Sunday, October 25, 2015

Unity Day and Red Ribbon Week

 




Unity Day was celebrated on Wednesday this week. The students wore orange in support of National Bullying Prevention Month. The counselors, Ms. Ahumada and Ms. Rosales, have been giving lessons to the classes on how to be a good friend and be a "bucket filler".  You can learn more from Ms. Ahumada's blog here.

The fifth grade students are collecting spare change again this year for UNICEF.  The students presented to the school at assembly on Friday. If you have any spare change you can donate, it will help a lot of children around the world to have better living conditions. You can give the money to your teacher and they will turn it in. They are trying to meet or exceed their total of $2000 from last year.

 




This coming week, is Red Ribbon week.  The counselors will be going over with the students how they can stay drug and alcohol free. There will be a theme for every day of the week.

MONDAY – TURN YOUR BACK ON DRUGS
Students wear their shirts backwards.

TUESDAY – GIVE DRUGS THE BOOT
Students dress up like cowboys/cowgirls; can be bandanas, cowboy hats, plaid shirts, and/or boots *(bring tennis shoes to change into for P.E. if you wear cowboy boots)

WEDNESDAY – GIVE DRUGS A SCARE
Students have crazy hair

THURSDAY – PUT A CAP ON DRUGS
Students can wear a cap or hat of their choice.

FRIDAY – GIVE DRUGS A SCARE WITH GOOD “CHARACTER”
Students can dress up as their favorite book character (no masks, face paint, weapons) *(bring tennis shoes to change into for P.E.)

On Friday, Oct. 30, we will have some special performances at the assembly.  The Soaring Eagle Singers and the Hip Hop Club will each perform. There will be a special presentation for Dia de Los Muertos.  The assembly will begin at 7:20 on Friday, so be early if you want to participate. Please remember that the parking lot is reserved for staff, so please park on the street and leave them room to park. Thank you!

It's going to be a fun week!

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Things continue to roll along and we are already over half way through the month of October.  Even though it was a short week, we packed a lot into the four days of school we had this week.  On Tuesday, everyone smiled and said "Cheese" for the camera for fall picture day. Wednesday, we had many volunteers get trained for the Soaring Readers program. I can't wait for them to get started this week. On Friday, we had several fun events. During the assembly, the green apple from A+ Federal Credit Union came to visit the students to talk to them about opening a savings account.

You can find more information about the program at the A+ Federal Credit union website. https://aplusfcu.org/have-a-family/life-stages/green-apple/green-apple-program

Also on Friday, the 5th graders went on a field trip to HEB to learn about finances and healthy eating. They shopped for food and then went on a picnic to eat the food they purchased.  Here are some pictures from their adventure.


On Saturday, many families joined the festivities at the National Kick Off Event for Marathon Kids. Every student at Oak Hill is encouraged to participate in Marathon Kids. Some of the physical activity they do at school counts toward their mileage, so it is easy to complete at least one marathon over the course of the year. They are encouraged to exercise everyday and complete more than one marathon throughout the year. The goal is to get everyone moving to maintain a healthy lifestyle. See the pictures below to view the fun!






Upcoming this week: Wear Orange to school on Wednesday for National Unity Day. This is our promise to end Bullying. On Friday, we will have the Fall Fun event. You can get more information on this event from the Eagle Eye. This week is also School Bus Driver Appreciation week. If your child rides the bus, be sure to let the bus driver know how much you appreciate them. They can simply say and extra "Thank you" or make a card or picture for the bus driver. We appreciate all they do to keep our students safe. One last reminder that October 30 is dress as your favorite book character, so be thinking about and preparing those costumes now. Looking forward to a great week!

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Safety





At Oak Hill, we take huge pride in making sure that our students stay safe. It is our top priority. We need your help with drop off in the mornings. Drop off continues to be a safety issue.



Traffic only goes ONE DIRECTION in the parking lot and the circle drive. See map above for reference. In the circle drive, there is only ONE LANE of traffic (not two and no passing). In the parking lot, there are NO ADULTS monitoring children, PLEASE do NOT drop your child off in the parking lot or along the street and let them run in. Many kids have been seen running between cars. Cars have been going the wrong direction and people are trying to pass each other. It is very dangerous for our students. Consider coming to school between 7:15 and 7:20 when there are no lines. Please be patient and drive slowly.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation and adherence to the traffic flow. 

This week, the first grade students did an awesome job with their musical performance. Thank you to Ms. Brown, Ms. Flaherty, and the first grade teachers for helping to make the performance a success. The students sang their hearts out and were so cute on stage. In case you missed it, here are a few cute photos.

















Monday, October 12 is Parent Conference Day. This is an important time when you can connect with your child's teacher and receive important information. Please make sure you attend. 

It is hard to believe that at the end of this week, we will be half way through the month of October. Time is flying!

Sunday, October 4, 2015

October is here! Can you believe that we have already been in school for 6 weeks? October will be a busy month with a lot of enriching and exciting activities. This week the Soaring Eagle Singers began.  It's a great group of students and I look forward to their performances throughout the year.

We also began learning about our Social Emotional Learning  (SEL) word of the month. This month we are learning about the word Empathy and what it means to be empathetic.  Some students from Ms. Bentley's class helped us learn about Empathy during assembly this week.  They are so cute!
Students who are seen being empathetic to others will get their name on the SEL Word Wall in the cafeteria.  

We want all of our students and families to be safe at school, especially when in the parking lots. Please remember that traffic should flow in one direction in the parking lot on the North side of the school. If you drop off on the side of the school, please enter the lot at the second entrance and drive East toward the annex when dropping off.  Please see the picture below for reference. 

Also when dropping off your children, please make sure to drop off at the curb and not in the parking lot where they have to cross in the lot. Once your children have been dropped off, please proceed all the way to the end of the lot by the annex before exiting.  The parking lot spaces should be reserved for staff. If you arrive prior to 7:30, please park on the street (School Rd.) so that the staff can park in the spaces and not be late for their students. 
We appreciate your cooperation to help us make sure that all of our families stay safe.

During the first Principal's coffee of the year, we had a great turnout and an informative presentation from Darla Caughey, SEL facilitator from the district. She presented on the Welcoming Schools program, which is designed to help schools embrace diversity and be inclusive, reduce gender stereotypes, and reduce bias and bullying.  Oak Hill is such a wonderful school and we already work hard at doing all of those things, so being a Welcoming School is a very easy achievement.  If you weren't able to join us this time, we hope to see you next time. 

 I am so proud of the wonderful work we do here and the kindness that everyone is shown on a daily basis. This is the best school in AISD!