Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter

At Thornhill, we’re committed to fostering a safe, mindful, and responsible environment for every student. To support this, we ask each family to create a personalized Student Comfort Pack for each child. These packs will be stored on campus with our emergency supplies and distributed if students need to remain on site for an extended period before reunification.

Why Comfort Packs?

While Thornhill maintains essential food and water supplies, a familiar snack, comforting item, or note from home can help children feel more secure in a stressful situation.

How to Prepare

Please put together a small Comfort Pack for your child following the instructions on the enclosed PDF. Suggested items for the packs include high-energy, low-salt snacks (like granola bars or dried fruit), a comfort item (such as a family photo or favorite very small toy), and a simple activity (like a deck of cards or crayons with paper). By providing thoughtful items, you’re helping your child feel supported and safe.

Important: Please send completed Comfort Packs to your child’s classroom by November 22, 2024. Update and expand your emergency contacts in Aeries, as only listed individuals can pick up your child in an emergency. For questions, contact your child’s teacher or class room parent. Thank you for being a part of keeping Thornhill prepared!

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!

Right on the heels of the fabulous Election Day Bake Sale - thanks to all who pitched in - we have another opportunity to help our kids by buying Thanksgiving pies!

SALES ARE OPEN NOW for the Thanksgiving Pie Pop-up. We have a tantalizing menu of delicious treats ready to grace your holiday table - or feed your family post-holiday breakfast.

Menu includes:

• Pumpkin Pies

• Pecan Pies

• Cherry Brown Betty

• Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

• Gluten-Free Crostata

• Basque Cheesecakes

• Pumpkin Cheesecake

• Pumpkin Cardamom Crumb Muffins

• Chocolate Pudding Pie

• Classic Coffee Cake, and more…. :)

Simplify your holiday celebration by getting a little help from Thornhill friends - you can pretend you made it yourself! Or, show your thanks and buy a pie for a favorite teacher!

Pre-purchase by November 20 and pickup on Sunday, November 24. Order early to reserve your favorite - because of the very limited supplies, it’ll be first come, first served. Just $45 to dazzle your family or show thanks to your friends. Tips welcome - all funds go to the kids.

As a reminder, these bake sales are to offset costs for the annual overnight field trips for 4th and 5th graders - a Thornhill tradition and incredible learning opportunities for the kids. Due to increased trip costs, the fundraising need is sizable: we need to help raise close to $10k.

Please email bakesale@thornhillschool.org to place your order. And spread the word to fellow sweet-tooths beyond the Thornhill community!

In December, look forward to 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. Mark your calendars and keep an eye out for more info soon.

Laura Borrman and Chelsea Boniak

We would love for parents to join the celebration by cheering our students on as they make their way to the school gates; there will be music, streamers and dancing so come along and line their pathway to school with encouragement and good vibes! You can sign up to volunteer here.

On the day:

• Everyone can take part by walking through our ‘tunnel of positivity’ and decorated school gates starting at 8:15am!

• Please come to school wearing purple!

• If you would like to, join a walking train to school. Map and timings can be found below.

• Students will enjoy a Ruby-themed community gathering hosted by the teachers at 8:40am before morning line-up. Parents are invited to join this.

• Following the community gathering, parents are invited to join us for coffee and donuts in the school garden from 8:45am.

We are excited to celebrate this wonderful day with you! If you have any questions please contact Marcelle Perera and Sophie Astier via Konstella or at diversity@thornhillschool.org

Thank you!

Mark your calendar for the Fall Sweep on Saturday, November 16 from 1-4pm! It's one of the school's two annual sweeps where parents and students come to school to sweep dead leaves, weed, and collect trash on the ground inside the school campus. We bring snacks and drinks and always have a good time! We need volunteers! Bring your rake, broom and gloves!

Fall Sweep: Saturday, November 16 from 1-4pm at school

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).