For the past several days in PE, students have participated in the Child Safety Program presented by the Public Works Dept. COA.  Make sure you ask your child about what safety measures they should be using. 

Also this week, third through fifth graders have been conducting student council elections.  Next week, 4^th and 5^th grade students will be campaigning for positions on the student council board.  The student council here at OHE complete several service projects throughout the year.  Here is this year's student council:

Last night, at the PTA General Meeting, we were excited to have AISD school board member, Amber Elenz, stop in and say hi. She talked about getting involved and joining your local PTA, and encouraged us to find out more about the Austin Council of PTAs (ACPTA). She said that PTA is a great way to have your voice heard about important topics on education.  

One of the roles of the PTA is to educate parents and to do so, the PTA will have speakers come give presentations on interesting topics. The guest speaker at last night's meeting was Bernadette Noll, author of Slow Family Living. She gave us tips on how to slow down and enjoy family time with just a few tweaks here and there in your schedule. It was very educational and inspiring!

Have a great weekend!

Since the rain is coming down while I write this blog, I’ll take the time to remind you about the importance of raincoats, boots, and/or umbrellas.  There are many times throughout the day students might walk in the rain.  Loading the buses is definitely one of them.  Keeping a little rain poncho in the backpack is a great idea. 

Along with all the wonderful rain, we have also been transitioning two new teachers to OHE.  Karen Spruce is our new 5^th grade teacher.  She is coming to us from Barringtion Elementary where she taught 5^th grade math.  Prior to that, she taught 4^th grade math and science.  She will be part of our new 3-way rotation with Ms. Osio and Mrs. Petty.  Her 5^th grade class starts Monday. Denise Reynoso is our new 2^nd grade teacher.  She is coming to us from Lucy Read where she just began teaching Pre-kindergarten.  2^nd grade letters will go out Monday letting families know of the new position and identifying which students will be in the class.  Her class will begin on Wednesday. 

It is that time of year for PTA Reflections. This is typically not a required activity for most  students, but students are highly encourage to participate.  The theme this year is Dream, Believe, Inspire and the students can do a multitude of different projects types. Check out this link for more information, http://ohepta.org/Reflections.html .

Some of the classes held Student Council representative elections this week other classes will complete them next week. From  those representatives elected in class, the officer candidates will be found.  Student council is a great asset to our school.  We encourage students to participate.

We also finished our “Celebrate Freedom Week”.  Each day during morning announcements, Mr. Cumings would read important facts related to our US Constitution.  We ended the week with the 5^th graders singing a song related to the constitution.  

Many of the grade levels are using a new technology program, Class Dojo, as a way to encourage students to work and participate in class. Some grades like 4th grade are using it to determine the Personal Development grades on report cards. Additionally, emails can be sent to parents immediately as to how a student is doing in class. Below is an example of Mrs. Faulkner using the program as her class worked on a writing assignment.

Last year, OHE implemented to the of “Peace Areas” in the classrooms. This is a place students can go to work out problems, to calm themselves down, and/or to just have a quiet place. Below is an example from Mrs. Hernandez’ class.

In Ms. Grotrian’s class, students are recording information related to their class Read Alouds. This is a great way to analyze the literature being read.

We had a great visit with author Rebecca Janni who shared her writing process, her latest story, and a few songs. What fun having Ms. Brown up there singing with her! Mrs. Janni left extra autographed copies at our library for people to purchase. If you are interested, please let Ms. Underwood know.

Next week starts the Beginning of the Year (BOY) assessments for the primary grades. Make sure you ask your teachers about the results from the test.

Also for those of you new to my blog, I give special treats for students I mention or show a picture of in the blog. They just need to come to my office to receive it.

Have a great weekend!

