Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 28, Issue 19, January 5, 2021
In This Issue
Note from our Principal
A message from our PFC Co-Presidents
Auction Brainstorming Meeting --> Wednesday at 7pm!
EBT SNAP and Amazon Partnership
Last chance for a Thornhill Virtual Tour
Oakland Schools Virtual Tours
OUSD announcements
Individual Class Packets
Calendar of Important Dates
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From our Principal
Happy New Year!!! In spite of all the challenges of 2020, I sincerely want to wish you ALL a Happy New Year! The Winter Recess was undoubtedly one of the most reflective holiday seasons I have experienced and probably you, too. Without a doubt I can say how grateful I am to work with a wonderful community that is always working to improve our school.
I am so inspired by our amazing staff, the support from parents on the PFC Board, and all of you that support us in improving the educational outcomes and experiences of our students. I am so grateful for our students for their resilience and steadfastness -- it teaches me a lot. Thank you students and parents who have sent well wishes to our staff and me; it means so much to all of us to hear from you.
As our nation is in the grips of a lot of pain, I have to give a shout out to ALL of our essential workers and especially our caregivers, hospital staff, and our nurses and doctors on the front lines. Some of you have been working non-stop since March. I know Thornhill has a few of you in the medical profession and we sincerely appreciate all that you do to take care of people, especially during these times. We owe you!
So once again, I am grateful to be in this wonderful community with you and please know that, we got this!
Happy New Year!
Mr. Daubenspeck
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From our PFC Co-Presidents
Ahoy Thunderbird families!
Wow, can you believe we've now entered 2021? What a ride we're on. We hope each of you got some well-deserved rest and/or relaxation in the best way you could over this memorable holiday break. Even though the year has changed, not much else has, so here we are all back at it. We wanted to give you an update and call to action for this year's Annual Fund Drive.
First and foremost:
Thank you, Thunderbirds!
Over the holidays, we received additional donations to the Thornhill Annual Fund, and we've raised nearly $155,000 so far! 40% of families have donated, so our call to action is pushing for 100% participation! A gift of any amount (or a recurring donation) makes such a difference. Seriously, even $1 will get us closer to our goal of 100% participation (which would be super cool and a first). So, if you haven't donated, please consider contributing so the PFC can continue funding teachers' aides, music, library, PE, gardening, a social worker and supplies. It truly makes a difference at Thornhill, whether school is in person or at your dining room table. We're all in this together.
You may have seen this on the school calendar, but our first PFC meeting of the year will be on Tuesday, January 12, from 5:30-7pm. Please see the Konstella calendar invite for the Zoom link information.
May you have fair winds and following seas; stay safe out there,
Alicia Streight & Rex Crum
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Auction Brainstorming Meeting - this Wednesday (tomorrow)
Hello everyone and Happy New Year!
We had a great brainstorming session in December for our 2021 (Virtual) Benefit Auction and are ready to get more detailed with our ideas and come up with a few more. From that December meeting, we came up with the idea of hosting a Dungeons & Dragons virtual game with Coach Johnson - which raised $750 over the break for Thornhill! We need more of these "easy big money" ideas!!
Can you donate just an hour of your time on Wednesday? You do not need to come with ideas - just come listen and lend your thoughts. While we obviously love to see everyone's shining faces, you can also join with your video off! Whatever it takes to get you there. :)
That is right - we only need you for an hour to help generate creative fundraising ideas. All are very welcome and invited! New families too!
The meeting will be one hour on Wednesday, January 6 from 7-8 pm. Please RSVP in the Konstella calendar entry here.
Thank you!
Maya Hiersoux
Auction Chair
Parent of 2nd Grader Chance Hiersoux, Room 10 Mrs. Whalen
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EBT Snap and Amazon Partnership
In case you forgot, your EBT SNAP card can now be linked to Amazon Fresh and Pantry with delivery! It's a super easy process and makes fresh, healthy food available and accessible during these uncertain times.
And don't forget that anytime you purchase something from Amazon, make sure you're logging in through smile.amazon.com and you've selected Thornhill Elementary as your charity! Additionally, pick up your phone right now and activate AmazonSmile so you’ll never have to think about it again. We'll receive a percentage of every purchase, which will go a long way towards helping to fulfill our students’ and teachers’ needs simply by doing something you may be doing anyway!
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LAST Thornhill Virtual Tour
Do you have friends or neighbors interested in Thornhill for TK, kindergarten, or even a later grade? We’re offering virtual tours! During this tour, they’ll meet our principal, the TK and Kinder teachers, and a few current Thornhill families. We have 1 more tour date:
Thursday, January 14, 2021 from 6-7pm
Please share this registration link, and point people to this page for more information.
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Oakland Virtual Schools Tours
If you have an older Thunderbird and are looking to take a virtual tour of an Oakland middle or high school, OUSD is tracking virtual tours here. If you are a parent of a 5th grader, we have posted Oakland middle school virtual tours in the 5th Grade Families Konstella group.
Additionally, explore OUSD schools through their SchoolFinder. The application window for the 2021-22 school year opened on November 16, 2020 and will close on February 5, 2021. Note this window is only if you are applying to a new school at any grade. Info will come in late spring about staying at Thornhill.
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Individual Class Printed Packets
If your teacher tells you that printed materials need to be picked up, they will continue to be in the same spot — on the fence near the TK trailer and the Alhambra entrance.
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Calendar
Wednesday, January 6: Auction Brainstorming Meeting (7-8pm, see Konstella for info)
Tuesday, January 12: PFC Meeting (5:30-7pm, see Konstella for info)
Monday, January 18: NO SCHOOL for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Holiday
Monday, February 8: PFC Meeting (5:30-7pm, see Konstella for info)
Monday, February 15: NO SCHOOL for Presidents Day
Friday, February 19: NO SCHOOL for Professional Development for Teachers
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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, Jill Evans, 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, VPs of Communications Erin Proudfoot & Evie Nagy, PFC Presidents Rex Crum & Alicia Streight, 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