The Fossil community and Fossil Charter School are nestled in a quiet valley of north central Oregon. Approximately 100 miles from any urban areas (The Dalles is about 90 miles, Bend about 110 miles), Fossil has approximately 470 residents, while the school district has a total of about 60 pupils, kindergarten through twelfth grade in the brick and mortar, the district also has a distance learning program that consists of approximately 365 students. Fossil School District is financially sound as we just added a $285,000 playground for the elementary students as well as an HVAC system for the high school.
Fossil Elementary School currently has 26 students K-6, and Wheeler High School has 38 students in grades 7-12. With a teaching staff of 9 and a support staff of 7, the Fossil schools offer a wide variety of programs. There are iPads for every child, new computer labs in both buildings and our school Mission Statement emphasizes placed-based hands-on learning experiences for all students.
At our elementary school the class sizes are very small; they are all combination or blended classes (currently Kindergarten, blended 1-2, blended 3-4 and blended 5-6) and average seven students per teacher. We have a full computer lab, as well as computers on-line in all classrooms. In addition, we are currently in process of aligning curriculum K-12 to the new Common Core State Standards and changing the paradigm of teaching.
The open position is the 5/6 blended position. The position is open because of the retirement of the teacher after 24 years in Fossil.
Organization:
Fossil School District 21J
