Oakhurst Weekly
September 15, 2022
From the Principal
Hello Oakhurst Families,
Our week started with the joy of Diwali and all of the fun memories from our celebration this past Saturday. Thank you to everyone who made it special and joined us. We are so grateful for all the ways that we are able to celebrate together this year.
With that in mind, we look forward to you all joining us for the Thanksgiving Luncheon. Please make sure you have RSVP by submitting your $5 for each of the adult guests. In order to make sure we can offer wonderful service we are limiting the event to two guests per student. We will be eating outside so bring your blankets.
This week we are also happy to welcome our new permanent school nurse, Nurse Haniyah Jackson. Nurse Jackson is joining our Oakhurst Family from Florida and she is off to a wonderful start with amazing onboarding from Clairemont Elementary’s Nurse Cox.
Jennifer Young
School Health Team: Welcome Nurse Jackson!
From the Counselor
Click the photo above to visit Ms. McGhee's Counselor's Cabinet! You can also find the page linked on our school website on the Counseling Services page.
School Notes/Announcements
URGENT PARKING REMINDER
Dear Oakhurst Families,
Please refrain from parking in front of 180 & 184 Mead Road between 7:45-8:15am and 2:30-3:15pm. The buses leaving the school are consistently blocked from turning safely out of the driveway to continue down Mead Road. Going forward, Decatur Police will be contacted to address the issue directly with vehicle owners.
Thank you for your support and understanding.
Spirit Week Success!
Thank you for helping us celebrate this week! We know spirit week adds an extra element of remembering/coordinating to your week, but an important part of our building culture is celebrating and having fun so THANK YOU! We couldn't capture all of the awesomeness we saw this week, but here's just a few pics!
PTA
Oakhurst Walk & Roll - Wed., Nov. 16th
On Wed., Nov. 16th, we encourage families to walk or roll (bike/scooter) to start your morning off great and reduce car traffic/pollution during Oakhurst's Walk & Roll morning! Join us for music and coffee at the school's front entrance. If you live too far to walk, please consider using the commercial lot on the corner of College and Mead (The Imperial), or Oakhurst Park parking lot as offsite parking or a meetup point!
AUCTION DONATIONS & BUSINESS SPONSORS NEEDED
The Give a Hoot! Auction Committee is looking for donations and sponsors for the 2023 Give a Hoot! Auction. The Give a HOOT! Auction is the PTA's biggest fundraising event and all the proceeds go back into our school. The auction will be held Spring 2023 and is sure to be a heck of a lotta fun! We need your help in sourcing donated auction items for our live and silent auction as well as sponsorships in order to make our auction the best and most successful one yet.
Oakhurst Families showed up and showed out last year with their generosity. If you have a family vacation home, if you own your own business, restaurant or have a side hustle please consider a donation. Sponsorship is another great way to support this amazing event and with your sponsorship comes recognition and display of your business/logo/name at the event, on event swag such as tee shirts, in the yearbook as well as PTA newsletter and website and on the auction website. If you are interested in donating or becoming a sponsor please email: giveahootdonations@gmail.com.
STOCK THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE
Let our awesome Oakhurst staff know that they're all that and a bag of chips by helping to stock the teacher's lounge! Individually packaged, non-perishable snacks can be dropped off at the front office or ordered from the Amazon Wishlist, and items will ship directly to the school!
Dates to Note
October 28: Community Circle @ 8:30am
November 1: No school for students (teacher work day)
November 4: Coffee Chat - STEAM Skills at Home (8:30am - 9:15am)
November 11: Community Circle @ 8:30
November 16: Walk & Roll
November 18: DEI Friday Book Cart: 8:00 - 8:20
December 2: DEI Friday Book Cart: 8:00 - 8:20
December 16: Coffee Chat - Enrichment Over a School Break (8:30am - 9:15am)
December 16: Community Circle @ 2:00
City Schools of Decatur
Strategic Plan Town Halls
Dr. Fehrman will host three town hall meetings where all community members can attend and review the information discussed at the Strategic Plan Team meeting, as well as the goals and performance objectives drafted. In addition, the town halls will provide an opportunity for the community to add their feedback and ensure we have aligned our goals
with what our community wants to see achieved in our district over the next five years.
Strategic Plan Town Hall Dates / Times
November 1 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am (virtual) https://csdecatur.zoom.us/j/96433860943
November 3 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm (virtual) https://csdecatur.zoom.us/j/92270288945
November 3 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm (in person) at the DHA Community Resource Center at 481 Electric Avenue
Special Education Parent Meetings
Golden Steps ABA
CSD welcomes Amanda Bissonnette of Golden Steps ABA to share an overview of services and support they provide to families.
