Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 27, Issue 22, January 28, 2020
From the Principal
Dear Thornhill Families,
Did you know we have already celebrated the 100th day of school? All of our kinder classes and others have celebrated this major marker. Did you know we are also now more than half way through the school year? By the time you read this there will be fewer than 80 days of school left. Wow time is flying by...
This Thursday we have our Thornhill MLK and Black History Month Celebration. Like last year, it will be hosted by very own MC Mr. Kevin Coleman. I'm hoping ALL of the Thornhill community can show up on Thursday. We really want to see you there.
As a reminder, there is no school this Friday, January 31 for a teacher professional development day, as set by OUSD.
Also, we are in still in need of a carnival chair to lead our biggest community event, the Spring Carnival. Please reach out either to Rex at president@thornhillschool.org, or Becky Urbano, our vice president of support, at vpsupport@thornhillschool.org for more information.
Take care,
Mr. Daubenspeck
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Martin Luther King Oratorical Festival & Black History Celebration
Our celebration is this Thursday, January 30 beginning with 5th grade at 8:45am!
Join us for this special morning and listen to some amazing performances in the multipurpose room as students recite poems and speeches in honor of black history. All community and family members are welcome!
Please note as this is a school-wide event, parking will be especially difficult. Parking is never allowed in the long loading zone on Thornhill Drive during school hours and obviously parking is never allowed in red zones. **The Quick Drop Zone is still in effect!**
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Everyone wins when you donate to the auction
Dig deep into your social network. Ask yourself, Who do you know? Where are your connections? What is something fun/interesting/unique you have to offer? It can be big or small and it all counts when it is donated the 2020 Annual Benefit Auction. It may be a great online auction item. It might be the star of the live auction event. It might be perfect paired up with that other awesome thing that another family offered up.
Donating is so easy! Just email benefit@thornhillschool.org or donate online. It's a charitable donation too so you get the tax benefits and we get the honor of your generosity.
It’s not too late to help with the 2020 auction. We are still looking for a Volunteer Coordinator and an Internal Solicitations Manager. Email benefit@thornhillschool.org for more info.
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Upping our green game!
You may have heard of some significant steps that Thornhill has made recently to up our sustainability consciousness: Thanks to Thornhill's student/parent/faculty Green Team, Bonnie Forbes, Jeanne Sharkey, and the 4th grade teachers/field dump trip goers! We are so impressed with how this year's Sorting Assembly went, and the way in which our community is taking our sorting seriously—now including using our TerraCycle foil wrapper boxes.
Keep on challenging your shopping habits (any chance you can cut out your single waste buying practices this week?), your sorting habits, and your re-using habits—each of us can make a difference in the amount of landfill and ocean float created each day. TerraCycle can be an amazing resource for your family at home too!
Keep up the good work and keep your eyes out for two upcoming Green Team functions: Spring EWaste & Spring Clean!
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Your PFC still needs you!
Yes, we still have a few critical positions where we would very truly love your help. Would you please consider jumping in? We would be so appreciative!
- Spring Carnival Chair(s): Lead our annual spring community event
Secretary: Attend all PFC meetings and take minutes - only 4 more meetings
Vice President, Fundraising: Lead the strategy of our fundraising efforts
Parliamentarian: Take a close look at our bylaws and lead the charge to get them updated
Co-President: Yes, someone will have to take over from Rex next year, and we hope they could start now and learn the ropes from Rex
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Clarification About OUSD Enrollment
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Calendar
The website always has the latest calendar information, and here's what's coming up:
- Thursday, January 30: Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorical Festival and Black History Celebration (8:45am, MPR)
- Friday, January 31: NO SCHOOL (Professional Development Day)
- Monday, February 10: PFC Meeting (6-7pm library + optional Taps & Takeout mixer)
- Monday, February 17: NO SCHOOL (Presidents Day)
- Wednesday, February 26: Engineering Night (5:30-7pm, MPR)
- Saturday, March 14: Thornhill Auction (Fratellanza Club)
- Monday-Thursday, March 23-26: Spring Conference Week - MINIMUM DAYS! (more info to come about 4th grade conferences as this is the Coloma trip)
- Friday, March 27: NO SCHOOL (In lieu of Cesar Chavez Day)
- Monday, March 30 - Friday, April 3: NO SCHOOL - Spring Recess
Be sure also to subscribe to the Thornhill Google Calendar here, and download the OUSD District calendar here.
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About the Thornhill Newsletter
The Thornhill Parent-Faculty Club (PFC) eNews team publishes this weekly newsletter each Tuesday in the school year to communicate school, PFC and OUSD news, events and information.
Email submissions to our Newsletter Chair, Evie Nagy, at newsletter@thornhillschool.org by 8 p.m. Thursday for approval—nothing sent after this will be included in the following week’s newsletter unless there are extremely compelling extenuating circumstances. It’s fine to include text in the body of the email with links and no formatting, and attach photos preferably as 150 x 150, 72 dpi JPG or GIFs only (not embedded in email or Word file). Submissions may be edited for spelling, grammar, brevity and clarity. Advertising and items not related to Thornhill are not accepted, as we need to keep the newsletter focused on need-to-know info for the community.
THANK YOU to everyone who submits articles and to PFC Board Members, Teachers, VP of Communications Erin Proudfoot, PFC President Rex Crum, and Principal Steve Daubenspeck. Member of Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).
Email: webmaster@thornhillschool.org
Website: thornhillschool.org
Location: 5880 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, CA, USA
Phone: 510-339-6800