Student Council elections were held this week. The students that ran for office did a wonderful job presenting their speeches.  I was so impressed with how they stood in front of their peers and told them why they wanted to be an officer and why the students should vote for them. It takes a lot of courage to talk in front of others. They should be so proud of themselves!

On Friday, during assembly, Oscar the Grouch reminded the students about how they can help the environment by composting at lunch time. Mr. Cumings and I did our best Oscar the Grouch impressions to help the students be earth friendly and compost their food and milk cartons and throwing all plastic containers and bags in the trash can.  We will continue to remind the students periodically to help Oak Hill be earth friendly and to help our trash lines at lunch time go a bit faster. 

Time is flying! This week, we are closing out the month of September and looking ahead to the many wonderful activities that October will bring. I can't wait! 

This week began the kickoff of CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health). At Oak Hill, we will be highlighting the idea of being a CATCH MVP campus.  M stands for moving around and staying active. V stands for valuing healthy eating.  P stands for practicing healthy habits. Throughout the week, Fuel Up to Play 60 team members encouraged OHE MVPs to use a variety of ways to stay active and healthy.  Our FU2P Team was introduced to the campus at our Friday assembly.  Here is a picture of one FU2P team member giving a healthy tip on the morning announcements and the FU2P team at assembly. 

Track club is also starting this week and Wake up Workouts have also been in full swing on Tuesday  (1st, 3rd, 5th) and Thursday (2nd, 4th) mornings. We encourage all students to eat healthy and get at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day.  To help kick off CATCH, students and staff dressed like MVP's on Friday. Here are some great photos:

 

 

Some students also viewed a presentation by Safe Route to Schools reminding and teaching our students about pedestrian and bicycle safety.  This presentation is scheduled for all  K - 5 students through their PE class. If your child did not get the presentation this week, then they will see it soon. 

 

On Thursday the Pre K, Kindergarten and 1st grade classes viewed a special presentation by the Barn Hill Preserve. They got to visit with a baby joey, a snake, an armadillo and a bearded dragon. The students had a great time. Hopefully the animals did too. 

This week, we also added a new pet to the OHE family. A baby bunny was found on the track and will be cared for by Ms. Hunter's class in 3rd grade until it is ready to survive on it's own. 

At assembly on Friday, the students celebrated the technology being up and running after construction by dancing to a Go Noodle video. They were moving and grooving and getting their brains awake for a full day of learning (sorry, it's a bit dark!). 

We are in the last days of our PTA drive. If you would like to support the school and join the PTA and/or contribute to the No Hassle Fundraiser, please do so very soon! Every student in the school benefits from your generous donations. With this money, the PTA is able to help the school with extra programs and materials that enrich the learning of every child in the school. Each and every donation is appreciated no matter how big or how small. 

Wow! What a busy and great week! 

Ice Cream Social/ Sept 11 Remembrance

The Ice Cream Social on Friday night was a blast! Even though we had to move it indoors due to nearby lightning, it was a huge success. I enjoyed meeting many new families and watching the students, parents and teachers dance to the DJ. The ice cream and toppings were delicious. What a fun community event!
Here are some of my favorite photos:

This event would not have been possible without the hard work of our event chairs, Jamie Garcia and Rosie Truelove, as well as the many volunteers that signed up to help out. Thank you for the time and effort that was put into planning and working at this event.

At noon on Friday, we recognized Patriot's Day by joining in the simultaneous singing of the National Anthem with thousands of other students all over the country. It was a nice way to honor and remember those who lost their lives on September 11th. 

The PTA was also recently recognized as a National School of Excellence. This honor is only given to 170 schools across the country and only 11 Texas PTA's received this award. Oak Hill was the only school in AISD! Your hard work, dedication, outreach and inclusiveness help to make this PTA truly successful. We have a wonderful partnership between the school and the PTA! Please consider becoming a PTA member and donating to the No Hassle Fundraiser to help our school continue the work that we do. Any amount helps and every dollar raised goes to benefit the school and your children. The PTA helps fund enrichment activities and materials, field trips, and technology. Thank you for your support. Here is the link to the article on the PTA Excellence award. https://www.austinisd.org

I continue to be inspired by the wonderful support at Oak Hill and know that I am so lucky to part of such a wonderful place.

This week was another great week at OHE!  Thank you for supporting your students and coming to learn about their classes at Back to School Night.

As I walked to classrooms this week, I observed the students hard at work and eager to learn. I saw lessons in every subject area and listened to many wonderful discussions being had by the students.

One of my favorite things to do as I walk around visiting classrooms is to view all of the wonderful student work displayed in the hallways and the rooms. It gives me insight into how the students think and helps me to learn more about them.

Kindergarten is studying letters and used the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to help introduce this concept and then the students made their own coconut trees. Some of the first grade classes did a writing activity called "the best part of me is..."  Students had to pick what they thought was the best part of them and then explain why they picked that part. What a great way to build self esteem!

In assembly on Friday, we received the results of the summer reading challenge. Oak Hill met the goal and read 2502 books over the summer! Way to go! I look forward to participating in the challenge next summer. Some of the winners for the grade levels are pictured below. 

Next week, we will begin our Student of the Week Awards at assembly. 

Don't forget that we have the Ice Cream Social this coming Friday, September 11. We hope to see you there! Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the extra day off on Monday.  Tuesday morning begins another great week of school!

A Wonderful First Week of School

The first week of school at Oak Hill Elementary was a success! I hope that your children had as much fun as I did. We spent time learning systems and practicing routines this week. It is important for the students to know what we need to do on a daily basis in the classroom, in the hallways and in other areas of the school building. It helps the school run smoothly and allows for maximum learning by the students during the day. 

