Ocean Avenue School News
September 2018 ~ Volume 28, Issue 28
Welcome Back!
Welcome New Faces to Ocean Avenue
- Abigail Ferguson ~ 1st Grade
- Mary Otto ~ Ed Tech
- Stephanie Walo ~ Ed Tech
- Gabbie Olufson ~ Spurwink Counselor
In addition, two of our teachers have moved to a different grade/position this school year:
- Caroline Clavel (formerly Grade 4) ~ Grade 2
- Cathy Gurney (formerly Grade 5) ~ Grade 4'
Welcome to the new and returning faces to Ocean Avenue Elementary!
Opening School Paperwork is now online
The District’s opening school paperwork (“First Day Packet”) is now online and can be completed and updated through the same portal for Infinite Campus that allows you to see your child’s grades, attendance, etc.
If you already have an activated parent portal Infinite Campus account, please go there to complete the paperwork. You will see further instructions once you sign on.
If you are new to Portland Public Schools or do not yet have an activated parent Infinite Campus account, please feel free to stop by the main office between 7:30am and 4:00pm, and Ms. Caminiti can assign a login for you. If you are not able to stop by the office, please complete the following form (Parent/Guardian Portal Form), and Ms. Caminiti will send you a Portal Activation Key for you to create your own username and password.
Please read the attached PPS Parent Portal Agreement prior to filling out the Parent/Guardian Portal Form. Instructions will be sent to you on how to create your username/password and update your child(ren's) information once your activation key has been assigned.
Principal's Message
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Welcome Back! As we begin the school year, I want to welcome you as our partner in your child’s education. We value, appreciate, and seek out your involvement and collaboration for the success of your child.
Our goal this year is to ensure that every student attends school regularly. Positive attendance is a key ingredient to keeping kids on track academically and in engaging them in all aspects of school life.
Showing up for school has a huge impact on a student’s academic success starting in kindergarten and continuing through high school. Even as children grow older and more independent, families play a key role in making sure students get to school safely every day and understand why attendance is so important for success in school and in life.
We realize some absences are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances. But, we also know that when students miss too much school— regardless of the reason — it can cause them to fall behind academically. Your child is less likely to succeed if he or she is chronically absent—which means missing 18 or more days over the course of an entire school year. Research shows:
- Children chronically absent in kindergarten and 1st grade are much less likely to read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade.
- By 6th grade, chronic absence is a proven early warning sign for students at risk for dropping out of school.
- By 9th grade, good attendance can predict graduation rates as well as success in college.
Absences can add up quickly. A child is chronically absent if he or she misses just two days every month!! Clearly going to school regularly matters!
When our students are not at Ocean Avenue Elementary School, we notice because we care!
We don’t want your child to fall behind in school and get discouraged. Please ensure that your child attends school every day and arrives on time. Please make sure you are familiar with the school calendar to assist in your family scheduling for vacations and medical appointments.
Let us know how we can best support you and your children so that they can show up for school on time every day. We want your child to be successful in school! If you have any questions or need more information, please contact us at 874-8180.
Sincerely,
Beverly Stevens
Principal
Classroom News and Happenings
Kindergarten News
Kindergarten students are off to a great start!
The emphasis during the first weeks of school is on encouraging the children to increase their self-confidence as they accomplish an increasing number of tasks independently. The children are now able to walk into the classroom on their own every morning, hang up their jackets and backpacks, and begin their day.
Classroom discussions and role-playing activities are designed to teach students to be Respectful, Responsible, and Safe. Together, students are learning new routines and establishing the foundations for a comfortable learning environment.
Students have begun their first IB trans-disciplinary unit of inquiry. The central idea is: Learning about ourselves helps us understand and connect to others in the world. This is a perfect unit for the beginning of the year, as students learn about each other and explore how humans are alike and different from each other, what humans need to grow and learn, and how we learn at school.
Kindergarten Curriculum Night is scheduled for Thursday, September 27 from 5-6 PM. We hope to see you there!
The Pollinator Garden
Have you seen our awesome Ocean Avenue School Pollinator Garden? The garden was grown and planted by OA students! Ask your child to tell you about the garden. Come and take a look !
Many classrooms are raising Monarch butterflies to release into the garden. Come and see the Monarch butterflies and the many other pollinators in our school garden!
