Gaffney Lane Elementary

Crazy hair day is always impressive!🧚‍♂️🧝‍♀️❄️Tomorrow is our big day to shine bright! We want to see your most festive, whimsical, and wonderful holiday attire. Whether it's a cozy sweater with reindeer, a sparkly dress fit for a sugar plum fairy, or your favorite holiday colors, let's fill the halls with festive cheer! 🎄✨#gaffneyschool

🏗️ 2025 Bond Project Update | Phase 1 and 2 Progress

We’re continuing to make steady progress across multiple bond-funded projects throughout the district! Here’s a snapshot of where things stand:

🏫 Phase 2 Elementary Schools (Candy Lane, Holcomb, John McLoughlin):
Design development is complete, with teams reviewing staff feedback from November and continuing cost estimating. Community, staff, and family input gathered through conferences is helping inform next steps. Planning is underway for how schools will operate during construction, including preparations for Candy Lane’s temporary transition to the King campus. Vendor selection is also underway for moving services and new playground equipment.

🔧 Oregon City High School – CTE:
Design development is complete, and the project remains in the design phase as plans are refined.

⚾ OCHS Fields & Grounds:
Construction continues to move forward—even through heavy rain. Softball facilities and fencing are complete, work is resuming on the baseball field, and the project remains on track for completion before the spring athletic season. Several new scoreboards are now installed!

🏟️ Pioneer Stadium:
Cost estimating and coordination with the City are ongoing, with construction currently anticipated for summer 2026.

Thank you to our staff, students, families, and community members for your continued feedback and support as we build safe, updated, and future-ready learning spaces for our students.

Fifth graders worked hard in small groups to solve long division story problems! Mrs. Fernaeus explained, "For every correct answer they earned some ART! We had a lot of success as you can see!" Looks fun to me!

Dec. 15-19 is our Holiday Spirit Week at GL!

Monday- All Aboard the polar express, wear Pj’s
Tuesday- Candy cane lane, wear red and white
Wednesday- Winter wonderland, wear blue and white
Thursday- Holly Jolly Hair, crazy hair
Friday- Festive, wear your favorite holiday clothes

Gardiner MS's awesome AVID students visited our Kindergartners and 1st graders today! They weren't just sharing books, they were sharing a love of literacy with laughter and silly read-aloud voices. Thank you, AVID leaders! #gardinermiddleschool #AVID #gaffneyschool

GL's OBOB Team (Oregon Battle of the Books) met with students at Gardiner MS, John McLoughlin Elementary, and Todos Unidos for dinner to discuss the books they're reading. I'm told two of the favorite books so far are "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau and "Better with Butter" by Victoria Pointek. These readers getting excited to compete!📚#OBOB #gaffneyschool

We only get one week to contribute to the OC Elks" Food Drive! Please donate non-perishables by this Friday, Dec.5th. Thank you for helping! #gaffneyschool

Happy Thanksgiving, Gaffney Lane community! 🦃🧡 As we head into the Thanksgiving break, our hearts are overflowing with gratitude! We are thankful every day for the energy and curiosity of our amazing students, the dedicated partnership of our wonderful families, and the support of our entire community. It truly takes all of us working together to make Gaffney such a special place to learn and grow. Wishing you all a safe, restful, and joyful holiday filled with good food and loved ones! #Gaffneyschool #HappyThanksgiving

Mark your calendars! ❄️🎶
Our talented 4th & 5th grade performers invite you to "The Heart of Winter" concert. Experience a beautiful blend of winter favorites and a special piece honoring heritage and ancestry. It’s going to be an unforgettable night of music!

📅 Date: December 9th, 2025 🕡 Time: 6:30 PM 📍 Location: Gardiner Middle School

🚗 Important Parking Information: Please note that parking space at Gardiner is limited.
Overflow Parking: Available at Oregon City Evangelical Church, which is a 10-minute walk away.
Closed Lot: First Presbyterian Church’s parking lot will be closed during our concert.
Please plan to park at Gardiner, Oregon City Evangelical Church, or in the surrounding area. We can't wait to see you there!

Mrs. McKinlay's and Mrs. O's students presented our own version of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Mrs. McKinlay explained, "We read 'Balloons over Broadway' by Melissa Sweet . It's about the history of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Our puppeteers made their own balloons and paraded to the first and second grade classrooms." I love a kids parade!🎈#gaffneyschool

Shout out to our Student Council Special Projects Crew! These hard working Grizzlies are helping to keep our school beautiful, and we're so appreciative! #gaffneyschool

Some lucky students got to enjoy a special lunch with OCPD Officer Dan Shockley! Officer Shockley is providing some community outreach in our OC schools this year. He's dedicated to building connections and being a familiar, supportive presence. #OCPD #Oregoncitypolice #gaffneyschool

Last night our Elementary Design Advisory Group met to review the new updated conceptual design plans for our Phase 2 Elementary schools. Our team will be visiting these schools (John McLoughlin, Holcomb, and Candy Lane) on November 24 and 25 during conferences to hear feedback and input on these new conceptual designs from parents and our community. Read more about the meeting here: https://www.ocschoolbond.org/o/bond/article/2548208

Gaffney Lane offers our deepest gratitude and appreciation to all Veterans. To honor their service, our 4th graders had the opportunity to interview the Veterans in their lives. By listening and writing down the answers, our students created a powerful collection of stories. We are proud of our students for taking the time to learn directly from the lived experiences of these heroes. Thank you to the Veterans and military families who shared their time and memories with our learners! #VeteransDay #GaffneySchool #HonorOurVets

Some creative 5th graders celebrated the gorgeous colors of the season with some fall inspired pattern art.🍁One of my favorite things is to poke my head into my fellow teachers’ classrooms to see what awesomeness they’re up to. I’m constantly inspired. #gaffneyschool

Students in Ms. Rinehart's, Mrs. Lawson's, and Mrs. Ahsing's classes mixed mediums to capture these adorable fall masterpieces. Artists used vibrant oil pastels to bring their frolicking, fuzzy raccoons to life, then added soft watercolor leaves to make the autumn scenes complete.🍂🦝We're all smitten with the woodland creatures! #gaffneyschool

Happy Halloween! The skeletons in Ms. Schwerzler's class learned something spook-tacular today. Skeletons are fun to see at Halloween but aren't really scary at all! They give our body the structure we need to grow, learn, and play! #gaffneyschool

⚫️Ms. McQueen’s class is showing up for today’s black out!⚫️Tomorrow we wear Fall Favorites, a flannel or hoodie, perhaps?🎃