Howdy Trailblazers
November 8-19, 2021
Greetings from Principal Bueno
I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank our Ott community Veterans for your dedicated service to the United States Armed Forces. We will forever be grateful for your bravery and sacrifices to protect our country and our freedom. Thank you to all who joined us and thank you to our ECC teacher Mrs. Jasinski and our Social Studies Committee for planning this year's memorable ceremony.
I am extremely proud of our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students for completing a practice round of STAAR Reading Interim Assessments last week. The online platform essentially resembles what STAAR Reading would be like for our students next spring. The data collected from this benchmark is immediate and provides teachers predictions on how well students would perform on the real STAAR Reading. The data is one of multiple forms teachers use to strategically plan instruction and interventions for our students based on their current academic standing. 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students will take the real version of STAAR Interim Assessment in early spring in reading and math as another source of progress monitoring for teachers. STAAR testing dates and other district assessment dates can be found here. Progress reports for 1st-5th grade students will post to HAC next Friday after 4:00 p.m. and Pre-K and Kinder progress reports will be printed and sent home that day.
As a reminder we highly encourage our students to read daily for at least 15-20 minutes for primary grade levels and 30-50 minutes for our intermediate grade levels. Our Ott-some Librarian Mrs. Molinar allows our students unlimited books to be checked out. Please encourage your child to bring books home from our library to read! Parents are also welcome to check out books from our library as well. We also recommend visiting the following link after logging into the NISD Student Portal --> Elementary Digital Resources. Here families will find resources available to support reading, math and various academic subjects for their child from home.
Thank you to everyone who donated socks for Socktober. Our campus goal was to collect 1,000 pairs of socks and we exceeded our goal and collected 2,127 pairs! Mrs. Battaglia's class collected 330 pairs and Mrs. Marrufo's class collected 327 pairs. Congratulations to these top classes for all of their efforts. All donated socks will be delivered to the NISD Threads Clothing Closet for families in need.
Thank you Trailblazers for supporting and celebrating the 50th day of school with us last week. It was a fun day on campus and as always, the students enjoyed the 50's themed event and activities. Of course our Kite Day was also a huge hit for our students and we were so happy the weather held up for kite flying. I want to thank our Ott families for supporting our October campus events. It was a busy month, but seeing so many of you join us for all of the fun made my heart smile. It's wonderful to have our families back on campus and I look forward to seeing you at many more events this year.
Lastly, I will not be publishing another family newsletter until we return after the Thanksgiving break. I will update this newsletter as needed so please check back to stay up to date with campus news. May your Thanksgiving be filled with peace, love and joy. I hope our Trailblazers enjoy their time away from school to recoup from the busy past couple of months. Please don’t forget students return back from the break on Monday, November 29.
Make it an Ott-some week Trailblazers! #RootedAtOtt
Principal Bueno
Student Support During Thanksgiving Break
Luna Middle School Elective Night
Donations Needed
Ott Student Council Store Back in Business
NISD Thanksgiving Break Meal Assistance
Socktober 2021
Class Winners - Mrs. Battaglia and Mrs. Marrufo
Glow Party for the Winners!
NISD Highlights Ott!
Ott students are “booo-ked” with reading fun!
Students at one NISD elementary school had an “ott-some” time reading with a little Halloween spirit thrown in. Classes received a “You’ve been Boooked” bag, filled with a fun book to read. The message on the tag said, “Hopefully this will spread some cheer, at what can be a crazy time of year. If it’s Halloween spirit you are needing, maybe you can get it back with a little reading.”
The ALE class at Ott ES received a book, “The Good, The Bad, and the Spooky.” Students had an extra afternoon read aloud and good discussion before sending the book on to the next classroom to enjoy. Pictured are (from l-r) Koray Pena, Jae’la Fountain, Selena Morales, Vinnie Pacheco, and Maddox Sanchez.
NISD COVID-19 Information for Parents/Guardians
What are the symptoms of COVID-19?
Fever or chills
Diarrhea
Cough
Headache
Shortness of breath/difficulty
New loss of taste or smell breathing
Sore throat
Fatigue
Congestion or runny nose
Muscle or body aches
Nausea or vomiting
How do I communicate with the school if my child has seasonal allergies, chronic migraines, gastrointestinal issues, asthma, etc.?
If there is a medical history of these symptoms, please provide a Dr.’s note to the school nurse for documentation. Students will be assessed by the school nurse to determine if there is a change in the student’s normal baseline.
What procedure will be followed if my student shows symptoms of COVID-19 while at school?
Students showing symptoms of illness will be assessed by the school nurse and monitored until they can be picked up by their parent/guardian.
School nurses have the ability to perform COVID-19 rapid testing for students whose parents/guardians have given consent to do so.
Students with symptoms who are not wearing a mask at the time of arrival to the clinic will be offered a mask to wear and the parent/guardian will be notified.