Do you ever sit back on Friday nights and go, "Where did the week go?" That's how I feel writing my blog this week. It’s only the second week of school and already it feels like we have been back longer than that. Maybe because here at OHE we get right into the swing of things and students are already actively learning. I am quite impressed with all the reading, writing and math I’ve seen walking through classrooms. The students appear eager to learn and are really trying to impress their teachers. The week culminated with our annual Ice Cream Social. This is a wonderful, relaxing event outside. It reminds me of a neighborhood block party. Kids are off in the distance (on the playground, soccer field, and/or running the track) while parents are busy saying hi to friends they haven’t seen over the summer and introducing themselves to new parents. It is also a time that “older” students come back and say hi. I think that is one of my favorite things. It’s great to know they want to come back to OHE, and we enjoy seeing how grown-up they have become. Thank you Mrs. Spedale for organizing such a great event. Remember Monday night is Back-to-School for everyone. Be patient! The parking will be extremely limited. So come early and be prepared to walk.

Everyone made it through the first week of school! It was a long week, but we have all survived. As I walked classrooms, students were already busy learning. I already saw students on computers, working on math activities, and engaging each other in critical thinking activities. Teachers spent lots of time setting clear expectations and modeling appropriate procedures. So, I know these activities will continue throughout the school year.

This morning during our first assembly, the winners from our summer reading program were recognized.

I was quite impressed with the number of books read, especially by Mrs. Hamelwright. Congratulation to these fine Eagles, as our individual grade level winners: Kinder – Emil C. read 113 books First – Ella M. read 251 books Second – Haylee T. read 115 books Third – Olivia T. read 60 books Fourth – Tallulah B. read 42 books Fifth – Ashton W. read 38 books Teacher – Mrs. Hamelwright read 40 books Sometime this year, each of the above will work with Ms. Underwood to select a new book for the library. These books will have an acknowledgement of their success in the front of the book. Look for all reading participants names on the “wall of fame” in the cafeteria. Honorable Mention for these first graders who also read more than 100 books: Emma T. read 200 books and John L. read 110 books. Our school goal was to read at least 2500 books over the summer in order to earn additional recess on a day this Fall. The grand total was 2552 books – way to go!

Remember that Monday is a holiday, so we will see you back here Tuesday. Also don’t forget about the Ice Cream Social next Friday. This is always a popular event. Enjoy your long weekend .

Welcome back OHE Eagles!  Hopefully everyone had a great summer and spent their time away from school having fun.  It has been a busy summer here at OHE.  With Extend-a-Care on campus daily and teachers hosting summer camps, there were always students around the campus.  The staff and I spent the past few days together preparing for the upcoming year.  As many of you have heard on the news, OHE was one of only 11 AISD schools to receive all three distinctions for TEA based on our STAAR scores.  We are very excited and proud of the students.   

It was great seeing everyone at Meet the Teacher.  The students were so excited to meet their teachers and put their school supplies in the rooms.  There are lots of people I need to thank that helped make the event happen.  First, obviously is the teachers.  Many came in weeks early or stayed late into the night so that their rooms would be ready.  Second, are parents.  Mrs. Kane came up and decorated all the hallway bulletin boards.  Mrs. Sendera organized the workroom.  Tons of parents came up weekly to water the flowers and feed the chickens.  Mrs. Reaves brought breakfast one day, which was donated by Shane Moe.   Mrs. Floyd, Mrs. Cantu, Mrs. Castaneda, Mrs. Sendera, Mrs. King, Mrs. Latimer, Mrs. Ivie, Mrs. Edwards, and Mrs. Suggs, to name a few, opened all the school supplies and organized them for distribution.   For all the others who helped and I didn’t mention, I apologize.  It takes so many volunteers to help get the school year off to a good start.  Please know that OHE appreciates all the support.  

Have a great last weekend before school starts and we will see you early Monday morning.

Just wanted everyone to see that even over the summer there is always something happening at OHE.

It must have flown into one of the soccer nets.  Mrs. Baxter and a parent, Don, freed the owl and it happily flew off. 

OHE has also had a long standing teacher decide to try her skills on another campus.  Mrs. Calabrese has accepted a Kindergarten position at Baranoff Elementary.  She has been an amazing asset to this campus and will definitely be missed. We wish her the best of luck.

With Extend-A-Care on campus and some of the summer campus starting, OHE hasn't been as quiet as normal.  Hope you are having a great summer. 

I can’t believe another year has come and gone.  The school is so quiet without all the chatter of students. 

