Hello Dragon Families,

I hope you all had a wonderful winter break and are feeling well rested and ready for the start of our second semester!

Please be sure to read through this newsletter as it will revisit some of our school norms and procedures that should be followed to ensure we all have a safe and welcome learning environment.

-Principal Brady

Student Drop Off Hours

Oyama's Playground will be supervised beginning at 7:30 am each morning. For your child's safety, please remember to not drop them off before 7:30 am as there will be no supervision.

Cafeteria Hours

The cafeteria will begin serving breakfast from 7:45 - 8:05 am. Lunch is served between 11:20am-1:20pm.

Beginning of Day

Oyama's day begins with the first bell at 8:15 am and the final warning bell at 8:20 am.

End of Day

Our day ends at 2:30 pm each day with the exception of Wednesday (early out) at 1:30 pm.

After School Program

KIDCO is currently offered at Archer Center till- 6:00 pm daily. KIDCO is not sponsored by TUSD. If interested in enrolling your student please call KIDCO directly at 791-5930. Students can be transported to the archer center, please be sure you register them through Archer and fill out the alternative drop off form in our front office.

Following Dismissal

All students are expected to leave the building grounds unless they stay for after school activities or at the request of the teacher, who will be in charge and will notify parent.

In the morning we will have staff in the front of the school at both the crosswalk and the lobby to guide students to the cafeteria/playground. We ask that parents refrain from going to teachers classrooms as they are preparing for the start of school day. A staff member will help guide your child to the proper place.

Please use the attached map as a reference for the loop that we use for drop off. The entrance is off of La Cholla Blvd to the right side just past the light. If you are dropping your student off, follow the red arrow marked pathway on the map and drop them at the green marked location by the crosswalk.

Afternoon parent pick up will follow similar procedures as the morning. Teachers will be out with their classes in the front parking lot by 2:30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and at 1:30pm on our Wednesday early out days.

Parents will enter through the marked entrance on the map and utilize the loop marked by red arrows on the map to pick their child up from the front. To keep traffic flowing, we ask that if you do not see your child that you continue to follow the loop out and follow La Cholla slightly up again (Marked by Orange Arrows) to either re-enter the loop or park using the orange arrow pathway in the visitor parking or the dirt lot.

If your child is in Mr. Diffie or Ms. Romo's classes please pick up your child in the designated area near the bus bay. (Arrow showing location on map)

January 14th- Site Council Meeting in Library 3:00pm-4:00pm

January 15th- PTSA Meeting via Zoom- 6:00pm-7:00pm

January 20th- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day- No School

January 29th- Professional Learning Day for Staff- No School

February 13th-14th- Parent Teacher Conferences

Thursday, January 23rd, at the Tucson Convention Center- Exhibition Hall from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

Come and discover all that TUSD has to offer! Meet the Principals of different schools. This event is great for 4th and fifth graders looking for potential middle schools as well as for students who are interested in coming to Oyama next year!

Entrance and Parking are free!

Enjoy student performances and register your child onsite!
Join us, Thursday, January 23rd at the TCC. . . STEP UP Schools Expo!

It’s not always easy to be kind, and it’s particularly challenging when someone is unkind to us. Our tendency is to mirror the emotions, feelings, and mood of that person. When someone is warm to us, we’re warm in return. Likewise, if someone is rude, dismissive, or hurtful, our tendency is to react with similar disrespect. However, we can choose to act with intentional kindness when someone has been unkind or inappropriate. Stop, take a breath, and think about the kind way to respond. We might...

• Be kind to ourselves and walk away from the situation, especially if speaking up feels too hard or not safe.
• Calmly let the other person know their behavior is hurtful.
• Ask a trusted adult for help.

When we’re regularly practicing our kindness skills and feel good about ourselves, we can prioritize kind responses to unkind behavior, even if that means putting ourselves first. It can be an act of self-kindness to decline to mirror negative behaviors.

Consider having a family discussion around the prompt... “What does kindness look like when someone is unkind to you?”

Oyama does not allow the use of cell phones during the school day. If your child has a cell phone, they MUST keep it in their backpack until they leave campus. If you should need to contact your child during the school day for any reason, please call our front office at 520-225-5700. The below TUSD Governing Board Policy will be enforced at Oyama.

This month, we’re focusing on the character trait of perseverance. We’ll be emphasizing how important it is to show perseverance. Throughout January, students will be recognized for demonstrating perseverance in and out of the classroom. Encourage your child to share what they’ve learned about perseverance with you at home!

Students who exhibit traits of perseverance and show it towards others have the chance to earn dragon tickets for their classes. The classes with the most dragon tickets can win awesome prizes!

We cannot stress enough the power and importance of reading at home with your student. Taking the time to read at home even just 5 minutes a day can make substantial improvements in your child's reading ability.

Please remember that student attendance is one of the largest impacts on student academic success. It also impacts things such as school letter grade, school funding, and more. Please help us ensure your child's academic success and increase their attendance as much as possible. We have a school goal of increasing school wide attendance by at least 5% percent this year.

Join the Oyama PTSA and help support the school. All parents/guardians are welcome. If you are interested, email Marianna Denogean or Michelle Lomeli.

Next Meeting is January 15th via zoom from 6:00pm-7:00pm, link will be posted in dojo.

The PTSA puts on a variety of events each year and they need parent support as much as possible. Please consider joining and helping support our school with fundraising, event planning, and helping out our school community!

Volunteers are always welcome at Oyama. All people interested in volunteering during the school day must complete the volunteer application with TUSD. The application is linked below. Please also schedule a time to meet with the principal in order to discuss what support is needed from volunteers and the ways you can help prior to filling out the application.

We have partnered with our local big frog to create Oyama merchandise. There are T-shirts, Polo's, and Hoodies available for purchase in the store as well. Additionally, the PTSA has approved the store as a fundraiser and $5 from each garment goes back to our Oyama PTSA.

Help support Oyama while sporting some awesome school spirit! Orders are delivered to Oyama and will be distributed upon arrival. Click the link below!

Oyama Site Council will be meeting 3:00pm-4:00pm in the Oyama Library.

Oyama could use your help! Tax credit donations are essential to supporting our students here at Oyama. Please utilize and share the link below to donate tax credit to Oyama. You can donate any amount up to $200 (if filing single) and up to $400 (if filing married, jointly). You can also donate small amounts at a time and do not need to donate all at once.

Some things that Tax Credit helps Oyama with...

Educational Field Trip Support

Extracurricular Activities

OMA

Tutors for various needs

Share with anyone you may know who might be willing to help support our school!

Breakfast: 7:30am-8:00am

Outside Supervision Begins: 7:45am

First Bell: 8:15am

Dismissal Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays: 2:30pm

Dismissal Wednesdays: 1:30pm

Please do not drop students off prior to 7:30am as there is no available supervision for them until that time.