Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 30, Issue 1, August 9, 2022
In This Issue
Sign up (or un-sign up) for the Thornhill Newsletter
From our Principal
From our PFC Co-Presidents
Student Arrival and Dismissal at Thornhill
A Note About After Care and Connecting With Other Parents
Welcome to New Teachers!
Konstella & ParentSquare: What’s the difference and why do we have both?
Facebook Groups: Stay Connected
Thornhill’s Garden
OUSD Announcements
Calendar of Important Dates
The first two weeks of school are minimum days!!!
TK/K - 1:10pm | 1st-5th -1:25pm
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Sign up for the Thornhill Newsletter (or Unsubscribe if You’ve Moved On *sniff*)
Welcome to the very first issue of the Thornhill PFC Newsletter for 2022-23! If you’re reading this because you saw it on Facebook or someone forwarded it to you, subscribe now to make sure it’s in your inbox every Tuesday. If you’re reading this because it’s already in your email, the only thing you have to do is read everything below.
And if your family has left or graduated from Thornhill and you’d like to unsubscribe, there’s no need to email us—just click on the unsubscribe link at the very bottom of the newsletter, and we wish you all the best!
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Note from our Principal
Dear Thunderbird families,
Welcome to Thornhill! The first two days of school have been fantastic! Our kids are so excited to be back and the joy on our campus is palpable. It’s so nice to see our students rejuvenated and excited about learning. We get to hear about all the fun things they did this summer! It’s been wonderful to see our families making connections with each other. Thornhill’s strength lies in its caring community, which we are grateful for. Thank you all for bringing such joy and enthusiasm to the start of our school year.
Morning Mingle - Wednesday, August 10 from 8:40-9:00am
Tomorrow morning there will be an opportunity for families to connect with each other, the principal and some staff. Feel free to stop by and say hi!
Back to School Night - Wednesday, August 17 @ 6:00pm. Details to come.
Again, welcome to Thornhill and I look forward to meeting you!
Mr. Daubenspeck
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From the PFC Co-Presidents
Hi there, Thunderbirds!
It has been such a blast to see families back on the schoolyard at morning drop-off after two-plus years of hanging on the fence. We look forward to connecting more as a community in person this year, starting with the Morning Mingle tomorrow, Wednesday, August 10 from 8:40-9am.
We’re also excited to invite you to ask questions and get involved with Thornhill’s Parent-Faculty Club (PFC). Thornhill’s PFC plays an enormous role in helping our school and community thrive, funding even core roles including our instructional aides, librarian, and P.E. coach, along with many educational supplies and resources. We also fund, plan, and host community events throughout the year, the biggest being our spring auction (already in the works!).
Involvement with the PFC is an incredible way to get to know other families, and there are ways to volunteer even if you have limited free time and energy (we honestly don’t have a ton of either and we’re the co-presidents).
We’ll share more information in the coming days about upcoming events and open roles, but in the meantime, please reach out with any questions to president@thornhillschool.org. You can also email us with your bets on how many items there will be in the lost and found at the end of the first week, winner gets someone else’s unlabeled jacket.
Have fun out there!
Rianna Stoll & Evie Nagy
PFC Co-presidents
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Student Arrival and Dismissal at Thornhill
ARRIVAL PROCEDURES
Drop-off zone: 5880 Thornhill Drive (please drive carefully in the coned zone). If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the PFC Traffic Coordinator @quickdrop@thornhillschool.org.
Drop-off zone: Alhambra Lane (accessed through St. John’s Episcopal Church’s parking lot (1707 Gouldin Road). Using the church parking lot is a gift; please be respectful of their kindness as you drive through!
The school gates will be open from 8:15am - 8:30am for morning arrival. Please help ALL of our Thornhill students to get settled and be under our care by departing by 8:30am.There will be a warning whistle at 8:30am to signal you to leave. That way, students can be ready on their own for the 8:35 bell.
The play structure is not to be used in the morning. Please do not enter the building unless you have an appointment as our teachers are on their prep period.
DISMISSAL PROCEDURES
TK/K - Teachers will walk students out to the gates at dismissal. TK/K families waiting for older siblings in grades 1st - 5th can wait in the TK play area until dismissal at 3:00pm (at which point you can go to the dismissal in front of school).
1st - 5th - The dismissal area of the playground will be open from 3:00pm - 3:10pm for pick-up only. Teachers must dismiss students to an adult (please communicate with your homeroom teacher if your child will be walking home). We do not have the staffing to monitor students that are picked up after 3:00pm.
Common Questions
What if my child forgot their violin, lunch, shoes (it’s happened..)? The main gate will be unlocked. Report directly to the office. If the front door is locked, there is a video doorbell on the post to your right as you are facing the main doors. Calling or emailing the office gives us a heads up about your arrival. We’ve been known to meet parents in their cars to pick up such items; you might get lucky!
What if my child has an appointment for a doctor, dentist, etc that necessitates an early pick-up? Please email Sherry or Zettie in the office, as well as your child's classroom teacher with the details. You can also call (but know that there are times we can’t answer the phone because we are helping others). We will try to have your child ready to go when you arrive. You may also come to the office to sign out your child, though we are only allowing one person at a time (masks are recommended but not required).
