Ocean Avenue Friday Notes
May 3, 2024
NO SCHOOL ~ MEMORIAL DAY ~ MAY 27TH
Mark Your Calendar!
- 5/3: FREE ~ Pajama Movie Night at Ocean Avenue TONIGHT - Movie: Migration - Doors Open 5:45 PM (PTO Sponsored Event)
- 5/3: PPS City Hall Student Art Show ~ TONIGHT, May 3, 3:30-6:30 PM
- 5/6-5/10: Staff Appreciation Week
- 5/10: Ocean Avenue Parents Night Out Benefit and Auction at Rising Tide Brewing, 6-9 PM (PTO Sponsored Event)
- 5/13-5/24: Grade 3-5 State Assessments (2 hours)
- 5/14: PTO Meeting in the Library, 5:30 PM
- 5/21: OAES Spring Strings and Band Concert, 1:20 PM (5th grade and their families only)
- 5/22: Kindergarten Open House, 3:30-4:30 PM
- 5/23: Community Meeting in Gym, 8 AM
- 5/23: Last Day of Learning Works!
- 5/23, 5/24 & 5/25: Kindergarten Screening Days at OAES, 8 AM-2 PM
- 5/27: Memorial Day (NO SCHOOL)
- 6/4: Fifth Grade Step Up Event to Middle Schools, 11 AM-1:30 PM
- 6/6: Fun Run, 8-9:15 AM, with 6/7 Rain Date
- 6/7: Fifth Grade vs. Staff Basketball Game
- 6/10: Step Up Event for Grades K-4
- 6/11: PTO Meeting in the Library, 5:30 PM
- 6/13: Fifth Grade Celebration, 1 PM
- 6/14: Last Day of School, 11:10 AM Dismissal (Egg Drop Begins at 9 AM!)
Please click the link below to see our newly UPDATED Calendar of Events for the year. We were able to set dates for all most all of our events for the rest of the year. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
Ocean Avenue PTO Sponsored Pajama Movie Night ~ TONIGHT!
- Date: Friday, May 3, Doors Open at 5:45 PM
- Movie: Migration (2023) - Rated PG, run time 1:22
- Location: Ocean Avenue Cafeteria
- Chairs: Bring your own low chairs and sleeping bags! Some school chairs will be provided.
- Dress Code: Come as you are! Pajamas are welcome if you'd like to participate.
Children must be accompanied by an adult.
REMINDER ~ Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week is May 6-10!
We have different surprises for each of our staff members all week. You can help by sharing words of appreciation. Sometimes, staff at schools beyond classroom teachers are overlooked. We celebrate all of our staff during this week. Please take some time over break to share your words with several staff members ~ ed techs, specials teachers, admin assistants, nurse, lunch aides, crossing guards, etc.
This form will be open through May 6. Thanks for your help, as staff often say that these messages, no matter how they are shared, mean the most to them.
Teacher Appreciation Lunch ~ May 7, 2024
Thank the wonderful OAES teachers and staff by providing food or drinks to the Annual Appreciation Lunch. You can drop off your items during student drop-off or you can bring them to the school by 10:15 am. Please review the available slots and CLICK HERE to sign up!
Principal's Notes
ACES (All Children Exercise Simultaneously) DAY!
Today at Ocean Avenue School, we celebrated ACES (All Children Exercise Simultaneously) DAY! All students joined me and Mr. Pedro, our Physical Education Teacher, in leading our students, teachers and staff in a stretch and a dance to the Cha Cha Slide.
ACES Day was started by Len Saunders in 1989 to encourage children around the country to exercise together. Project ACES Day is the first Friday in May, which is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month and America’s National Physical Education Week.
As the weather gets warmer, and spring sports begin, it is the perfect time to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and exercise. Set a goal each day to incorporate exercise into your daily routine.
