Message from the Principal
Oak Creek Families,
Thank you to everyone for your patience with our buses and for helping keep our dismissal and arrival traffic moving safely. Your efforts make a big difference. Please remember that foot traffic in the parking lot not only slows us down, but is unsafe. Your willingness to wait in the designated areas, use the sidewalk/crosswalk, and to come and go quickly really helps!
Our students have started the iReady Diagnostic Assessments, and we are excited to see how they are doing! If you are interested in learning more about the diagnostic and/or what iReady is, please check out the following family resources:
We have really enjoyed students being back in school, and while we know the masks are important and appreciate students doing such a great job of keeping them on all day, we miss their smiles! If possible, please send a photo of your child to school for me to use to brighten our hallways with students’ smiling faces! Just put the photo in an envelope with my name on it, or put my name on the back of the photo, and have your child give it to their teacher. Thank you in advance!
If you have any questions, please see the FAQ section below, or feel free to reach out to myself or Carrie Beach at beachc@loswego.k12.or.us.
Thank you,
Barb Keeton
Principal
Oak Creek Elementary
Ready Schools, Safe Learners Mask Update
This update means that when our students are outside for any school-related activity (including recess) and cannot maintain at least 6 feet of distance between themselves, they will need to wear masks. Students will be told by their teachers that we will start implementing this rule immediately, effective September 10, 2021. This is a great opportunity to discuss safety protocols with your children tonight. Thank you for your partnership!
Bus Transportation: PLEASE FILL OUT GOOGLE FORM ASAP
REPEAT: Your student's safety is our utmost priority. We know this has been a stressful week for our bus riders and we hear, value, and understand your concerns.
I hope you had the opportunity to read the email from Superintendent Jennifer Schiele (sent by Mary Kay Larson Thursday afternoon) with important transportation information. While Student Transportation of America (STA) has buses, they are experiencing a shortage of drivers. STA is actively recruiting, hiring and training drivers in order to provide better service and shorter ride times while ensuring all safety protocols.
At Oak Creek we have put the following plans in plans in place:
- If the buses leave Oak Creek after 3 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Fridays or 2:20pm on Thursdays, we will send out a text message to alert families of the delay.
- To assist with our bus procedures, please fill out this google form ASAP to help us properly identify your child's bus stop. (One entry per student.)
- We are working with STA to create daily attendance logs for contact tracing.
STA will continue to implement their required safety procedures, including lowering windows at least half way as long as it's 50 degrees or above outside and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.
We are working diligently to solve all of our transportation issues. We thank you for your patience, flexibility, grace, and support.
Arrival/Dismissal Routines and Bus Routes
Families are welcome to drop students off beginning at 8:00 am, where students can line up in with their class in physically distanced lines. Students will be let into the building starting at 8:10, and class begins promptly at 8:20. Students will continue to enter their classrooms through assigned entrances (see below). We are asking that parents and caregivers do not park and walk their child/ren in. We will have many warm and welcoming adults who will be there to support students through the arrival process.
Arrival/Dismissal Times:
Elementary
MTWF: 8:20 a.m. - 2:40 p.m.
TH: 8:20 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Click here for the full schedule on the district website.
Assigned Location for Lining Up and Entering the Building:
- Kindergarten and 1st Graders: At the front entrance under the overhang
- 2nd and 3rd Graders: Near the garden area (to the left of the front entrance)
- 4th and 5th Graders: Near the West door to the building near the bike racks (to the right of the front entrance)
Please note: if your student is tardy (arrives after 8:20), please have them go through the front doors to the office to check in.
Parent Drop Off Notes:
In order to help with student safety and traffic flow in the lot and the neighborhood, please:
- avoid arriving early.
- pay close attention to staff.
- pay close attention to pedestrians in the lot and neighboring streets.
- if driving, come north up Kingsgate only, then through the parking lot.
- encourage children who can to unbuckle car seats and get out on their own.
- support your children who need assistance unbuckling.
- say goodbye quickly and move safely out of the lot.
Buses:
All busses will arrive at the Melrose gate. Students will get off the bus at 8:10. We will have staff there to greet students and walk them to their teacher. Bus routes can be viewed here: LOSD 22-22 Bus Routes
Walkers:
Walkers should arrive between 8:00-8:10, but not before. Parents will need to walk students to school. Only the Kingsgate Crosswalk will have a duty.
- Students will be walked by an adult to the the bus pick up area (on Melrose) or the parent pick up area (in front of the school).
- Cars can begin lining up at 2:35.
- If you are meeting your child on foot, you can wait in one of the marked locations for your child to walk to meet you, (masks are not required, but strongly encouraged).
- Please read below for specifics for each grade level:
Breakfast and Lunch Routines
In order to keep our students safe we will be eating lunch outside as often as possible. When we do have to eat inside, due to rain or other weather related conditions, classes will spread out into the hallways to ensure 6 feet of distance is maintained between unmasked individuals. We have ordered mats for all students to sit on during lunch. However, they won't arrive until the second week of school. Until then, please send a towel to school for your child if you would like.
