Superintendent – Dorie Vickery

Strong Schools, Strong Community: Working Together for Sheridan

Sheridan School District believes that strong schools and a strong community go hand in hand. We are proud to work with local organizations, businesses, and volunteers to make Sheridan a great place to live, learn, and grow.

Here are a few examples of how we are working together to support our community.

Sheridan Dog Park

Did you know the Sheridan Dog Park is located on school district property? The park sits at the end of Jefferson Street, just beyond the softball field. Through an agreement approved by the School Board, the City of Sheridan maintains the park for everyone to enjoy. This partnership provides a safe, fenced area where community members can bring their dogs to play and exercise.

Hometown Days

Hometown Days is one of Sheridan’s favorite community celebrations! Many of the activities take place near Sheridan High School. Each year, the District works closely with the Hometown Days Planning Committee to prepare for the event. Our custodial team spends time getting the grounds ready, while the committee raises funds for rides, music, advertising, and cleanup.

Mark your calendars! Next year’s Hometown Days will take place June 18–19, 2027.

Pickleball Courts

A community team, including the Rotary Club of the West Valley and Sheridan School District, is working on plans to turn the tennis courts at Sheridan High School into pickleball courts. Rotary members are exploring grants and other funding options to help pay for the project.

If funding is secured, the courts could be ready within the next year. They will be available for public use outside of school hours, creating another opportunity for recreation and community connection.

Halloween Halls – Saturday, October 31!

Get your costumes ready! Families are invited to trick-or-treat through the “haunted” halls of Sheridan High School on Saturday, October 31, from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.

This fun community event is made possible through the efforts of the Sheridan Chamber of Commerce, local businesses, volunteers, and generous donors. We hope to see you there!

Thank You, City of Sheridan!

We also want to thank the City of Sheridan for organizing last week’s street painting project on Bridge Street. Projects like this help build community pride, create a sense of belonging for our students, and strengthen the connection between our schools and our city.

These are just a few examples of what can happen when schools, local government, businesses, and volunteers work together. Sheridan is a special community because of the people who care about it and are willing to lend a hand.

Thank you to everyone who helps make Sheridan a wonderful place for our students and families!

Regular attendance plays an important role in helping students learn, build relationships, and feel connected to their school community. 

Families are essential partners in building strong attendance habits and we need your help!

Regular attendance is defined as being present 90% or more of the school year and missing fewer than two days per month. 

Parents can help by making regular, on-time attendance a priority in your home and encouraging your child to be at school every day they are healthy and able to attend. If something is making regular attendance difficult, please reach out to your school. By working together, families and schools can help every student stay connected, engaged, and ready to succeed.

Here are just a few things you can do at home to support good attendance at school:

• Establish consistent bedtime and morning routines
• Prepare for the school day the night before
• Schedule appointments outside of school hours when possible
• Plan vacations during school breaks. 
• Talk with your child about why showing up every day matters
• Celebrate positive attendance habits.

Here are a few of the ways our staff are supporting improved school attendance:

Faulconer-Chapman Attendance Challenge – A new bulletin board at FCS reminds students that their presence matters and that our school is better when they’re here. The board tracks the year-to-date attendance percentage, for students at each grade level. Quarterly prizes include options such as a popcorn party, an end-of-day dance party, or extra end-of-day recess.

Congratulations to our Kindergarteners, who are currently in the lead!

Team Huddle – Administrative staff from SHS and FCS are also meeting weekly for a “team huddle” to review attendance, chronic absenteeism and keep the importance of attendance in front of staff, as well as students and families. 

Sheridan Schools work hard to close gaps in access to healthcare for students and families in our community.

Virtual Health Room

Be sure to check out our Virtual Health Room available online:

www.sheridan.k12.or.us/resources/health-services/

Information includes student medication administration, special meals and nutrition accommodations, head lice, immunization resources and more

The Dental Foundation of Oregon’s Tooth Taxi 

Dental care is an important part of a student’s overall health and ability to be successful at school. The Tooth Taxi is able to address overdue treatment needs, or simply help students access preventive care. The Tooth Taxi serves students in grades K-12 each year.

Vision Services

Vision screenings also take place early in the year and we are fortunate to have Lions come to campus to assist with completing vision screenings each year. All FCS students are screened and last year, a collaborative event with Pacific University College of Optometry, the Oregon Optometric Physicians Association, the Oregon Foundation for Vision Awareness, SWEEP Optical, and community volunteers offered full vision care appointments for students whose screening showed they may need corrective lenses.

Additional Health & Wellness Programs

Our District also maintains the following programs in support of our students and families:

• Care Team meets monthly to identify and resolve barriers to service in the West Valley.
• Good Food Bags, coordinated through Churches United for West Valley, this program 

distributes food bags every Thursday, providing weekend meals for families.

Families with questions regarding our Health & Wellness services can contact our District Nurse, Rebecca Boris, BSN, RN, PCCN: rebecca.boris@sheridan.k12.or.us 

Dear Sheridan Families, 

When all of our staff returned for their first day back from summer break they met for breakfast at Sheridan High School where they were greeted by a resurfaced, pot-hole free parking lot and new exterior lighting! Less visible, but just as important, were roof repairs that were also completed on the high school building over the summer months. 

