Oak Hills Newsletter

Week of September 12, 2022

Message from the Principal

Dear Oak Hills Families,


We loved welcoming all our kinders to school today! Thank to everyone who leaned in to support kinder students and families. It was so joyful to have a full school with all our students and staff. We are ready to conquer the 5-day week together!


On Friday, PTO's Welcome Back Picnic was delightful. It was so fun to meet so many of you and your children had a blast running around with their friends and enjoying the activities and music. We look forward to many more family events this school year!


Here are a few reminders to prepare you and your student(s) for the week:


Emergency Drills


We won't always alert families of when we hold emergency drills. We are following district guidance and have decided to schedule two drills for this week: fire drill on Tuesday and lockdown drill on Friday. We wanted to share this week's drills so you can proactively connect with your children about it or be prepared if they ask follow-up questions after the experiences. We have more information below under the section "Emergency Drills."


Tuesday, September 13: Fire Drill

Friday, September 16: Lockdown Drill


Thursday, September 15

Hearing Screening (Kinder, 1st, and 2nd grade only)


Back to School Night

Thursday, September 15


Kinder & 1st grade: 5:30-5:50

2nd & 3rd grade: 6:00-6:20

4th & 5th grade: 6:30-6:50


5:15-7pm

Admin, Counselor, Student Success Coach, ELD, PE, Music, SpEd, and support staff will be available in the gym and front hall for families to connect.


We ask that families limit visitors within each family at this back to school event due to limited space in the classrooms. We understand that some children will need to attend with you. Please know that the presentations are geared for parents and guardians. Thank you for your understanding.


Have a wonderful week! We look forward to connecting with you at Back to School Night!


Sincerely,

Mrs. Do

Thao Do-Gwilliam

Emergency Drills

As part of our back-to-school safety learning, we are required to host monthly emergency drills, starting with a fire drill, lockdown drill, and bus evacuation drill during the month of September. Our safety drills give us an opportunity to practice for a range of emergency situations. You can expect to hear about monthly emergency drills this year, including fire drills, earthquake drills, secure drills, and lockdown drills. During the first month of school, teachers review safety plans with students beforehand, so our students are well prepared for a drill or an unexpected emergency situation.


Please talk with your child at home about the importance of planning for safety emergencies. You may consider working with your child to make an emergency evacuation plan, checking your emergency supplies, or replenishing items from a first aid kit as part of your family conversation. These are some of the many ways we work to keep ourselves safe!

Important Dates--Mark Your Calendars

Thursday, September 15: Hearing Screen (K-2 only)

Thursday, September 15: Back to School Night 5:15-7:00pm

Wednesday, September 21: PTO meeting 7pm (in-person and zoom option available)

Wednesday, September 28: Picture Day (Picture packets will go home on Monday, 9/19)

Friday, September 30: Schoolwide assembly (K-2) and (3-5); Wear Otter pride colors (red, blue,white)

Friday, October 14 NO SCHOOL--Staff Development Workday

Wednesday, October 19: PTO meeting 7pm( (in-person and zoom option available)

Friday, October 21: Jog-a-Thon

Wednesday, November 2: Parent-Teacher Conferences 3:30-7:30pm

Thursday, November 3: NO SCHOOL- Parent Teacher Conferences 11:30am-7:30pm

Friday, November 4: NO SCHOOL

Thursday, November 10: NO SCHOOL-Grading Day

Friday, November 11: NO SCHOOL-In observance of Veterans Day

Wednesday-Friday, November 23-25: NO SCHOOL-Thanksgiving Holiday Break

Monday, November 28: NO SCHOOL-Staff Development Day

Library News from Ms. Larsen

Welcome to a new school year and to the Oak Hills Library News, where you will find all things related to the Library!


We like to call the library, the SMILE Room (So Many Intriguing Library books Everywhere)!


Check out the LIBRARY WEBSITE for:

  • Helpful Library Links for students and parents

  • How to View Your Student’s Library Account (Slides 1-7), View the Library Catalog (slide 8), Put Books on Hold (Slides 9-10), Renew books (slides 11-12), Pay Library Fines (Slide 13)

  • OBOB Information

  • Ordering Books From Scholastic for your home collection

  • Donations


Volunteering: if you are interested in volunteering in the library to help with shelving books, Book Fair or OBOB, please email Ms. Larsen!


Paying Library Fines - if you receive an overdue notice with a library fine, you may return the item or pay the fine at this website: https://or-beaverton.intouchreceipting.com

Thank you!


If you have questions please feel free to reach out to Ms. Larsen at leilani_larsen@beaverton.k12.or.us

News from your PTO

Thanks to everyone who came and participated in the Back to School Picnic!


