The Otter Weekly

 

 

Oak Knoll School

1895 Oak Knoll Lane

Menlo Park, California 94025

650-854-4433                                             October 7, 2012 

Oak Knoll Elementary PTO Newsletter
To Do
In This Issue
Where NOT to Park
Clothes Needed
Ollie Salutes
Otterwear - LAST CHANCE
Noteworthy Art
Caring & Sharing Book Drive
Book Fair
Teacher/Staff Gift Certificates
District Directory
Choice Lunch
Hot Lunch Volunteers
Basketball Registration
Grade-Level Parties
Transportation
MPAEF
Community Annoucements
Join Our Mailing List
Quick Links

This Week  

 

Monday, October 8
  • Columbus Day: SCHOOL IN SESSION 

Wednesday, October 10

  • PTO Board Meeting at 8:15am 

Friday, October 12 

  • San Fillipo: Hidden Villa; 8:30am-11:30am  

Looking Ahead 

 

Thursday, October 18
  • Minimum Day - All grades dismissed at 11:20am  
Monday, Oct 22 - Friday, Oct 26
  • Book Fair
Wednesday, October 24
  • PTO General Membership Meeting; 8:15am, Gym  (Parent Author Talk to follow)    
Thursday, October 25
  • Book Fair Family Night; 6:00pm-8:00pm
Friday, November 9
  • Picture Make-up Day

Monday, November 12

  • Veterans Day: NO SCHOOL  

 


Announcements from the Office




Where NOT to Park!

 

Many cars have been parking along Oak Ave between Oak Knoll Lane and Lemon. This is NOT permitted during morning drop off time to ensure the safety of students biking/walking to school. The Menlo Park Police are ticketing parked cars.

 

Clothes Needed


The office needs boys and girls shorts and underwear in all sizes. Thank you for any donations.    


Ollie Salutes

Otterwear
Thank you to Carolyn Bowsher, Stephanie Chen & Hilary Holmquest
who co-chaired our Otterwear committee this year.  We had record purchases this year due to the popularity of the new colors & styles.  Ollie's personal favorites are the cool tie-dye t-shirts!

Caring & Sharing - Costume Drive
Thanks to Suneeta Chilukuri & Julie McEvilly-Roman for organizing our Costume Drive this year.  The parent volunteers & students and Girl Scouts troops were collecting costumes each morning last week.  Thanks to their efforts, many children will have costumes to wear on Halloween this year.

You Otter Know

LAST CHANCE to Place an Otterwear Order by Tues. Oct 9th

 

All Otterwear orders were distributed this week.  If you didn't pick it up from school on Monday, your order should have been in your oldest child's backpack on Tuesday.  If you didn't receive your order or have any questions, please contact Stephanie Chen

 

For those of you who missed our original order deadline or wish you'd ordered more because there are so many awesome choices, we have great news.  Due to overwhelming demand, we will be placing one last order of Otterwear.  If you would like to place a new order:

  • We are taking PAPER order forms with checks attached only (no online/PayPal orders)
  • Otterwear Orders are due Tuesday, Oct. 9th by 3pm in the PTO file folder in the office.  NO exceptions.  
  • Order forms are available in the school office  

otterwearBack to top

Noteworthy Art Ordering Starts This Week  


Watch your child's backpack this week for the proof and order form. Noteworthy Art cards feature your child's original drawing, reproduced on high-quality note cards, and packaged with envelopes in sets of 12. They make great thank-you cards as well as holiday gifts for relatives and friends. They are also a cherished keepsake.

This is you ONLY change to order cards - reprints are not available after the order period.

Please fill out the order form and deliver with payment ($12 per package of 12 cards) to the office or use PayPal on the website no later than Friday, October 19.

For more information, contact Annie Peterson, or Betsy Muhlner.


Caring & Sharing Book Drive  

 
It's time once again for Oak Knoll's annual Caring & Sharing Book Drive.  Please donate your gently used books (Pre K - 8th grade) from Oct. 15 - Oct. 19. Books will be donated to local underprivileged kids. Oak Knoll's Girl Scouts troops will be collecting your donations each morning.  Please clean out    your shelves to make room for your new Book Fair books!
 

Get Groovin' with a Good Book  


"Slow down, you move too fast. You've got to make the morning last. Just skipping down to the Book Fair.  Reading a good book and feeling groovy..."
 

