The Otter Weekly 

Oak Knoll School

1895 Oak Knoll Lane

Menlo Park,  CA 94025

Phone:  (650) 854-4433

http://oakknoll.mpcsd.org/                            June 9, 2013

This will be the last newsletter of the 2012-13 school year.  If you would like to be removed from the mailing list, please scroll to the bottom of the page and click on SafeUnsubscribe.  The newsletter will return on August 11. 

Have a fun summer!  

See you on Thursday, August 22 for the first day of the 2013-14 school year.

Ollie can't believe we only have four more days of school and he has to thank a bunch of folks who have worked hard all year for the PTO and have not gotten a shout-out yet this year:

Our Yearbook co-chairs, Rhonda Bucklin, Sherrie Feinstein, and Tamara Russel were busy this year taking pictures of students and school events to include in our yearbook which will be delivered on Wednesday, June 12.

Our teachers & staff enjoyed a yummy luncheon of sandwiches, salads and desserts at the End-of-Year Teachers Luncheon co-chaired by Jennie Lang, Kasey McJunkin, and Jill Wurster.

Ollie had so much fun building a super straw structure and learning about the heart at two of the events in the much-anticipated Science Olympiad last Tuesday organized by Aparna Bhardwaj, Carolyn Bowsher, Mark Baker, Cara Magliaro, and Mandy Safka.  The event went so smoothly and had 100+ volunteers who helped with this event!  Thanks to everyone who helped make this event such a huge success!  Congratulations to Ms. Tom's class who took 1st place overall!

Special thanks to those people who volunteer tirelessly all year for their committees and help our teachers and our school as needed by managing many things behind-the-scenes: 

• our 100+ Room Parents & Grade-level Coordinators
• our Library Coordinator, Mary Speiser
• our Library Resources Team, Alison Fleming & Jody Buckley
• our PE Coordinator, Stacie Zell
• our Afterschool Sports Coordinators, Laura Huber, Monica Young, & Erica Galles.  Make sure you register your incoming 4th & 5th grade girl for volleyball! 
• our Afterschool Classes Coordinators, Kimberly Hartz-Foster & Aarti Chandna
• our Coffee Cart co-chairs, Dimitra Anderson & Meg Lacy
• and our Emergency Preparedness Team of Neela Gentile & Jenn Yonemitsu  

"Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart."  ~Elizabeth Andrew

Ollie will be enjoying a nice vacation visiting family in Monterey Bay this summer and will miss seeing everyone but looks forward to seeing the kids who will be back next year on August 22!

Volunteer Opportunities for School Year 2013-14

Please take a look at our Volunteer Opportunities page on Oak Knoll's website to see what opportunities exist for volunteering next school year.

Summer is just around the corner, and we need you to be a room parent for your child's class next year!  This critical volunteer role does not require much on-campus or in-class time, so all parents are candidates.  Being a room parent is easy, fun, and your child will be excited to know you are helping out with their class!  The room parent role is critical in helping to coordinate volunteers for class parties, field trips, and in-class volunteering. It is an essential position to the operation of your child's class, and is one of the most rewarding and valuable volunteer roles at OK!l!  

Click here to sign up now! 

For more information, click here.

Congratulations to all of the "are you in RUN" runners, walkers and volunteers!  Your support along with our fabulous business and family sponsors raised over $86,000 for our school district!  We are all so fortunate to have raised this much needed funding for our schools.  Your dedication and commitment is what brought our entire school district and community together.  We had over 1400 registered runners, more than 1100 runners on race day, and 110 volunteers helping us with this event.  It is commitment like this that makes us all so proud to be a part of this community.  THANK YOU!

Have you seen your race results?  Check them out at areyouin.mpcsd.org!

If your child did not receive a blue ribbon at the finish line, you may pick one up in the office.

Thank you again for your incredible support!  See you next year!

After School Programs for 2013-14  

The After School Program committee is working on the schedule for the coming school year. We will be publishing the calendar for all 3 trimesters at the start of the school year, so that it is easier for parents to plan. Suggestions and feedback are greatly appreciated. If you would like us to bring in some new vendors do let us know. Thank you.

Please email either  Aarti Chandna or Kimberly Hartz Foster.

Calling all CHIC BOUTIQUE VENDORS  

Join us for the 4th Annual Chic Boutique benefiting the MPAEF at the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park. 

Please mark your calendars:

Thursday, Nov 21 Champagne and Shopping from 6:00-9:00pm

Friday, Nov 22  Boutique Shopping from 8:30am-2:30pm. 

If you are interested in becoming a Boutique vendor/sponsor, please fill out the vendor application and email Margie Klapper by September 1.  20% of sales go to the MPAEF, which includes a $250 pre-paid non-refundable Boutique sponsorship. 

If you are interested in volunteering at the Boutique, please contact Gretchen Thomas. 

Science Imagineer Egg Drop News!   

The Egg Drop on Wednesday was incredibly EGGciting, and fun.  Twenty-eight Second and Third graders took up the challenge to create a capsule for their egg... one that would protect the egg from a 20 foot drop.   Twelve eggs survived!  Well Done Imagineers!

Ms. Brewbaker has created a movie of the event.  If you are interested in watching it, click here!

See you next year!

Attention Hillview Incoming 6th Graders!

Save the Dates:  Hillview Arena Check-in  

Please mark your calendars for the following dates in August for the annual HILLVIEW ARENA CHECK-IN (ACI).

