Welcome Back OES Families

Families,

I am so excited to welcome you back for a new school year. Our teachers and staff are working tirelessly to prepare for our students arrival next week. Our custodial crew did an incredible job cleaning the building from top to bottom, and now teachers have begun setting up classrooms to create a positive and welcoming environment.

A successful school is one in which all stakeholders work together to make it a positive experience for our students. A few things you can do to help ensure it is a successful year.

• Proactively communicate with your child's teacher regarding any questions, concerns, or ways to best help your child.
• Encourage your child to exhibit positive behavior in all that they do and to treat fellow students and the adults in the building with respect. Speaking about school and the staff in a positive light sets a great example on how to treat the adults at school.
• Find time to read with your child ( even our 5th/6th Grade students!) each day. 10-15 minutes a night goes a long way towards fostering academic growth throughout the year.
• Taking advantage of the opportunities to be involved. We host a variety of events each month from Donuts with Dudes, Mornings with Moms, Family Nights, PreK Fun Days, concerts/performances, and various volunteer opportunities. We love to see our building full of families engaging in events at school- please make it a priority to attend.
• Celebrate and encourage your child to do their best each day. The words we use and how encourage children to approach each day with a growth mindset can set the stage for how our students can overcome challenges that come about throughout the year-whether that be academically, socially, or behaviorally.
• Lunch time can be a difficult transition at the beginning of the year. Practicing how to open certain items independently can go a long way towards an efficient lunch period. Refrain from packing items that difficult to eat independently as students have 20 minutes to eat.
• Get a good night's sleep each night. It is hard to learn if our basic needs are not being met- research states that elementary students should get anywhere between 8-10 hours a sleep a night depending on their age.

Thank you for choosing to send your child to Oregon Elementary School and partnering with us to make this another successful school year. If there is anything I can do to assist your family as the year approaches, don't hesitate to reach out.

Ryan Huels

OES Principal

The link to the 24-25 School Supply list is here:

K-6 : https://docs.google.com/document/d/15mO6ldYpHD0sN3VKHWD1ttiRBssnb6K-bDhbRJ4HVkY/edit?usp=sharing

PreK: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t2DHffANKmZNY99-tunAczctsK4TVcNc_wam4Nc-AKU/edit

On Monday August 12 from 5-6 PM, we will be hosting Meet The Teacher Night for students in grades 1st-6th. This is an opportunity to meet your child's teacher, drop off school supplies, tour the building, and get acclimated before the start of school. We will have Kona Ice out front, and various photo opportunities/backdrops to commemorate the occasion.

The first day of attendance for 1st-6th is Wednesday August 14th. It will be a regularly scheduled 2:00 PM dismissal.

PreK, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten students will be invited to a 1-1 Parent/Family Conference with your child's teacher on Wednesday 8/14 or Thursday 8/15. The homeroom teacher will communicate the date/time directly with you if they haven't already. 1st Day of student attendance for PreK, Junior K, and Kindergarten is Friday August 16th.

Our Bus Drives will be finishing up making contact with bus riders this week to notify you of pick up/drop off times. If you have not heard from your drive, please call 815-732-5300 ext 4032.

If you are making a change in your child's transportation method/destination, please contact our office by 2 PM so we can notify your child's teacher and all of those involved with dismissal.

We will also ask that you do your best to limit the number of different destinations/methods throughout the year as daily changes puts unnecessary strain on our transportation department.

As the new year starts, we want to be clear that our number one priority is to create a safe and orderly learning environment for all students. We will continue to expect our students to use SOAR behavior (Safety First, Own It, Act Responsibly, and Respect Everyone).

If your child is a disruption to a safe and orderly learning environment, we will follow our school discipline policy as outlined in the handbook- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DR1TPGuY5dFRKFyJzukI3E9Ug4Wm8FQhy0nV7R0RJw8/edit

Examples of behavior that will not be tolerated and will likely result in your child being sent home and potential other exclusionary discipline include:

• Gross Disruptions to a safe and orderly learning environment
• Threats to students/staff
• Physical violence/attacks to students/staff

Last year 97% of our students had 0 or 1 discipline referral, which means almost all of our students exhibit SOAR behavior on a regular basis and contribute to making our school a positive place. I want to be abundantly clear that every effort will be made to maintain a safe and orderly learning environment. Thank you for working together with us to ensure a positive experience for all this year.

Our staff will be ready to receive students at 7:45 each morning. In the image below are the designated areas for drop off/line up on either side of the building. K-3rd grade will line up on the blacktop of the Jefferson Playground, with 4th-6th Grade on the Etnyre playground blacktop. Students will begin entering the building at 8:00 AM

For dismissal, our students will begin exiting the building at 3:00 PM(2 PM on Wednesdays).

If you are a back door pick up, they will exit out of the doors nearest their classroom to head towards the playgrounds in which they arrived in the morning.

If your child is a front door pick up, they will exit out of Door 1 (Grades 3-6) or Door 5 (K-2)

All Prek pick up and drop off is exclusively in/out of Door 6, adjacent to their classrooms.

Traffic can be very busy during these times, your patience and flexibility is appreciated as over 1400 students arrive to both schools on campus each day.

Below is a video explaining the process with visuals of the exact locations.

We will be visiting various parks in the district to create some excitement for the new school year on Thursday August 8th. Please join Mr. Cozzi, Mrs. Webb, and myself at one of the parks listed above for a free popsicle and fellowship to kick off the new school year! We will be traveling from location to location in the white Oregon CUSD #200 Bus and will be greeting students and their families.

August 5- New Family Orientation 5:30-6:30 PM

August 8- Popsicles with the Principals 11-1 PM

August 12- Meet The Teacher Night 5-6 PM Grades 1-6

August 14- 1st day of School Grades 1-6 2 PM DISMISSAL

August 16- 1st Day of School Grades PreK, Junior K, and Kindergarten

Tuesday August 20- Picture Day