Hours

Monday, Oct. 22,        7:45 am to 3:30 pm

Tuesday, Oct. 23,       7:45 am to 3:30 pm   

Wednesday, Oct. 24,  7:45 am to 3:30 pm + Parent Author talk at 8:15 am  

Thursday, Oct. 25,     7:45 am to 2:00 pm + Family Night from 6:00-8:00 pm

Friday, Oct. 26,          7:45 am to 3:30 pm

  

Get a load of some of the neato activities also planned for the week:

 

Parent Author Talk with Lisa Catherine Harper.  Lisa Catherine Harper is the author of the award-winning memoir, "A Double Life, Discovering Motherhood" and the co-editor of the forthcoming "The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage: True Tales of Food, Family, and Learning to Eat". She speaks with wit and wry humor about how motherhood can split one's life in two.  The gourmet coffee cart will be there as well! Wednesday, October 24 at 8:15 am

  

Family Night - Shop and Bop.  Parents, slide on into the Book Fair and check out the cool books while your kids take a spin on the Kids Only Dance Floor. Shake your groove thang and wear your dancin' shoes! Thursday, October 25, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm    

 

Groovy Grownups -- Check this Out!

This year's Book Fair will be out of sight and we need lots of fab volunteers to make it a hit! It would be so nifty if you could help with set-up, take-down, cashiering, Family Night and general volunteer help. Contact Tamara Russel if you can make the scene.  

 

Book Fair Teacher/ Staff Gift Certificates

 

 

Let your teachers know how groovy you think they are!

 

Books, Inc. offers a gift certificate program for teachers and staff.  If you would like to recognize special teachers or staff members, you can order a gift certificate for them to spend at the fair.  Just complete the order form and return it to the Book Fair box in the school office by Monday, October 15th.  (Please note that Books, Inc. does not offer a student gift certificate program. Additionally, teacher/staff gift certificates will not be available for sale after the October 15th deadline.)  Books from the teachers' regular wish lists will also be at the fair and available for purchase.  

 

Please make your check payable to Books, Inc.

 

If you would like more information about teacher/staff gift certificates, please review the flyer that was sent home in your child's backpack) or contact Mary Speiser.  

 

 

Ordering Extras or Mini Versions of the Directory  

 

Parent volunteers are hard at work at pulling together the District Directory!  Each family will receive a single copy of the Directory compliments of your PTO.  The Directory will be sent home with the youngest student in your family by the end of October.  For those of you who would like to order extra directories or mini-versions of the directory for your glove compartment, etc. please click here and place your online order by Monday, October 22nd.

Order Choice Lunch - It's Easy! 

 

Choice Lunch has made it easy to order hot lunch for your child. Click here to see how "EasyOrder" works.

Hot Lunch Volunteers Needed

 

Do you want to meet other parents at your child's school? Do you want to earn a lunch credit for every shift you work? We are still looking for volunteers to hand out prepared lunches. It is really easy. You can volunteer once a month or every week! Please email Naed and join the hot lunch team.


Basketball Registration Opens October 1st   

 

3rd, 4th & 5th grade Oak Knoll students can register to play basketball on October 1st. This is a recreational league offered by the city of Menlo Park and organized by the After School Sports Program. All practices are held at Oak Knoll facilities and games are held against other schools in the Arrillaga Gymnasium in Menlo Park. No prior experience necessary. To register your child please visit sportability. Registration ends October 22nd. NO LATE REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED. All teams are coached by parent volunteers. If you are interested in coaching, please email Laura Huber, Erica Galles or Monica Young. There will be a mandatory coaches meeting at 5:45pm on Thursday, November 1 for team selection. Practices will begin late November and games will begin in January. For more information about the basketball program visit the Oak Knoll School website.

 

Grade-Level Parties    

 

FOURTH GRADE MOVIE NIGHT
Fourth Grade Movie Night for Kids Only
Friday, November 2nd from 6:30-8:15pm in the Gym

 

FIFTH GRADE MOVIE NIGHT
Fifth Grade Movie Night for Kids Only
Friday, November 16th from 7-8:45pm in the Gym

Keep On Walkin' (or Biking)  

 

Hopefully you and/or your kids had a great time walking, biking or boarding to school on Oct 3, International Walk to School Day! Let's keep the momentum going!
  • Pick at least one day a week to ride or walk to school.
  • Park your car a little further from school; you'll get more time with your child, you'll both get some exercise and you'll reduce congestion near campus!
  • Check your closets: do your kids have rain boots that fit and umbrellas for rainy days (it's bound to rain some day, right?)?  


MPAEF
News

MPAEF Joint Campaign Update  

 

Now that the joint campaign with the Oak Knoll PTO has concluded, the Foundation will continue to work towards meeting the District's $4 million need. How will our community do this?  It's simple - if you haven't donated or pledged to the Foundation yet, please do so.  (If you have, thank you!)  So far to date, we have received $1,211,056 in donations and pledges or 35% participation across the District!
 
