Ocean Avenue Friday Notes

• 9/30: First Day of Learning Works
• 9/30-10/4: Grade 3-5 State Assessments (2 Hours)
• 10/7: Grade 4 Field Trip to Mackworth Island, 11 AM-1:55 PM
  
• 10/8: PTO Meeting at 6:30 PM, OAES Library
  
• 10/9: NEW DATE ~ School Picture Day! 📸 (See more info below)
• 10/11-10/14: Indigenous Peoples' Day (NO SCHOOL)
• 10/17: Learn About Our Learning at Ocean Avenue School, 5-6 PM
• 10/25: Flu Shot Clinic at OAES (More info to come)
• LOOKING AHEAD - 12/3 & 12/4 and 03/24 & 3/25 - 11:10 AM Dismissal for Conferences
• LOOKING AHEAD - 12/14 - Designing Women Craft Show at Ocean Avenue School
  
  

✅ Here is the link to OCTOBER BREAKFAST/LUNCH MENU.

✅ Here is the link to the DISTRICT CALENDAR for the 2024/2025 school year.

✅ To look ahead to future meetings, school events, etc, please click on the link below ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

Ocean Avenue School Picture Day is Wednesday, October 9th with Strawbridge Studios! Your student(s) should have come home with their picture packet form this week. If you did not receive your form or need a new one sent home, please contact the Main Office. You can also order a picture package online without the form. Please see information below on how to do this.

Please Note: Every student will receive a School ID Card and Class Composite Picture, even if a picture package is not ordered for your student(s).

HOW TO PLACE YOUR SCHOOL PICTURE ORDER ONLINE:

To order a picture package and pay online, go to www.strawbridge.net. Click Order Pictures and enter the following code: FM452508.

The upcoming Learn About Your Child's Learning ~ Parent Information Night is coming up on Thursday, October 17th! Find out what we do at school each day:

• Learn about our approach to teaching and learning.
• Hear from your own child's teacher.
• Meet other parents/guardians.
• Discuss ways to support your child at home.
  

SAVE THE DATE ~ We hope to see you there!

Ocean Avenue School starts at 7:40 AM each day. Attendance is taken at this time each morning. Immediately following attendance, grades K-3 have a daily centering morning meeting, grade 4 starts math and grade 5 attends their special. Missing even a few minutes each morning can disrupt your child's start to the school day as well as missing important learning time. Each day adds up - missing two days of school per month means you have missed an entire month of school by year's end. As National Attendance Awareness Month comes to a close, the importance of daily attendance and being to school ON TIME is more important than ever.

(The content below was provided by Attendance Works!)
Did You Know...

• Starting in preschool and kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.
• Missing 10%, or about 2 days each month over the course of a school year, can make it harder to learn to read.
• Students can still fall behind if they miss just 1 or 2 days every few weeks.
• Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
• Absences and tardiness can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up.

Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves. Start building this habit now so they learn right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Eventually good attendance will be a skill that will help them succeed in high school and college.

What You Can Do

• Set a regular bedtime and morning routine.
• Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.
• Develop backup plans for getting to school if something comes up. Call on a family member, a neighbor or another parent.
  
• Try to schedule medical appointments and extended trips when school isn't in session. Try for appointments after 2:10 PM. If there are no appointments after the school, please send them to school either before or after the appointment.
• If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to teachers, school counselors and other parents for advice on how to make your child feel comfortable and excited about learning.
• If you are concerned that your child may too ill to attend school, call your school for advice.

We are in this together and are here to help. Do not hesitate to reach out if you are struggling with this and we can help set up a success plan. Thank you for your support!

This week, we held our first Community Meeting of the 2024-2025 school year! We talked about kindness and communication. Some brave students helped show how to communicate with friends using an "I statement....." when we have a problem.

Below are the sentence frames we prompt students to use.

We also gave some 'Shout Outs' to students and staff. We even had a 'Book Shout Out' from 3rd grade Morgan. Finally, of course, we listened to some great music and had fun as a community.

Please help your student remember to bring books back on library day!

Many will have bright bookmarks that say the day on them, but the library days are listed below for your reference.

Happy Reading!

Ms. Eva

Ready to roll?!? Next week, students will come home with these great bookmarks from Happy Wheels in Portland. If they read five books and get it signed by a teacher or a librarian (Ms. Eva or a public librarian), they can exchange this bookmark for free admission at Happy Wheels! (Rentals are included if they are needed.)

