The Acorn
Oakview's Latest News, Events, Activities, & Opportunities
Principal's Report
NEW Fitness Trail Coming to Oakview!
Did you know that Oakview has a "Digital Nature Trail" at the back of campus? Years ago, the school established a nature trail in the wooded area near the bus loop and created an outdoor classroom and lab space for students to explore nature and the world around them. As an update to that initial work, a former Oakview student,who was pursuing his Eagle Scout, "digitized" the trail by adding QR codes to the many points of interest along the trail. We are fortunate to have this outdoor space and are excited to take a new step in our nature trail this year!
Through collaborative efforts by Greenville County Schools grounds crew and Oakview's science and P.E. departments, we will be expanding and improving our digitized nature trail to make it a fully operational fitness trail! The trail will include 13 fitness stations and if all goes as planned, will make our trail a National Demonstration Site for fitness trails. There are four elements of fitness that we are developing in our trail:
- Aerobic
- Muscular
- Balance/Flex
- Core
While we are in the early stages of this major project, there is already a great deal of excitement! Many thanks go to Jen Miller (P.E. teacher), Preston Argo (Plant Engineer), Charnley DeMeritt (science lab teacher) and Greenville County Schools grounds crew. GCS grounds workers have begun work on clearing underbrush and re-establishing the trails. Mrs. Miller has been working on grant applications and selecting the fitness stations we hope to locate on the trail. As things progress on this project, I will keep you posted. As always, if you want to help in a specific way toward the completion of our NEW Fitness Trail, please contact me at preavis@greenville.k12.sc.us.
For children,
Phillip Reavis, Ph.D
Principal
Congratulations Mrs. Miller!
As part of GCS employee recognitions, I’m excited to share with you that Jen Miller, P.E. teacher, was nominated and selected as one of the GCS Employee Spotlight recipients! The Employee Spotlight presented by Horace Mann is an opportunity for GCS employees to nominate fellow GCS employees who deserve to have light shown on their contributions and/or accomplishments within their work at GCS.
Mrs. Miller was nominated by a colleague because of her extensive work in supporting health and wellness for students, parents, and staff at Oakview. She also supports LiveWell Greenville initiatives at Oakview and is currently leading a project to expand our nature trail into a fully functioning fitness trail!
As a recipient of the Employee Spotlight, Horace Mann will present Mrs. Miller with an award at the school, along with her choice of either a pancake breakfast or ice cream social for the entire staff. There were 11 recipients of the Employee Spotlight this fall, and Jen will be featured on the GCS/Oakview websites and in upcoming employee newsletters.
Again, congratulations Jen Miller! An honor well-deserved.
Oakview Kitchen Earns an "A"
Rotary Club donates dictionaries
Notes from the Counselors
Greetings Oakview families! During the month of November our classroom lessons will be centered on personal safety. The topics are as follows:
Preschool & K5: Identifying different emotions
1st grade: Being a friend & how to deal with hurt feelings
2nd grade: Good secrets vs. bad secrets
3rd grade: Communication & privacy
4th grade: Getting help in unsafe situations
5th grade: Peer pressure
It is our hope that you will continue this conversation at home with your child/children, and we encourage you to ask them questions about what they have learned. As always your school counselors are grateful and thankful for the Oakview school community and the partnership we share with you!
~ Mrs. Rabren & Mrs. Taylor
Oakview is excited and proud to announce that Denver zoologist and world conservation activist, Dave Johnson, will be presenting to Oakview’s students on Thursday, November 8! Dave has written three conservation books for kids, all focusing on the protection and passion it takes to save other species from extinction. He leads people on treks to Nepal, climbs mountains for rhinos, runs marathons for elephants, and spreads his love for animals everywhere.
We are pleased to support his non-profit, the Katie Adamson Conservation Fund (named after a fellow zoo explorer), by offering you the opportunity to purchase each of his three books. Attached is a flyer showing the titles and cost of each book (a copy is also available in the media center for previewing). The books are beautifully illustrated and full of animals woven through stories about the zoo or far away places. An exciting benefit of purchasing a book is that Oakview will receive 50% of all profits from the sale! These funds will be used to support our next environmental project - revitalizing the nature trail into an interactive fitness trail!