The last few days was packed with fun activities.  Tuesday, 5^th graders celebrated their graduation from elementary school.  I enjoy seeing the students walk across stage to receive their certificates from me.  As they peek around the curtain, you can see the excitement in their faces.  This year, we also said good-bye to one of our 5^th grade teachers, Mrs. Wiley.  Lucky for us, she is just leaving the team and not the school.  This is a strong group of students both academically and in their personal development.  I know they will do well next year. 

Students who received all 4s...

 5th graders surprized their parents with a "Gangnam Style Flash Mob" dance....

 Celebrating with previous teachers...

 What a group....

5th graders also decided to create a "Mural" as a way to leave their print at OHE.  There are over 4500 thumb prints on the Class of 2013 Tree.  Each new graduating class will be able to add another tree. A special thanks goes to Ms. Rettig, Karen Mauldin, Heather Sendera, and Geeta Suggs for their dedication and support this project.  

Tuesday is also when most of the End-of-Year parties are held. 

 After school was a Spirit Night at Zoes.  This is a new partner for OHE.  Stop by over the summer and see OHE student art work displayed. 

The 3-Ring Circus is a tradition at OHE.  It is the last day of school and students rotate through 3 different events:  Zumba, Lucas Miller, the science guy, and Roots and Rhythm.  During this time, teachers have extra time in the classrooms to pack.  This happens because of your generosity.

 Even I did Zumba.  Thank goodness Mrs. Claire is a great teacher. 

 Lucas Miller...

 Roots and Rhythm...

I also want to say thank you to those who are helping with the watering over the summer and for those who are feeding the chicks.  If you see my car out front, stop by and say hi! 

I will be out the first two and a half weeks of July.  I’m headed to west Texas for some camping and hiking.  If you need me for anything, just send me an email.  That will be the best way to get in touch with me. 

Have a wonderful and relaxing summer.  See you August 23^rd for Meet the Teacher.   

First graders at their end of year celebrations.  I heard that teachers could barely move after the tug-of-war contest. 

Choir performed their last performance. Ms. Brown and Ms. Tobias have created an environment where students love to sing.

Second grade had their annual basketball game. Students 18 teachers 12.

Second graders also had their annual talent show. We have many pianist, singers, dancers and tumblers, magicians, and other talents on this campus! It was quite an impressive performance.

We had our first group of Take flight students graduate this week! They completed over 200 hours of intensive reading therapy with Ms. Ashorn.

5th graders attended Reunion Ranch. This another OHE tradition and the students had a great time celebrating their years here at OHE.

About to go in the maze....

 Parents and kids in a basketball game...

 Chilin' in the shade....

 Did you know that three staff members have graduating 5th graders...

 Coming off the zip line....

 What a crew....

We are down to only three days! We are still looking for parent help with our 3 ring circus. For those who are new, students with your help, rotate through three different events while teachers work in their classes.

One of our third graders, Jake, had the wonderful privilege of attending a legislative session.  His job was to hit the gavel when new bills were passed.

Two different grades this week conducted transition meetings for incoming parents. Over the past few years, I've listened as parents share about the stress of leaving kindergarten and entering 1^st  grade.  Similarly parents are also concerned about the change from 2nd to 3rd.  Therefore, these teams invited parents and shared learning expectations for the following year.  I think allowing parents to meet the next group of teachers helps to alleviate some of the concerns. Tuesday, many of you volunteered in classes, so that our teachers could attend an on-campus technology training. The teachers enjoyed the training and came back full of ideas.  They are excited about practicing these new techniques and will also use the summer to fine tune the strategies so that next year they will be ready.  It was also great to see you “teach” the students.  
Maybe we will have a few more of you sign –up to be a paid substitute! 

4th graders trained this week on how to be 5th grade helpers next year.  They had lots of fun and were really funny, especially the Kinder walkers.

The baby chicks have reached their new home in the "Candi Caporal Urban Chicken Coop".  Look how much they have grown already.

Let us honor our fallen veterans this Memorial Day and remember the sacrifices that have been made and show thanks for all they have done.