Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 26, Issue 2, August 14, 2018
From the PFC President
Hello all, my name is Rex Crum and I am the new president of the Thornhill Parent Faculty Club (PFC). My wife, Megan, and I have two daughters at Thornhill: Madeline, who is in the fourth grade, and our second-grader, Lily. I know I have met many of you already, and I look forward to meeting more of you this year.
I hope you had a great first day on Monday. As the school year is just starting, I want to welcome you to Thornhill and let you know a bit about the PFC. First of all, just being a Thornhill parent makes you a PFC member. There are no other requirements, and there are no dues or membership fees. The main goal of the PFC is to oversee certain school-related activities that benefit Thornhill, and support students and staff.
In order to do that, we do need the involvement of Thornhill parents. Things like the annual Thornhill auction, the school carnival, teacher appreciation days, and the annual Thornhill Walk-A-Thon need your help to be successful. We still have some openings on the PFC Board for positions to oversee those activities. More about these openings can be found below.
Now is the time for you to help make your mark at Thornhill and make this year a success.
Mahalo,
Rex
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Those PFC Open Positions!
The Thornhill Parent Faculty Club funds a ton of the academic and enrichment programs that help our students thrive, and hosts many of the events that make our community great. There’s a lot of work involved, which is why we split it among a lot of people. There are still several important positions that need to be filled, including the Walk-A-Thon chair and auction co-chair, among others. It’s an awesome way to meet other families and contribute your talents and interests to our kids.
The full list of vacant positions, as well as existing board members and contacts, is here. The roles and responsibilities are here. A dog riding a turtle is here.
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Volunteering at Thornhill
Whether you take an official PFC role or not, there are a lot of ways to lend a hand to the school and your child(ren)’s class during the year. Teachers will have information on specific opportunities, but make sure you’re all set to go. OUSD policy states that anyone chaperoning field trips and community members who are volunteering (more than 11 times in a year) at school must be fingerprinted through Live Scan. If you are volunteering at school on a regular basis, you must also have an up-to-date TB test.
To begin the process of registering to become an OUSD volunteer, please visit: www.oaklandedfund.org/volunteer. Email info@oaklandedfund.org with any questions.
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Minimum Days
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Back to School Night (Adults Only)
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Konstella Tips & Tricks
This year we are using Konstella as our primary way to communicate with parents. Here are a few tips and tricks for getting the most out of Konstella:
Get the app - While you can always access Konstella from a browser, we highly recommend getting the app for iOS / Android. It is incredibly convenient and easy to use.
Join your child’s classroom - Add any new students and select their teacher to stay up to date with classroom activities. (Go to “Your Children” under settings)
Set your privacy - Choose to share or hide your email, phone number and address. Don’t worry, you can still connect with parents and teachers via the app if you hide your info. (Go to “Account Settings -> Privacy”)
- Set your notifications - Adjust email settings to fit your needs. You can also choose whether or not to get push notifications on your phone. (Go to “Account Settings -> Notifications”)
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Enrichment Class Enrollment
...is open! Find class information and sign up at school and on the website.
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Sustainability At Thornhill
Hello everyone and welcome to the new school year from your PFC Sustainability chair, Elyse Bart. I have been an active Thornhill community member from my son’s first day in TK three years ago and am excited to continue with all of you! You will be hearing from me and from my partner-in-good, Ms. Bonnie Forbes, throughout the year regarding the Green Gloves program and Thornhill’s overall investment in Clean & Green initiatives.
We love our school, we want to continue to teach our children well and want to support sustainable values! If you are interested in getting directly involved with ongoing Clean & Green efforts or have ideas on how to support this effort please feel free to reach out to me directly: sustainability@thornhillschool.org – I would love to hear from you. Click on the images above for the full check list of best practices to share with your kids.
Thank you!! Elyse SG Bart, Mama of Eli Bart (2nd Grade).
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Calendar
The website always has the latest calendar information, and here's what's coming up!
Monday, August 13th - Friday, August 24th: Fall PFC Enrichment Registration Period
Enrichment class flyers and sign-up information are available online and in the school lobby.
Monday, August 13th - Friday, August 24th: First two weeks of school are minimum days: TK/K: 1:10pm, 1-5: 1:25pm
Wednesday, August 22nd: Back-to-School Night (6-7pm, adults only)
Monday, August 27th: PFC Meeting (6-6:40pm)
Be sure also to download the OUSD District calendar here and subscribe to our google calendar here.
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About the Thornhill Newsletter
The Thornhill Parent Faculty Club (PFC) eNews team publishes this weekly newsletter each Tuesday in the school year to communicate school, PFC and OUSD news, events and information.
Email submissions to our Newsletter Chair, Evie Nagy, at newsletter@thornhillschool.org by 3 p.m. Thursday 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 President Rex Crum, 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