We understand that each family needs to determine how they will pledge their support. All this is possible at www.mpaef.org. You can donate now, make a pledge or set up monthly installments.  There are many options, but the result is the same . . . your contribution will go directly towards supporting our schools.  In addition, the Foundation is reaching out to our entire community - neighbors, businesses, former District families, grandparents, realtors - and asking them to join with our parents to further help our schools.  Together, we can strengthen our schools and improve the communities in which we all live.

October is eScrip Month!  


No Cost to You...Free Money for our Schools!
 
Before you buy those Halloween costumes and gear up for a big night of trick-or-treating, please take 10 minutes to sign-up for eScrip.

EScrip is a popular, well-established program that costs you absolutely nothing...ever!  Hundreds of participating merchants donate a percentage of dollars you spend with them to our schools.  Sign up is one-time, easy and free...just go to www.mpaef.org or www.escrip.com, create an account and select the Menlo Park Atherton Education Foundation (group ID number 126417042) as the beneficiary.  Our goal for October is to sign up 100 new families.  Please take a few minutes to sign up!

Parenting Workshop 


Your Children Are Listening: Nine Messages They Need to Hear from You  

 
Friday, Oct. 19, 8:30am-10:30am, Allied Arts Guild, Menlo Park      
Please join us for a special morning with parenting expert Dr. Jim Taylor.  Based on  his third parenting book of the same title, this workshop looks at the powerful impact the early messages we send to our children have on their development.  Dr. Taylor will also share nine essential messages that children must get to ensure that they develop into value-driven, happy, successful individuals.  Dr. Taylor places special emphasis on practical strategies, such as catchphrases, rituals, and activities, that parents can use to convey healthy messages to their children.
 
This free workshop is open to 100 District parents, so please reserve your spot early!  Register by emailing your name to  [email protected].  Coffee and morning treats will be served.


Community Corner

(Early Grades)
St. Raymond Pumpkin Festival Friday and Saturday, October 12 (3:30 - 7pm) and October 13 (9am to  5pm), St. Raymond School, 1100 Santa Cruz Avenue. Pony rides, climbing wall, pumpkin patch, bungee trampoline, face painting, train rides, bounce houses, food, drinks and more! Free Admission.

(K-12 and Families)
Bay Area Science Festival
October 25 to November 3, over 100 events and activities located throughout the Bay Area. All events are free and many are designed for kids and families. For more information: www.bayareascience.org/festival/k12/ 

(Grades 4-8)
Menlo College Youth Basketball Clinics November 4 and November 18, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for 4th through 8th graders, at Haynes-Prim Gymnasium at Menlo College. Cost: $50 per session. To register, contact Coach Jesse West at 543-3846 or [email protected].
    

Saturday, October 13, 8am-6pm, Woodside High School's Main Gym, 199 Churchill Road, Woodside. Come see the Menlo-Atherton Robotics team at CalGames competing for the last time with this year's FIRST Silicon Valley Regional Winning Robot!! Admission is free. More Information at www.marobotics.org.

Come join Dance Expressions in Menlo Park at the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center. Classes are offered for kids ages 3 and up. For more information: www.danceexpressions5678.com.
 
(Ages 6-9)
Group Piano Classes for Children at the Arrillaga Recreation Center. Students (ages 6 to 9) are grouped according to their age and ability into small classes and meet once a week for a 50 minute class. We hold a recital at the end of the session.
 
(Ages 5 to 10)
Menlo Tennis Academy 10/Under Program, Following the USTA 10/Under program, classes are offered Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Go to: www.menloswim.com/menlo/youth_tennis.html.

(All Ages)
Gingerbread Houses (Parent & Child) at the Arrillaga Recreation Center  In this fun class, we will use a variety of supplies to decorate your own, one of a kind Gingerbread House.  
 

American Girl Styles of Yesterday and Today Fashion Show for Lucille Packard Children's Hospital  (Ages 6 and up) 
November 9 and 10, at Christ Episcopal Church, 1040 Border Rd., Los Altos. Celebrate the experience of being a girl through a colorful presentation of historical and contemporary fashions. Tickets are $30 ($20 is tax-deductible). For reserved seat information, visit paloaltoauxiliary.com or call 650-364-2588
 
For past community news, click here

Please submit announcements and flyers to [email protected] for Oak Knoll events. For the Community Corner, send submissions to [email protected]. The deadline for both email addresses is by noon on the Wednesday prior to publication date. Guidelines for submission are available online.