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Monday January 25 - Friday, January 29
- Great Kindness Challenge
- 5th Grade Outdoor Ed Trip
Monday, January 25
- Spirit Day for Kindness Challenge Kick-off, Wild about Kindness: Wear Animal-Themed Clothing
- 5th Grade departs for Outdoor Ed, 9:15am
- Walt Disney Museum Field Trip (Boatright, Jagelka), 8:45am-2:00pm
Wednesday, January 27
- Walt Disney Museum Field Trip (Chan, Poole), 8:45am-2:00pm
- MPCSD Parent Ed, "From Control to Connection", 6:30pm, Hillview PAC
Friday, January 29
- 5th Grade returns from Outdoor Ed, 12:15pm
- 3rd Grade Lion King Performance for Students, Gym
Saturday, January 30
- Lion King Performances, Hillview PAC (see below for times)
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Monday, February 1
- Walk Through the Revolution (Cline, Murphy), Playroom
- Parcel Tax Special Board Meeting, 7:00pm, TERC
Thursday, February 4
- Family Math Night, 5:30-7:30pm, Gym
Friday, February 5
- Chinese New Year Assembly (K-5), 1:05-1:30pm
Saturday, February 6
- OKCO Winterfest Family Social, 5:00-7:00pm
Monday, February 8
- Oakland Zoo Field Trip (Chan, Poole, Jagelka),8:15am-1:45pm
Tuesday, February 9
- Oakland Zoo Field Trip (Fujimoto, Lavezzo, Boatright), 8:15am-1:45pm
- Parent Coffee Talk, 8:15am, Gym
- Third Grade Ohlone Programs
Thursday, February 11
- Last Day to Order Yearbooks
Friday, February 12
- NO SCHOOL, Collaborative Planning Day
February 15 - February 19
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Great Kindness Challenge Starts Tomorrow
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 Oak Knoll is excited to join Laurel and Encinal in the Great Kindness Challenge put on by Kids for Peace. During this coming week, January 25-29, kids are encouraged to do as many kind acts as possible! Possible ideas for kind deeds can be found here (this is editable so you can change them to ones that work for you and your family).
To help kick off the week, tomorrow (Monday) we are asking everyone to participate in a fun Spirit Day called Wild about Kindness by dressing as an animal or wearing an animal print or a shirt with an animal. In classes and on the playground, students and staff are encouraged to do kind acts for one another. At home, please talk to your student about what kind acts they have done and how they felt when they did it. Kindness matters and it makes both the giver and the receiver feel good.
5th graders will be at Outdoor Ed but they can still participate.
We would also like to encourage Oak Knoll students to enter into the Kids for Peace Book Contest. Details for entry can be found here. We would also love a copy so we can make our own school book. If students do not want to enter into the contest but want to be in the Oak Knoll book they can do that too - just follow the same rules. Any questions please email Nicole Scott, Oak Knoll Counselor.
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Message about 4th/5th Grade Looping
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After a lot of thought and consideration, taking teacher and parent feedback into consideration, Mrs.Gracia has decided to discontinue looping across 4th and 5th grade traditional classes.
Oak Knoll is unique because it is a school with choices and variety for parents, students, and teachers. This is important to us. We see the value in offering students with a multiple year experience with a teacher and student group (multi-age). We ALSO see the value in offering students a chance to have many different experiences year-to-year, working with different teachers and students (traditional). For this reason the options we will offer students and parents will be: Multi-age (3-year experience) and Traditional (year-to-year experience).
Given this change, we have an opportunity to innovate and redesign elements of our traditional 5th grade program. This is an exciting time for Oak Knoll! We are in the process of visiting other school sites to observe innovative programs, working directly with Hillview to backwards-plan, and utilizing Design Thinking to involve our teachers, students and parents in this work.
If you have any questions or ideas, do not hesitate to contact Mrs.Gracia.
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It is time for our annual 5-minute survey to help Oak Knoll's Site Council, teachers and administrators understand how well Oak Knoll School is performing so far this year. Your input is critical for us to understand fully what is working well and what needs improvement. We would like your constructive and actionable feedback now so that we have time to respond to the survey results during this school year. All responses are anonymous and all results will be shared with Principal Gracia, Assistant Principal Kessler and specific classroom related responses will be shared with the relevant teacher(s).
