The Weekly Update #4

What an amazing first few days we have had. The students and families have started and ended each day with smiles and on the Principal Report Card that means straight A’s across the board!! I appreciate everyone for honoring our school wide agreements to Be Kind and Be Responsible. This newsletter is jam packed with goodness and it is important that you read to the end. We’re always here to answer your questions and support you.

If you haven't already, PLEASE submit your annual update. It's crucial that the school system have the most updated information regarding your child's health and your family's preferences regarding various opt-out choices.

In the spirit of the EL Collaboration & Competition design principle, we're in 3rd place for completion rate! Let's see what we can do about that. ;)

Please bookmark the CSD 23-24 academic calendar and make accommodations for the monthly early release days (noted in yellow on the CSD academic calendar). You can also keep up with and subscribe to the Oakhurst school calendar HERE. We aim to add events like community circle, celebrations of learning, and conferences to our calendar as in advance as we are able. Please note that dates and times occasionally change, but we will keep you posted!

Our first whole-community circle is scheduled for Friday, September 29th at 8:30am.

Oakhurst's School Leadership Team (SLT) is an important crew that is created and guided by CSD's charter. SLT members - including administrative, staff, parent and community representatives - operate as a governing body with the purpose of maximizing school-level decisions. Parent representatives are an elected position and serve two-year terms. There will be two open parent seats this Fall; we will hold an election in late August to fill those positions.

The most important requirement of an SLT member is to have an honest desire to contribute to the educational experience and learning of all children at Oakhurst Elementary. We hope you will consider being a part of this very important work! Those interested should contact Jennifer Triplett, Principal (jennifer.triplett@csdecatur.net) and Arlethea Williams, our Assistant Principal (awillliams@csdecatur.net) to share their interest, along with a short bio to add to our voting form. Thank you for your support!

Feel free to contact our current parent representatives with questions or for further information Martha Ryan (Parent)- mmundy@csdecatur.net.

Hello! I'm writing to you as Decatur community members and someone who comes in contact with people at their best and worst times.

For the past three years City Schools of Decatur has placed an emphasis on suicide prevention and intervention. We are working to make Decatur (and metro-Atlanta) a suicide-safer community, and we're so glad that they have embraced that mission! We began this work by providing the school counselors, psychologists, social workers, administrators and other trusted adults in the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) model. It is the model from which we designed our crisis response protocols.

ASIST is an internationally-recognized model that allows people to intervene when they recognize the signals of someone with thoughts of suicide. Through conversation, they work to help the person realize they are not stuck between life and death, but there’s a third option: to stay safe for now until we can connect them to longer-term help.

The CSD ASIST trainers have set the dates for the 23-24 school year, and we would love to have any and all of you there. Thanks to the generosity of the Decatur Education Foundation, we are able to offer these training sessions (normally over $300) to you for a steep discount! We even provide your meals! The training is for two consecutive days, from 8-5. If you don’t feel like this is the training for you, please feel free to distribute the attached flyer to your network.

To sign up, use this form! For more information, please see the attached flyer.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE FOR SCHOOL SUPPLIES:

VIA CREDIT CARD | VIA PAYPAL

VIA CHECK/CASH:

Please drop off to Ms. Kizzy Terry at the front office (checks made payable to Oakhurst Elementary PTA)

Each student may donate up to three books to the schoolwide book swap. Donated books can come to school in backpacks this Friday, next Monday or Tuesday (8/4-8/8) and homeroom teachers will collect donated books. On Wednesday, August 9th, students will get to browse the donated book carts and pick out one book to keep.

Email oakhurstelementaryschoolpta@gmail.com with questions.

Help our teachers and staff have a special break throughout the day by stocking the teacher’s lounge! Items can be purchased directly from the Amazon Wishlist!

Oakhurst, it’s finally here! Don’t miss out on pre-ordering our new cozy Oakhurst spiritwear sweatshirt, available to pre-order until 9/14! Sweatshirts will be available in late Sept/early Oct - just in time for fall! PRE-ORDER NOW

Missed out on purchasing spiritwear? Get your gear now for Community Circle and to show your Oakhurst pride! Order online and we’ll deliver to you via your child’s backpack! ORDER NOW

Volunteering is a great way to get to know other families while helping our school!

If you’re interested in volunteering as a room parent to help coordinate classroom events & celebrations, support and show appreciation for our staff, please let your child’s homeroom teacher know directly!

The PTA is also looking for another Read-a-Thon volunteer to help with our annual fundraising event, as well as a Lost & Found volunteer to assist in managing the lost & found closet! Please email the PTA at oakhurstelementaryschoolpta@gmail.com to volunteer or with any questions - thank you for your support!

You're invited to join our first OAK PTA meeting! All Oakhurst Elementary School families are welcome and encouraged to attend. Agenda items will include school updates, volunteer opportunities, upcoming events and more. We’ll meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Media Center — enter through the Media Center doors from the courtyard. All are welcome - please join us to join the conversation about all things OAK!

Help fundraise for our school while keeping track of all the things! PURCHASE LABELS

The City Schools of Decatur Board of Education is revising the schedule for monthly board meetings. The change aligns with the board's strategic goals of ensuring organizational effectiveness and efficiency and making board meetings more student-focused.

Effective Tuesday, August 8, 2023, the new board meeting times are as follows:

Executive Session: 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Pre-work Session: 4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Work Session: 5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Board Meeting: 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Public Comment: 6:30 p.m. – 6:50 p.m.

Except for the executive session, all meetings will continue to be live-streamed and open to the public.

Students, staff, family, and community members are welcome to attend any session across the district.

Please click the following link for the virtual meeting on August 16: https://csdecatur.zoom.us/j/92894167992?pwd=TkczWHUvQXFtMHkrOTBRcXJ6aU9VZz09

Welcome back to a new school year! We are so excited to be back, it’s going to be a great year! Decatur Education Foundation works in partnership with City Schools of Decatur and other community organizations to ensure that every student has what they need to learn and thrive. We have several programs that do just that: we have a Tutoring Program for students in 2nd – 8th grade, a College Counseling Program to help 11th and 12th graders with college admissions, and Teacher Innovation Grants to enhance pre-K through 12th grade classroom learning.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates and our website www.decatureducationfoundation.org for more information on how you can help support Decatur’s kids.

Did you know that we have a super awesome one-sheeter on the appropriate person to contact for various issues you may have or questions you need answered? We do! Here it is! You can also find it in the Quick Links section of our website.

Oakhurst Weekly Newsletters 23 - 34

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