The Owl Newsletter
OTTO PETERSEN ELEMENTARY
Thursday, February 22, 2024 - 100th Day of School!
Sixth Grade Dance - March 1st, from 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Sixth Grade Band Performance - Tuesday, March 5th.
Fifth Grade Music Performance - Thursday, March 7th.
Daylight Savings - Sunday, March 10th.
Spring Break - No School - Mon-Fri, March 25th- 29th.
Sixth Grade Outdoor School - The week of April 2nd - 5th
No Toys, No Tails
We make it a point at Otto Petersen to have fun each day while we are learning. However, it does take some effort to cultivate an environment of authentic learning and academic achievement. Otto Petersen 4th-6th grade scholars do need some boundaries at school so that they can focus on learning.
There are some items that are coming from home that disrupt the learning environment. As you send your students off to school in the morning, please make sure that they are not bringing:
- Wearable tails, ears, or paws
- We will have fun costume days (yes, even I get dressed up!) during the year, so please save those items for these events
- Hoodies that zip all the way up to cover the face.
- Stuffies/stuffed animals of all sizes
- Blankets
- Action figures
- Slime
- Copious amounts of fidgets
- Portable video game consoles (I do, sadly, have to leave my Nintendo Switch at home)
You may have noticed that "fidgets" are on that list. Sometimes, the fidgets that were originally meant to help students concentrate, become toys in the classroom. Fidgets should help provide students with a small movement break so that they can increase their concentration and provide better access to their learning. There are "fidgets" out there that are noisy or messy and are not best for use in the classroom. If you have questions about which fidgets are best for increasing concentration in the classroom, please reach out to Ms. Ticer, Mrs. Kinsman, or Mrs. McKedy.
-Principal Ticer
OPE Families,
Interested in helping with a yearbook? Contact Chelsea Murphy ottopetersenpresident@gmail.com
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, March 12th, at 4:00 pm.
We could also use help with our Art Literacy lessons; if you are interested, we will provide you with everything you need! Please click on the link above.
Grief and Loss Support Group: 4th-6th Graders
This group aims to create a safe and nurturing space for children to express their feelings, share their experiences, and learn healthy coping mechanisms.
Facilitated by Dan Jewell, a School-Based Mental Health Therapist, and Justin Engstrom, the Care Coordinator for SSD.
The group will focus on age-appropriate activities, discussions, and creative outlets to help children navigate their emotions in a supportive environment. We will meet once a week on Wednesdays starting.
Group Dates: February 14th and will go until March 20th during school hours; we will work to avoid conflict with content instruction time.
Please contact Mrs. McKedy (lmckedy@scappoose.k12.or.us) if you are interested in signing your student up for one of these groups.
Counseling Group will be offered starting Feb. 9th
What: RISE (Resilience, Inspiration, Support, Empowerment);
Who: Facilitated by Rob McQueen-Jensen; Scappoose SD Youth and Family Systems Navigator, QMHA CCMH Youth and Family Department
When: We will work to avoid conflict with content instruction time during school hours.
4th/5th grade students
Topics will include learning basic emotional regulation skills, developing effective classroom habits, maintaining positive friendships, and establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries.
6th grade
Topics will include preparing for the middle school culture, developing and maintaining a healthy self-image, navigating peer pressure, fostering positive friendships, and more.
Please contact Mrs. McKedy (lmckedy@scappoose.k12.or.us) if you are interested in signing your student up for one of these groups.
Digital Citizenship - Part 2!
THIS WEEK IN THE LIBRARY!: Oftentimes, when I am talking to friends and family about what issues I am most concerned about with our kiddos these days, I always seem to land on technology and devices–our kids have so much more access to information than we ever did as kids and while some of that is great, a lot of it is kind of troubling. That is why I take my role as the keeper of information very seriously and I incorporate Digital Citizenship into our library lessons throughout the year in our elementary libraries. I want our children to be safe when they are using technology! So, this week we had Part 2 of our Digital Citizenship lessons. We learned about our place within our chosen online community, the greater cyber community our information can get into and what can happen in the cyber world that is out there–where does all this information come from and how do we know we can trust it? And, we always end our lessons with the reminder that to keep ourselves healthy we need to make sure we are keeping a healthy balance between screen life and real life! Skip the screen and do something more active/interactive & remember the book is always better than the movie!
BOOK DETECTIVES UNITE!: Thanks for all the help in finding our overdue and lost books! Slips will be coming home again this week–please help us find your books or settle your fines as quickly as possible so your kiddos can be checking out books and others can have a turn reading the awesome books from our library! Our 4th & 6th graders had the fewest overdue books this week–way to go!
Happy Reading ~ Mrs. Nudo
Parking Lot Safety
It pains me to have to keep writing about safety in our school parking lot. On my end, I am going to work with our staff to have a bigger adult presence in the parking lot itself to direct the flow of traffic. An ask that I have of the community is for any parent volunteers who would be willing to volunteer on a Drop-Off/Pick-Up Safety Team. I am looking for volunteers who would be willing to don crossing guard vests and help to direct car and pedestrian traffic.
I would need parents/guardians who are interested in sitting with me and developing a plan for safety in our parking lot during these times. Please email me if you are interested.
Cold Weather Reminder
We are starting to see very cold temperatures during the day. Please remember to send your students to school with appropriate outdoor wear so that they can stay warm outside. We recommend that students wear jackets, hats, and gloves when they are outside. I know that kiddos also love to still wear shorts to school (how do they stand it??). If your student has this preference, please make sure they also have a warm jacket. It is cold and flu season, so it is important that students wear clothing that will keep them warm and healthy. At Otto Petersen, this is often a challenging expense for families. Please get in touch with either myself or Ms. McKedy if your family needs support in this way.
Toys at School
This is a friendly reminder that all toys, including stuffed animals and blankets, must stay home. We supply students with fidgets to use during instruction time if required. However, those fun little toys starting to pop up this time of year must wait patiently at home to be played with.
OPE Famlies,
Thank you again for your support in lowering our total building tardy rate over the past two weeks. We know that mornings can be tricky! We hope your students feel a sense of routine and connection by being here each morning for our announcements and Character Strong lessons.
If you have difficulty getting your students out the door in the morning, please feel free to reach out. Classroom teachers, our counselor, Ms. McKedy, and our Dean of Students, Ms. Kinsman, are happy to work with you and your learner to build strategies to make mornings go more smoothly. You can click the flyer below to read about the suggested guidelines.
Attendance Reminders & After School Change of Plans
Also, if you have to change your students' after-school plans, please try to do this one hour before students are released so that we have enough time to communicate with teachers and staff.
- Sue MacLachlan: smaclachlan@scappoose.k12.or.us
- Mary McNabb: mmcnabb@scappoose.k12.or.us
- Your child's teacher
We appreciate your support in making sure we know where your students are during the school day. Thank you!
Personal Electronic Device Policy
(Cell phones, Smart watches, Earbuds)
As an upper elementary school, O.P.E. will align with the Middle School policy concerning electronic devices. A personal electronic device is defined by the district as any “device capable of electronically communicating, sending, receiving, storing, recording, reproducing and/or displaying information and data.” The new policy will ask that students have their devices “off and away” while on campus. A private warning will be given if a student uses the device while at school. A second infraction will lead to the device being turned into the office for pick-up at the end of the day. Parents will be asked to pick up the device after a third infraction. The school is asking for parent support with this policy as we focus on building a positive learning environment.Here is the testing schedule for the rest of May.