Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter

We’re thrilled to invite prospective families for the 2025-2026 school year to our upcoming Information Nights and Tours! These sessions are designed for families of all grades (TK-5), and they’re the perfect opportunity to get to know our wonderful Thornhill community.

What to Expect:

Meet our dedicated principal, connect with our amazing TK and kindergarten teachers, and chat with current Thornhill families, who can share their experiences. We’re here to answer all your questions and help you envision your child’s future at Thornhill!

Upcoming Information Nights and Tours:

TK/K Information Zoom

• Wednesday, November 13 @ 6:00 PM

• Thursday, January 16 @ 6:00 PM
  (Can’t make it? No worries! A recorded session will be available for all families.)

Click here to sign up via Google forms (You'll receive the Zoom link via email the day before.)

Tour Dates

• Tuesday, November 19 @ 9:30 AM

• Tuesday, December 10 @ 9:30 AM

• Tuesday, January 14 @ 9:30 AM

Click here to sign up via Google Forms

Tours are capped at 60 participants, so be sure to sign up early as they will close once filled!

If you have any questions or can’t make it to our events, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our friendly TK/Kindergarten Co-chairs at prospectivefamilies@thornhillschool.org. We can’t wait to meet you and your family!

We will have a flurry of joint 4th- and 5th-grade bake sale fundraisers this year to benefit scholarships and chaperone costs for both grade levels' big overnight field trips: Coloma Outdoor Discovery School for 4th grade and the Marin Headlands for 5th grade. The trips are a Thornhill tradition and a wonderful rite of passage for our kiddos, and represent incredible learning opportunities. Due to increased trip costs, though, the fundraising need is sizable: we need to help raise close to $10k.

Your first opportunity to pitch in - either by baking goodies or buying them - will be an Election Day bake sale!

On November 5, from 2:15-3:15pm, bake sale tables will beckon you at Thornhill Gate A (near the tetherball courts) and Gate C (by the main entrance). Pick up treats to fortify you for a potentially long night of voting returns. Brownies to celebrate your favorite candidate? Cookies to drown your sorrows? All up to you - Thornhill fundraising families will provide the sustenance. No matter what grade level your family represents, please sign up to bake or help out, or come by to buy some treats! All are needed and welcome.

Next up will be a Thanksgiving Pie Pop-up! Order early to snag a family-sized autumnal dessert or post-holiday breakfast treat for the holiday. Pumpkin pies, Basque cheesecakes and cranberry upside down cake are but a few of the delightful treats available. Simplify your holiday celebration by getting a little help from Thornhill friends - you can pretend you made it yourself! Or buy a pie for a teacher! Spread the love! Supplies are extremely limited on this one, so don’t miss your chance. Pre-purchase by November 20 and pickup on Sunday, November 24.

Then in December, prepare for the second annual Great Big Holiday Bake Sale, in partnership with the kid-craft spectacular Holiday Market. The awesomely fun, festive event will take place at school on Saturday, December 14, from 11:00-1:00pm. Mark your calendars and keep an eye out for more info soon.

Please email bakesale@thornhillschool.org for info about all sales, volunteer to bake or help out - and to get a lead on the menu for the Thanksgiving Pie Pop-up. And spread the word to fellow bakers, regardless of child’s grade level - all are welcome to join the fun. Thanks for considering - and on your marks, get set, BAKE!

Thank you for your partnership,

Laura Borrman & Chelsea Boniak

Last week, we had the honor of welcoming Eli Cooper, a talented artist from Creative Growth Art Center and a passionate advocate for Down Syndrome awareness, to our third-grade classrooms. As part of Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Eli presented to our students, explaining what Down syndrome is and sharing his experiences of living with a disability in a way that was simple, engaging, and inspiring. A BIG heartfelt thank you to Ms. Giesert, Ms. Bunker & Ms. Whalen & Ibby Sasso for arranging this special visit,it was a wonderful opportunity for our kids to learn more about inclusion and empathy. You can learn more about Eli and the incredible work done at Creative Growth Art Center here.

Also, sharing information surrounding Creative Growth's beloved Holiday Show - a wonderfully magical community event that is well-suited for the whole family.

Save the Date: Creative Growth Holiday Show – December 6

Mark your calendars for one of the Bay Area's most cherished events! Creative Growth's Annual Holiday Show is coming up on December 6, from 5-8pm at the Creative Growth Art Center. This beloved tradition is not to be missed, as the center will be transformed into a gift-giver's paradise, showcasing a beautiful selection of one-of-a-kind treasures created by their talented artists.

Expect a lively, inclusive atmosphere filled with holiday cheer, live music, and joyful energy suitable for all ages. What makes this event even more special is its mission—every purchase directly supports artists with disabilities, empowering them to continue their creative journeys.

We hope to see you there!

Well done, Thornhill families! Who would guess one would say, "Thank you for your trash!". The Ridwell Plastic Film Drive on October 23 was a great success, as we filled two enormous bags with zip top bags, grocery bags, bubble wrap, and lots more plastic film waste that families brought from home to school. All this plastic film collected during the drive will be turned into Trex decking!

Are you curious about Ridwell at-home recycling pickup? Ridwell collects hundreds of common household items you can’t recycle curbside, like plastic food packaging, lightbulbs, clothes, Styrofoam, and more. Get Ridwell to pick up your plastic waste at your home. Sign up for a home Ridwell membership by December 15 to help the school earn a field trip to the Ridwell Recycling Facility. You can share it with friends and family, too, and their membership will also count! (Just make sure they live in a Ridwell service area.)

Mark Your Calendars!
Nov. 1, 4.15-5.30pm at Taps and Takeout: Green Team monthly meeting. Join us to hear about our progress in making the school more sustainable, safe, and enjoyable!

Nov. TBD - Fall Sweep! Mark your calendars and join us with a broom and gloves in this annual and always fun clean sweep of the school grounds to get the school ready for winter!

ShopRaise Partnership
We’re also excited to introduce our new partnership with ShopRaise this year! Whether you're buying daily essentials like groceries, shopping for home office furniture, or booking your next trip, the ShopRaise app allows you to raise funds for Thornhill Elementary while you shop online—all at no extra cost to you. Now, your everyday shopping can directly support our school. Click the link here to learn more and download the app.

The Thornhill Parent-Faculty Club (PFC) eNews team publishes this weekly newsletter each Tuesday in the school year to communicate school, PFC and OUSD news, events and information. We all have plenty of other things to do, but please try to read it weekly, as it will more than likely answer most questions you have about what’s up at school. Information about how to submit to the newsletter is below, but you can reach out to us at any time at newsletter@thornhillschool.org.

Email submissions to our Newsletter Chair, Annie Sartor, at newsletter@thornhillschool.org by 8 p.m. Thursday for approval—nothing sent after this will be included in the following week’s newsletter unless there are extenuating circumstances. It’s fine to include text in the body of the email with links and no formatting, and attach photos preferably as 150 x 150, 72 dpi JPG or GIFs only (not embedded in email or word file). Submissions may be edited for spelling, grammar, brevity and clarity. Advertising and items not related to Thornhill are not accepted, as we need to keep the newsletter focused on need-to-know info for the community.

THANK YOU to everyone who submits articles and to PFC Board Members, Teachers, PFC co-Presidents Becky Gonzales and Catrina Vrankovich, VP of Communications Jill Evans, and Principal Steve Daubenspeck, member of Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).