Oak Creek Elementary

Oak Creek Families,

Our Coyote Day Jogathon was a great success! Thank you to all of the parents volunteers who helped with planning, set up and facilitation, and for those of you who contributed. It was awesome to see so many smiling faces and red cheeks! We are so fortunate to have such supportive families!

Read below to find more photos, and information about many important items. To make sure you see everything, click on the message so that it opens in your web browser. 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

Updated in Every Edition:

• Principal's Message
• Dates to Remember
• COVID-19 Reported Case Update (NEW!)
• Counselor Corner
• Message from Your PTO

NEW In This Edition:

• Teacher Appreciation Week!

• School Lunch Hero Day!

• OBOB Announcement

Repeated Information:

• i-Ready Spring Assessment

• Elementary iPad Update - Grades K-2
  

• Summer Basketball Camp Sign-ups Available

• LOJ Presents Mystery at Shady Acres

• OCE State Testing (OSAS) Information

• 2022-2023 Registration for New OCE Students
• Upcoming Health Lessons
• Oak Creek FAQs

LOSD District News:

• Hunger Fighters
• How to Find LOSD Covid-19 Information
• Back to School Clothes at Clothing Closet
• SafeOregon
• Subscribe to Lake Oswego Schools App

May 2-6: Teacher Appreciation Week!

May 6: School Lunch Hero Day!

May 9: Fourth Grade Field Trip to Aurora Colony

May 27: No School: Grade Prep Day

May 30: No School: Memorial Day

June 10: 11:00AM Early Dismissal Last Day of Classes

Congratulations to Oak Creek’s OBOB team AASK for their semi-final finish at the OBOB Virtual Regionals this last weekend! Austin Rust, Abyan Nguyen, Shivani Vivek, and Kevin Yang are all 4th graders in Margaret Hanscom’s class and met over the weekend to compete against 15 other teams in our region! After winning our school competition AASK, an acronym that includes the first letter of each team member’s name, spent the last month re-reading all 16 OBOB books in preparation for this competition. They accumulated the most points of any school through the pool play rounds, including posting perfect scores in two of their first four battles. They showed class and joy to their competitors both here at school and at regionals. We are so proud of them! Enjoy the freedom to read whatever book you want!

The OBOB 2022-2023 list is out and ready for consumption! Link here.

The LOSD COVID-19 Dashboard is up to date with the number of staff and students who have reported to LOSD testing positive for COVID-19, regardless of school exposure. At Oak Creek, we had 9 cases reported in the last week. With any potential exposure, people are advised to watch for illness symptoms and follow Oregon Health Authority COVID-19 exclusion procedures. Please contact Ann Nelson, nelsona@loswego.k12.or.us, if your student has tested positive for COVID-19.

Soon, elementary students in Lake Oswego will complete two online i-Ready assessments in class. One is for math and the other is for reading. As you know, i-Ready is a program that helps us determine your child’s strengths and areas for future growth. This is the third of three i-Ready diagnostic assessments we give each year, and the results will be shared with parents before the summer break. For kindergartners, this will be their second i-Ready assessment.

Summer basketball camps for both boys and girls are happening this summer! Sign-ups are now available through Community School! Link here: Summer Basketball Camp Sign-Ups

Please help your child be ready to do their best on the state assessment by helping them remember to:

• Get lots of exercise during the day and plenty of rest at night
• Eat a healthy breakfast
• Bring a book to read when they are finished
• Bring their CHARGED chromebook and headphones (we will provide them for students who do not bring their own from home)
• Leave smartphones/watches at home, or turn them into their teacher (If a student has a smartphone or watch during testing it can invalidate their test; smart phones and watches are an impropriety, per state assessment regulations)
  
• Try their best, have a great attitude and a growth mindset!

If you have a child in grades 3-5, please review the schedule below, and remember to get students to school on time and avoid scheduling appointments on testing days if possible. Students do better when they can test with their class, instead of having to catch up at a different time. Thank you in advance for your support!

We're are excited to welcome volunteers back into our schools!! Please watch for communication from your child's teacher about when the opportunity will be available in their classroom, and check out our website for volunteer requirements.