There are a couple changes to the survey this year that we would like to highlight: - We are asking you to complete ONE survey for your entire family at Oak Knoll. - If your child is in a multi-age program, please focus your responses on your child's GRADE LEVEL teacher.
The Oak Knoll Parent Survey is a great opportunity to get your feedback on the big picture of Oak Knoll School each year. If you have specific feedback or concerns, the best way to resolve them is to contact the classroom teacher and/or Mrs. Gracia and Mrs. Kessler. Our teachers and staff are dedicated to making it work for students throughout the year.
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Please note for your information that the start date for the 2016-17 school year will be Thursday, September 1, 2016.
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 Friendly reminder that dogs are not allowed on the school grounds at any time, including out of school hours.
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After School Program Room Assigments
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Winter After School Programs have begun. Please click here to see the classes and room assignments.
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There will be no KNOL broadcast during the week of January 25-29 as we get updated equipment installed! When KNOL returns, we will have a learning curve for the the students (and staff) as we learn the new equipment.
KNOL is broadcast from the Oak Knoll library to each classroom first thing every morning, Monday through Friday during the school year. Students hear from other students about what is going on in school that day.
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MPCSD Parent Education Series - Talk this Wednesday
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 The next event in the MPCSD Parent Education Series:This Wednesday, January 27, 6:30pm: From Control to Connection by Kiran Gaind, Modern Parent Coach @ The Connected Family: Raising Great Parents. Learn basic tenets of brain science, practice mindful listening and self awareness exercises, and begin using connected parenting tools right away with your child of any age, including keeping your relationship strong in the adolescent years. Light refreshments provided. Free onsite childcare available for potty-trained children. Wednesday, January 27th, 6:30pm, Hillview PAC.
Mark your calendars for upcoming talks:
February 24: Julie Lythcott-Haims - Highly sought after speaker and author, former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford University, and acclaimed author of How to Raise an Adult, Julie Lythcott-Haims joins the Menlo Park community to present, "Throw Out The Checklisted Childhood." Whether you've wanted to see her and haven't been able or whether you have seen her several times already, you don't want to miss this presentation prepared especially for Menlo Park families. Bring your friends and neighbors. Light refreshments provided. Free onsite childcare available for potty-trained children. Wednesday, February 24, 6:30pm, Hillview PAC.
March 9: Most Likely To Succeed - Movie Screening + Panel Discussion. You've heard the buzz, now come see what it's all about. Are public schools in need of a drastic overhaul? Where is MPCSD in the continuum of innovation? Join us for a screening of the thought-provoking documentary followed by a panel discussion of education leaders. Light refreshments provided. Free onsite childcare available for potty-trained children.Wednesday, March 9, 6:30pm, Hillview PAC.
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Music Notes - Update from Bee Tee
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The semester is another fun-filled one. Students continue to sing, play, dance and learn new musical concepts, as well as perform and improvise on a variety of instruments.
Students in kindergarten have been working on developing basic rhythmic skills. Through songs, rhymes, body percussion, locomotor and non-locomotor movement and instrumental playing, they are learning to keep a steady beat. Currently, the students are singing winter songs and exploring a variety of non-pitched and pitched percussion instruments. They use these instruments to create sound effects as accompaniment to the book "A Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats.
First grade students have been singing gesture songs and playing singing games that emphasize the steady beat. The students are also working hard on recognizing and moving to patterns of music that use the quarter, eighth, half notes and quarter note rest. Using a simple nursery rhyme such as "Wee Willie Winkie", the students are also practicing new mallet techniques on Orff instruments such as simple, and level borduns (accompanying patterns).
In second grade, the students took a poem "The Wise Old Owl" and spun it into a multi dimensional performance piece that included creative movement and speech, singing and Orff instruments. In the process of working on this poem, the students performed and played layered "ostinato" patterns that use half, quarter, eighth notes and quarter note rest as accompaniments to the poem. The students also learned to improvise with the "re" pentatonic scale.
The third grade students have been very busy working on the "The Lion King" musical. Our initial plan was to have one production and one cast selected through the audition process, but we ended up with four different casts, one from each of the third grade classes. This was because we wanted to involve as many students as possible in the musical. Since November these students have been working very hard during their lunch recesses, with Mr. Bill Hairston, drama teacher from Hillview Middle School.