What do I do if my student is sent home from school with a fever (100.0 degrees or greater) and/or any other symptoms of COVID-19?
Contact your healthcare provider for guidance.
If the student has symptoms of COVID-19 and is not evaluated by a medical professional or tested for COVID-19, the student should not return to school until after at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared. Additionally, at least 24 hours must have passed since the student had a fever (without fever-reducing medications) and the student has had improvement of additional symptoms (cough, etc.). These three criteria should be met for readmittance on campus.
If the student is evaluated and is diagnosed with another condition, the student may return to school prior to 10 days with a healthcare provider’s note. The student must also be fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication. A COVID-19 test is not required if an alternate diagnosis is received from the provider.
When can my student return to school after being diagnosed with, and/or testing positive for COVID-19?
Three criteria must be met for readmittance on campus: 1) at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared 2) at least 24 hours have passed since the student had a fever (without fever-reducing medications) 3) the student has had improvement of additional symptoms (cough, etc.).
If the student has tested positive or has been diagnosed with COVID-19 but has not had any symptoms, at least 10 days must have passed since the date of the positive test/diagnosis.
What do I do if my student is a close contact to a person with COVID-19 and has not been vaccinated?
Contact your healthcare provider for testing and symptom guidance.
If the student is asymptomatic, parents may choose to quarantine their child but are not required to do so.
Quarantine is necessary for a student who is a household member of someone who has tested positive. Please contact your school nurse for any questions.
It is important to monitor for symptoms to include checking temperature twice a day.
Fully vaccinated individuals do not need to quarantine if exposed to a positive case as long as they are not having any symptoms themselves.
Individuals are considered fully vaccinated 14 days after they received their final dose.
Vaccinated individuals with exposure to a positive case and having symptoms will need to complete a 10-day isolation period unless they have a physician's note to clear them to return sooner. Per guidance from the local health department, a negative PCR alone will not suffice for them to return sooner.
Travel Guidelines for unvaccinated individuals: No quarantine is necessary for domestic or international travel as long as there is no history of exposure and the individual is not exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms.
Please Slow Down
Attendance Matters
Northside continues to ask you to make your child's attendance a priority. Research shows that school attendance leads to future success and brings numerous benefits to students, including higher academic achievements.
Texas Education Code states that the students must be present in class 90% of the time in order to earn course credit or be promoted to the next grade level.
When students are tardy to school, they are missing valuable morning time with their class. Morning meetings begin promptly at 7:45 and this time allows for students to get ready for a successful day. We will begin recording tardies to school (arriving after 7:45 am).
As a reminder, not only do absences lead to learning loss, they can also lead to social-emotional deficiencies. We encourage all parents and students to make school attendance a top priority except for time when the student is sill. Be sure to send a note upon your student's return to school.
From the Superintendent: Reunited In-Person
NISD Reunited Safely - Mask Update
Please visit the NISD website for updated information on masks in NISD- https://www.nisd.net/news/update-temporary-mask-mandate
Free Internet - Time is running out to apply for home internet access
Helpful Resources
Learning Tree Job Fair
Stay Connected with NISD
While one-on-one communication is the best, in a district as large as Northside ISD it is sometimes difficult. Because we want our parents to stay informed, NISD has several ways that parents and other interested citizens can stay informed about the successes and challenges of San Antonio’s premier school district of choice, as well as find out news about their children’s schools.
Follow Ott on Social Media
Please don’t forget to stay connected by following and "Liking” Ott Elementary and Ott PTA on:
- Facebook @ottelementary and @OttElemPTA
- Twitter @NISDott and @ott_pta
- Instagram @nisd_ott and @ottelementarypta
Thank you to those who have joined us this year, we appreciate your support. We encourage everyone to follow us on these social media arenas.#RootedAtOtt
Free Meals!
NISD Vaccination Opportunities
Free COVID-19 Testing
Ott Counselors Care
Library News
Ott OASIS Tutoring Program
Who: Caring adults over 50 years old who want to make a difference with our Ott students.
What : Oasis Tutors are active older adults who love reading and making a meaningful contribution to the Ott Community.
Why: NISD supports the Oasis national non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of mature adults and engaging them in community service. The Oasis Tutoring Program supports Reading Achievement, builds interest and motivation, models language and oral expression, and encourages response to text.
How: Just fill out the bottom of the form that was sent home with your child and return it to your child's teacher.
When: Oasis Training will take place soon for preparation and supplies. As soon as Volunteers have their training with the district, a student will be paired up with an Oasis Mentor. Weekly 1 hour tutoring sessions and the partnership will begin.
Important Dates
Nov. 15
- World Kindness Day
- American Education Week
- Texas Character Education Week
- Ott Career and College Bound Day (OCCB) (wear your favorite college shirt)
- Progress Reports post to HAC 1st - 5th/ Pre-K & Kinder to be printed and sent home
- GOTR 5K
- Thanksgiving Break