May 29: NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day

June 1: Last Day of School for Students - Early Dismissal at 1:15pm

We are excited to share that we will be welcoming two new fur-friends to Otsego Elementary next year. We will have a full-time School Facility Dog and a part-time Therapy Dog. We are very excited about these additions to our building and we hope you are too!

Our School Facility Dog will be from the Greater Ability Center of Toledo. The dog will be staying with Mrs. Baughman and will be coming to work daily.

School facility dogs are a special category of working dogs, comparable to a K9 police dog which accompanies a particular police officer to work each day. Facility dogs undergo hundreds of hours of professional training through an accredited facility dog training program, before placement at a specific facility where they work alongside a volunteer or a professional who serves as a primary handler. Like K9 police dogs who belong to police departments, school facility dogs belong to the school or school district where they are placed.

Just as officers who handle police dogs must undergo special training and preparation and care for their K9 partner daily, school staff who are primary and secondary handlers for a school facility dog must be trained and committed to caring for their dogs. Erin Funk and Katie Burris will also be getting trained as primary handlers of the dog.

As you may know, research has shown that dogs in schools can have a range of benefits for students, including motivating them to complete academic tasks, fostering positive attitudes toward school and learning, supporting higher academic achievement, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, encouraging physical activity and coordination-building actions, catalyzing positive interactions between children, peers, and adults, and providing a unique form of social support to students and school staff. The Greater Ability Center is also rolling out an entire training just for how the dog can be used for PBIS initiatives. Since Facility Dogs receive so much training, this dog will be especially helpful with our preschoolers, special education students (especially those with behaviors), reading interventions for students who lack motivation, and other needs that may arise as we incorporate the dog into our daily lives.

Our Therapy Dog, Cali, will be trained through Talk Dog Toledo and will be certified through The Alliance of Therapy Dogs. She is Mrs. Lauren Miller's personal dog. Cali will be coming to school on a part-time basis, depending on our students' needs and our school counseling department's schedule.

Therapy dogs help students feel calmer and more relaxed, which will help them feel more positive, excited, and ready to learn. Playing with or petting a dog has been shown to have a positive effect on students' social-emotional well beings. Therapy dogs help to lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, and increase the feel-good hormone, oxytocin, which helps students and staff feel happier and less anxious. Therapy dogs also help students develop social skills. For example, a shy student might be more willing to open up when there's a friendly dog around. Therapy dogs also help students learn empathy, boundaries, and how to be kind to others.

A therapy dog can be a source of comfort for students who are feeling sad, anxious, or angry. Because of this, a therapy dog will have a huge benefit in helping our students self-regulate. Talking to the dog can be a way for students to express their feelings freely when trying to find the vocabulary to express big emotions. They are also a great way for students to practice having difficult conversations and role-play social situations with. This will help boost students' confidence as they are learning to navigate these situations in real life.

Mrs. Baughman and Mrs. Miller will work closely together to ensure staff, students, and families who have questions or concerns are able to contact them. We will be sure to note students or staff that may be scared of dogs or have severe allergies and have a plan to ensure our staff and students feel safe and comfortable in our building at ALL times. We will also ensure that neither the school facility dog nor the therapy dog disrupts the student learning environment. If you have any concerns or questions at this time, please reach out to Mrs. Baughman or Mrs. Miller to discuss how we can accommodate your needs!

Katrina Baughman and Lauren Miller would both like to extend a special thank you to our PTO. They funded both of these projects through a grant and we could not be more thankful that they see the value and benefit that both of these dogs will bring to our Otsego community. THANK YOU, PTO!

Please reach out to me if you have any questions!

It is that time to enroll your child in the OES Extended Care Program for the Summer & School year of 2023-2024. So, if you are interested in using OES Extended Care during the Summer or School year of 2023-2024, please visit the website listed below after May 15th. The Registration packet can not be signed or turned in until after May 15th, 2023.

https://elementary.otsegoknights.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=382480&type=d&pREC_ID=868128

Summer Extended Care begins June 12th thru August 11th, with the hours of 7am-6pm. In July we will be closed on the 3rd - 5th, to recognize the 4th of July.

Extended Care School 2023-2024 will start on August 23th, 2023 with the hours of 6:30am - 6pm. The program will be closed June 2-11 and August 12-22, 2023.

All of the registration materials are available on the website, after May 15th, 2023. If you are unable to print the forms, hard copies are available in the Elementary Office, after May 15th.

YES, ALL past and current families MUST fill out new packets per child, before using the program.

A few things to remember:

1. Students must be 5 years old to attend Extended Care.

2. The $10.00 Registration Fee for families will be taken on your first billing/invoice, using the credit card on file.

3. A packet needs to be filled out for each student every year (paperwork expires each year on June 1st).

4. ALL parts of the packet must be filled out completely before a student can start using the program.

If you have any billing or registration questions or concerns, please contact Becky Hatfield at bhatfield@otsegoknights.org or 419-823-4381 ext 4401.

https://forms.gle/eETxsvXezkqPTpua6

Students must be 5 yrs. old on or before August 1st.

Registration is online through Final Forms.

https://otsego-oh.finalforms.com/

Tutorial video and links at https://www.otsegoknights.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=382503&type=d&pREC_ID=868203

Screenings will take place on June 5th and 6th.

Please use the following form to inform OHS Student Council about a family in need within the school district. While the family does not need to have students in the district, we do ask that they are a member of the Otsego Community. Please use this form to share information about their current situation as well as how they can best be assisted.

Please be sure to understand that while Knight in Shining Armor (KISA) would love to help all community members in need, we are still a new program, and may not have the funds to do so. With that being said, we will consider each request on a case by case basis. Filling this form out does not guarantee that we will be able to assist the family, but we will try our hardest to do so!

These funds are not for routine expenses such as utilities, bills, rent, etc. It is designed for assisting community members in an emergency situation. This can include, but is not limited to unforeseen medical expenses, medical related travel expenses, and household emergencies such as a fire, water leaks, etc. Please keep this in mind when submitting a nomination.

Please refer to this link at any point during the year as a need arises, and KISA will do their best to help out!

https://goo.gl/forms/mG7IctP7q8ZAaQOX2