 Date: January 30, 2016 Place: Hillview Performing Arts Center Times: 2:00 - 2:30 p.m. McColloch/Bartlett/Guerra (1st cast - McColloch/Bartlett) 2:45 - 3:15 p.m. McColloch/Bartlett/Guerra (2nd cast - Guerra) 6:00 - 6:30 p.m. Yob/Clancy/Lopez (1st cast - Yob/Clancy) 6:45 - 7:15 p.m. Yob/Clancy/Lopez (2nd cast - Lopez)
The students in the fourth grade Orff Ensemble are working on music from a variety of historical periods and cultures. So far, they have learned the famous Pachelbel Canon - piece of music written in the 17th century with many melodic variations over a repeating bass line; a "Processional" arranged for Orff and unpitched percussion instruments, a Taiko drum piece from Japan and they are beginning to explore an original composition in the style of Zimbabwean music by Walt Hampton.
Students in the fifth grade Orff Ensemble are also working on music from different cultures and time periods. Their repertoire include "Calypso Sunrise" a piece of music with interlocking rhythms and a slow and expressive introduction written in the style of a chorale by E. Schopmeyer; "Canten Senores," a folk song from Argentina and currently they are working on an instrumental piece from Carl Orff's "Music for Children".
The above is just a brief summary as it is hard to describe everything that we are doing and learning in music classes. Please come and see first hand what your child or children are learning and experiencing in their music classes every week.
Thank you for your continuing support.
Bee Tee
"Experience first, then intellectualize"
--Carl Orff
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Oak Knoll's annual Family Math Night is coming up on Thursday, February 4 from 5:30-7:30pm in the Oak Knoll Gym. The event includes 8 hands-on stations that explore several different math concepts through games and activities that parents do with their children. Each station will have a facilitator to assist the parents in engaging their children. These projects are designed to reinforce classroom learning in a fun, engaging way and will give examples to parents of ways to make learning math fun. Each station will have 3 different levels of activities suited for students from kindergarten through 4th grade. Past experience has shown, though, that it is most enjoyable for parents and their students 3rd grade and below. Please encourage your students to attend! If you have any questions, feel free to contact Suzanne Gallie.
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Volunteer for February Teacher & Staff Fiesta Luncheon
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We need your help with the Friday, February 5th Thank You luncheon for teachers and staff - there are a few more items still needed. This is a very easy volunteer opportunity: help with set-up, or drop-off a needed item on the morning of the event. Please consider signing up by clicking here.
If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Potischman.
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5th Grade: California Healthy Kids Survey
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Menlo Park's fifth through eighth grade students will be participating in the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) this February. This survey is recognized as the leading health data gathering survey currently available in the country. This is a very important survey will be given to Oak Knoll's 5th grade students on February 22, 2016. Participation in the survey is voluntary and we hope you will give permission. Consent forms and more detailed information are being sent home via your child's communication folder. Please complete & return the consent form to your child's teacher as soon as possible. Need another copy? Click here to download and print a copy of the consent form.
You may review the CHKS survey in the school office or view the Elementary Survey in English or Spanish on line.
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Save the date! Friday, March 4 is Oak Knoll's 18th annual Friends and Family Day. Invite a friend or family member to come to school in the morning to get a glimpse of our campus and classrooms. Times for each grade level and details will be posted soon.
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Ollie Salutes our Library Volunteers Coordinator
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Please join Ollie in a round of applause for our Library Volunteers Coordinator, Noelle Carpenter! Noelle's job is to train and coordinate all of the many parent volunteers who donate their time to help Ms. Bennion in the library by checking in/out books, maintaining order in the book collections, pulling titles for students and teachers or special displays, and assisting her with any special tasks. The support from Noelle and all of the parent volunteers enables Ms. Bennion to spend more quality time with our Otters in the library.
Thank you, Noelle, and all of your library volunteers!
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SPECIAL BOARD MEETINGS TO DISCUSS POSSIBLE PARCEL TAX
We encourage you to attend the upcoming final Special Board meeting on Monday, February 1 at 7:00pm (date changed from February 2) in TERC Building, 181 Encinal Avenue, Atherton, to learn more about the possibility of a MPCSD parcel tax on the May 2016 ballot. The Board will be receiving public comment. You can also email them directly at board@mpcsd.org.