In addition to the excitement of a new school year, these changes added a positive element of community support for Sheridan Schools and the students that we serve. 

All three of these projects were funded by the voter-approved Sheridan Schools Bond that passed in 2025. With the help of R&C Management, all three were completed on time and within budget. 

In the coming months teams will meet to start the design work for the balance of the 2025 Bond projects. Visible projects will include the remodeling of the FCS Old Gym building, a new parking lot off Jefferson Street and secure entry at the high school and updating the SHS Science classroom. Less visible updates will include flooring replacement and updates to intercom, safety and access systems. 

Teachers and staff are energized each time they are able to meet and discuss these critical updates to the areas where they work and we continue to be grateful for your support, which we recognize to represent a vote of trust in our schools. 

We remain committed to transparency with regards to bond funds, and how they are being spent. I want to remind our voters that the Bond Oversight Committee, made up of representatives from the community, meets every other month. The next meeting will be held November 9 at 6pm at the District Office (435 South Bridge Street). 

Additional bond information, including upcoming Oversight Committee meeting dates and past minutes, can be found at: https://sheridanbond.org/

We were thrilled to welcome your students back into our schools on Monday and are excited for all of the possibilities for the coming year. Communication between caregivers, teachers and our district is one of the most important pieces of a successful year. Here are some of the important steps you can take to ensure you are receiving all of the information you need in the coming months:

Parent Square

Sheridan Schools use ParentSquare for mass communications to parents and families. The same platform is used for messages from the District, as well as your student’s teachers. It is also how your family will be notified in case of an emergency or weather closures. 

If your phone number or other information has changed in the past year, you may not be receiving important information and updates. Please make sure you have downloaded the ParentSquare app and log in to your app to make sure your information is up-to-date. 

District Website: www.sheridan.k12.or.us

The Sheridan School District website contains important information about our schools, including breakfast/lunch menus, school calendars, athletics information and bus routes. 

Official Facebook Pages 

Sheridan Schools (or affiliated groups) maintain a variety of Facebook pages. We encourage you to follow pages you are interested in for updates and information throughout the year! 

• Sheridan School District
• Faulconer-Chapman
• Sheridan High School – Home of the Spartans
• Sheridan Oregon FFA Chapter
• Sheridan Spartan Athletics & Activities
• Sheridan High School Boosters
• SHS Grad Night Party (Senior parents)

We are looking forward to a great 2026-27 school year!

Over the course of the past year Sheridan Schools implemented a state-wide ban on student cell phone use from bell-to-bell. Although Sheridan Schools already had a practice of not allowing cell phone use during instructional time, the new law also included hallways and common spaces, like the cafeteria.

The changes had an impact across everyone involved with our schools and I wanted to take a moment during our summer pause to reflect on a few things we learned.

Mr. DeLatte, Principal at Faulconer-Chapman, reported that at FCS implementation of the
updated expectations was highly successful. “Students adapted quickly to the changes and
demonstrated excellent compliance throughout the school year. We observed more students engaging in face-to-face conversations during lunch and passing times, increased participation in school activities, and fewer distractions during transitions between classes. The positive response from students made the transition smooth and reinforced a more connected and engaged school environment.”

Mr. Schrader, Sheridan High School Principal, shared that he noticed an increase in the positive energy and conversations that happened in the cafeteria each day, as students interacted more with each other, instead of their devices.

While the cell phone ban seemed to improve the overall social environment, some staff also noted that there were legitimate uses for cell phones in some classroom activities and they hoped the law would be further refined in the future to allow more teacher discretion.
Overall, it was a relatively smooth transition for Sheridan Schools and we appreciate all of the students, parents, teachers and staff who helped us successfully implement this change.

Dear Sheridan Community,

Thank you for trusting us with your students over the past year. The 2025-26 school year saw the return of some of our favorite annual events, including music concerts and the FCS fishing trip, as well as new opportunities for Sheridan students, such as swim lessons and vision services. Staff also spent time this year preparing for work that will be funded by our 2025 Sheridan Schools Bond and navigating the new regulations around cell phone use in our schools. Overall it was a great year for Sheridan students and staff!

Following are just some of the things we will be working on during the summer months:

Summer Food Options

“Grab-and-Go” Meals for ages 1-18 will be provided each week, Monday through Thursday, from June 22 to August 7 at three locations in Sheridan:

• Sheridan City Park: 11-11:20AM
• Faulconer-Chapman: 11:30-11:50
• Sheridan High School: 12:05-12:25

Lunch will be provided, as well as breakfast for the next day. Parent or student must be present in order to receive their meals.

Registration info for Fall

Registration information for the 2026-27 school year, as well as inter-district transfer information, is currently being updated and will be posted to our website this summer. If you know a student who would like to attend Sheridan Schools this fall, please encourage them to contact the District Office (971-261-6959) with any questions!

2025 Sheridan Schools Bond work

Work on Sheridan High School parking lot, roof repairs and exterior lighting will begin on June 22, following Hometown Days.