Breakfast will not be served at school in the morning. Instead students can order a Grab-N-Go breakfast to take home at dismissal to eat the following morning before coming to school.
Please see the lunch/breakfast menu for Aug/Sept here: LOSD Aug/Sept Lunch/Bfast Menu
Dear Oak Creek Community,
We have almost made it through two weeks of school. Great job families, teachers, staff, and students! Your safe decisions are keeping us in school. Thank you.
The Oak Creek PTO is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) created to support Oak Creek Elementary School. Donations to the PTO are tax deductible and all the money we raise stays at our school. We provide services, scholarships, supplies, community building events, and grants to our teachers.
Donations
To make a donation, please click here: OC Donation
Playground
Thank you to all that have donated to our playground fund. We are planning the upgrade to the playground over the November break. Look forward to some great new pieces of equipment and increased accessibility.
DirectorySpot
The school directory may be accessed through the website or on a phone through their app. Please send an email to OakCreekElementaryPTO@gmail.com if you would like to have your information removed fully from the directory. You will not receive emails with PTO information if you are removed fully.
*ATTENTION* You will need to login to DirectorySpot.net and unhide your information if you would like any families to see some of, or all of, your information. This is a blanket change for all schools and new this year.
The new families to our school will be added in October. You may request to be excluded even before you are in the system. DirectorySpot is used in all the Lake Oswego School District schools so you will not need to adjust to a new system in middle school and high school.
Willamette Valley Pies
A flyer will be sent home this week for our first fundraiser. Willamette valley pies may be ordered online. Order Here View the pies and their descriptions HERE. Pick up will be Tuesday October 19th 2:30pm- 4pm at Oak Creek in the covered area behind the school.
Yearbooks
Yearbooks are up for pre-order and are $20 until February. Pre-orders will be unavailable, and you will need to purchase them in person for $25 each after they arrive. Pre-Order Here
Mod Pizza
Oak Creek Dines returns with our first Mod Pizza day. Order your pizza on Sunday, September 26th using the code “GR199075Z”. 20% of your meal payment will go to the Oak Creek PTO. We need 20 families to sign up here to make it a go. Sign Up Here
Thank you for your support and doing your part in our wonderful community.
Sincerely,
Oak Creek Elementary PTO Executive Committee
Kirstin Martin / President
Samantha McCaskey / Treasurer
Jesse Nguyen / Assistant Treasurer
Juli Webster / Membership
Rachel Wilde / Secretary
Wendy Jenkins / Parental Involvement
Iris Tilley / Sustainability
iReady Assessment
This Fall, all students in Grades 1-8 will complete two online i-Ready assessments in class. One is for math and the other is for reading. i-Ready is a program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform and tailor instruction to accelerate growth. This is the first of three i-Ready assessments we give each year, and results will be shared with parents in October.
The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s skill level. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.
In Lake Oswego, the Fall i-Ready window is open from September 7 to October 8.
FAQ's
What is the daily schedule?
First Bell - 8:10 am: Students are welcome to enter the building.
Tardy Bell - 8:20 am: Students who arrive later must check in with the office and receive a Tardy slip before going to their classroom.
Dismissal - 2:40 pm: Students taking a bus home will exit the building through lower doors, students being picked up by parents will exit the building through the top floor doors, students staying for after care will go to the assigned classroom.
Early Release on Thursdays - 2:00 pm
Will students and staff be wearing masks?
Yes, currently all students, staff and anyone who enters the building are required to wear masks. Additional information about mask requirements can be found here.
Will Extended Care be open?
Yes! Extended Care will be held at Oak Creek Elementary. Additional information and registration can be found on the Community School Extended Care website here.
If you are still looking for an answer, please let us know by clicking here to submit your question.
Free Meals for All Students
This school year the Lake Oswego School District will be offering breakfast and lunch meals (one breakfast and one lunch per student per day) at no charge to all students. Breakfast meals will be served in Grab-n-go style as students arrive to school. Lunch meals will offer healthy tasty entrees, fresh fruits and vegetables with a seasonal rotation of local farm produce and organic products when available.
For information about Food Services, please click here to visit our web page.
For information about part-time job opportunities in Food Services, please click here to visit the employment web page.
Annual State Testing Notice from ODE
Back to School Clothes at Clothing Closet
I Love Lake Oswego Clothing Closet is a donation-based closet that provides clothing items and hygiene products for residents, students, and employees that work or live within Lake Oswego.
Open Saturdays
9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Visit https://www.ilovelakeoswego.com for more information.
Hunger Fighters
The pantry will be open all summer for contactless curbside pickup every Saturday from 1-2:30 p.m. Visit the website for more info. www.hungerfightersoregon.org
SafeOregon
Parents-guardians who have concerns about a student’s well-being are encouraged to reach out to their principal, and to maintain strong lines of communication and partnership between students, families, staff, and other resources.
SafeOregon is also an effective way to report a tip regarding safety threats or potential acts of violence to our students or schools.
(Students should also be aware that intentionally providing a false report is a serious offense.)
Subscribe to Lake Oswego Schools App
Stay connected to the district and your school(s) and receive urgent notifications by subscribing to the Lake Oswego Schools App.