At the January 11 Board meeting Superintendent Ghysels and the Long Range Planning Ad Hoc Committee continued their discussion with the School Board on the possibility of renewing and/or increasing a parcel tax as Measure C expires on June 30, 2017. Following the Board's initial discussion at its November 10, 2015 meeting, Superintendent Ghysels and staff held thirteen informational meetings with parents, staff and the community in December. The informational meetings included Measure C background information, student enrollment data, District's financials, and an overview of MPCSD's commitment to excellence. The Board continued its parcel tax discussions on December 8, 2015, December 15, 2015, January 11 and 21, 2016.
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Make a Difference with MPAEF!
Happy new year! We are looking for interested parent volunteers to join the MPAEF Board for the 2016-2017 school year. There is a place for everyone, so whether your interests are in event planning, donor or business stewardship, graphic design or campaign leadership, we'd love to hear from you. To get an idea of who we are and see a list of current positions and board members, click here. Please email nominating@mpaef.org if you are interested in investing in education. Together.
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Save the Date for the 2016 MPAEF Auction
California Dreamin' on Saturday, April 30, 2016!
Help make this year's event a great success and donate to the auction now! We'd love fun adventures, unique getaways, and themed parties for kids and adults alike. Tickets to sporting events or fine wines are fabulous as well. Knit like a pro or love to bake? Consider offering lessons! No donation is too small or too creative, and you can donate individually or as part of group. Look at the following categories, pick one, and submit today!
Destinations/Adventures/Getaways: Give district families or a couple the opportunity to take a break by spending time in a place you find special!
Parties, Events, and Experiences for Adults: Organize an over-the-top bash or an intimate dinner that highlights a particular cuisine. Donate as a single family or make a party out of your party by donating together with friends.
K.I.T. (Kids In Training): Teach kids what makes your profession interesting. Designers, technologists, scientists, medics, doctors, chefs, artists, entertainers, public service, open your doors and show a student what you do after the kids go to school.
Parties, Events and Experiences for Kids: Whether fitness, art, or cooking lessons, or a once-in-a-lifetime experience, donate something that will give kids a break from homework to play and just be kids! Whatever the idea, just bring them together!
Sporting Events and Memorabilia: Donate your Giants, Sharks, 49ers, premier PGA tournaments, Dubs, Grand Slam tennis, or NASCAR event tickets or treat district families to a round of golf!
Exceptional Wines and Wine Experiences: Reveal the ripe riches of our region by offering up a unique bottle of wine or a wine tasting experience at surrounding vineyards. Create a personal trip to a vineyard or fill a bidders wine cellar with elite vintages.
Questions about what or how to donate? Email our Silent Auction Co-Chairs Mary Grundy and Krista Rosa Brennan at auction@mpaef.org.
Already organized and want to donate now? Click here for our online donation form.
Thank you in advance for your generosity! We can't wait to see you in April.
Krista Rosa Brennan, Cyndy Hogan, Flavia Herrod and Mary Grundy
MPAEF Spring Event Auction Co-Chairs
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Thanks to Our Realtor and Business Partners
We want to take the opportunity to shout out some appreciation to just a few of our many realtor and business partners in the community. Thank you for your support!
Platinum Level:
Mary & Brent Gullixson, The Gullixson Team - Realtor Partner
Gold Level:
Tom LeMieux Associates - Realtor Partner
Kaloust Orthodontics
Silver Level:
Menlo Partners Staffing
Bronze Level:
Darcy Gamble - Realtor Partner
Personify
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Friends Nursery School Open House
January 30, 11 am - 1 pm
Meet the teachers, talk with parents, and check out our great indoor and outdoor spaces. Children welcome! For more information, email Anne Horgan.
Developmental Disorders Study Participants Needed
Scientists at the Department of Psychology and Psychiatry, Stanford University, are trying to understand how children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD process sensory information. We are looking for typically developing children, ASD and ADHD children who are between 4-9 years old. Participating in our study would involve a two-time visit to our lab, which is located on campus. For more information, email Dr. Francesca Pei or call (650) 725-2440.
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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.
To read past Oak Knoll PTO newsletters, please visit our archives.
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