First Grade News
This month, First Grade is learning so much!
In Reading we are building good habits for solving hard words and reading with partners. J We are focusing on reading fiction or “story” books.
In Writing we are writing small moments stories. We are working hard to plan our stories by:
1) Touch and Tell
2) Sketch and then
3) Write
We are also working on fixing and fancying up our best work.
In Math we are exploring Topic 1: Addition and Subtraction Problems to 10 and Topic 2: Developing Fluency - Addition and Subtraction Facts to 20.
We have been working hard to build our classroom and school communities. We are learning to identify feelings, strategies to help ourselves and others, and what being a learner looks and sounds like. We are working on an Inquiry into Communities. Be sure to discuss with your first graders: how individual choices and actions contribute to the well being of a group (i.e. family, classroom, school, friends, local community, after school programs).
Second Grade News
Second graders are quickly getting into the swing of “How We Are Organized” in grade 2. We have been learning and practicing the procedures and expectations in the different settings throughout OAES. We are also learning how organizing ourselves in reading, writing and math workshop helps us prepare for learning, build stamina and grow our brains! Next week we will be exploring the systems we have in place that keep us organized and how rules help us be good citizens. Ask your child about some of the systems that we use in our classrooms to be organized.
Fourth Grade News
Fifth Grade News
5th grade classes have been working on building community through team building activities. Classes have gone over PBIS and classroom expectations. The first IB unit is about building society and societal decision-making. All NWEA testing will be completed by September 15. Curriculum Night is scheduled for September 20th at 6:30 PM. We hope to see you there!
Please CLICK HERE to read all about the wonderful learning journey Ocean Ave fifth-graders will take this year.
Spanish News
¡Bienvenidos! Welcome to the Clase de Español (Spanish Class)! We have a new room this year, and that can be found in Room 227, in the Mountain Wing. With a new space come new procedures. For example, we have a system where table groups in 4th and 5th grade, and whole classes in 3rd grade, try to earn 100 points (¡Cien puntos!) to win a fiesta day or week. The “fiestas” will consist of Spanish Computer Games, Spanish interactive games, as well as, Spanish videos and songs! Students are hard at work earning many puntos!
Also new this year, is our calendario. 4th and 5th grade students use this for a review. 3rd grade students are in charge of tracking El Tiempo (The Weather) every day, since they will be learning about weather this year in both English and Spanish. By the end of the year, the 2nd graders will also be able to master the calendar.
We have another new addition to the Spanish program this year… First graders will get a half-year Spanish program. Ms. Ferguson’s and Ms. Mullikin’s students get it the first half of the year, and the other two classes will get it the second half of the year! More on this soon!!
Finally, we are working on getting a little mindfulness area in the classroom, where students can take a break, take a few deep breaths, and even write me a note, if they’d like. I love mail, and I’m good about writing back!
Looking forward to an Año Maravilloso (Wonderful Year) with your children!
Muchas Gracias,
Señora Stevens
September Music Notes
Welcome to the OAES music classroom! We have had a wonderful time getting to know our musicians. September has already been a very active month in the music room.
K, 1st and 2nd grade students have been hard at work exploring our singing voice, practicing high and low sounds, learning the difference between our chanting and singing voice and echoing new silly songs. We have been listening to different styles of music, practicing steady beat and demonstrating active listening skills, and of course moving-one of our favorite activities!
3rd grade students have been working on singing canons (or rounds) and playing music games that develop cooperation, teamwork and listening skills.
Grade 4 & 5 is such an exciting year for demonstrating music skills and we didn’t waste any time getting started. Classes are learning about music from different cultures; 4th grade started learning a rhythm game from Japan called “Omochio Tsukimasho” which means “let’s make rice cakes” and 5th grade is demonstrating some ‘syncopated’ rhythms, featured in songs we are learning from the Caribbean.
More Music Opportunities at Ocean Avenue!
Chorus: The OAES chorus is open to all students in grades 4 and 5, no audition is required. Students will meet on Fridays as an alternative recess to rehearse. This is an active activity. The intent is for this to be more equitable and allow all interested students to participate.
Strings: Students have the opportunity to learn a string instrument in the 4th grade: violin, viola, cello or double bass. Students receive once-weekly instruction at school.