In order for us to be ready for school in the fall, please share with your friends and neighbors: Registration for the 2022-23 school year (all grade levels) is open online! This is for new students who have never enrolled in Lake Oswego before and for returning students who are not currently enrolled but will re-enroll for next year. Registration is online through ParentVUE. Parents do not need to register students for 2022-23 who are currently attending during the 2021- 22 school year.

Our teachers use the adopted Health Curriculum, The Great Body Shop, to teach the required Oregon Health Standards to our students. THE GREAT BODY SHOP is a comprehensive health education curriculum which is sequential, developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and medically accurate. The lessons align with Oregon’s Health Education Standards and are embedded with social-emotional learning. Watch your classroom teacher's newsletter for upcoming topics. If you would like to review the health curriculum, please contact the school office. More information, including an opt-out form if needed, can be found on the District website.

Dear Oak Creek Families,

During May, we will work together to practice the character trait of COOPERATION in our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons, classrooms, and throughout our school.

As a school community, we will be examining how Cooperation looks, sounds, and feels. Cooperation is about assistance, support, collaboration, & teamwork. It is a necessary tool in our toolbox for creating a community that cares for one another.

Students will be encouraged to use cooperation skills such as communication, self-awareness, and the ability to step up (or step back) when the time is right to best support whatever group you are working with. Using these skills will help us to work alongside one another and create things, together, that are better than anything we could create on our own.

The definition students will be learning this month is COOPERATION: working together

& helping others.

Here are links for extension activities to explore COOPERATION further as a family:

K-2 COOPERATION Family Letter (English) 3-5 COOPERATION Family Letter (English)

K-2 COOPERACIÓN para Familias (En Español) 3-5 COOPERACIÓN para Familias (En Español)

In Partnership,

Roxanne Davidson & Wendy Olsen, School Counselors

Oak Creek is very fortunate to offer services for students or families experiencing need, thanks to the federally funded Title IA program, the Lake Oswego School District, generous donations from our community, PTO, Lake Grove Presbyterian Church, BeeLine Foundation, Love Inc., Kiwianas, and the Lake Oswego Rotary Club.

This form: OC Resources and Programs can be returned to your student’s teacher, the school counselor, or the front office. It will be kept confidential.

*****

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us. Your privacy will be respected.

503-534-2323 davidsor@loswego.k12.or.us

Dear Oak Creek Community,

Thank you for all your help supporting our students for our Coyote Day Jogathon. The volunteers have stepped up and it shows! Coyote Day has been planned and staffed with many helpers. Thank you! Our sponsorships and donations have brought in $13,376 for our school! The site will be open after Coyote Day for those that would like to add a donation. This is a wonderful support for our Oak Creek Elementary School teachers, staff, students, and their families!

Teacher Appreciation Week, May 2 - 6

Next week is teacher and staff appreciation week. The PTO has many events and activities planned for our wonderful staff and teachers. You may choose to join in celebrating our amazing school community members.

See our flyer. Students can participate each day next week.

Monday- Bring a small, smooth, decorated rock. You can use stickers, crayons, paint or something else. The teachers and staff may sign up for massages. They may not use these rocks for a hot rock massage, but they may spend some time meditating with them.

Tuesday- Bring a note “My teacher (or staff member) is TEA-riffic because…” The teachers and staff will have a tea party provided for them.

Wednesday- Wear your teacher’s favorite color. The teachers and staff will have lots of bubbly options from soda to bubble gum.

Thursday- “Bring in a note to light up your teacher’s day.” Draw a picture of you and your teachers or staff. The teachers and staff will have candles (not lit), fairy lights and more to light up the teacher’s lounge.

Friday- Bring flowers to a teacher or staff today. (real or paper) Lunch will be provided to our teachers and staff to thank them for all that they do.

You may choose to send a digital card to a favorite staff member or teacher. (Please only choose e-cards. Physical cards are a trick and much slower.) We have an easy way to purchase and send an e-gift card.

