Helpful Information
New to Adams? We’re so glad you’re here! To help you get started, we’ve gathered answers to the questions parents ask most often.
Please note that this information is subject to change and is provided as a courtesy to help new parents get acclimated with Adams Elementary. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to the weekly Alligator Bite or visit the school’s official website here.
Communication + Contacting the School
Communication
Official communication from Adams Elementary is delivered via email and the Parent Square App. The Alligator Bite is a weekly newsletter sent out by the office on Fridays with info about what’s happening at school and what’s coming up.
If you are not receiving weekly emails from the school please call the main office at (541) 757-5938 or email Theresa or Lisa.
Contacting the School
Main Office phone: (541) 757-5938
Email: Theresa Dawley or Lisa Boyd
Please call the main office for all Attendance matters: late to school, absence due to sickness, doctor’s appointment during school hours, early pick-up, etc.
Staff to Know
Here are a few staff members that may be helpful to know, aside from your child’s teacher:
Peter Henning, Principal: [email protected]
Theresa Dawley, Office Manager: [email protected]
Lisa Boyd, Office Assistant: [email protected]
Audrey Foley, Dean of Students
Tressa Remington, Health Services Assistant
Daily Schedule
School Starts: 8:00am
- Students can be dropped off as early as 7:45am
- All students gather in the gymnasium for the start of school
School Ends: 2:30pm (Friday Early Release at 1:30pm)
- Please make sure your child knows how they are getting home after school each day (it’s common for children to not know or forget!)
- If you have a change in your afternoon transportation plans, please either send a note to school with your child in the morning or contact the main office to let them know by 2pm (1pm on Fridays). The office can send a note to your child in class if they are unaware of the change in plans.
Fridays
On Fridays, our staff members will dress up in gold! Students are also welcome to dress up in gold if they choose. Once a month, we have our Golden Assembly, typically on Fridays as well.
Fridays are early release days and school ends at 1:30pm.
Lunch
Corvallis School District provides free school breakfast and lunch to ALL students.
Students participating in school lunch will make their selection from the menu each morning in their classroom. The cafeteria then prepares food based on the student selections to make sure children get their preferences and to minimize food waste.
If students bring their lunch from home, their lunchboxes are loaded on a lunch cart each morning in their classroom and transported to the cafeteria.
Please make sure your child’s water bottles and lunch boxes are labeled with your child’s name.
Library, Art, PE, & Music
Specials Classes
The term “Specials” refers to your student’s Library, Art, Physical Education, and Music classes.
Library, Music, and Art are offered once per week and PE is twice per week (schedule varies per classroom). Each teacher is listed below for reference!
Library: Becky Torgerson
Art: Rachael Sanders
PE: Lynn Roylance
Music: Annalee Hiebert
Make a Difference at Adams
We are always looking for volunteers to assist in supporting our wonderful Specials teachers and ensure they have the help they need. Here are a few examples of how you can get involved:
- Sign up to be a weekly Art Helper such as during your child’s designated art class time (Approx. 1 hour weekly commitment)
- Reshelve books for our librarian to ensure her time can best be spent with students! (Flexible time commitment)
Adams in Motion (AIM)
What is AIM?
AIM is a rewards-based running program located on the bark chip trail during morning recess on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Volunteers help students keep track of laps as they run, walk, skip, or roll along the .2 mile path in our field.
Every 5 laps is a mile. Every 50 laps fills up a punch card and is a 10 mile achievement. Each 10 mile “milestone” means a child receives a ribbon, gets to wear a running medal for the day, and has her/his name on the school’s wall of fame.
Special rewards are also available along the way to keep kids motivated!
Volunteer With AIM
Volunteers are always needed to track student laps on their punch cards! Please email [email protected] if you’re interested in helping with this!
Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB)
What is OBOB?
The Oregon Battle of the Books is a voluntary statewide program for reading motivation and comprehension sponsored by the Oregon Association of School Library Services.
The goal is to encourage reading for enjoyment, broaden reading interests, increase reading comprehension, and promote cooperative learning! Sixteen books are hand selected and voted on for students to read. Teams then go to battle answering trivia questions on the books they’ve read, answering “In Which Book?” and “Content” questions. Each school sends their winning team to compete in a regional tournament. Our very own Reading Raccoons represented Adams last year at state. Their plaque is currently on display in the library.
OBOB runs October through March and is a commitment. Team practice meetings are held once a week during lunch. Any 4th or 5th grader can participate and create teams of up to 5 members (4 battle at a time with one alternate). Students can also sign up individually and will be put on a team. Third Graders this year can participate as an intro to OBOB – reading a reduced number of books and competing at their grade level.
OBOB will be introduced to classes during Library in early October and permission slips will be coming home, if your child chooses to participate.
Help Make OBOB Possible
We are always looking for volunteers to help coach and moderate battles. Time commitment is about an hour a week. This is only made possible by parent volunteers! Please contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in helping with OBOB.
Green Team
This is a club where students can learn about the environment, what they can do to help. Students in 3rd 5th grade are welcome to become members. There is one club that meets during school at morning recess and another that meets after school.
Garden Club
Your student can learn about gardening and help maintain Adams School’s fruit and vegetable garden! Look for flyers sent home before sessions begin in the fall.
Alligator Tags
Students earn Alligator Tags for being safe, respectful, & responsible. Any staff member can reward good behavior with Alligator Tags. Students can win prizes in their classroom each week for earned Alligator Tags!
Adamswear
Adamswear is our school spirit shop, where you can rep your school with school tees & hoodies! We typically sell Adamswear at the beginning of the school year during Block Party and will be rolling out a new online ordering format for the 2025-26 school year, so stay tuned!
Lost & Found
Each year, Adams donates hundreds of items that have ended up in Lost and Found. Please write your child’s name on their belongings so you avoid misplaced or lost items! If you are missing an item, our Lost & Found is around the corner from the office.
Adams Parent Association (APA)
About APA
All Adams parents are automatically members of the Adams Parent Association or APA!
The APA was created to support the education of our students, our teachers, and the inclusive community at Adams. APA fundraises to put on fun events such as our school’s Block Party, Jog-A-Thon, annual Book Fairs, STEAM Night, Fine Arts Night, Carnival, Field Day, and more!
For more details on the events put on by the parent association, please visit our Events page.
Volunteer at Adams
We are always looking for volunteers to help support the events and special programs available at Adams! We would love for you to be involved in whatever capacity fits your life best.
Whether it’s taking art home to mount for Fine Arts Night, shelving books at the library, helping count AIM laps during morning recess, or taking a quick 30 minute shift to hand out popcorn at Carnival, you can truly make a difference at your child’s school.
For current volunteer opportunities, please email us at [email protected] and we can help find something that works well for you!
CSD Volunteer Application
For the safety of our students, all volunteers are required to complete a background check with the Corvallis School District. Please take a moment to fill out the Volunteer Application before signing up for activities.
Note: Please complete this application with enough time prior to your first volunteer commitment and allow 1-3 weeks for processing and approval. All background checks are valid for two school years, so return volunteers must complete this application every two years. Thank you!