To support Dave’s efforts and Oakview’s new fitness trail, simply log on to your My School Bucks account, look for “Conservation Books”, and click on the book(s) you’d like to purchase. It’s that simple! If you don’t have a My School Bucks account yet, it’s easy to set up an account in a few simple steps. You can also access the book list PDF in your My School Bucks account by clicking on the provided link. All book orders must be purchased by Wednesday, Nov. 8 so Dave can bring your book with him that Thursday.
Thank you for using this opportunity to help your child appreciate our planet and the amazing animals that inhabit it! If you have any questions about how to order or want more information about Dave Johnson’s conservation fund, please contact Mrs. DeMeritt at cdemerit@greenville.k12.sc.us.
America Recycles Week!
Oakview will celebrate America Recycles Week from November 12-16. We encourage all families to use Oakview as a recycling center for the items listed below so our planet uses fewer natural resources. Oakview's Environmental Engineers members will give prizes each day that week to students who bring any of the following items to recycle:
*Pairs of wearable shoes (no tears, mold, or holes), crayons, markers, cell phones, aluminum cans, ink and toner cartridges, six-pack rings, laptops, eyeglasses, game cartridges, digital cameras, and lithium batteries
*Recycle Your Gently Used Shoes*
For one week only, November 12-16, Oakview will collect pairs of shoes to help those in need around the world. Each morning, 5th grade Environmental Engineers will be available outside the main and kindergarten entrances to collect them. All shoes, new and used--except winter boots, foam flip flops, bowling shoes, or any shoe with metal cleats--are accepted as long as they are in wearable condition (no rips, tears, or worn soles). All shoes will be given to WorldWearProject whose mission is to distribute wearable, affordable shoes to third world countries while diverting millions of pounds of refuse from our landfills each year.
Calling all 4th and 5th graders!
- October 23-November 8: Students will study geographical topics by visiting the National Geographic website. There is also hard copies of questions and maps available outside of Mrs. Preisig's door near the 5th grade hall.
- November 8: All students that want to participate in the school geography bee will take an online assessment. The top ten scorers will qualify to participate in the school geography bee. If more than 10 students qualify, a "tiebreaker" assessment will be given on November 9th. All assessments will be given in the classrooms.
- November 19: Ten participants will compete to be the Oakview Geography Bee champion. Parents and all 4-5 grade students will be invited to attend. Competition will begin at 8:30 am in the cafeteria.
- February 1: Deadline for the school winner to take the state qualifying test. If the student's score qualifies them to move on to the state, they will attend the competition in Columbia on March 29th. If the student advances through the state competition, the national competition will be held on May 19-22 in Washington, D.C.
For further questions or information, please contact Jessica Preisig. Good luck!
IXL Challenge Sheets due November 16th!
4th Graders use VR Goggles to explore the world
Fourth graders in Mr. Hoeft's class use Google Expeditions to view ancient civilizations. These VR goggles allow students to explore different parts of the world in 3-D!
- Monday, November 5: Teacher Workday (No students)
- Tuesday, November 6: Election Day (No school)
- Thursday, November 8: PTA Board Meeting @ 9 a.m.
- Thursday, November 8: Geography Bee
- Thursday, November 8: Zoologist Dave Johnson visits
Week of November 12
- Monday-Friday: America Recycles Week
Week of November 19
- Tuesday, November 20: 4th Grade Native American Day
- Wednesday, November 21-Friday, November 23: Thanksgiving Holidays (No School)
Oakview's Lunch Menu can be found here
Yearbooks for Sale!
Attention 3rd and 4th Grade Parents!
PTA's Reflection Contest
If you are interested in competing in the Film division, please complete and print the online form, available here. Submissions will only be accepted November 20 from 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. in Oakview's cafeteria. For extenuating circumstances or questions, please email reflections@oakviewpta.com.
For inspiration, visit the Reflections virtual gallery, and find more information on rules as well as prizes and scholarships on the South Carolina PTA website here or the Oakview PTA website here..