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> Sign up to be a 2016-2017 Room Parent
> Check Lost & Found before June 14
> Download summer reading forms
Scroll down below for more details on these items.
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Monday June 6
- Dress Rehearsal for Oak Knoll 4th/5th Grade Talent Show
Tuesday, June 7
- MPCSD Board Meeting, 6:00-10:00pm, TERC
Wednesday, June 8
- PTO Board Meeting, 8:15am
Thursday, June 9
- Oak Knoll 4th/5th Grade Talent Show, 8:30am, Gym
Friday, June 10
- Room 15 Ice Cream Sundae Sale, 3:00pm
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Tuesday, June 14
- 5th Grade Clap-Out
- Last Day of School - EARLY DISMISSAL at 11:20am
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Office Reminder - Lost & Found
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 Please remember to check Lost & Found before the end of the year! Items which are unclaimed by June 14 will be donated to charity. |
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Ollie Salutes the Science Olympiad and Spring Picnic Teams
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Last Friday was a big day at Oak Knoll!
In the morning, our 4th and 5th graders had a blast competing as class teams in the annual Science Olympiad, their team spirit on full display with team names, colors, costumes, and chants. During what is a giant science-themed field day, students get to take part in activities like using a compass to find treasure, folding paper airplanes to fly through hoops, building the tallest structures with straws, building clay boats to hold the most washers and many more. For this awesome event, which is one of the most fun traditions at Oak Knoll, Ollie would like to thank Co-Chairs Alison Matthews, Amy Thornborrow, and Christie Connaghan for all their work. Thanks also go out to all the volunteers who  led activities and managed scoring/awards - Adrienne Bronstein, Allison Chao, Beth Cobos, Dave Bingham, Diana Baker, Erica Galles, Gina Skinner, Janell Sanford, Jonathan Coldoff, Kim Grosso, Kris Swanson, Lalit Shahani, Lynn Mickleburgh, Mark Baker, Mark Mitchell, Melissa Engelkemier, Noelle Carpenter, Patti Buck, Sharon Purcell, Sherwin Chen, and Theanne Thomson - and the 75 (yes, 75!) other parent volunteers who helped at the event.
 
In the evening, families gathered on the sun-soaked playground to enjoy the Spring (erm, almost Summer!) Picnic, the last community event of this school year. Families enjoyed hot dogs, ice cream, inflatables, karaoke, field sports and friends. Please joinOllie in a round of applause for Janell Sanford, Kathy Motamedi, and Tamara Russel, the Spring Picnic Co-Chairs, who organized this fun event and seamlessly rescheduled it from May to June! Thanks also to the parents who sacrificed some socializing to volunteer on set up, registration, bouncy house supervision and clean up.
Oak Knoll rocks!
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  On Friday, June 3, Oak Knoll welcomed the mayor of Menlo Park, Rich Cline, and the mayor of County Galway, Ireland. The mayors toured the school, classrooms, and got to see Science Olympiad in action! Menlo Park and County Galway are going through the process to become official sister cities!
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I love to celebrate your summer reading! Get started NOW! Find the perfect book and other great recommendations for all reading levels in the attached link and take a look at Ms. Cebrian's recommendations below. Follow the directions for your grade level and join the library reading celebrations next year!
Ms. Bennion
Librarian
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Woohoo! Summertime! Time for relaxation and getting to read whatever you want. I encourage kids to make a stack or a list, but a plan nonetheless for books they want to read over the summer. I think kids will read more if they can see their accomplishments growing. Choosing the order of the books, changing the order, adding to the pile... all things readers do. Of course, cover pictures of e-book accomplishments will work as well.
First off - choose something to read aloud this summer. You'll enjoy it - all of you. My top choice for the summer is BFG by Roald Dahl because the new movie comes out on July 1. Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt is another great choice for the conversations it can spark about how we treat others and how we value different talents and how we value our own.
There are some very popular books kids are reading now that involve retellings in some form of fairy tales and/or myths - often with modern day connections. Read aloud mythologies, fairy tales, or Just So Stories. The time commitments are shorter and make for easy stopping points. Carry one in the car for times when you have to sit and wait. It's amazing how much reading time you can steal from a day if you try.
