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Oak Knoll PTO
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Otter Weekly
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November 24, 2013
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Monday, November 25
Tuesday, November 26
- All 4th Grade Exploratorium Trip: 8:30am - 2:30pm
- Report cards go home
Wednesday, November 27 - Friday, November 29
- NO SCHOOL: Thanksgiving break
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Monday, December 2 - Wednesday, December 4
- Minimum Days: All grades dismissed at 11:20am
Monday, December 9
- Tech Museum Trip, Multi-Age Rooms 8,9,10 : 8:45am - 1:30pm
Tuesday, December 10
- Tech Museum Trip, Multi-Age Rooms 1,2,3 : 8:45am - 1:30pm
Wednesday, December 11
- PTO Board Meeting: 8:15-10:00am
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Coffee with Confidence - Tomorrow!
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Coffee with Confidence: Tomorrow, November 25 from 8:15-9:15am at Oak Knoll
Come join Oak Knoll Vice Principal Kristen Gracia, School Psychologist Jenny Ryan and School Counselor Nicole Scott and other parents. Brainstorm new ways to empower your child to BE the first step in the problem solving sequence. In other words: "Learn how to Coach from the Sidelines but Let your Child Play the Game."
Has your child ever come home complaining about school? Do you find yourself emailing the teacher with questions that your CHILD has? Do your kids' friendships require you to get involved in all the kid drama? Do you question yourself about when and how to get involved? You are not alone!
As part of our school theme of confidence, we are planning a casual, light-hearted parent meeting that will offer you practical strategies, a little research, and some time to share and get ideas from one another, not to mention coffee! Please RSVP to Barb Snow.
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Planned Absences: We would appreciate advanced notice for any planned student absences over the upcoming Thanksgiving and December breaks. You can email Cathy Petersen, or use Report an Absence form on Oak Knoll website.
Clothes Needed: The office needs gender-neutral sweatpants in all sizes. When it rains, we have a large number of kids needing to change after getting wet on the playground. Thank you for any donations.
Carline on Rainy Days: If you usually pick your children up at the classroom but use the carline when it's raining, please make sure your children know that! We had a significant number of calls to make to classrooms this week because children were waiting at the classroom and parents were waiting in carline.
Volunteers/Visitors: All volunteers and visitors should sign the Volunteer/Visitor Log in the front office and remember to wear a "School Visitor" name tag for safety reasons.
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Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation
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Giving Thanks to the 1,321 Families Who Support the MPAEF
THANK YOU to all our District families who donated or pledged during the MPAEF annual parent campaign! Thursday's "Are You IN?" Day activities at our four schools brought to life our collective commitment of creating extraordinary public schools.
In the first year of our shortened campaign (ending in November instead of February), we currently are at 72% participation from our District families. There's work to do to reach our 80% MPAEF participation goal-and fund the $1,500 of resources for each of our students. It's never too late to commit your support of our schools with your donation! Click here to do so. As we head into Thanksgiving, please know how grateful our students, teachers, and community are for your financial support.
With appreciation,
Scott Hinshaw & Kristin Seuell, Co-Presidents
Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation
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5th Grade Families - Submit Your 5th Grader's Baby Photos
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Attention 5th Grade Families: We need your BABY PHOTOS! It's a tradition at Oak Knoll to have baby pictures of our 5th graders in the yearbook. If you would like to have your child's picture appear in this year's yearbook, you may submit either a digital image or a hard copy. Note, photos between the ages of 3 and 12 months are best.
Digital Image (preferred method!) - Please e-mail the digital photo, with the child's name, the room teacher and Subject: Yearbook 2013/14 baby photos to Giovanna Senatore.
Hard Copy: Have your child put his/her photo in the manilla envelope marked "Yearbook" in their classroom. Make sure to label the back of the photo with your child's name and teacher. Be sure to have your child write their name on the attached list on the envelope for tracking purposes. There will be a "back-up" manila envelope in the Yearbook folder in the PTO box in the office.
Important: If you would like the photo returned to you, attach a note letting us know and we will return it to your child's teacher later in the year.
All photos are due no later than Friday, January 17!
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December Disaster Awareness and Fund Raising Campaign
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From December 9-13 Oak Knoll will be running a campaign to raise awareness of the natural disasters that have occurred around the world recently. As part of the campaign we will be raising money for the Red Cross specifically for disaster relief for those affected by the typhoons in the Philippines and the tornadoes in the Midwest US.
The kids can get involved in any (or all!) of 3 ways.
- We will be collecting money from December 9-13 to send to the Red Cross. We would like the money to come directly from kids - i.e. from their piggy bank savings, money they earned doing chores, lemonade stands etc. They can start collecting money now but should not bring it in until December 9.
- They can write letters to our government representatives to share their concerns about climate change. The typhoon in the Philippines was the worst typhoon in recorded history. Check out my Counselor's Corner webpage for the addresses to send the letters to.
- They can write a letter or make a card for a child in the Philippines or in Illinois. Cards could say things like - Dear Friend, We are thinking about you - From your Friend...
All students that participate will be given a tag To hang on our Wishing Tree. They can write a message on the tag or draw a picture about what they hope for the people effected by these disasters. The tags will be placed on our Wishing Tree by parent volunteers.
Thank you for any support your kids can give!
