Dear Families,

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and had a chance to unwind and spend time with family and friends. We are about to embark on our last few weeks of school with your incredible children.

I want to start by sharing an update with the entire community regarding our beloved teacher, colleague and friend, Christine Stec. Christine received a cancer diagnosis just over a week ago that required her to take a medical leave for the remainder of this year. Her students will be in the capable hands of instructional coach, and veteran teacher Nina Mancinelli for these last few weeks of school. Christine is incredibly strong, and we are sending her all of the good energy we have as she starts her treatment journey. Many of you have reached out to me to ask how you can help. Oakdale has begun two different projects that we welcome your participation in.

1. A positivity jar: We are collecting notes, cards, letters of positivity and good wishes for Christine to dip into whenever she needs an encouraging word.

2. A gift card basket: practical or creative, something to help with costs, or something to relieve some stress. Anything goes!

These items can be directed to me at Oakdale, and I will ensure all of these gifts and notes make it to Christine.

While this news weighs heavy on our minds, we also saw our students thriving and growing at Oakdale this past month in many ways and this brings us all so much joy. We had the Oakdale Musical, The All Town Band Concert, The Oakdale Spring Concert, and the Dedham Public Schools District Art Show. Our students also conquered MCAS, and enjoyed field trips to the zoo, the library and to Plymouth Plantation. For some students, these were their first field trips ever! We had multiple exciting guest speakers and presenters come in to see our children and we even had a few "normal" days mixed in here and there.

Coming up are several exciting events:

Pride Celebration at Town Hall This Friday

Oakdale will be hosting a table, alongside the other DPS schools at the event. Hope to see you there!

Flag Day Parade June 14th

We can’t wait to represent Oakdale in The Flag Day Parade! Stay tuned for a permission slip to be on the float going home next week. Big thank you to Tom Rowlings, Sabrina Weldon and The 5th Grade Student Council for putting together our parade float!

Name The Street Raffle

There are still a few days to put your entry into the raffle if you are hoping to participate! Email oakpto1@gmail.com for more information.

Family Fun Night June 9th

Please read below in the PTO update to learn more!

All School Field Day June 10th

Students should wear their Oakdale Apparel to celebrate the day!

5th Grade Promotion Ceremony June 16th

5th grade families are invited to join us outside on the blacktop at 9:15am for a fantastic celebration. If the weather doesn’t look favorable, festivities will move into the gymnasium.

Last Day of School

June 21st is our last day of school and will be a noon dismissal. There is no school on June 20th, in observation of Juneteenth. We clap out our 5th graders on the last day of school. At 11:50, we will call all the students to line the hallways to cheer for our 5th graders. They will make their way around the school and out the double doors closest to the picnic tables by the playground. All 5th grade families are invited to come and cheer for your students!

DPS Summer Work

All summer work for Oakdale Students will be posted on the DPS website before the end of the school year. If you need anything printed for you before the school year ends, please just let your teacher know, and we are happy to get you paper copies.

Thank you Oakdale Community for another amazing year of learning, laughter, support, friendship and growth. As always, if you need anything please contact me at any time.

Warmly,

Kim