Don't forget our first PTO meeting is on September 21st at 7pm! An in-person meeting will be held inside the school and we will stream it via zoom for those who would like to listen remotely.


https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83364343917?pwd=QnU3MnVyL2s4QUVsOWJ6VzcvcXJFUT09
Meeting ID: 833 6434 3917
Passcode: otters


*Volunteer Opportunities

If you would like to contribute in any way, big or small, please review the link below for the background check application. A reminder to volunteers who have volunteered in the past to please recheck to see if you are still active in the system.


Seeking Donations for Oak Hills

The Snack Pantry needs to be restocked. Please donate snacks to the school office throughout the school year when you can. Items such as granola bars, crackers, fruit snacks, apple sauce, fruit bars are greatly appreciated.


Kleenex/tissue are also items that are needed in the classrooms and the office. Thank you for your generosity!

Changes to Going Home Plans

Absences and dismissal changes can be reported to us via the Oak Hills website. There are buttons where you can click and report an absence or changes to how your child will be going home. For dismissal, please report the changes before 1:30 PM since this is when we will be delivering the information to our teachers and students. Thank you in advance for utilizing this communication tool. It will free up our phone lines for families, staff, and community members who urgently need to get in touch with the office.


Oak Hills website:


https://oakhills.beaverton.k12.or.us/
Big picture

Meet our Oak Hills 2022-2023 Staff (Repeat)

K : Leslie Burnett, Ruann Donnelly, Korina Grover

1: Rachel Brock, Ann Marie Caplan, Krisi Guerra, Polly Selby

2 : Wendy Evans, BrieAnne Perrigan, Brie Rennie, Keely Rios

3 : Ben Porter, Taylor Thompson, Kirsten Yamada,

4: Maggie Nice, Michael Gelling, Margaret Willis

5 : Jim Clarkson, Rylan Lester, Laura Manning,

ALC: Colleen Seitz, Lori Therrien

Music: Evelyn Boling, Sally Wall

PE: Ryan Herd, Mike Vanoudenhaegen

Resource: Emily Dignan, Ashley Smith

ELD: Alicia Bermudez


Assistant Principal: Erika Hansen

Counselor: Shelly Ray

Student Success Coach: Karen McCarty

Academic Coaches: Toni Fisher, Pamela Venable

Speech/Language: Ashley Purser

School Psychologist: Andrew Sickler

Social Worker: Kaylin Noblin


Front office: Marylou Hosack, Dawn Marie Powers, Rhonda Michael (Health Assistant)

School nurse: Heather O'Leary, Kris Cribbins (Nurse Assistant)

Custodians: Diane Persuad, Eric Snider

Nutrition Services: Char Foss, Brenda Glenn

Para Educators: Jill Erickson, Heather Kahnert, Chris Kirnak, Teresa Laakso, Andrea Miller,

Kathy Moshinsky, Kris Nicholson, Julie Roach, Ingalill Shead, Nicole Smith

Library/Media: Leilani Larsen

Tech Support: Pete Sinclair

Tech IA: Anna Vallee


Please give a warm welcome to our new staff:

Kris Cribbins (Nurse Assistant), Emily Dignan (Resource), Korina Grover (Kindergarten), Heather O'Leary (Nurse), Kaylin Noblin (Social Worker), Ashley Smith (Resource),

Dawn Marie Powers (Principal's Secretary/Office Manager), Sally Wall (Music)

Oak Hills COVID Updates (Repeat)

As we move into the coming school year, we continue to work closely with Washington County, using their guidelines and protocols to ensure the safety of our students and staff. During times of high transmission, we will communicate with our school community so you remain informed. You may choose to send your child to school with a mask or without. We will have a separate isolation room to care for students exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19, minimizing the risk of exposure to classmates who may be accessing the health room for an ice pack. In the event that we reach levels of higher transmission, we will also look closely as large-scale events to determine if an outdoor setting, mask recommendations, distancing reminders, etc. would be more appropriate.


We will need your continued partnership throughout the coming year. Please pay close attention to possible symptoms of Covid-19. Communicate with the school office if your child will remain at home due to illness with any Covid-19 related symptoms or if your child tests positive. We appreciate your shared concern for the health and well-being of our students and staff.

Apply for Free/Reduced Price Meal Benefits (Repeat)

District message: Please consider applying if you feel your family may qualify for free or reduced price meal benefits. It is confidential, school staff have no way of knowing which students receive meal benefits and which students do not. Beyond meals, there are MANY benefits to students, families, and school funding.


The household income requirements have changed: As an example, a family of four can have a total household income of up to $83,249 and qualify for meal benefits.


A meal benefits application can be completed online on our app SCHOOL CAFE, an account will need to be set up. Make sure to apply during summer since applications expire at the end of June each school year. We highly recommend that families apply! For more information on meal benefits, please visit the Meal Benefits webpage.


More information here: https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/departments/nutrition-services/meal-benefits