Barbara Roberts CTEC / Fire Science Pathway

20 junior and senior level students from four school districts have expressed interest in taking classes focused on Fire Science this fall offered through the Barbara Robert CTEC program. We are excited to see this program roll-out to students using some of our available spaces while we continue to raise the funds to build a permanent facility for this program.

Dear Sheridan Community,

This Saturday we gather together in celebration of Sheridan High School’s Class of 2026. Members of this year’s class demonstrate resilience, simply by marking this goal. They fought their way through the disruptions of Covid during their middle school years. They have watched the rise of AI, and learned to recognize that it is necessary to find balance in activities on and off their phones. News and world events have been delivered to them in short-form videos and they have had to learn how to critically analyze information, remembering that complex problems rarely have simple solutions. On their best days, they have been encouraged by friends, family and members of their community to be the best version of themselves and they have strived to discover what it means for each of them. Students in this year’s graduating class have experienced change at every turn during their formative years and were able to navigate successfully through to this moment.

Sheridan’s Class of 2026 includes 5 Chemeketa Scholars: Lucas Brewster, Drizzt Gehrke, Angel Dryer, Taylor Lugo and Hunter Klingler, who each qualify for a full-tuition scholarship for two years valued at over $10,000. 14 students have qualified for the Oregon Promise grants with a value of $4,500 each. Collectively, class members have received a total of over $135,000 in scholarship funds to date, and more awards are expected to be received in the coming weeks. Three students, Hunter Klingler, Drizzt Gehrke, and Angel Dryer, will serve as valedictorians having all earned a 4.0 GPA; Lucas Brewster will serve as Salutatorian.

While the majority of the work has been done by the graduates themselves, support from family, caregivers and community has also been critical to our seniors. If you are one of the many people who got them to school, helped with homework and cared about their day-to-day successes, you share a piece of their achievement.

Sheridan High School Graduation is this Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 2pm and we look forward to celebrating our students together with friends, family and the community.

Dear Sheridan Community,

Last week I was able to attend a number of Senior Project presentations and once again found myself amazed by the time and energy our students put into the community each year. Senior Projects are a unique requirement for graduation from Sheridan High School. Each Senior must choose a project that requires a minimum of 30 hours of their time to complete, with additional class time spent on research and their final presentation.

Here are a few highlights of this year’s projects:

• Ivy Mirabito, Madison Blacketer, and Alondra Casillas organized the annual Dig Pink Volleyball event. They designed and sold shirts to raise money to help support breast cancer survivors. They raised $2,217 and were able to donate the money directly to a person in the community who is currently fighting breast cancer.
• Quinton Kelly & Logan Bergan organized and planned the Keegan Smith Memorial Basketball game. This event raised awareness for suicide prevention with funds going to support the annual Keegan Smith Memorial Scholarship.
• Lucas Brewster & NeVaeh Stewart worked with the Red Cross to organize 3 blood drives this year. They collected a total of 87 units.
• Other projects included work in support of track, drama, football, art and cheer programs, in addition to the Tree of Giving program over the holiday season and literacy initiatives.

In addition to their projects, seniors must research careers and make a plan for life after high school. Walking through the details of this process results in many of our students identifying scholarships, college campuses, apprenticeship programs, and other financial aid opportunities they may not have been aware of otherwise. Senior Projects are one way we encourage our graduating seniors to start thinking outside of the walls of Sheridan High School and into their community. We love seeing where students decide to focus their time and we look forward to seeing how they use their skills to impact our community for years to come.

Dear Sheridan Community,
Sheridan School District believes in addressing the needs of the whole child, and strives to remove barriers that can prevent students from learning.

We are very fortunate to have a vibrant Health Services team, District Nurse Rebecca Boris and Health Assistant Airan Ceballos, who work tirelessly to address vision, dental and hearing needs, in addition to the various individualized medical needs of our students. At the beginning of this year, the Health Services team identified over 40 Sheridan District students who had not passed their vision screening for two years in a row and, due to the lack of vision services in the West Valley, have been unable to receive a comprehensive eye exam.

Based on this information the Health Services team has arranged for Pacific University Eye Vision Van to be onsite June 5 doing comprehensive eye exams for FCS and SHS students. (Appointments must be made in advance.) Exams are FREE for students on OHP/YCCO, however students with other insurance are encouraged to reach out and the Health Services team will help secure an appointment with another provider. SWEEP Optical will also be providing FREE glasses for students with appointments, as part of the clinic. There are just a few appointment spots left – please reach out as soon as possible if your student needs vision services! We will start a waitlist once all slots are filled, with priority given to younger students who are still learning to read. Email Rebecca Boris to add your student to the list: rebecca.boris@sheridan.k12.or.us

Twice a year this team also works with Capital Dental to provide students with sealants and basic dental exams. 48 sealants were placed this spring alone, with 2 students referred for further evaluation, however no students were identified with urgent needs, showing that these ongoing programs are working for our students. The “Tooth Taxi” is scheduled to visit again this Fall (September 21-24), and will offer full dental
exams, fillings, cleanings, procedures.

I am grateful for the work of our Health Services team and their commitment to the health of our students.