Office telephone: 510.339.6800
Office email: sherry.kaetzel@ousd.org | lisette.ruanne@ousd.org
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A Note About After Care and Connecting With Other Parents
Thornhill’s new after-school program with Bay Area Community Resources (BACR) starts tomorrow, Wednesday, August 10. The administration is still working with BACR on a number of details, including additional staffing, but we know there has been a lot of anxiety around capacity and families who are still on the waitlist. There will be updates in the coming days and weeks, as well as an information session on Monday, August 15 at 6pm on Zoom (please note new date and time). An agenda and Zoom info will be sent by week's end.
In the meantime, the PFC has created this Google sheet for parents who need after care to connect and collaborate on solutions. It’s obviously not perfect, but if we can help each other, it might help take some of the pressure off. PFC volunteers don't have the capacity right now to coordinate matches, but please use this document to find others who have similar needs.
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Welcome to New Teachers!
Melina McClelland (Resource Specialist Teacher)
I am an Education Specialist joining Thornhill Elementary as a Resource Teacher. I have taught exceptional students for about ten years, including 5 years with Oakland Unified School District.
I was born in Berkeley. After experiencing life elsewhere, I eventually settled back in the Bay Area, in an old fixer- upper house near beautiful Lake Merritt. I’m passionate about fabric arts, painting, baking, my dog, fixing things, and traveling by 4x4 off-road, especially in the desert. I look forward to meeting the Thornhill student and parent community!
Sonia Rose (2nd grade)
Hello! My name is Ms. Rose and I am excited to be your 2nd grade teacher. I have many things to share with you and can’t wait to start learning together. I am eager to get to know everyone!
I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in English at University of Washington. I have also completed my Master’s in Teaching Degree in Elementary Education. I want to share my love for learning with my students.
Over the summer, I moved to California and I love it here! I’ve had the pleasure of walking around Lake Merritt and meeting wonderful folks from the Thornhill community! I can’t wait to meet you and I hope that you are just as excited as I am about the upcoming school year!
Thomas Ruanne (PFC Aide)
My name is Thomas. I'm excited to start as an instructional aide at Thornhill. As an alumnus myself, I'm happy to be involved in the community again.
More to come next week!
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Konstella & ParentSquare: What’s the difference and why do we have both?
Konstella is Thornhill’s communications platform for Parent Faculty Club (PFC) announcements and parent-to-parent communication. There are classroom groups, committees, the school directory, a calendar, the opportunity to share photos, and more.
ParentSquare is the official communications platform for OUSD as well as for Thornhill’s administration and teachers.
While official school information will come from ParentSquare, there are many things Konstella does for us that ParentSquare can’t do!
Konstella provides a space for us to reach everyone (like we are doing now!) with information about community events, fundraisers, and other activities. PFC committees need a space to brainstorm and plan, and Room Parents in each classroom need to be able to communicate about class parties, gifts for teachers, etc. Thornhill families need to be able to find each other for playdates and other kinds of parent-to-parent communication.
In the next few weeks, you’ll see that you and your child(ren) have been assigned to your classroom groups and any committee you’re in (or join in the future!). Konstella is also a schoolwide directory—not only can you contact the other parents/guardians in your class, you can search for anyone at the school by name or kid's name.
OUSD uses ParentSquare across the district for OUSD and school/classroom announcements. This is linked to your Aeries account.
We will use Konstella for everything else—our school/parent directory (ParentSquare doesn't provide this), room parent communication, teacher appreciations, community and fundraising events (Walkathon, Fall Festival, Auction, etc.), groups/committees, PFC meetings/announcements, photos, etc.—essentially everything that is organized and communicated by parent volunteers.
Join Konstella now! It's accessible on desktop and mobile app. If you were at Thornhill last year, you are already in Konstella.
If you have any questions about these platforms and why we use them, email our PFC’s VP of Communications Alicia Streight at vpcommunications@thornhillschool.org.
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Facebook Groups: Stay Connected!
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Thornhill's Garden
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Calendar
Monday, August 8 - Friday, August 19: Minimum days (TK-K will be released at 1:10pm; grades 2-5 at 1:25pm).
Wednesday, August 10: Mingle for new Thornhill families, 8:40am-9:00am (see Konstella for more info)
Monday, August 15 (NEW DATE): BACR information session @ 6pm (Zoom - info to come)
Tuesday, August 16: First PFC Meeting @ 5:30pm (Zoom link in Konstella)
Wednesday, August 17: Back to School Night @ 6pm (see Konstella for more info)
Monday, September 5: Labor Day (schools closed)
Friday, September 16: OUSD Professional Development (no school for kids)
Be sure also to subscribe to the Thornhill Google Calendar here, and download the OUSD District calendar here.
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And If You Made It This Far...
Congratulations! You’re in the know about everything going on at Thornhill. For the third year, I’m your newsletter editor, Jill Evans. My son, Jesse, is in 3rd grade and my 9th grade son attends Bishop O’Dowd. And, I am an alumni of Thornhill! Do you know Ms. Maggie? She was my amazing kindergarten teacher!
The newsletter will land in your inbox every Tuesday, and we make every effort to include everything you need to know and not too much more; we all have plenty of other things to do, but please read it every week as it will more than likely answer most questions you have about what’s up at school. Information about how to submit to the newsletter is below, but you can reach out to me at any time at newsletter@thornhillschool.org. Have a great school year!
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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, VP of Communication Alicia Streight , PFC Presidents Evie Nagy and Rianna Stoll, 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