PLEASE REMEMBER TO ORDER YOUR STUDENT'S HOT LUNCHES!

We have a very limited number of emergency lunches and have had to give students backup boxes of cereal because of the high number of students needing emergency lunches.

Go to Choice Lunch to place your orders.

Thank you,

The Hot Lunch Team

Thank you all for your patience while getting used to the new parking policies.  Your cooperation is very much appreciated.  

We have, however,  heard concerns from a significant number of people regarding pedestrian safety.  For those of you who are parking on high traffic roads such as Oak Knoll Lane, please leave enough room on the sidewalk for pedestrians and strollers to pass. People parking too far on the sidewalk are forcing our students to walk in the road to get around the parked cars. This is obviously unsafe and needs to be avoided.  Please help to keep our kids and their families safe on their way to and from school - leave enough room for them to walk by your cars on the sidewalk. 

It's great to see so many families in our school community biking to school.  Below are a few reminders, for students and parents, that will help keep everyone safe.

STUDENTS please:

• walk your bikes through the crosswalks
• use hand signals
• ride on the right side of the road 
• stop at stop signs
• walk your bike from the corner of Oak Knoll and White Oak when coming to school

PARENTS please:

• wear bike helmets 
• do NOT park or ride your bikes (and trailers) past the bike racks
• if the bike racks are full, parents should park their bikes in the bike rack area away from pedestrian traffic and not block walkways
• model proper bike safety habits for their children

Ollie looks forward to having a safe year at school!

There will be a FREE bike inspection provided in front of Oak Knoll on Tuesday, September 10 before school, 7:30-8:30 am. 

Is your seat too low? Does your helmet fit properly? Do your brakes squeak? Come by the bike rack area and let the professional mechanic from Menlo Velo look over your ride. First 20 participants will receive a special bike prize!  Dates for subsequent inspections are September 16,  September 25 and October 4. 

Questions can be sent to Janet Bellantoni.

PTO Membership Team                   MPAEF School Team 

Cyndy Hogan                                      Jennifer Levey

Kathy Motamedi                                  Dimitra Anderson

Tamara Russel                                    Linda Knoll

Meg Scherer                                        Sharon Purcell

Jill Wurster                                           Ashley Honerkamp

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Parents of Oak Knoll Kinders and New Students Join Us for a Parent Social

Parents of incoming kindergarteners and new students, please join us for drinks and light appetizers to kick off the school year! Come meet other parents, Oak Knoll's principal David Ackerman and vice-principal Kristen Gracia, and our Superintendent Maurice Ghysels. Oak Knoll PTO and MPAEF leaders will be there as well. We look forward to seeing you! 

RSVP here. 

Please note this is a parent-only event.

Your help is needed to make this year's picnic a success.  We need help serving dinner, dessert and monitoring games and activities.  Sign up here  and contact Tara Carranza with any questions.

Only one week left to order Otterwear!  In addition to t-shirts and sweatshirts, there are many new items to choose from this year - dry fit, fleece, shorts, blankets, knit caps, stadium seats and more!  Plus new colors too - green, teal, orange and even rainbow!  Samples of all these styles and colors can be viewed in the office and online. 

All orders are due Monday, September 9, so don't delay.  You can order online with Paypal or fill out an order form and place it, along with a check, in the Otterwear folder in the office.  For all questions please contact Tracy Roeder.

After School Programs begin September 16.  This year we have added a few new programs; Math taught by Starfire Education, Public Speaking by speakdebate.com, Bulldog Fitness and French. We hope you have had the opportunity to take a look at the programs offered and have signed up. We have not posted a deadline, but encourage you to sign up quickly if you are interested, as several classes are filling up and some are already up to capacity. A few have low registration, and may risk being cancelled. Please encourage your friends to sign up as well.

Classes that are filling up quickly are: Choir K-2,Tennis, Chess, Chinese, Young Rembrandts, Game Design. Math (Thursday class), Wizbots and Creative Writing.

Classes that would like your help in getting more registrations are: Choir grades 3-5, Yoga, Animation, Math (Friday class), Bulldog sports and fitness.

