The mission of Oakland Elementary School is to prepare students to meet life’s challenges with responsibility and confidence by promoting academic excellence, cooperative social relationships, and exemplary personal conduct within a nurturing and supportive school environment.

It was great seeing everyone at Curriculum night this week. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in our "Chalk Talk". A Chalk Talk is a thinking routine in which a question or statement is written on a poster board and members of a group(often students in a class) have the opportunity to write on the poster in response. This year our two chalk talk questions were:

1) What is your favorite thing about Oakland?

2) What is one goal you have for your child this year?

I have included pictures of our chalk talks below for you to have a look for yourself. However, some of the takeaways I had were:

• People love our teachers (I tend to agree) and the caring sense of community.
• Common goals for our kids this year are to make friends, have fun, enjoy learning, and improve their reading and communicating.

In 1924 our wonderful school opened its doors to students to gather, learn, and grow. On September 20th we will be celebrating Oakland's 100th anniversary. This historical milestone provides a wonderful learning opportunity for students to peek into the lives of students through the ages since its opening and to contemplate what the future has in store for students to come.

Come one, come all! Tonight our wonderful PTA will be hosting the annual Welcome Back Social. It is a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and connect with families of your child's new classmates.

- The PTA is proud to host numerous events throughout the year and we rely on our parents and members. We are currently looking for some parents/members to chair some of our events. If you think you may be interested click the link below or email us at oaklandelementaryptaro@gmail.com.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F44A8A623A7FD0-50951624-ptachairpersons

- A few classrooms are also looking for some room parents for anyone wanting to get involved. To make sure all families get an equal chance of being involved, we are asking that if you have numerous children in the school, you only sign up for ONE classroom. (One room parent per family). After a couple weeks if there are still openings we will open those spots up to allow a parent to help with numerous classrooms.

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0F44A8A623A7FD0-50782587-room

Monday at 7pm in the Oakland Media Center the PTA

This coming week will be our first professional learning morning for staff(Also know as "Late Start" for kids). These days are an important piece is what we do as a school system. Staff have the opportunity to engage in 90 minutes of collaboration and learning. On these Wednesday mornings the first bell will ring at 9:20 a.m. with classes starting at 9:25 a.m. Upcoming Late Starts will be:

• September 11th, 18th, and 25th
• October 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th

Consistent with health and wellness goals and cognizant of various student and staff allergies, Royal Oak Elementary schools recognize student birthdays with non-food-based celebrations. We do recognize birthdays as special days and will recognize a child’s birthday with individual recognition by the classroom teacher. Each teacher will inform you of the specific classroom birthday recognition practice. The students will also have their names announced on the school broadcast and receive a birthday pencil from the office. Please do NOT send food or beverages as birthday treats.

We are excited to announce that Royal Oak will now be using the iReady assessment program to track students’ progress in math and ELA. To learn more about this program, please see the letter below.

Believe it or not the season for tricks and treats is quickly approaching! Many of you will be starting the search for your child's Halloween costume pretty soon. We have a half day of school on October 31st that is filled with fun and excitement. Students can bring a costume to school to dress up for their classroom party and to participate in the school costume parade. When picking out a costume for you kid to wear for our school festivities please see the attached flyer for some guidelines.

Thanks to the Michigan School Meals Program every student can receive a free breakfast and lunch each day for the 2024-2025 school year. We will continue to ask students to pre-order lunch one day ahead. This helps avoid shortages and allows us to supply all students with suitable lunches. Lunch will be offered the first day of school with no pre-ordering. To access menus and other information pertaining to the lunch program please see the Food Services on the Royal Oak Schools website.

Important Note: Although all students can receive one lunch and one breakfast at no cost, it is still vital that eligible families fill out a free & reduced meal application or do so in the MISTAR Parent Portal. There are several academic and non-academic services provided at Oakland through grant funding that is based on accurate calculation of students who qualify for free or reduced meals.

“Blessings in a Backpack” is designed to provide students on the free and reduced lunch program with enough food for three meals daily on weekends. Administered by the Community Foundation of Greater Rochester, this program is active in Royal Oak Schools. If you agree to participate in this program during the school year, your child will receive a bag of food for the weekend. A food bag will be put in your child's locker for take-home on Fridays. The simple meals may include macaroni and cheese, beef ravioli, canned fruit, granola bars, soups, juice, and other items. Students will receive a bag every week.

If you want your child to participate in this program, complete the sign-up form with this link. Please be sure to indicate on the form if your child has any food allergies. If your child has a food allergy, you, as the parent or guardian, are responsible for checking all food labels when the food arrives home. Royal Oak School and Blessings in a Backpack will not be held accountable for accidental food allergen exposure.

Please fill out a new form for each child you want to participate. You will see a link to submit another response upon form submission.

https://forms.gle/Kv63VerwLsBF2LC86

• Friday September 6th - Oakland Elementary Welcome Back Social

• Friday September 20th - Oakland Through the Ages

Please see the August 18th, 2023 edition of the Roadrunner Report for a special message about attendance.

The mission of Oakland Elementary School is to prepare students to meet life’s challenges with responsibility and confidence by promoting academic excellence, cooperative social relationships, and exemplary personal conduct within a nurturing and supportive school environment.

Email: jason.taylor@royaloakschools.org

Website: https://www.royaloakschools.org/elementary/oakland/
Location: 2415 Brockton Avenue, Royal Oak, MI, USA
Phone: (248)542-4406