 

Breakfast and lunch systems worked well and we efficiently got students through the breakfast and lunch lines to give them a healthy start to the day and to provide more fuel to keep them going until dinner time. This is always such a great time to chat with their friends and really get to know their classmates. I enjoyed meeting many students this week by helping out with lunch duty. As a reminder, if you come to eat lunch with your child, we are asking that you please sit on the stage. We appreciate your understanding and observation of this policy.

I was able to visit every classroom on Monday and welcome and meet the students. It is always so much fun to see their faces, bright with the anticipation of a new school year. Check these students out below- they look ready for a great year!

Everyday, I meet someone new who is volunteering at the school, asking how they can help, or just wishing us a great year. The Oak Hill community is strong and dedicated to working to make sure that Oak Hill is the absolute best place to be. Our students are so lucky!!

My wish for this school year is that every student and teacher make this their best school year ever. I have a feeling that this year will be one of my favorites! I look forward to seeing you all on Monday. Be sure to get some rest this weekend. The first week of school is always tough as we adjust to the new routine.

I included the first day picture of my boys and I. They are in 7th grade! (Gulp)

Just a reminder that this coming week we will have Back to School Night. Wednesday night from 6-7pm is for grades K-2 and Thursday night from 6-7pm is for grades 3-5. Hope to see you there!

Hello & Construction Update!

Hello! This is Lori Komassa- the proud new principal of Oak Hill Elementary.  I hope that your family had a wonderful summer! The first day of school is less than 2 weeks away!

It has been a very busy summer of construction and updates to the school. We have beautiful new carpet, new lighting, new paint in some areas, a new covered walkway (still in the works) , remodeled ADA compliant restrooms, and other necessary improvements.

We are busily putting everything back where it belongs and are working hard to make sure that the building is ready. Teachers have been meeting over the summer to plan for the school year and are working hard to get ready to welcome the students on the first day. Please know that the teachers have not had access to the building all summer and even now, have only limited access to their rooms. They will get full access on Monday, August 17th and will spend the week getting rooms ready as well as participating in some meetings. Though they will be working on the weekends and late into the evenings to unpack and prepare their rooms, the rooms may not look as decorative as they usually do, but will be clean and ready to welcome students. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

We are so excited to meet you at the Eagle Encounter on Friday, August 21 from 3:30-5 and on the first day of school, Monday, August 24.

GUEST AUTHOR: MRS. WILEY

One of the traditions at Oak Hill is an end of the year trip for the 5th grade. For more than 15 years, that trip has been to Reunion Ranch. RR is a privately owned park north of Leander. Since we reserve the entire park, the students can explore in a carefree manner the entire day. After almost 9 months of working hard in the classroom, it is a wonderful opportunity to just be a kid. At RR, the students, parents and even teachers can do a multitude of activities. The most popular is the paddle boats, followed by the zip line. There is also a fort, climbing wall, maze, tepees, volleyball, basketball, badminton, miniature golf and baseball field. Reunion Ranch also provides All You Can Drink sodas, sports drinks and water all day long. For lunch they provide hotdogs, beans and chips. At the end of the day, the exhausted students are overheard saying, "This is the best field trip EVER!" Thanks to all of the parents who help to make this trip possible! We could not do it without you as drivers and paddle boat helpers and simply adult supervision in all areas of the park. We are proud of our Eagles and wish them the very best in the future! We will miss them. #EaglesRock #4thgradeparents,5/26/16nextyear!

GUEST AUTHOR: MRS. BENTLEY

Wow!!! After a year of hard work and learning, our 2nd graders have ended with some fun! This week alone we have had our 22nd annual talent show where we saw some incredible talent. We had everything from card tricks to karate to singing and dancing and painting. We are so proud of all our students who participated. 

We ended it with all students performing their fairy tale dance just one more time since it was the highlight of their year. 

First graders-- be thinking about your special talent you want to share in 2nd grade. 

Then yesterday, we started our day out playing basketball against the silent auction winners! With the Harlem Globetrotters music playing - the game was ON!!  They were a GREAT bunch of basketball players! The teachers were very tired after this competition! The competitiveness comes out in some of us more than others. Ha! Needless to say the "Ballers" beat the teachers! Great game guys!!! You may have seen the 2nd grade teachers around school yesterday, they were moving a little slower than usual. 

GUEST AUTHOR: MRS. HUNTER

As I walk down the hall, the anticipation of summer is in the air. Actually, when the bell rings on Monday, we have 3,360 minutes until summer. Sound like a long time? How many hours is that? My classroom is the last class, at the end of the hall, so I get the privilege of seeing and hearing the awesome, creative teaching taking place, even as the year winds down.The end of school brings wonderful experiences and long awaited endings for our OHE students.

Several OHE students' journey came to a successful end. Proudly, Ms. Ashorn and Mrs. Moody hosted the Take Flight Graduation ceremony on Wednesday, May 20th. We were surprised by a visit from our former principal, Dr. Cathryn Mitchell. Each student gave a moving speech thanking the people who helped them along the way. These students have acquired a love of reading, and we are so happy to share in their triumph! 

My class had some special instructors on Friday. A+ Federal Credit Union conducted an interactive, financial literacy lesson. Students' learned the value of saving, the difference between a bank and a credit union, and how to make spending decisions. The lesson ended with a group activity, allowing students to make budget choices involving necessities, savings, and fun. A+ will be back next year with the Green Apple Club. Thank you A+ for supporting learning at OHE!