Please sign up here.  Feel free to contact us with any questions: Aarti Chandna, Kimberly Hartz Foster 

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Don't miss sign-ups for Oak Knoll Youth Flag Football with Bulldog Sports in our After School Programs.  Sessions will take place Mondays 3:00pm starting September 16!  All ages welcome. Kids will be placed into age appropriate groups. Co Ed! Non competitive. We focus on #1 teamwork, #2 sportsmanship, #3 leadership skills, and #4 FUN! 

No stats, no scores, no wins or losses just FUN :)

It was another brilliant week at Oak Knoll and Ollie is enjoying seeing all the smiling faces in the carline and thanks you for your patience!  A high five goes out to the fantastic teachers and staff who have been helping to safely and efficiently keep the line moving:  Chris Atkinson, Victor Barraza, Jacqui Cebrian, Emily Chiet, Helga Dinning, Maria Gonzalez, Rachel Knight, Astrid Reiber, and Bee Tee.  Along with the teachers, another thanks goes out to all the parents who have been lending a hand, and to our Carline Committee Chairs Allison Chao and Betsy Muhlner.

Last Friday was the Annual Room Parent Meeting.  While Ollie was in the pool, the Room Parent Committee Chairs Janelle McCombs, Janell Sanford and Amy Thornborrow were working most of August to get everything ready for school starting.  We appreciate all of their hard work and hopefully it was evident in a smooth Back To School Night last Thursday. Ollie hopes everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend and will see you bright and early tomorrow morning!  

A Note to Parents and Students:

Our theme for the 2013-14 school year is CONFIDENCE. This year we will provide many opportunities for our students to learn, practice, and reflect on how they handle themselves in social situations. Our students will learn how to stand up for themselves, how to help others, and how to project an attitude of confidence. 

At Oak Knoll, our expectations ensure student safety and provide an environment that promotes kindness. This handbook provides clear expectations that support and encourage Oak Knoll students to make confident decisions.

School discipline is a cooperative effort between the students, faculty, parents and administrators. Every attempt is made to enforce the rules consistently. We believe in a restorative model: building student's confidence, providing opportunities for students to get involved, resolving conflict through discussion, and having the student take ownership. Thoughtful and logical consequences will be determined based on the child's needs and the severity of the incident. Consequences are meant to teach students about taking responsibility for his or her actions. Parents may or may not be notified depending on the severity of the incident.

This handbook was designed for Oak Knoll students and parents. Teachers will be spending time in class reading and discussing these expectations together. We encourage you to do the same at home. Questions regarding the expectations defined in this handbook are welcomed. 

Thank you for your support,

The Oak Knoll Staff

For those who do afternoon pick-up using the car line, please obtain a last name placard from the school office to place on the inside of your car windshield. Please display it prominently when you pull into the pick-up line, so the teachers can call out your last name to your child(ren) waiting to load.  You can also print your last name on a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" (half letter-size) piece of card stock or paper that can be easily displayed when you pull into car line for pick-up.

The Adolescent Brain

Hillview Middle School, PAC, Wednesday, September 11, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Join Hillview principal, Erik Burmeister, as he starts an in-depth series on the ever-changing adolescent brain, outlining the steps that we as parents and families can take to make the transition from pre-teen to young adult as smooth as possible. From mood swings, to puberty, to the complex life changes that are a result of growing up in the 21st century, raising a healthy and responsible teenager is a task that can boggle the mind of even the most seasoned caregivers. Topics to be covered include the difference between how girls and boys react to their changing physical and emotion environments, the way in which our daily routines can affect how our kids grow and perform in and out of the classroom and the boundaries and limits we can expect to be challenged as our kids strive to become more independent. With more than 15 years of experience, Erik's extensive and valuable knowledge with this age group is the basis for a year-long series that is not to be missed. For more information, contact Jessica Raines.

For a complete listing of all the parent education events in and around our community, please visit the district's ParentEd webpage.

EVENTS

Martial Arts Academy, Kuk Sool Won™ of Menlo Park Annual Fall Carnival 

September 15 11:00am to 3:00pm.  This event is open to the public.  We'll have carnival games, face painting, board breaking, a baking contest, and a cake walk.  We'll also be having members of the Fire and Police Departments on hand to do safety talks for the kids.