December community letter from Superintendent Whitley.
Your help is needed!
The Oregon Legislature will be considering changes to the current biennial budget due to budget challenges. The proposal that has been shared would remove all funding for Oregon FFA from the State of Oregon, for both statewide student activities and grants to local agricultural programs for summer contracts.
We have a statement prepared for the Legislative Joint Ways and Means Committee. Please consider signing on using the link below. Follow the link for the letter and to add your name to the petition!
As well, please feel free to share this with others who would support FFA in this effort!
Link:
https://forms.gle/rd3T2t13swo4q8v47
Thank you for your help in demonstrating the state-wide, strong belief in the positive impact FFA and Agricultural Education make in the lives of students and in our schools and communities!
- Dufur FFA
The Oregon Legislature will be considering changes to the current biennial budget due to budget challenges. The proposal that has been shared would remove all funding for Oregon FFA from the State of Oregon, for both statewide student activities and grants to local agricultural programs for summer contracts.
We have a statement prepared for the Legislative Joint Ways and Means Committee. Please consider signing on using the link below. Follow the link for the letter and to add your name to the petition!
As well, please feel free to share this with others who would support FFA in this effort!
Link:
https://forms.gle/rd3T2t13swo4q8v47
Thank you for your help in demonstrating the state-wide, strong belief in the positive impact FFA and Agricultural Education make in the lives of students and in our schools and communities!
- Dufur FFA
One of the very iconic things about our school is all of the class photos in our high school hall. We have several class missing, and we have taken on the project of making frames for all the classes that are not represented. Here is the first one completed! If you would like to make a small donation to help support this project, you can contact the school!
Congratulations to Dufur 8th grader Daisy Proctor, whose poster won 1st place in Oregon’s state level Conservation Poster Contest, for grade level 7-9! Daisy’s poster has now been entered in the National Conservation Poster Contest which will be held in mid-February.
Good morning Rangers! This is just a reminder that today, Dec. 19th is an early release. Students will be released from school at 1:00 pm. Happy Holidays!
Dufur School has been selected for a $960,000.00 USDA Rural Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant! Click on the link below to read more about how this funding impacts technology access for our students, staff, and learning partners:
https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/news-release/usda-awards-distance-learning-grant-dufur-school-district
https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/news-release/usda-awards-distance-learning-grant-dufur-school-district
This dreary day was made a little brighter with the delivery of 1556 non-perishable food items to Dufur City Hall brought by Dufur School students over the past two weeks. Mr. Talley's 5th grade class was the BIG winner with a contribution of a whopping 656 cans. Kathy Bostick with the City of Dufur will carefully curate boxes for local community members in need of a holiday meal. The National Honor Society at Dufur High School would like to thank every family who sent food items with their students and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas!
Kindergarten is excited about the snow today and wanted to catch snowflakes!
PUBLIC NOTICE OF EXECUTIVE SESSION
DUFUR SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
• Date: Thursday, December 18, 2025
• Time: 3:30 PM
• Location: Dufur School Conference Room
I. Statutory Authority
The Executive Session is authorized under the following specific provisions of Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS 192.660):
1. ORS 192.660(2)(i): To review and evaluate the employment-related performance of the Chief Executive Officer.
DUFUR SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
• Date: Thursday, December 18, 2025
• Time: 3:30 PM
• Location: Dufur School Conference Room
I. Statutory Authority
The Executive Session is authorized under the following specific provisions of Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS 192.660):
1. ORS 192.660(2)(i): To review and evaluate the employment-related performance of the Chief Executive Officer.
Attached is a PSA for The Dalles Little League with 2026 registration information.
Last week the after school program did a cooking unit about how to make the perfect grilled cheese sandwich. Here are a few of our cooks enjoying the fruits of their labor!
In their Greenhouse elective, The 7th grade recently learned about deciduous and evergreen trees (Maple trees are deciduous while Pine, Fir, Cedars are evergreens. The class then made green hangings for the holidays. The theme is always recycle, repurpose and reuse. The Plant Lady, aka Phyllis Olson-Dufur Valley Garden Club President, brought boiled eggs for the students to peel and crush the shells . Next they applied the crushed shells to their pine cones , which looked like snow. Some of the students added their cones to their hanging greens.
Join us for basketball action against Eddyville and Walking Tacos on Thursday evening!
🎄💚 A VERY GRINCHY CARNIVAL! 💚🎄
Hosted by the Ranger Pride Education Foundation with FFA + Dufur Cheer!
📅 Date: 12/13/25 11am-3pm
📍 Dufur School
Bring the whole family for a day of festive FUN (and a little Grinchy mischief 😉)!
✨ WHAT’S HAPPENING:
🌭 Hot Dogs, Chili, Chili Dogs
🍏 Grinch Grog
✏️ Coloring Contest
💌 Letters to Santa
🍪 Cookie Decorating
🎁 Prizes Galore
📸 Photos with The Grinch & Max
🎄 RAFFLES YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS:
🌟 Grinch Tree – perfectly Grinchified!
❤️ Ranger Pride Tree – decked out with ALL the swag you need to look good at every game!
☕ Hot Cocoa Wonderland Basket – cozy season perfection
🍷 Festive Wine + Treats Basket – the ultimate holiday survival kit for moms 😉
💙 WHY IT MATTERS:
All proceeds support:
🎓 Ranger Pride Education Foundation Scholarships
🍎 Ranger Nation Fund—helping teachers & enriching student experiences
Come celebrate, support our students, and kick off the holidays Dufur-style!
💚❤️ Don’t be a Grinch… unless you’re taking a picture with him. 😉
#DufurSchool #RangerPride #DufurOregon #GrinchyCarnival #SupportOurStudents #SmallTownStrong #FFA #Cheer #HolidayFun
Mark your calendars for Monday, February 9th; Officer Gomez is coming to Dufur to drop some knowledge for secondary students and parents! Officer Gomez is a school resource officer from Boise, Idaho, who specializes in educating students and parents about the dangers of social media on electronic devices, and youth drug trends. Officer Govemz will be doing an assembly with grades 6-12 during the school day, and then will do a parent information session at 6 p.m. in the Dufur School cafeteria. This educational opportunity is made possible from 21st Century Grant funding.
Parents of 6th, 8th and 11th graders. Dufur School is participating in the Student Health Survey (SHS), a survey sponsored by the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division and the Oregon Department of Education. The survey will be conducted online in the classroom and includes questions about student health and safety, mental and behavioral health, school climate and culture, and risk and protective factors. Dufur's testing window is next Monday, December 15th through Friday, December 19th.
Please check your email for additional information about the survey. You can also review the survey documents at the front office before the survey date.
If you do not wish your child to take this survey, please fill out this google form (https://forms.gle/K16oFBVDAi7V9Zkt6) or bring in the opt out form from your email to the front office before the survey date of Monday, December 15th. If you have other specific questions about the survey, please feel free to call me at 541-298-5141 or email me at tiffany.kenslow@dufur.k12.or.us
Please check your email for additional information about the survey. You can also review the survey documents at the front office before the survey date.
If you do not wish your child to take this survey, please fill out this google form (https://forms.gle/K16oFBVDAi7V9Zkt6) or bring in the opt out form from your email to the front office before the survey date of Monday, December 15th. If you have other specific questions about the survey, please feel free to call me at 541-298-5141 or email me at tiffany.kenslow@dufur.k12.or.us
Congratulations to our robotics teams as they competed at the West Salem Winter Tournament this past weekend. They learned a lot and our team Dufur and Dragons earned the Judge's Award for their efforts. Great job Rangers!
December 6th the Rangers host CS Lewis Academy for Varsity Basketball! Dufur School will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Ranger Holiday Food Drive in lieu of admission. Drop your donation at the door!
Join us for our varsity basketball season opener on Saturday, December 6th. As always our concessions crew will be prepared with snacks and meals. Go Rangers!
The 3rd Grade participated in lessons about ancestors and family traditions. Students wrapped up the activity by bringing some important items that represent their families and ancestors. Since this time of year tends to offer more opportunities for families to gather, share stories, and make memories, we enjoyed this special opportunity to make connections with one another. (Lesson credit: Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde)
