Panda Press
March 8, 2024
THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY!
We empower each child to grow and become a well-rounded citizen,
because every child's future counts.
A NOTE FROM YOUR PRINCIPALS...
Hello Opportunity Families!
We had a fantastic week at school! All week long we focused on reading for READ ACROSS AMERICA WEEK. Not only did we read our favorite books, we also dressed up for a daily theme. We are grateful to the Rotary Club for donating funds to our school so that every child could go home with a brand new book. Some member of the Rotary Club joined our school as guest readers today as well. Nothing better than inspiring our students to become life long readers!
LOST & FOUND - with the weather becoming sunnier, our students shed their coats and many of them end up on the LOST AND FOUND table. Please remind your child to check the lost and found for any items that they may of misplaced. The table will be neatly organized during conference week so we encourage you to look through the items also. During Spring Vacation unclaimed items will be donated. Thank you!
Next week is CLASSIFIED APPRECIATION WEEK at our school. It takes a village to run a school as awesome as ours! Please take a moment to thank our playground supervisors, crossing guards, paraeducators, nutrition services, custodians, nurse and secretaries for the outstanding work they do daily to support our students and our school!
Enjoy the weekend.
Best regards,
Mrs. Spence & Mr. Howard
Dancers & Singers
Our awesome Dynamic PANDAmonium Choir and students from Grades K-5 participated in before and after school SMART Classes in order to prepare for these awesome performances.
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES???
Conferences begin March 22-29. Students will have early dismissal at 12:30 on these days so our staff can meet with families to discuss growth. Please sign up for a conference if you have not already done so. https://www.signupgenius.com/tabs/13575DE05A2CEEEC2A81-opportunity3#/
KINDERGARTEN 2024-25 REGISTRATION
Attached you will find information for Kindergarten Registration 2024-25. You can begin the process on-line now, and then submit the information on March 1, 2024. We look forward to welcoming our youngest learners to school the Fall of 2024!
STREAM NIGHT - MARCH 14 - 5:30-7:00 PM
HEALTH TID BITS
Please be reminded that if your child is sick, running a fever, vomiting, etc. they must be symptom free without medications for 24 hours prior to returning to school.
COUNSELOR CORNER WITH MR. HASTINGS
Don’t Give Your Kids the Message of Entitlement
Over the years, I’ve seen some friends and relatives who devoted their lives to protecting their children from inconvenience, discomfort, struggle, disappointment, embarrassment, and delayed gratification in any form. They sacrifice themselves, their own well-being, and even their financial security to provide for all the wants of their children. I’m sure you might have seen instances of parents who have almost driven themselves into financial ruin by continuing to protect their grown children from bad financial and personal decisions.
In my experience, this has never worked out in a positive way in the long term. In addition, I have never seen the offspring of these parents wake up and recognize that they, themselves, have become spoiled, self-centered, and need to change their ways.
Here is an example of a parent who apparently knew how to help her kids avoid entitlement, but eventually gave the wrong message to one of her kids. When I met this family, they appeared to have great teenagers. “Yes, they are,” she offered. “I worked hard with them when they were little, and it really paid off. They were expected to behave and act responsibly by helping with the family jobs. Now they are a joy.”
Unfortunately, the third child in the family was nothing like the older ones. With remorse, she told us that by the time her third child came along she was worn out. “I no longer had the energy, so my way was to just give him what he wants. I didn’t want the hassle.”
She went on to say that this was the worst mistake of her life. “He’s not like the other kids. He’s lazy and selfish. All he wants to do is watch TV and play video games. He’s never happy unless he gets his way.”
This parent had discovered how to create an entitled child who would probably never be happy. She had to decide whether to continue as she was or to start setting some limits so that he would grow up to be responsible. The good news is that it’s never too late to use the principles and techniques of Love and Logic.
We have developed several techniques that can help parents raise kids who grow into responsible and successful adults. For example, here are our Four Steps to Responsibility:
1. Give the child a task that you know that the child can handle.
2. Hope that the child fails at the task (this is the learning opportunity for the child).
3. Allow the consequences, delivered with empathy, to do the teaching.
4. Give the child the same task until the child learns to respond with responsibility and succeed at the task.
Using these four steps lays the foundation for responsible behavior, which is essential for avoiding entitlement. For more details on helping your kids avoid entitlement and become responsible adults, listen to our classic audio, Four Steps to Responsibility.
Thanks for reading!
Jim Fay
Author Visit - March 18th - Patrick Carmen
We're thrilled to announce that author Patrick Carman will be joining us on March 18th for a special assembly designed for students in grades 2-5. If your students are interested, they can order Patrick Carman's books directly from Auntie's Book Store. He will be promoting this new release Bonkers($16.99) and can sign books if students are interested. The link is to all of his titles, which students can order as well. When placing orders online, students should include our school's name. Our library teachers will pick up books that are purchased and deliver them to students at school. No books will be sold at school!
See flyer below for link https://www.auntiesbooks.com/store/catalog/patrick-carman-books
OES YEARBOOK...COMING THIS SPRING - PRE ORDER NOW!
Yearbook Order Forms DUE April 29th!!
Ms. Popp and Mrs. Cartwright are putting together a yearbook for our students! Year books will be colorful and capture all of the great moments that take place at our school throughout the school year! If you and your child are interested in purchasing a 2023-24 yearbook. please return a check, money order, or purchase on-line. More details will be sent home next week with your child!
PTO HAPPENINGS
PTO FUND RAISING CARDS - ON SALE DURING STREAM NIGHT !
STILL FOR SALE! Contact our PTO to order - opportunitypto@gmail.com
Purchase a Fundraising card and be entered to win tickets for a family of 4 to the last home game for the Spokane Chiefs Sunday March 17th @ 5:00pm! Valued at $100!
CHECK OUT THESE OPPORTUNITIES...
UPCOMING EVENTS...MARK YOUR CALENDAR
MARCH
- Dynamic PANDAmonium Choir Practice - Tuesdays, Fridays 8:00 am
- March 1 - Kindergarten Registration Begins
- March 11-15 - Classified Employee Appreciation Week
- March 14 - STREAM FAMILY NIGHT - 5:30-7:00
- March 22-29 - PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES - 12:30 Early Dismissal for Students
- April 1-5 - SPRING VACATION
Main Phone
or
509-558-3551
Attendance Line
509-558-3590
Line available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
OPPORTUNITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Email: lspence@cvsd.org
Website: oes.cvsd.org/
Location: 1109 South Wilbur Road, Spokane Valley, WA, USA
Phone: 509-558-3550
Facebook: facebook.com/OpportunityElementaryCVSD/