Band: students have the opportunity to learn a band instrument in the 5th grade: flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, horn, trombone, baritone, or percussion. Students receive twice-weekly instruction at school.
Library News
Our library is looking amazing! With support from Ocean Avenue's Parent Teacher Organization, the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, Portland Education Foundation and DonorsChoose, we have hundreds of new titles in our library and the students are thrilled!
After examining the new collection, students have inquired:
HOW MANY BOOKS DO WE HAVE IN THE LIBRARY?
What a great question! We're going to be taking guesses this month! What do you think? How can we find out?
Students have been learning about how the library is organized and how to be responsible with library books. This year, many are learning how to place their own holds and make reading lists by using the catalog. We also talked about what we can do if we lose or damage a book. If you have any questions about replacing or paying for lost books, please let me know. I'm happy to talk through options with you.
THE BOOK OF THE MONTH
This month, the attribute is CARING and the book of the month is “The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade”, by Justin Roberts and illustrated by Christian Robinson.
It’s about how standing up for what is right can help kindness spread and make the world a better place. Here’s my favorite line from the end (spoiler alert!): “People remembered and quite often mention, That Sally had been paying super extra special attention. And how the world could transform and a change could be made By the smallest girl in the smallest grade.” I’m looking forward to a fantastic year and to seeing how our wonderful community learns and grows.
Ms. Platt
DIVE into the world of IB with your child!
The Diverse Student Population at OAES
SCHOOL DAY INFORMATION
- SCHOOL DAY HOURS: School hours this year are 8:30 AM-3 PM. Students may NOT be dropped off before 8:15 AM. If you need childcare before school, please contact the City of Portland Recreation Department at 756-8275.
- EARLY RELEASE WEDNESDAYS: Early release starts on Wednesday, September 26, 2018. Every Wednesday, September 26-May 29, 2018, students will be dismissed at 2 PM.
Lunch Room Reminder!
There are a few payment options available:
- You can send in money daily with your child;
- You can add money onto your child's account online through paypams.com; or
- You can send in a check with your child to be dropped off at the main office.
Please contact the Main Office if you have any questions, 874-8180.
Nurse Notes ~ Vision & Hearing Screening
If you receive a referral, please schedule your child for an evaluation with an eye doctor as soon as possible and let me know the results of their evaluation. If your child needs glasses, and you are having difficulty getting them, please let me know so that we can talk about options. I may be able to help
Many thanks!
- Nurse Laurie
Ocean Ave's Clothing Closet
Navigating Traffic and Parking
Here are some tips some experienced parents have shared with us at school:
- Be sure to obey all the speed limits on and surrounding the school grounds. This will help avoid a $300+ ticket.
- During drop-off times, use the parent loop (off Ocean Avenue) in order to avoid being stuck by the buses.
- Drop off in the circle should be a kiss-and-go. If parents need to park, please pull into a parking space to allow for a smoother traffic pattern for others.
- During pick-up time, park on the streets (Walton, Macworth and Austin) and walk up to the parent pick-up area. This avoids the jam, with a bonus of a little time to walk with your child while the day is still fresh in their mind. PLEASE NOTE: If parking on Walton, please do NOT park right near the school entrance, as this can make it difficult for our buses to turn into the school parking lot at dismissal time.
Rules your child's teacher wants you to follow:
- Please meet your child at the designated parent pick-up areas.
- Leaving early is lost learning time.
- Meeting your child outside of the pick-up area leads to confusion, and your child's teacher is managing 20+ students at dismissal time. If your dismissal plan changes, please notify school as early as possible, but NO LATER THAN 2 PM. After this time, the message might not make it to the teacher and child. Managing many changes leads to confusion. Any changes require a parent/guardian to contact the school through note, email or phone call.
A couple of other thoughts:
- Just a reminder - it is illegal to pass a bus with flashing red lights, whether on or off the school grounds.
- If you need to enter the school for a meeting, search lost and found, etc., please enter the Walton Street side to park in our visitor parking area (by the front door).
- When parking, please be mindful of the handicap parking spaces. We do have several parents requiring the use of these spaces. We also have vans picking up students with special needs using these spaces.
Thank you for helping us work this out for all parents!