This Week

Looking Ahead

Dear Parents,

Earlier this school year, Oak Knoll School was invited by the California Department of Education to apply for the 2014 California Distinguished School Award.   The 2014 program is directly focused on schools that have demonstrated educational excellence for all students and have successfully narrowed the achievement gap.  Our application has been reviewed by a team of educators from across the state under the direction of the California Department of Education and is moving forward.  On March 28 the Site Validation Team will be visiting Oak Knoll to validate the full implementation of the submitted Signature Practices.

Closing the achievement gap has been the most significant social justice challenge for educators for some time.  Across the country there are very few examples of schools that have successfully reduced the gap while making continued improvement for all groups of children.  Below is a table illustrating Oak Knoll's growth.  The Academic Performance Index (API) is a score that summarizes a school's performance on the statewide STAR assessment.  The API range is 200 to 1000, with 800 established as the target for California schools.  A score of 917 places a school in the 90^th percentile.

This data illustrates the very high level of student achievement at Oak Knoll.  It also illustrates the success the school has had over the past two years significantly reducing the achievement gap for the identified groups.   This data illustrates why Oak Knoll was chosen to apply for the California Distinguished School Award.

The faculty team that worked on the submission of our application focused, as we always do, on our School Mission:  Every student an exemplary scholar, a valued friend, a courageous citizen.  They were asked to highlight in depth two signature practices.  They chose our work with Mindset and our commitment to tutoring and relationship building with students who do not yet have proficient skills.   You can find the application's complete school overview and description of signature practices here.

As a professional teaching staff we are very proud of Oak Knoll's achievement and we recognize that our success would not be possible without the amazing support and hard work of our parent community.  Congratulations to all of you.  We are looking forward to our Site Validation visit on March 28.

Sincerely,

David Ackerman 

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I am looking for a resource in the parent community to help me with a special project/intervention for some of the students I support. Does anyone have any expertise in Beginning Coding and/or video game design? Please contact me via email.

Thanks,

Jenny Ryan

Oak Knoll School Psychologist

During the month of March, all Grades will read In My Shoes, Grades 3-5 will also read Say Something and K-2 will read Juice Box Bully.

While reading these books, we will be focusing on having the confidence to be an 'upstander'. An 'upstander' has empathy and thinks about how others feel and then does something about it.  All grades are going to learn about empathy by reading the book In My Shoes.  A book that reminds us to think about how other people might be feeling.  

Grades 3-5 will also read the book Say Something, which follows a young girl around school.  She notices people being picked on and she feels bad for them, but she doesn't say anything.  But when she is picked on and she looks around and no one helps her she learns she must Say Something or she is part of the problem.  

Grades K-2 will also read the Juice Box Bully.  When a boy named Pete begins to behave badly the kids at his new school get involved and teach Pete about the 'Promise'.

For more information, please check out my Counselor's Corner webpage. 

If you have any questions about the Outdoor Education program, please feel free to contact their office or ours.

New student registration for the upcoming 2014-15 school year began on Monday, February

3.  Grades 1-8 registration begins Monday, March 3

We are currently in the second and final year of the state's two-year transition from the old December 1 Kindergarten cutoff age to the new September 1 Kindergarten cutoff age. MPCSD does not plan to enroll students in a two-year Transitional Kindergarten program after the transition to the new age cutoff is complete.

In the 2014-15 school year, all students must be five years old on or before Monday,

September 1, 2014 to enroll.

Visit the registration page registration page on the District's website for more information about age requirements, non-standard placements, Spanish Immersion and instructions about how to initiate the new student registration process.

This Friday, March 7 is Oak Knoll's 16th annual Friends and Family Day. Grades K,1,2 (and K-1-2 Multi-age) Welcome Coffee starts in the Multi at 8:45am. These classroom visits start at 9:05am.  Grades 3,4,5 (and 3-4-5 Multi-age) Welcome Coffee starts in the Multi at 9:30am. These classroom visits start at 9:50am.  For more information, please view the flyer. 

We still need volunteers for the event.  If you can help, please sign up here or contact Alison Matthews.

Our Newsletter Editor and Webmaster will be leaving the Oak Knoll community at the end of this school year when her youngest child moves on to Hillview Middle School.  As such we will have an opening for both positions for the next school year.  In the past, the two roles have been separate and performed by two individuals, but they can be performed by one person if that person is very comfortable with the relevant technology. Anyone who is interested is welcome to volunteer for either, or both roles. Ideally, the new volunteer(s) would be in the role(s) by Spring Break at the latest so our current volunteer has plenty of time to support them in their first months.  

The two roles are as follows:

Otter Weekly Editor:  The position entails coordinating with parents, staff and third parties connected to the school and District, and organizing/formatting of content for weekly electronic newsletters.  No previous experience in editing or publishing is required, though basic computer skills are needed.  

Lisa Solomon in conversation with Hillview School Principal Erik Burmeister

Wednesday, March 12, 7:00 p.m. at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park

Moments of Impact: How to Design Strategic Conversations that Accelerate Change

We're so pleased to welcome local Menlo Park resident Lisa Kay Solomon, coauthor of Moments of Impact, who will share insights from her new book in conversation with Hillview Middle School Principal Erik Burmeister.

This lively exchange will explore Principal Burmeister's unique approach to building conversations through the use of design thinking to engage students, teachers, parents and school board members. Lisa will use key practices from Moments of Impact to highlight the leadership choices and cultural conditions that spark new experiments in education and drive conversations with the potential to generate meaningful change in public schools.  

The Menlo Park City School District Council is seeking candidates for its officer and administrative chair positions for the 2014-2015 school year.

The purpose of the District Council is to foster cooperative relationships among the Laurel, Encinal, Oak Knoll, and Hillview PTOs, the MPAEF, the District, and the School Board, in order to facilitate communication within the District.

Available positions include: District Lunch Coordinator, Programming (Parent Ed) Coordinator, and Recognition (Service Awards) Coordinator, among others. For a complete list of District Council positions, please visit the district web site here. 

Nominations are due March 23.

Questions? Please contact Kate Kennedy.