Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 25, Issue 36, June 1, 2018
Principal's Note
Dear Thunderbird Families,
Thank you for coming to open house this week. We had a packed house and it was so wonderful to see you all. I am so proud of our students and our wonderful community.
It was another great year at Thornhill! And yes, the time has come for us to embrace summer and re-charge. I wish you all a restful and fun summer. I look forward to seeing you all in two months. Please keep your eyes on the calendar on our school website and read the Konstella announcements over the summer. I will see you on the first day of school Monday, August 13!
Take care,
Mr. Daubenspeck
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Thank You, Rex Crum - Outgoing Newsletter Editor!
Read all the way to the bottom... he has some deep "parting thoughts" for y'all to enjoy...
THANK YOU REX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Minimum Days...From Here On Out
Remember...The last day of school will be Thursday, June 7. There will be no school next Friday, June 8.
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Read-A-Thon...Almost Done!
Hello Thunderbirds!
We are so close to the end of the Read-A-Thon and we have raised $7,535 (as of Thursday). We have a $25,000 Thornhill Read-A-Thon fundraising goal—we are hoping to come as close as possible so we can provide excellent programming for next school year! If we have every family participate we can get to our goal in no time.
Prizes started to come home with students this week. The pizza party and ice cream social will be next week so donate now! To help us hit our fundraising mark, we are extending the Read-A-Thon to the last day of school.
● If you haven’t had any activity on your Read-A-Thon page with your student, there is still time. Emails went out Thursday to students who haven’t created a page.
● Once the page is created, you simply send out emails to friends and family to let them know about our Read-A-Thon. There is also a link from the page to post on your Facebook account or other social media. (If you’ve already posted on Facebook, repost! According to our highest earner, it’s been proven to get more sponsors for your student.)
● Make sure your student’s sponsors know that we are promoting reading while we support the great programming at Thornhill. It’s a win-win!
Our wonderful teachers are taking on big challenges to promote the Thornhill Read-A-Thon. See the photos of Ms. Gustafson and Ms. Bridgman from the teacher pie-in-the-face challenge. Next week, we hope to do more wild and crazy events, too. Rumor has it a teacher will eat bugs for the $8,000 mark!
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Konstella To Return...
We are excited to announce that we will continue to use Konstella over the summer and through next year - and for many years to come! We hope that you have found it to be an efficient way to find all the information you need about your kids in one place. You can go directly to konstella.com or the Konstella app to see all the communications school-wide and within your classroom, as well as search for parent contact information.
Over the summer, we will be preparing for next year. What does this mean for you?
- Your account and password information will stay exactly the same. There is no need to re-register.
- If you are graduating from Thornhill, you will lose access to Konstella.
- Sometime in the summer, we will dis-associate you from your classroom. This means you will lose access to EVERYTHING in your class, including photos, events, sign-ups, files, and messages. If you have photos you want to keep, please save them now.
- We will use Konstella over the summer to share information as needed.
- At the beginning of next year, we will assign your kid(s) to their new classroom(s).
- The committees will continue (PFC, Dads Club, Auction Committee).
Questions? Email konstella@thornhillschool.org.
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Thornhill Registration for the 2018-2019 School Year
Registration will be Monday, August 6 and Tuesday, August 7 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. each day. Teacher assignments will be given to you when all the registration paper work is filled out and given to us in the main office. Forms are NOT available online at this time, but check our enrollment page for updated information in the summer.
Thank You!
Sherry Kaetzel, Secretary
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TK / Kindergarten Playdates over the Summer
2018 Playdates (all on the Thornhill schoolyard)
Saturday, June 30 from 10am - 12pm
Sunday, July 15 from 10am - 12pm
Saturday, August 4 from 10am - 12pm
Friday, August 10 from 11am - 12pm (right after “Meet the Teacher” from 10am - 11am)
See you in the summer!
Keely Spina & Carmen Childs
(your new TK/K chairs! kindergarten@thornhillschool.org)
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Sally Bonini's Retirement Party!
Tonight's the night...After 30 years working at Thornhill Elementary and another 6 as a student, Sally is ready to let us fend for ourselves. We will miss you. Thank you for your unwaivering commitment to Thornhill Elementary School. Please join us for Sally's retirement party here in the Thornhill auditorium tonight, June 1, from 6 - 9 pm.
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Lost and Found--Claim It Or Lose It
There are new pieces of clothing and other items in the lost and found just waiting to be taken home...or donated.
All remaining lost items will be donated on the last day of school, Thursday, June 7.
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PFC Open Board Positions For 2018-2019 School Year
In just two months, the new school year will begin. And it would be a good thing for the Parent Faculty Club board to be at full strength by the first day of school.
Please look over the open positions below and refer to our website for the full description of each position. Thank you in advance for your volunteer support!
