for reopening upon our return on January 4th. I would anticipate students, parents and community members all want to know what the Helix SD plans to do based on these changes. Please be patient as implementation plans are developed and know that everyone will be notified once the State releases the new guidelines and our final plans are made. The District will do its best to get students (and staff) safely back in the building, full-time, as soon as possible. Hope you have a wonderful break and a Merry Christmas!!! Thanks, Darrick Cope, Superintendent, Helix SD

I feel so honored and blessed to work in a school district with such a wonderful PTO, parents, students and community. The snacks and various items given to the staff this week were so awesome and much appreciated. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!! See you in 2021!! Thanks, Darrick Cope

Welcome! The Helix School District has partnered with My MealTime, a fast, secure online service for making credit or debit card deposits and monitoring your student’s lunch account. You can access this from the Helix School District Webpage (helix.k12.or.us) and click the HELPFUL LINKS button at the top of the page. Scroll down to MealTime Breakfast/Lunch Program and follow the directions.

Good morning. If you would like to order your student’s pictures online at mylifetouch.com, use this picture ID# EVTGS8KSG. Thanks, Darrick Cope

Good morning. Just a reminder that Monday, Dec., 14th is picture day, so please send your picture packets with your child. Also, Friday, Dec. 18th is a full LIPI day. Check with your child’s teacher for more info. Thanks, Darrick

Today, Governor Brown outlined a new health and safety framework for the state of Oregon that aligns to the metrics being used for K-12 schools. These statewide health and safety metrics have no operational implications for schools and districts under the Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance. School will resume in LIPI as we have been operating the last month or two. Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks, Darrick Cope

A huge thank you to all those who donated to the Helix Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive. Your generosity helped make this event very successful.

Umatilla County Health Dept will be hosting drive thru school age vaccination clinics on: Mon. December 7th 1-6pm at Gib Olinger Elementary in Milton-Freewater Tues. December 8th 1-4pm at Gib Olinger Elementary in Milton-Freewater Please note: 1. Pre-registration is required 2. There will be no out of pocket costs, but insurance will be billed if they have it 3. All vaccines recommended for school age kids (grades K-12) will be available, including the flu shot

Parents, Just a reminder that Friday, Nov. 20th is the final day for the Helix SD canned food drive. Please have all items to your child’s teacher by 1pm on that day. Thanks, Darrick Cope

The Helix School is continuing our past tradition of collecting food prior to Thanksgiving. It will be donated to the food pantry at Athena Christian Church which serves the surrounding communities, including Helix. If you don’t have students in school and would like to donate, you can put your donation on your porch, call the school and we will have it picked up for you. helping others is a great way to brighten your day. If your family could use assistance, please contact the school also. We hope everyone has a safe and bountiful holiday. The food we are collecting is listed below.

Parents, ODE just confirmed that schools are not directly impacted by the Governor’s 2-week “freeze”. Helix will be able to continue with our Limited In-person instruction (LIPI). There will be a travel advisory for those leaving the county or state. The Governor really wants families to stay home for the next two weeks, and keep your interactions to 6 people or less and a maximum of two households. Have a great weekend! Thanks, Darrick Cope