Osterizer
August/September 2018
Back to School Night
Tomorrow evening is our Back to School Night. This is an opportunity for parents to come and hear about their child's year with their new teacher. Teachers will share academic information, behavior expectations, and ways that you can volunteer. I will be sharing school-wide information as well. This is a PARENTS ONLY evening so please leave children at home with a responsible adult or teenager. The evening schedule will be as follows:
6:00 p.m. TK-2nd-grade teachers will be presenting in their classrooms.
6:30 p.m. School-wide welcome outside in front of the big oak tree.
7:00 p.m. 3rd-5th-grade teachers will be presenting in their classrooms.
7:30 p.m. The evening ends.
Smart Start
Last year, we started a new idea called "Smart Start". We wanted students to begin the school year with excitement, engagement, and feeling like part of a community. The staff and H&SC President Cady Burstein came up with the following activities/events so that we were all part of a Smart Start school year:
- On the first day of school, we met on the blacktop and said our Pledge of Allegiance, sang a song together and then discussed the importance of making everyone feel welcomed and included. Students that were new to Oster raised their hands so we could make sure and reach out to them during the day.
- H&SC hosted a parent welcome with coffee and pastries. They also welcomed our new TK and Kindergarten students with a care package that included a t-shirt.
- On the second day of school, I read a book to the entire school and each classroom received a copy. The book is titled, She Persisted and gives a powerful message about never letting anyone diminish your voice or dreams.
- H&SC hosted a wonderful Welcome Back Picnic that helped all of our families bond.
- In the classrooms, teachers did many Team Building activities, STEAM lessons, and Digital Citizenship awareness.
Welcome New Staff Members
Kindergarten Garden
Rebecca Taylor, a kindergarten parent, applied for a grant from the Santa Clara Valley Water District to help improve our kindergarten garden. She received $5000 from the SCVWD and the Oster kindergarten staff is very grateful. She has organized some weekend work days so if you are able to help, please email her at rebecca.lynn.taylor@gmail.com. A special shout out to Jenny Kelley for working side by side with Rebecca. Thank you very much, Mrs. Taylor!!
Safety Reminders
We are asking all adults to be cautious when dropping off and picking up children from school. Please have your children use the crosswalks and do not allow them to cross in the middle of any street. Please do not park your vehicle in any of the drop-off zones or handicap parking. It is important that the cars keep pulling forward in the drop off zones, so please do not get out of your car when dropping off or picking up your child. We also want to remind parents that students cannot be dropped off before 8:00 a.m. There is no adult supervision until that time so please do not leave children unattended before 8:00 a.m. We appreciate your cooperation in helping to keep all of our children safe.
Younger Siblings on Campus
Our school and all schools in Union School District greatly value parent volunteers. We want to ensure that younger children who accompany the adult volunteer are safe and not a distraction in the classroom. To ensure that your infant, toddler, or preschooler is safe at all times while on campus and that instruction is not interrupted for our Oster students, please follow these guidelines:
- Please obtain the teacher’s prior approval for your little one to be in the classroom with you. If your child becomes disruptive and/or interferes with the classroom learning then please exit the classroom and come back at a different time.
- If you are working in our workroom, we ask that your young child sit at the table and color or do a game on your phone or tablet. They cannot be near any of our equipment that could potentially harm them.
- Remember that playgrounds and playground equipment are for school-aged children only during the instructional day. Little ones should not be on the playground during recess.