Tuesday, August 20 - ACI for incoming 7th and 8th grade Students and Parents

•   8th grade check in time between:  9:00-11:00am
•   7th grade check in time between: 12:30-2:30pm 

Wednesday, August 21 - ACI for incoming 6th grade Students and Parents

• Separate parent and student orientation from 9:00-10:00am
• 6th grade check in time between:  10:00-11:30am
• 6th grade students ONLY:  Camp Hillview 11:30am-2:00pm

Attendance for all students is MANDATORY. 

At Arena Check-in your student will be able to have their school ID portrait taken and receive their class schedule.  There will also be an opportunity to sign up for after school activities & sports, join the PTO, volunteer and much more.  Keep an eye out for an important District communication in early August for district forms and online enrollments.

** We need volunteers to help make this day run smoothly, so please consider helping us out**  A request for volunteers will go out in August.

If you have any questions, please contact Mary Murphy, or Meagan Carabetta.

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Interested in being an Academy Parent for the 2013-2014 School Year?  As an Academy Parent you would work on a team (Academy Support Team) with other parents to assist the teachers in organizing celebrations, providing volunteers, forwarding school communications and helping with field trips.

If you're interested, please send an email to sconrad@pacbell.net.  We'd love to have your participation in this program which provides support to our wonderful Hillview Teachers and our kids.

Academy Parent training sessions will be held near the beginning of school next fall.   As soon as the date for Back-to-school Night is confirmed, we will set the training dates accordingly.

Academy Support Teams will be finalized after children are placed in their academies following Arena Check In.  

Music Electives Information 

Just in case you missed the recent email, please take a look at the letter from Mr. Burmeister about the Music Electives Options. 

Volunteers Needed for Camp Hillview Lunches 

We are so excited to host your incoming 6th Graders for Camp Hillview in August. We have lots of fun activities planned to get them settled into Middle School.  Our able staff and 8th Grade leaders will handle much of the workload, but we could certainly use some help setting up and serving lunch on Wednesday and Friday.  

Please sign up to set up, serve and clean up lunch either Wednesday, August 21(11:00am-12:30pm) or Friday, August 23 (11:00am-12:30pm).  Plus you'll get an up close view of your 6th grader!

Please log onto Sign Up Genius to help out.  

Or contact Katie Angioletti if you have any questions. 

Hot Lunch Volunteers Needed 

Welcome to Hillview!  We are always in need of parent volunteers to serve hot lunch.  We will be serving over 300 students per day.  That's one third of our student body, so parent volunteers are definitely needed!

It takes 35 parents per week to serve lunch.  Hope we can count on you!  It is a great time to connect with other parents,  your kids and their friends, and to be on the Hillview Campus. 

We have ONE lunch period so lunch service is over in less than 12 minutes...so it is fun and fast. Of course, we arrive 20 minutes ahead to set up and it take 10 minutes to clean up and stack up the bins...

If you are interested in volunteering next year, please email Mary Murphy.

Hillview Tour for Incoming 6th Graders - June 17

This event is open to all incoming 6th graders from Oak Knoll and Encinal. Hope to see you there! 

Time:       9:00am 

Location: Hillview Middle School, meet in the PAC (Performing Arts Center)   

To RSVP or inquire about this event, please email hvserviceclub@gmail.com. If you have any further questions, please contact Nicole Scott via email or 650-854-4433 ext 4107. 

Yearbooks Will be Delivered to Classrooms on June 12  

Anyone who pre-ordered a yearbook will receive it in their classroom on Wednesday, June 12.  If you did not order a yearbook, there is a very limited quantity available to purchase.  If we do have extra yearbooks to sell, they will be available for purchase after school on Wednesday, June 12 in front of the school office.

Summer Playgroups for Fall 2013 Incoming Kindergarteners!  

Join other families with incoming Kindergartners (Fall 2013) for a few informal playgroups to be held on the Oak Knoll Kindergarten playground during the summer!   Some of you may have attended the Kindergarten Q&A in May.  These casual playgroups offer more opportunities to help students and families meet each other before school starts in August.  To sign up, please join the e-mail distribution list to receive information about the playgroups throughout the summer.

If you have any questions, please email Oak Knoll parent and playgroup organizer Gina Skinner.  Hope to see you there!

If your daughter is entering  4th or 5th grade for the 2013-2014 School Year, she can now sign up for Girls' Fall Volleyball!  The girls will learn the basic skills of the game in a fun and encouraging environment on teams coached by parent volunteers.  Practices will be held twice a week at Oak Knoll, while weekly games will be played at Arrillaga Gym in Menlo Park.  Games will commence mid-September and end mid-November.  And, parents, coaching volleyball is a wonderful, volunteer opportunity!  No experience is necessary--just a positive attitude and a willingness to bump, set, spike, and dig it!  Contact Laura Huber, Nancy Witeck, Stefano Baldassi, or Noelle Carpenter if you would like to coach or if you have any questions. 

Registration is now open at Sportability and will close August 29.  For more info, visit Oak Knoll After School Sports.

SUMMER CAMPS ARE HERE!

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EVENTS

"Keeping Your Daughter Safe: 5 things You Should Know About What Girls Are Doing Online"

For more information on events listed above or events listed in prior newsletters, visit the District's Community Links page. 

Habitat Restoration Workday with Acterra

Sat June 22, 9:30-12:30. This is an ongoing habitat enhancement project conducted at McClellan Ranch Preserve and Blackberry Farm in Cupertino. Volunteers pull weeds, mulch, set out native plants and water. Our local wildlife will thank you as they are dependent on native vegetation to supply their food and shelter.  To register or for more info, click here.

SPORTS, CLASSES, AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES