Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Happy Holidays!

The last days leading up to the winter break have been packed full of exciting activities. As I walked around the building, I saw students engaged in lessons about holidays around the world, holiday traditions or working on topics from math concepts to creative writing with a winter theme. Here are some examples of this wonderful (and super cute) work.


 

 





 

Students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades were presenting biography reports about famous people, exploring science concepts and representing difficult number concepts in creative ways.

 
 

 

The teachers had a great opportunity to learn about mindfulness in the classroom and the benefits, not only for their students, but also themselves. It is a great way to start the day and get our brains calm and ready to learn, but can be used all throughout the day to help students transition from one activity to the next or to refocus their energy on the task at a hand. Here are our teachers learning about the benefits of mindful stretching.


Our fifth grade students presented a wonderful holiday treat in the form of a winter musical/ theater show. It was full of cheerful songs and winter themed jokes- what a great way to spread holiday cheer! The students did an outstanding job!
 


 




The Soaring Eagle singers also took their annual caroling trip to nearby businesses.  This is such a wonderful way to share the holiday spirit with our community. Ms. Brown and Ms. Flaherty were certainly busy little elves this December!

 














Last night, I attended the Austin ISD board meeting to receive recognition from the Texas Education Agency for our Academic Achievement Distinction Designations. We earned three designations in Academic Achievement: Reading/ELA, Academic Achievement: Science, and Postsecondary Readiness.  It was truly a wonderful moment to be recognized for all of the hard work that the teachers and students do every day. I was honored to accept this recognition on their behalf.


During our last assembly of 2016, we said "Happy Retirement" to one of OHE's longtime residents. Ms. Alice Wiley is retiring.  She has been at Oak Hill for 24 years-as a student teacher, a teacher, and as a teacher assistant. She plans to come back and volunteer for the school periodically, so her days here are not over and we don't have to say goodbye. We will truly miss her on the days she is not here and we will certainly miss her at morning drop off.












As we close out 2016, I wanted to take this time to say how proud I am to be the principal of Oak Hill Elementary. I am so lucky to work with the most deidcated group of teachers in all of Austin; the kindest, most amazing students; and a caring, supportive community of parents.  I wish you and your family joy and peace in the new year and hope that you have a wonderful winter break! See you in 2017!

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Yo Ho! Yo Ho! It's fun at OHE!

Shiver me timbers! We had a flurry of activity last week with our "Bookaneer" Book Fair. All week students shopped their hearts out and bought a bounty of books to read. We also had great family nights, where we had people dress like a pirate and the Soaring Eagle singers performed for us!


 

 

Of course, no book fair would be complete without Clifford! Book fair is a big event and we truly appreciate all of the support from our parents and community, whether it be through purchases or volunteering to help in some way. We could not do this without all hands on deck!

Have you seen our new garden beds? They look amazing!

Through part of our recent Lowe's grant, we were able to purchase watering ollas and new garden beds. We had several groups of volunteers who spent countless hours assembling the beds. 

Then the students planted and have been tending to their gardens to make sure their plants grow. Look at these amazing results!
 

I sure hope if some class makes a salad that they invite me to try it out! Looks healthy and delicious!

Second grade had a visit this week from a meteorologist from Zack Shields of Fox 7 Austin. The students learned a lot about weather and how clouds and lightning form. I think some of them might want to be meteorologists now!

The rest of this week is rather quiet, but as always, it will be a great week at OHE!