Howdy Trailblazers
Sept 12 - 23, 2022
Greetings from Principal Bueno
Thank you parents for joining us for Parent Orientation and our first PTA meeting of the school year. We had a successful turnout thanks to you! Below you will find a link to join our Ott-some PTA if you haven't already and further down you view the flyer for the PTA Member Movie Night scheduled for Sept. 24th. Attendees must be a PTA member and membership can be purchased for $8 at the door. We look forward to the event and hope to see you there.
Continuing this year is our “No Homework Policy.” This campus based decision was not made lightly and required numerous conversations with our professionals for over the course of one full academic year. Ultimately, the decision was based on research, feedback from our professionals, and what’s best for all students. We recommend parents continue to read daily with their child for 15-20 minutes and use teachable moments at home to reinforce academic skills being taught at school. We also recommend visiting the following link after logging into the NISD Student Portal --> Elementary Digital Resources. Here families will find resources available to support various academic subjects for their child from home. As always, parents can schedule individual conferences with teachers to request suggestions for additional academic home support.
Our students are in school for over seven hours a day. Please trust during that time our teachers and staff are providing your child with high quality instruction and supporting students’ academic deficits through research based interventions. Ultimately, we want students to be able to rest after school, play outdoors, participate in extracurricular activities, spend quality time with family, and most importantly, enjoy the opportunity to be a child without the additional stress from school.
This month our teachers will be introducing our students to our Ott Learner Profile. The profile is a system of characteristics that have been identified by our Campus Leaders as the most vital for our students to cultivate to achieve success. They are applied to all of our Trailblazers in every grade level, and they represent the promise to our Ott community of learners. Teachers will introduce all of the the characteristics during the month of September and then focus on one characteristic a month for the remainder of the year:
Oct: Collaborator
Nov: Communicator
Dec: Creator
Jan: Innovator
Feb: Leader
March: Learner
April: Critical Thinker
May: Solution Finder
Below you will find our Ott Strategic Framework that our Campus Leaders developed last year. It includes our mission and vision statements, our core beliefs and our Ott Learner Profile characteristics. I am extremely proud of the collective work and thought that was put into the framework. For our parents it's a point of reference of our promise and commitment to our Trailblazers and community.
Our first Early Dismissal is scheduled for September 21st at 11:45 a.m. For families who need it, adult supervision will be available at all elementary schools, so students can remain on campus until the end of the normal school day in our Study Time. Learning Tree will also be available at traditional times for students already enrolled. For staffing and planning purposes please complete the Ott Student Early Dismissal Permission form that can be found below.
Make it an Ott-some week Trailblazers! #GLOWatOtt #NISDIgnited #backtoschool2022
Principal Bueno
Ott Spirit Night - Burger Boy - Sept. 20
PTA Membership Movie Night - Sept. 23
Author Visit Chris Barton and Online Book Sales for Autographs
Please visit Chris Barton's website for more information about his work: https://chrisbarton.info/
Purchase G.L.O.W. Spirit Shirts in the School Office - $15
From the Superintendent Dr. Woods
Attendance Matters
Northside continues to ask you to make your child's attendance a priority. Research shows that school attendance leads to future success and brings numerous benefits to students, including higher academic achievements.
Texas Education Code states that the students must be present in class 90% of the time in order to earn course credit or be promoted to the next grade level.
When students are tardy to school, they are missing valuable morning time with their class. Morning meetings begin promptly at 7:45 and this time allows for students to get ready for a successful day. We will begin recording tardies to school (arriving after 7:45 am).
As a reminder, not only do absences lead to learning loss, they can also lead to social-emotional deficiencies. We encourage all parents and students to make school attendance a top priority except for time when the student is sill. Be sure to send a note upon your student's return to school.
Parent Accounts in Schoology (students in grades 2-12)
Parents who had an account for the 2021-22 school year can still access and use the same account for the 2022-23 school year. If creating a new account, parents will need to obtain the student's access code from the student's teacher. The student access code connects the parent to all their child’s classes. For information on accessing the student access codes in Schoology, click here. For directions on setting up a parent account click here.
Early Dismissal - Sept. 21, 2022
For staffing and planning purposes we are requesting for parents to complete the Ott Student Early Dismissal Form. Students who remain at school will attend Ott Student Study Time until 3:00 p.m. The form must be completed by Sept. 20.