Happy Skating!

The PPS Mobile Makerspace is a mobile lab that provides a collaborative setting for making, learning, exploring, and sharing, using high-tech to no-tech tools. It provides every PreK-5 student in the district with at least one design/innovation/engineering experience each year. The makerspace travels between schools to engage and empower students to explore, create, and solve meaningful problems in the STEM fields.

Click on the link below to explore Ocean Avenue's Makerspace newletter and see what your students worked on September 16th-27th with Karen Shibles, the PPS' Mobile Makerspace teacher!

SAVE THE DATE for the Flu Clinic on Friday, October 25th in the morning. We are partnering with Northern Light to give annual flu shots to any students and staff that would like to participate. More information about how to sign up coming soon!

The School Based Dental Program will begin this Wednesday, October 2. The clinics will be held every Wednesday through the end of the month.

If your child is signed up, they will have their dental appointment done during the school day. Please reach out if you have any questions or would like to enroll.

Each Fall and Spring the PTO runs once-a-week enrichment classes after school. We are looking for interested teachers/instructors. In the past, we have offered yoga, dance, theater, Minecraft, art, running — to name a few. If you have ideas or know a possible instructor please contact board@oapto.org. Instructors are paid a stipend for their time.

The PTO is hosting a pizza night fundraiser at Flatbread Company on Tuesday, October 15th. A portion of every pizza sold (dine in, take out, or delivery) from 5-9pm that night will raise money for our students to participate in Side x Side this year!

Learn more about this wonderful non-profit here: https://sidexsideme.com

*Stay tuned for details of a raffle!

The PTO is trying to reach a goal of 100 monthly donors who are willing to give $1 - $10 each month. Can you help?

Now that the 2024-2025 school year has begun, we are more eager than ever to support our students and teachers. If a teacher wants to do a special project with their class, we want to be able to say YES! If the library wants to add to their collection, we want to be able to write the check. If a grade level wants to go on a field trip, we want to fund it. If there is an opportunity to bring a visiting artist to the school, we want to make it happen.

Here are some enriching projects, field trips, and important items previously funded thanks to our Dolphin's Cove donors:

• Provided funds to replace all lost library books throughout the school year.

• Supplied funds for school garden upgrades and maintenance including 200 new plants.

• Sent third graders to the Desert of Maine for an ecological learning experience.

• Covered the membership cost for our school nurse with the National Association of School Nurses. One benefit of membership is the VSP Eyes of Hope® gift certificate program which covers a comprehensive eye exam and, if prescribed, new glasses at a VSP network doctor's office for students in need.

• Brought a Portland Symphony Orchestra Kinderkonzert ensemble to perform for the K-2 students. The brass quintet performed The Circus Ship, the beloved children's book story by Chris Van Dusen, while introducing students to this family of instruments.

• Sent second and third graders to a vibrant production of Wabanaki Stories at Merrill Auditorium featuring five Wabanaki artists coming from several different nations and traditions.

• Organized monthly teacher appreciation events for OAES staff including an ice cream truck, treats for teachers in the staff room, a gift card raffle, and an espresso cart service.

• Paid membership fees for Ruth’s Reusable Resources, a free store for teachers connecting them with surplus furniture, paper, books, office supplies and computers.

• Funded a visit from award-winning children’s book author and poet, Samara Cole Doyon, who is both a second-generation Haitian American and a deeply rooted Mainer.

• Covered the cost of math team t-shirts for fifth graders.

• Organized and funded our school spring fair with an inflatable obstacles course, snow cones, face painting, photo booth, martial arts demos, and lawn games.

• Covered costs for books from Maine Student Book Awards and Chickadee Book Awards to be added to our library.
  
  

Thank you to each of our current donors for the consistent support.

Please consider joining Dolphin’s Cove if you can!

• https://donorbox.org/dolphinscove-2-3

Have you been wanting to get involved but not sure how? OAES PTO is looking for volunteers to help coordinate upcoming events and fundraisers. We welcome all to help in any way they can! Please contact us if interested: board@oapto.org. Attendance at meetings is not required.

Opt-in to text updates to stay up to date on community events, news, reminders, and more! Just text the phrase OAPTO to 844-795-0248. Text STOP to opt-out at any time.

Email: westme@portlandschools.org
Website: https://oceanavenue.portlandschools.org/
Location: 150 Ocean Avenue, Portland, ME, USA
Phone: 207-874-8180
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oaesportland