Board Members - These positions are non-voting positions and are absolutely vital to the Thornhill community. They report to one of the executive positions.
- 5th Grade Representative (must be 5th grade parent)
- Auction Chair(s)
- Hospitality Chair(s)
- Popcorn Fundraiser
- Recruitment/Membership
- Site/Safety
- Spring Carnival
- Visual Arts
- Walk-A-Thon
Thank you Thunderbirds!
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Parting Thoughts....
But, officially...This is the last newsletter of this school year. And, officially, it is the last time I will address you as the newsletter editor.
It's been a busy, and eventful two years putting this weekly screed together. I think I have been a party to every major Thornhill event over the last two years...Auction notices. Carnivals. Library updates. Class notes. Dine Outs. Read-A-Thons. Walk-A-Thons. Bake-A-Thons.
OK, I made that last one up. But doesn't a Bake-A-Thon sound like a delicious way to raise some money for the school? (To next year's fundraising chair: You can thank me for this idea.)
One thing I've learned above all else while doing this newsletter is this: The people of Thornhill care about our school. It's easy to get donation fatigue, but the people of Thornhill come through when necessary. It's easy to hang back and let someone else do the heavy lifting. But, when its time for events like the Walk-A-Thon or the Carnival, the people of Thornhill always show up to build and get into a booth and make sure everything runs as it should.
And, while many of our own parents would be stunned that our school would have events like the talent show or musical performances at the working-time hour of 9 a.m., there are always so many people of Thornhill in the auditorium that you have to wonder if everyone is calling in sick on those days.
Some days, when the kids are fighting at home, it can be hard to care. (And if you say your kids don't ever fight, or give you grief at times, you are deluding yourself. Just this week, the Crumlettes, as Megan and I call Madeline and Lily, got into a brawl that put the Rumble In The Jungle to shame over a set of Legos that neither had even looked at, much less thought about, for at least six months.) But, whenever there's a Dine Out event, people of Thornhill open up their wallets because they know what they are doing helps the school. And every morning, there are dozens of parents--many still looking sleepy-eyed or on the way to work--who are out on the playyard making sure everyone gets into their classes on time.
Somehow, the people of Thornhill find a way to care. And it shows in what our school is every day from the first day of the year to the last.
So...No matter what you have done for Thornhill, I have no doubt you have done something that has made a difference this year. And with summer coming up, I hope you will find the time during the next two months to do something for yourself, whether it is at home or on the road. And you might even finish reading this farewell note by the first day of school, too.
Mahalo,
Rex Crum
(Former) Newsletter Editor
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Dates To Remember...
If you've gotten this far, but still need a reminder of what's coming up on the Thornhill calendar, well...Here are some dates to keep in mind. Remember, you can always get information by visiting the calendar page of the school website.
Friday, June 1: Science Collaboration (minimum day)
Monday, June 4: Thornhill Talent Show! (2 - 4 p.m. in MPR)
June 4-7: Last Week of School (minimum days)
Thursday, June 7: Last Day of School!
Saturday, June 30: TK/Kinder Playdate (10 a.m. - 12 p.m. on Thornhill schoolyard)
Sunday, July 15: TK/Kinder Playdate (10 a.m. - 12 p.m. on Thornhill schoolyard)
Saturday, August 4: TK/Kinder Playdate (10 a.m. - 12 p.m. on Thornhill schoolyard)
Monday, August 6 and Tuesday, August 7: School Registration, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Teacher assignment will be given when all registration forms are filled out and given to the office. Forms are NOT available online at this time.
Friday, August 10: TK/Kinder Meet the Teacher & Playdate (10 a.m. - 12 p.m. on Thornhill schoolyard)
And, finally...
Monday, August 13...First day of the 2018-2019 school year.
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About The Thornhill Newsletter
The Thornhill Parent-Faculty Club (PFC) eNews team publishes this weekly newsletter each Friday in the school year to communicate school, PFC and OUSD news, events and information.
Email submissions to our Newsletter Chair at newsletter@thornhillschool.org by 3 p.m. Wednesday for approval, including Word or Text files, with links and no formatting, and photos preferably as 150 x 150, 72 dpi JPG or GIFs only (not embedded in email or word file). Submissions may be edited for spelling, grammar, brevity and clarity. Advertising and items not related to Thornhill are not accepted.
THANK YOU to everyone who submits articles and to PFC Board Members, Teachers, VP of Communications Erin Proudfoot, PFC Co-Presidents Shauna Fithian and Shanyn Lloyd-Gibson and Principal Steve Daubenspeck. Member of Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).
Email: webmaster@thornhillschool.org
Website: thornhillschool.org
Location: 5880 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, CA, USA
Phone: 510-339-6800