Every year I think that the first day is the best we have ever had. This year was certainly no exception. In spite of the heavy rain, the first day went off without a hitch. By 8:20 the halls were quiet and the classrooms were busy. I don’t think we had a kindergartener who cried for more than a few minutes and only a couple of first graders asked if they could go home after lunch! 

A few staff changes took place over the summer. Our main office secretary, Jessica Lopez, moved to another job in a neighboring district. Mrs. Sharon Gilbert took her place. Helping the teachers get their worksheets, posters and books ready is Mrs. O’Halloran. The final member of the office team is Mrs. Lundgren, our nurse. This year we will have a nurse in the building all day, every day and that makes Mrs. Kettinger very happy! 

Another important person who is going to be with us full-time this year is Mrs. McCutchen. For the last two years she has divided her time between two elementary schools. This year, however, we were happy to hear that she would be at Oakhill full- time. 

In the spring we thought that Ms. Heatley and Ms. Heimberg would be moving to different schools but as things changed over the summer, we were able to welcome them back home to Oakhill!! They are teaching fifth grade and a four/five combination, just as they did last year. Our final new addition to Oakhill is Mrs. Carmen Hernandez. She is teaching a combination fifth/sixth class. She is a wonderful addition to our staff and we are happy to have her here. 

As we have in the past, we will hold two curriculum nights. The primary class teachers, K – 3, will make their presentations on Wednesday, September 9^th. The intermediate class teachers, including Mrs. Tonge and Mr. Valles, will do theirs on Wednesday, September 16^th. Both evenings will begin at 6 pm and the presentations will last about an hour. It is important that at least one parent attend this presentation. The teachers will be giving you information about the class work your child will be doing in all academic areas: reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies. In addition you will learn about our Character Counts and intervention programs and a federal grant called Title I that we are lucky enough to be a part of this year. We look forward to seeing you on this night. 

 

Your child should have brought home an Oakhill handbook. Please spend some time reviewing the important information in this book with your children. Please note, in particular, that children are not allowed to bring expensive electronic equipment to school like IPods or MP3 players, hand-held game systems, and cell phones. If children are found to have these in school they will be asked to leave them in the office until they leave for the day. We don’t want these expensive items to be broken or stolen nor do we want them to interfere with your children’s education.   Please support us by asking your children to leave these items at home. 

 

We will be offering the Early Birds program again this year. The learning center opens at 7 a.m. and two teachers are available for help with homework if students need it. Children can also read or work on the computer. If they eat breakfast in school they are dismissed at 7:45. Otherwise they are sent to class at 7:55. Any student who comes to school before 7:30 will be asked to go to Early Birds. Breakfast is not served until 7:30 and there is no outside adult supervision until 7:45. If your children come to school for Early Birds they must enter through the front main door and go directly to the learning center. This program will be available five days a week until the end of the school year. If you have any questions, please call the office. 

 

If a student is sent out of class, to the office, because of misbehavior, he will be put on a progressive discipline program. The first visit to the office will result in a note, call or email home. The second time the teacher will call the student’s parents and the third time the call home will be made by the principal. If the child is sent a fourth time, he/she will serve a one day in-school suspension and parents will be asked to attend a conference with the teacher and principal. Any office visit after this will result in an at-home suspension. Each time the student reports to the office he/she will be asked to complete a form that explains the behavior that resulted in the office visit. On this form he/she will also be asked to write about better classroom behavior. We are hoping that no one visits the office more than once! 

 

Once again this year we will be teaching the pillars of good character in all of our classrooms: respect, caring, trustworthiness, fairness, responsibility and citizenship. Mrs. McCutchen and Mrs. Kasper will provide classroom activities for the teachers. These two teachers will be in charge of school-wide Character Counts projects also. As we did last year, all of the adults in the building will be able to nominate students who they “catch” showing good character. All of these nominated students will be eligible for a monthly drawing to receive recognition and prizes. Each semester we will have a special dinner for these winners and their parents. Throughout the year we will be doing school-wide activities to show the good character of all of the students at Oakhill. We will begin by collecting pennies for World Peace Day. These pennies will be used to buy pencils and other school supplies for children in impoverished countries. We know that students will give what they can. 

 

We consider ourselves very lucky to have been approved for the 21^st Century grant. This grant provides money for before and after school activities as well as evening programs and activities for parents and/or families. Information about, and permission slips for, after school activities will be coming home soon. Be sure to check your child’s backpack! No child can participate in any activity without a signed permission slip. We hope to offer not only reading classes but a variety of activities in the arts, sports, games and much, much more.