Photo Credit: Brian Rounds, 4th Grade Teacher
Assistant Principal's Notes
🚶‍♀️🚴Walkers/Bicyclists/Skateboarders/Scooters🛹🛴
Although our weather is still fluctuating and some days don't feel very spring-like, trees and flowers are blooming, the grass is getting greener, and more and more students are riding their bikes, scooters and/or skateboards to school. While we love to see this increase in students arriving to school on their own personal modes of transportation, we would like to ask all parents/guardians to talk to their child about traffic safety.
Please talk to your child(ren) about what side of the road to ride/walk on and to follow all traffic rules, including the importance of using the crossing guard locations on both Ocean Avenue and Walton Avenue when crossing over to Ocean Avenue School.
When arriving on wheels, upon reaching school grounds, children must walk their bike (or scooter or skateboard). Children must leave bikes in designated areas and lock them. Scooters and skateboards will be kept in student’s lockers. The school does not assume any responsibility for bicycles, etc.
Thank you for your cooperation and for talking to your students about traffic safety!
Library Notes
April Celebration of Poetry!
We had such a wonderful celebration of poetry in the library in April.
2nd graders learned about the fantastic Mister Rogers and how music can be a poem, and 3rd and 4th graders played with words and book titles to create Book Spine Poetry.
Looking for ways to talk about poetry at home? Take random words around your house, and mix them up. Students were surprised by the unexpected power of combining words.
Other Notes
Tissue Donations Needed!
Spring allergies and sniffles are in full force and we are in need of tissue donations again please! Any boxes you are able to donate to help us get through the rest of this school year would be greatly appreciated! We go through many boxes each week! Thank you for your generosity!
Sneaker Donations Needed!
We are in need of new or "gently used" sneaker donations for our clothing closet, sizes 12-9 (all genders). THANK YOU!
🍓 SAVE THE DATE: Scooping for Community ~ Wednesday, June 5th!
All day on Wednesday, June 5th, the Locker Project will be the beneficiary of Scooping for Community at Gelato Fiasco in the Old Port. When customers tell the cashier they are there to support our child hunger programs, 75% of their purchases will be donated!
Volunteers Needed! Teacher Appreciation Lunch on May 7th!
Help us celebrate teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week by signing up to donate food or drinks to a special Teacher Appreciation Lunch.
CLICK HERE to sign up! Thank you!
Ocean Avenue Parents Night Out ~ Friday, May 10, 6-9 PM
Enjoy a Friday night out with other parents from Ocean Ave! Meet up at Rising Tide Brewing on Fox Street for:
- LIVE MUSIC . AUCTION . APPETIZERS . FREE ENTRY . CASH BAR
- AND...FREE PARKING!
The online portion of our auction begins today and is now LIVE! Items are added daily so please check back often: https://oapto.betterworld.org/auctions/oaes2024
We have so many exciting listings to bid on from many of our treasured local businesses. Please browse our offerings and consider bidding if you are able and interested.
We hope to see you to conclude our online auction with a live benefit and celebration of our year as OAES parents, guardians, staff, and community, at Rising Tide Brewing next Friday, May 10 from 6 PM to 9 PM.
PTO Monthly Meeting: Tuesday, May 14 at 5:30 PM
Hannaford Gift Card Fundraiser
Exciting news! We've launched a Bulk Gift Card Initiative with Hannaford to effortlessly raise funds for Ocean Avenue Elementary School. For every $100 Hannaford gift card purchased through our program, we earn $4.
How It Works:
- Visit this LINK
- Purchase a Hannaford gift card.
- Every two weeks, we order the cards and email them to you.
- Our school earns 4% of the total purchased.
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Join Dolphin's Cove and Support the PTO Each Month!
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 we have all settled into the 2023-2024 school year, 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.
Thanks to our Dolphin's Cove donors last year, we:
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.
Currently, we have 25 monthly donors and we thank each of you for the consistent support.
We need 75 additional monthly donors to reach our goal. Please consider if you can!
Sign up for text updates from the PTO!
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.