Here's more about Golden Steps ABA:
Golden Steps implements Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy to assist children in overcoming behaviors that challenge their ability to navigate and flourish in social, educational and home settings. We track their progress, encourage their growth, and applaud them when they inevitably succeed.
Date: November 10, 2022
Time: 6-7 pm
Location: This is a virtual meeting.
Target Audience: Pre-K to 6th grades
RSVP here
How It Works - Assistive Technology Meeting
Yael Cohen, Assistive Tech. Specialist & Frank DeFilippo, Special Education Coordinator, will be sharing a variety of apps and Google extensions that students can access to support their learning in class.
For example if your student is experiencing:
Poor handwriting
Poor grammar
Difficulty spelling
Difficulty with Organizing writing assignments
Date: November 17, 2022
Time: 6-7pm
Location: This is a virtual meeting.
RSVP here
For questions please contact Cheryl Grant at cgrant@csdecatur.net.
Nutrition Department
The Nutrition Department is in the process of reaching out to parents about student negative meal balances. These efforts to send the low-balance communications will continue weekly through the automated infinite campus messenger or a personal phone call. Some accounts may have had outstanding balances prior to being approved for free or reduced meal benefits. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Nekee Mathis at nmathis@csdecatur.net. or (470) 237- 0368 ext 7607.
Note: A free and reduced lunch application can be completed anytime during the school year. Currently, the district policy allows students to receive meals, not extra items, for example, i.e. bag of chips. However, a child's negative meal balance will continue to incur debt as they receive meals.
CSD Partners
Run with the Dogs
Run With the Dogs (RWTD) 2023 registration is now open!
Join us on Saturday, January 28, 2023, for Run With the Dogs, a Decatur tradition in its 19th year.
We’ll be back at Beacon Hill Middle School for the 5K and Pup Trot and are pleased to announce that this year’s race is an official qualifying event for the Peachtree Road Race!
If you think you have the perfect dog to be featured on this year’s t-shirt, please enter the Face of the Race contest. Just post a photo of your dog, plus a blurb about why your dog should be selected as the Face of the Race, to http://www.facebook.com/RWTD5k or on Instagram with the hashtag #RWTD5K.
All contest entrants must register for the race for their dogs to be considered. Photos can be submitted until November 7. Four finalists will be selected by the volunteer race committee, and voting on these four finalists will begin on November 11. The Face of the Race winner will be announced on November 18.
Run With the Dogs 5K is an annual fundraiser of DBB and supports the athletic programs at Decatur High School and Beacon Hill Middle School. All race participants will receive a long-sleeved T-shirt, which will once again be designed by local artist Adam Pinsley.
Click here to register. For more information, visit rwtd5K.com.
City of Decatur
A Season of Giving
A Season of Giving/Christmas Decatur is back to its traditional method of neighbors purchasing gifts directly for local children and seniors!
To apply for assistance, please complete an online application at https://aseasonofgiving.org/application/ by October 28th.
aseasonofgiving@decaturga.com or leave a message on our voicemail (404.378.8068).
If you do not need assistance, we would love your help!
Donors will purchase gifts from an individual wish list specific to a child (through 8th grade) or senior citizen.
If you would like to be a donor, please complete our online form.
If you would like us to do the shopping for you, please donate directly at https://legacydecatur.org/give/ and select A Season of Giving!
Decatur Education Foundation
Book a sitter and tell your friends to meet you at the Soiree in the City on Saturday, November 12th from 6:30-10:30pm! Everyone is invited to enjoy an adult evening of dinner, drinks and dancing! It’s the perfect excuse to get dressed up and go out on the town for a great cause! We’ll enjoy a seated harvest dinner by Little Farmhouse Cafe, live music from Maxwell Street and a full array of cocktails and mocktails.
Purchase your tickets today at www.decatureducationfoundation.org/soiree or scan the QR code. See you there!
Meaningful volunteer opportunities available!
DEF is seeking volunteers to be tutors and mentors. Tutors are needed to help students from 2nd – 8th grades for one hour per week. We are also gearing up to re-launch our AIM Scholars mentoring program in January for which we need 20-30 adult volunteers. If you would like to learn more about these programs and sign up, please visit www.decatureducationfoundation.org/mentoring
Can’t volunteer but want to help out? You can donate to our Lighten the Load program which keeps the snack pantry stocked at Beacon Hill Middle School. For those families in our community experiencing food insecurity, we also have a weekend backpack program. Both have unique Amazon wish lists that are updated monthly. You can donate directly to them using these links:
Beacon Hill Middle Snack Program: /a.co/d0HJHTr
Weekend Backpack Program: https://a.co/6Etc74W
Oakhurst Family Help Box: Who Do I Contact?
22-23 Oakhurst Weekly Newsletters