If you aren't certain of the book's fit, I like to check Common Sense Media to see what the recommended age is, and what the higher-level topics are so you can make your own decision. If you are stumped for ideas, check out these recommendations or my teacher page. Ms. Cebrian
Reading Specialist
Happy summer reading, everyone!
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Oak Knoll's Science Teacher, Ms Solomon, who lovingly oversees the wonderful garden we have on campus, will be holding a garden sale on Wednesday, June 8 at 12:15-12:45pm during both lunch periods. Various items will be on sale like seed necklaces, bookmarks, seed papers, recycled melted crayons, packets of seeds, and dried lavender bunches (most from $0.50 - $1.00), as well as plants and small bouquets of flowers ($2.00-$5.00). Any child could find something to help support our garden for under a dollar! All proceeds will go back into maintaining and growing the garden.
Several classes are working with Ms. Solomon on the garden sale: Mr. Quarre's 2nd Grade class are helping to organize, package, and plant, and then run the sale, Ms. Cotter's 1st Grade class made crayons and the multi-age classes of Ms. Fujimoto/ Ms. Lavezzo/ Ms. Boatright made carrot seed paper.
Please note that the garden sale is for students, not parents. Adults who wish to help, can volunteer their time this summer and/or next school year by taking care of the garden and by supervising the garden at lunchtime so it can be opened more frequently. Please contact Ms. Solomon if you are interested in helping in the garden. |
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Come help support Room 15's Snug-Hug service project! Ms. Brewbaker's 2nd Grade class is hosting an ice cream sundae sale on Friday, June 10 at 3:00pm at pick up. Sundaes are $4.00 and the proceeds will benefit Ruby's Place, a shelter for homeless children.
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For your information, below are the upcoming Field Days by grade. These are events for the students, but if you are volunteering you will have received an email from one of your room parents or grade level coordinators about arrangements.
Friday June 10
8:10am - 10:10am, 1st Grade
10:35am - 12:00pm, 2nd Grade
12:30pm - 3:00pm, 4th Grade
Monday June 13
8:45am - 12:30pm, 5th Grade to Burgess Park
12:30pm - 3:00pm, 3rd Grade
Tuesday, June 14
10:00am - 11:00am, Kindergarten
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For those of you who ordered 2015-2016 Yearbooks and are wondering when they will be distributed, they will first be given to 5th graders at their Field Day on Monday, June 13, and then provided to teachers later that morning to hand out to all others who ordered one.
For those of you who did not order a yearbook, but would like one, we MAY have a small number for sale at drop-off on the last day of school, Tuesday, June 14. We will know if we have any extras next week once we have received and sorted the delivery, and will report back in next Sunday's newsletter.
For any questions, please contact a member of the yearbook team: Andrea Potischman, Gina Skinner, Sherrie Feinstein, Tamara Russel, Tara Carranza.
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2016-2017 Room Parents - Don't Forget to Sign up
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Don't forget to sign up to be a Room Parent!
Our teachers need your help, so don't miss out on being a Room Parent next year! Sign up today for one of the most rewarding volunteer roles at Oak Knoll. It's a great way to get to know other parents and your child's teacher, and you'll get to know firsthand what's going on in your child's classroom. Room parents typically help to organize class parties, field trips, and organize parent volunteers when needed. Also, being a room parent doesn't require much on-campus time - so, even if you have little ones still at home or you work full-time, it's a perfect way to get involved! For 2016-2017, the room parent program will now be two room parents per classroom, with the responsibilities being shared. This is to streamline the role of room parents and increase the volunteering opportunities for all classroom parents.
Please remember that all current room parents must sign up again for next year, including Multi-age class room parents!
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Hot Lunch Co-Chair Needed
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As we approach the end of this school year, and plan for the next, many volunteers have already stepped up to fill most PTO committee positions for 2016-2017. Thank you all!
We are currently looking for 1-2 additional people to help co-chair Hot Lunch at Oak Knoll, to join the co-chair who is already in place. Hot Lunch is a critically important PTO program, providing lunch to often 300 students each school day, which relies on the work of the co-chairs and daily helpers to operate. As hot lunch co-chairs, you are responsible for coordinating the District-defined program at Oak Knoll, and recruiting/scheduling the volunteers to serve lunch to students each weekday. Please consider this vital, but straightforward, position.
If you are interested in co-chairing Hot Lunch, or you would like to volunteer on another PTO committee, please contact Janelle McCombs.