2022-2023 Free & Reduced-Price Meal Information
Your child(ren) may qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Households interested in the meal program must apply for the program every school year.
Click below to apply online!
Volunteer Background Check - Required
1) All volunteers must complete a background check form each school year. All information is deleted each year in May.
2) Background checks are completed online only. No paper forms are accepted.
3)Please contact the main office of your campus to find out if you are cleared to volunteer. All campus administrators (principals, vice-principals, assistant principals…etc.) have access to the cleared list.
4) It takes one to two weeks for the results of checks to be returned from the date of submission.
Background Check Link
GT Awareness Meeting - Sept. 28
Fall Picture Day - Oct. 4
Attendance Matters! - September is “National Attendance Awareness Month”
Staff + Students + Attendance = Success
September is “National Attendance Awareness Month,” a national event recognizing the connection between school attendance and academic achievement.
“The first step toward educational success is showing up to school,” says Dr. Brian Woods, superintendent. “And that also means having a teacher in the classroom to teach them, a bus driver to drive them, a child nutrition worker to feed them, a nurse to care for them, etc.”
While COVID has not completely left us as a community, we must return to the expectation that attending school is an everyday event. This is the only way that talented, professional educators can have the maximum impact for learning. Please prioritize daily attendance. If you are having challenges with attendance, please communicate with your child's school quickly.
San Antonio Food Bank Mega Distribution
Registration is now open for the next San Antonio Food Bank mega distribution at Gus Stadium. This distribution is scheduled for Friday, September 16th. Slots fill up quickly. Register using the link below
https://freshtrak.com/register/event/101101
Need Service Hours or Just Want to Help?
NISD hosts a Mega Food Bank distribution twice a month at Gus Stadium from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Volunteers are needed. If you are a high school club sponsor or a parent of a high school student needing service hours, this is a great opportunity for students to volunteer and give back to their community. Dates for upcoming Mega Food Bank distributions are: Sept. 16, Oct. 7, Oct. 21, Nov. 4, Nov. 18, and Dec. 2.
Volunteers may register here (at the top under Volunteer Job Location, select Gustafson Stadium.) The Food Bank also has some Saturday opportunities for students to earn NHS volunteer hours.
University Health Drive Through Flu Vaccine Clinics
Protect yourself from the Flu this season by getting vaccinated for free! This month, the University Health System will be vaccinating individuals 6 months and older on Sept. 24th from 8AM. to noon at the Farris Athletic Complex. Click the link below for more information and to register.
Stay Connected with NISD
While one-on-one communication is the best, in a district as large as Northside ISD it is sometimes difficult. Because we want our parents to stay informed, NISD has several ways that parents and other interested citizens can stay informed about the successes and challenges of San Antonio’s premier school district of choice, as well as find out news about their children’s schools.
Follow Ott on Social Media
Please don’t forget to stay connected by following and "Liking” Ott Elementary and Ott PTA on:
- Facebook @ottelementary and @OttElemPTA
- Twitter @NISDott and @ott_pta
- Instagram @nisd_ott and @ottelementarypta
Thank you to those who have joined us this year, we appreciate your support. We encourage everyone to follow us on these social media arenas. #GLOWatOtt #NISDIgnited
NISD Hiring Child Nutrition Workers
2022 - 2023 NISD Online Tutoring
Free Workshops for Parents: "Parenting in the Cyberworld" and more
NISD Special Education Community Resource Fair 2022
RESOURCE: MY CHILD JUST RECEIVED A DIAGNOSIS, NOW WHAT?
2022-2023 Ott Elementary PTA
Please click here to view the first edition of the Ott Elementary PTA Round-Up (August 2022) edition!!!
PTA Sponsored Lunch with Principal Bueno Rowan Martinez - ECC
Ott WATCH D.O.G.S.
Dads & Kids Pizza Night - Sept. 28
Ott Counselors Care
Important Dates
- Burger Boy Family Night (Kinder) from 4-8
9/21
- Student Early Dismissal
- PTA Back-to School Membership Movie Night 6-8
- OCCB Day
- GT Awareness Night for Non-GT Parents from 5-6
- WatchD.O.G. Pizza Night from 6-7