The Olive Branch 10.8.21

Greetings, Families!

This Olive Branch is a long one. Please make sure to read about lunch changes and Halloween celebrations.

Today was our second "Funnel Friday"! The students had a wonderful time being greeted by Hersey High School's drumline, members of the marching band, choir, and orchestra. Live music on Friday morning was a great way to start the day!

Just as a reminder, there is no school on Monday, October 11th. We will see our students on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend!

Erin, Julia, and the OMS staff

Thank you to all of the parent volunteers that signed up to help us during the lunch hour. Unfortunately, we do not have enough help to move forward with our initial plan to space our students 6 feet apart; however, we have a new plan.

BEGINNING TUESDAY, OCT 12 - we will transition to a 20/20/20 lunch schedule. Each grade level will have 20 minutes to eat and 40 minutes outside to play. This significantly reduces the amount of time our students are unmasked to under 15 minutes. *A close contact is an individual who is unmasked and within 6 feet for MORE than 15 minutes. While this change is new for OMS, several other D25 elementary schools already have 20/20/20 shifts.

Our students will still be within 6 feet of each other but not for more than 15 minutes unmasked. This should significantly reduce the number of close contacts we have.

**Allergy Aware Seat Students will remain at a designated Allergy Aware Spot.

Volunteers - We still need your help! We will have more students outside playing and would like to increase the supervision we have on the playground. If you signed up to volunteer we will be reaching out to you! Please watch your email!

Each lunch shift will be referred to by color. This will help us as we announce on the playground who needs to line up to go inside.

YELLOW LUNCH

12:10 - 12:30 - 1st and 3rd grade will eat lunch (2nd, 4th, and 5th will be outside)

ORANGE LUNCH

12:30 - 12:50 - 5th grade will eat lunch (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th will be outside)

GREEN LUNCH

12:50 - 1:10 - 2nd and 4th will each lunch (1st, 3rd, and 5th will be outside)

*Children will be encouraged to eat quickly and save conversations for outside. If a student requires additional time to finish their lunch, they will be moved to a different table and allowed a few extra minutes.

All students must have a permission slip. The form must be filled out for each individual child.

AM Kindergarten Click Here

PM Kindergarten Click Here

1st - 5th Grade Click Here

Halloween A to Z ~ 2021

To help you get ready for this fun-filled day on Friday, 10/29, we offer the following

Halloween A to Z:

AM Kindergarten Halloween Plans

Kindergarten teachers will send out Halloween information via email to all families. AM kindergarten students should be dressed in their costumes when they arrive at school. As a reminder, parents of AM kindergarten students are welcome to create a tunnel from the kindergarten doors to the office doors, after 9:05 am. AM classroom room reps. and party volunteers may begin decorating classrooms before school at 8:45 am. Volunteers, please make sure you leave plenty of time to pick up your visitor’s badge in the main office before you head down to the classroom.

Classroom Room Reps and Party Volunteers (PM Kindergarten & 1st-5th Grades)

You may arrive anytime after 12:15 pm to begin setting up for the classroom parties. Please make sure that you leave yourself plenty of time to pick up your visitor’s badge in the front entryway before you head down to the classroom. We will have pre-printed badges for all volunteers that have previously had their licenses scanned. If you have not yet had your license scanned, our office staff will do this when you arrive. Only individuals that are on the volunteer list and have a visitor’s badge will be allowed access to classrooms. We appreciate all that you have done to plan for a great day!

Costumes

Please help your child choose a costume responsibly, understanding that we wish to promote safety while having fun. Please be sure that students do not bring weapons (real or fake) to school or wear costumes that include blood or depict violence. Please also exercise caution in selecting a mask, as students will not be able to wear them during the parties and may be asked to remove them if they make walking in the parade unsafe.

Lunch (1st-5th)

It is helpful if you are able to take your child home for the lunch hour on this day as we have limited staff and space for changing into costumes.

Students going home for lunch on this day will be dismissed from the front doors at 12:10 pm. Parents DO NOT need to come into the office to sign their child out as the Halloween permission slip will serve as the sign-out. Students must return to school no later than 1:10 pm. To ensure proper supervision, students may not exit cars until 1:05 pm. They may line up outside their regular arrival doors (PM kindergarten, 2nd & 5th at door 7 and 1st, 3rd, & 4th at the front doors) to wait for the doors to open at 1:10 pm.

Students that stay at school for lunch will have an opportunity to eat and then change into their costumes at 12:40 pm. **We do not have outside recess during the lunch hour on this day.

Parade (Outdoor)

If the weather cooperates, we will have our annual parade, beginning at 1:30 pm. We will exit the building through the front doors and walk on the sidewalk of Olive Street towards Douglas. We will turn right at the stop sign to walk along Douglas Street near Greens Park. We will turn right and walk along the tree line to return to OMS. In the event of rain, the parade will be canceled. It will not be rescheduled.

Party Food Policy

Food will not be served during classroom celebrations. Also per the district, please do not send any food items to school for distribution to students. Our Halloween parades and classroom parties will focus on the fun of celebrating together through holiday games, crafts, and activities.

Safety & Supervision

We will have extra supervision in place on 10/29. We also ask that our parents be extra mindful of all safety procedures around our school on this day, as extra traffic, excited students, and rushed parents can result in a very dynamic parking lot. Thank you in advance for your respect of the dismissal procedures at lunch and at the end of the day.

Zero

The chance that it is going to rain on our parade! :)

We know that our students are very much looking forward to this event. Thank you for helping to make this a great day for them!

Questions? Please reach out to your OMS teacher or your administrative team.

OMS Staff Directory

Ms. Erin Davis, Principal edavis@sd25.org

Mrs. Julia Pemberton, Assistant Principal jpemberton@sd25.org

Website: https://www.sd25.org/Olive
Location: 303 East Olive Street, Arlington Heights, IL, USA
Phone: 847.398.4282
Twitter: @ahsd25Olive