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Incoming Hillview Volunteer Opportunities
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If you are the parent of an incoming 6th grader - welcome! If your student is a 7th or 8th grader or your 6th grader is the last of several kids who have walked through Hillview's halls - welcome back! WE NEED YOU!
There are several ways that you can volunteer at Hillview; to contribute to this award winning community and connect in a more meaningful way with your child's school. Like the room parent program at the elementary schools, Hillview has Academy Parents who help coordinate academy-wide activities and assist the teachers in a variety of ways (including recruiting more volunteers.) We need volunteers to help serve hot lunch, assist in the library and at the book fair, help coordinate staff appreciation events, and so many other ways.
If you are interested in helping out at Hillview beginning next Fall, please send an email to volunteer@hillviewpto.org. We look forward to seeing you then. Go Hawks!
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Marsh Road Closure beginning May 31
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Marsh Road is now closed until August 11, 2016 from Middlefield Road northerly to Fair Oaks Avenue, for construction to replace the Atherton Channel walls and floor.
A detour plan with roadway signage plan can be downloaded here. The closure of Marsh Road will impact traffic throughout the area and limit access to Encinal and Laurel schools. Additional information on impacts to our school busing service will be communicated to the parents. Please be patient and provide extra time to reach your destination. Click here for more project information and contacts for the Town of Atherton.
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 Looking for a special way to remember your student's time at Encinal, Laurel, Oak Knoll or Hillview? Want to show your appreciation to a teacher or staff member who has made a lasting impact on your student? Consider a gift to the MPAEF Endowment in their name. Your honoree will be acknowledged as a Tribute recipient for the Class of 2016 under the MPAEF's Endowment Donor Roll. As a restricted revenue source, the Endowment is a permanent resource for professional development designed to benefit the District for generations to come. The MPAEF Endowment is dedicated to fostering academic excellence, especially in areas of writing, math, science and music through professional development, particularly teacher leadership, and design thinking innovation. Click here to learn more. To make a Tribute gift, please click here. Be sure to include the name of your Tribute honoree. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 Support our Schools when you Shop Online
If there were an easy way to help earn money for our schools, wouldn't you do it? This year we earned $5000 from our Amazon rewards program alone. So if you shop online at merchants like Amazon, Expedia, Bloomingdale's, Staples, Petsmart, or many others, you can help earn up to 10% of your purchase total for our schools. It's so easy that you'll wish you did it sooner. All you have to do is go to Shop.MPAEF.org, click our merchant referral link before you shop, then shop and check out like you always do. Just by clicking our referral link before you purchase, you've earned money for our schools to fund teachers, specialists, technology and innovation. Start shopping today!
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Thanks to Our Realtor and Business Partners
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FREE Lacrosse Clinic
June 5 and 19, 3:00-4:00pm
Introductory Clinics Hosted by Menlo-Atherton Grizzlies Lacrosse for boys & girls ages 6-14 @ Holbrook Palmer Park in Atherton. Please register on our site. Stanford Soccer Club Tryouts
All ages welcome! Click here to contact the team manager for your player's age and arrange a tryout time. Ragazzi Boys Chorus Auditions Now
By appointment through June; 178 Clinton St, Redwood City
Ragazzi Boys Chorus, a CBS news 'best choir of the Peninsula,' will teach your boy to sing! Schedule your 7-10-year-old boy for a fun group audition. He'll learn a song and have a blast; no prior experience or preparation needed to try out. Boys start slow, then grow. Ragazzi's opportunities include singing the National Anthem at a San Francisco Giants game, Opera roles, collaborations with Stanford's choruses and the San Francisco Symphony-and even world-wide touring. Click here for appointments and more info; and watch us on YouTube. Volunteer Opportunities
Menlo-Atherton High School PTA Computer Donation Program
Used Computers & Parts Needed for M-A High School Students
WANTED: old computers or parts, working or not, for Menlo-Atherton High School PTA computer donation program. We can use your laptop, laptop charger, desktop, monitor, mouse, laser printer, digital camera, USB flash drive, and computer parts. We will securely erase your computer, reload it, and send it home with a hard-working, deserving student from East Palo Alto, or we will place the computer into a classroom at M-A High. To donate a computer (or a truckload from a company that is upgrading), or for more information, click here or email Sue Kayton.
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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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