Digital E-Gift Card

Create an account on the RaiseRight app or at ShopWithScrip.com using our organization’s enrollment code: 4645975D7186L

Seamlessly check out by securely paying online with a linked bank account or credit card. You can send your e-gift card to your recipient through email. Here is a link to our teachers and staff at Oak Creek Elementary School. Staff Directory

Attention: Families Moving to Lake Grove

Lake Grove PTA and Oak Creek PTO has been working together to ease your transition. Lake Grove will be offering an open house at the school. Additionally, they will hold several meet ups at the Lake Grove playground for you.

Lake Grove PTA has offered to find a buddy family for each of your families. Please fill out this form with your interests and common language of choice. Lake Grove PTA will find a family at Lake Grove that has similar interests. You can ask them all the school specific questions and hopefully find a new friend at your new school.

Form for soon-to-be Lake Grove Families

Join the PTO!

Come to the Oak Creek Elementary's Playground 10:30am-12:30pm Sunday, April 24th, to meet some of the PTO and bring your questions. Kids can play while you enjoy some refreshments. Please come and meet other parents.

Our PTO is looking for new people to continue the wonderful tradition of giving to our teachers and school community. Do you work full time? Most of us do. There are still many roles that are super low commitment. Would the two of you like to do one job together? That can happen!

Unfortunately, our PTO is losing many members this year to the boundary change and middle school. We need you now. Send an email to OakCreekElementaryPTO@gmail.com to get more information. Here is some more information on the roles we are filling.

President- Oversees the organization and coordinates with our Principal and other Lake Oswego Parent Clubs.

Treasurer - Keeps track of outgoing money.

Assistant Treasurer- Keeps track of incoming money.

Membership- Collects memberships and runs DirectorySpot.

Secretary- Takes notes for monthly meetings.

Parental Involvement - Organizes volunteers for events and classroom parents.

Sustainability- Helps with the garden and makes our school community more sustainable.

Communications- Writes newsletters and social media for the PTO.

Events and Enrichment -Sets up and organizes events such as Coyote Day for our community.

Fundraising- Sets up and organizes fundraisers.

Each of these roles are not much work on their own. Some can even be done fully off campus or virtually. Please reach out and claim your spot on the PTO. This is fully dependent on volunteers stepping up to do just a little part. We can change our school community for good if we work together. Nominations will be May 17th at the PTO's General Meeting.

School Supplies

Returning Oak Creek families can now purchase School supplies for next year. Here is the link for school supplies: Supplies. These supplies will be ready at the beginning of next school year. You will not need to worry about having to find your student's supplies during the shipping crisis.

Donations

To make a donation, please click here: OC Donation

Your employer may match your donation. Don’t forget your spouse’s company too!

As tax season approaches, we remind you that all PTO donations are Tax Deductible.

EIN: 81-3009316 (for tax records)

PTO Website

If you are interested in joining the PTO please reach out via email and check out our website- PTO Website, OakCreekElementaryPTO@gmail.com.

Thank you for your continued 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

Grayce Moody / Communications

OakCreekElementaryPTO@gmail.com

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?

Currently. masks are optional for students, staff and volunteers. Additional information about mask requirements can be found here.

If you are still looking for an answer, please let us know by clicking here to submit your question.

I Love Lake Oswego Clothing Closet has received an overwhelming amount of support and donation during the pandemic. We want to give back to our community and encourage our community to lean on us not for just hard times, but for up cycling, sustainability, and for our environment. In the past the closet was just for students, and since the pandemic we have opened our doors to anyone within our community.

Visit https://www.ilovelakeoswego.com for more information.

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.

https://www.safeoregon.com/

(Students should also be aware that intentionally providing a false report is a serious offense.)

Stay connected to the district and your school(s) and receive urgent notifications by subscribing to the Lake Oswego Schools App.

Reach out to us if you have any questions or need anything!

• Principal Barb Keeton: keetonb@loswego.k12.or.us
• Secretary Carrie Beach: beachc@loswego.k12.or.us
• Secretary Brenna Crocker: crockerb@loswego.k12.or.us
• Secretary Tanya Goodwin: goodwint@loswego.k12.or.us

Address: 55 Kingsgate Rd., Lake Oswego, OR 97035

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OakCreekPTA/

Interested in OCE Spirit Wear? Check out this website sponsored by our PTO! OCE Spirit Wear