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
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: 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:

Meet our Oak Hills 2022-2023 Staff (Repeat)
1: Rachel Brock, Ann Marie Caplan, Krisi Guerra, Polly Selby
2 : Wendy Evans, BrieAnne Perrigan, Brie Rennie, Keely Rios3 : 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 VenableSpeech/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