Nicole Scott
School Counselor
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This week, Ollie would like to salute ALL the volunteers who helped us get ready for ARE YOU IN DAY, our final day of our annual fundraising campaign. Ollie had a fab time handing the children Cuties clementines, kindly donated by Costco, and would like to give a special thanks to the Oak Knoll MPAEF Campaign Team: Jennifer Levey, Linda Knoll, Sharon Purcell and Ashley Honerkamp who did a fantastic job running the campaign on campus this year. Ollie would also like to thank Mark Baker for filling some big paws on Thursday!
Ollie was able to do some holiday shopping at the Chic Boutique and had a fabulous time sipping champers and eating nibbles on Thursday night! Thank you to the marvelous Oak Knoll Team who put the event together: Carolyn Bowsher, Margie Klapper, Tamara Russel, Janet Falkner, Elizabeth Lorenz, Neela Gentile, Meagan Carabetta, Karen Wang, Kris Swanson, Tamara Russel, Ashley Montulli, Calla Griffith and Joanne Lofthouse. And a big thank you to all the Oak Knoll parents who helped out at the boutique events, or donated food for the cocktail party.
He would also like to thank Lindsey Hutchinson who hosted a Blue Jean Bar party and donated 10% of her proceeds to Oak Knoll. Thank you for your generosity and for thinking of our community!
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Shop at Cheeky Monkey and Help the PTO!
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Shop at Cheeky Monkey Toys from November 22 through December 6 and raise money for Oak Knoll school.
Two great ways to earn money for our school:
- Shop in-store and mention "Oak Knoll School"
- Shop online, select "Fundraisers and Gift Cards" and add "Oak Knoll School" to your cart
10% of your net purchase will go to support Oak Knoll!
Cheeky Monkey Toys is located at 640 Santa Cruz Ave. in downtown Menlo Park, 650-328-7975, www.cheekymonkeytoys.com.
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Directories and Information Corrections/Updates
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By now you should have received a copy of the MPCSD directory sent home with your youngest child in the district. Directories were delivered to teachers the week of November 12.
Extra directories or mini-versions of the Directory (they fit in your glove compartment!) are available on a first-come, first-served basis in your Front Office for $10 each.
The data in the directory comes from the PowerSchool Program. PowerSchool is populated with information from district registration forms filled out by parents. Parents are asked annually to update/verify that information through the InfoSnap website. If the information printed in the directory is incorrect, or if you're not listed in the Directory and wish to be, please email DistrictDirectory@mpcsd.org. The corrections will be made in the PowerSchool database and you will be asked to verify them next summer. Thanks also to parent John Kelly and Blackstone Discovery for their continued outstanding service in publishing the District Directory!
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Volunteers Needed for WINTERFEST
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Are you interested in having fun with Tinsley program families and resident families? Do you want to help build our Oak Knoll Community by sharing a potluck dinner after activities like a flashlight scavenger hunt, zumba dancing, arts and crafts, and a game? Please join us! For more information about volunteering for Winterfest on February 1, 2014, please contact Carolyn Bowsher.
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Hillview-sponsored Parent Ed Monthly Series - Upcoming Events
Hillview is providing free childcare at these events. Click here for the complete Speaker Series program. If you have any questions, email Jessica Raines.
Next Event:
Sleepy Students, The Adolescent Circadian Shift
Devin Prouty, Ph.D., Researcher/Expert
Wednesday, January 6 at 6:30pm at the Hillview Performing Arts Center (PAC).
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Project Cornerstone's Take It Personally Class - Winter Session - 6 Week Series
Building assets in our children might be some of the most important work we do as parents. How can we help our kids thrive? What is most important in helping my child succeed in school academically AND in life? How can I show my child I support their efforts and dreams? These questions and more will be answered in a 6-week parent study group series facilitated by Pam Von Wiegand, founder of Project Cornerstone.
Six Tuesday evenings starting January 7, 20114 from 7-8:30pm at the Hillview PAC.
Please RSVP to Robin Soran.
For a complete listing of all the parent education events in and around our community, please visit the district's ParentEd webpage.
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SPORTS, CLASSES, ETC.
PYT, auditions for actors ages 8-18. Dec 7th and 8th. Don't miss the chance to perform in Rodgers' and Hammerstein's beloved musical classic, The Sound of Music! Peninsula Youth Theatre will hold auditions for actors ages 8-18 Dec 7th and 8th with performances March 1-9, 2014. For more information and to schedule and audition time, please visit www.pytnet.org.
PYT, audiciones para actores. edades 8 a 18 dic 7 y 8. No te pierdas la oportunidad de actuar en el clásico musical de Rogers y Hammerstein, The Sound of Music! Peninsula Youth Theatre llevará a cabo audiciones para actores edades 8 a 18 dic 7 y 8 con las actuaciones 1 a 9 marzo, 2014. Para más información y para programar y escuchar, por favor visite www.pytnet.org.
EVENTS
Breakfast with Santa. Saturday, December 7th, 2013. The City of Menlo Park Community Services Department will be hosting the annual "Breakfast with Santa" at the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center, located at 700 Alma Street, from 7:30am - 11:30am. Activities will include pancake breakfast, letter writing to Santa, holiday crafts, visiting and picture taking with Santa, and a fun time with friends & family. Reservations are required. For more information please call 650-330-2220 or click here!
For more information on events/opportunities listed above or events listed in prior newsletters, visit the District's Community Links page. |
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Please submit announcements and flyers to newsletter@oakknollschool.com for Oak Knoll events. For the Community Corner, send submissions to communitynews@mpcsd.org.
The deadline for both email addresses is by noon on the Wednesday prior to publication date. Guidelines for submission are available online.
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To read past Oak Knoll PTO newsletters, please visit our archives.
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