Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter

The Walkathon & Carnival was so much fun! We had so many kids participate that we had to pull out vintage lap cards to use — what an incredible turnout!

A huge thank you to our setup and cleanup crews, all the volunteers who ran the grade-level carnival games, and our talented lap stampers. And a special shoutout to Mr. Ray and our amazing grill team — Scott Johnson, Bruce Cowles, Ian Storrar, Mike McAllen, Mr. Johnson, John Houlberg, Matt Greenberg, Jeff Cleary, and Greg Vrankovich — for serving up mouthwatering ribs, tri-tip, pulled pork sandwiches, and BBQ chicken!

Thornhill spirit was in full bloom, from the stylish swag designed by Nisan Perera to the beautiful plants sold at our Walkathon, raising $440 for the Sustainability and Beautification Team. Families picked up tomato plants, succulents, rare lavender fuchsias, pumpkins, and more to create lush home gardens. A huge thank you to Ms. Alexis, our Thornhill’s garden instructor, for generously donating all the plants!

Finally, a huge and heartfelt thank you to Ms. Bunker and Ms. Gustafson for co-chairing this event — you are both truly incredible, inside and out!

The Walkathon is all about the students, and year after year, it’s one of their favorite events — thank you to everyone in the Thornhill community who helped make it amazing!

P.S. If you lent a folding table for the Walkathon, please pick it up outside of Ms. G’s portable—thank you!

Teacher Appreciation Week is the first week of May and is our chance to celebrate the amazing teachers and staff, who give so much to our kids every day. To show our thanks, we’re planning to provide breakfast goodies each morning to remind them how appreciated they are.

We’d love your help! Please sign up to drop something off at the school the mornings of Monday 5/5, Tuesday 5/6, Thursday 5/8, or Friday 5/9.

Wednesday 5/7 is covered with a special catered lunch for the staff! If you'd like to provide a dessert for the staff lunch, please text Catrina to coordinate.

Plates, utensils, cold cups, and napkins will be provided each day. If you're bringing something that requires additional items, please be sure to bring those as well.

There are about ~45-50 staff members.

Please reach out to Catrina Vrankovich at 510-289-8810 or president@thornhillschool.org if you have any questions.

Thank you!

Join the entire Bay Area in celebrating Bike Month this May — with the biggest celebration happening on Bike (and Walk) to School Day on Thursday, May 15, 2025. Because of our geographic location, we are focusing on walking to school (but feel free to grab a friend and bike!). Join us before school starts at one of four “walking school bus” groups.

Here is a list meeting points (including parking areas) and departure times:

• Broadway Terrace & Merriwood intersection: Departs at 7.50am

• Yarrow Nursery on Pinehaven & Thornhill [PARK on Pinehaven]: Departs at 8.00am

• Fernwood & Mountain intersection [PARK on Fernwood]: Departs at 8.00am

• Montclair Recreation Center, Montclair Park [PARK on Moraga]: Departs at 7.55am

You can find a map of the meeting locations and routes here.

At Thornhill, we understand that more than 30% of our families live outside the immediate neighborhood, making it difficult to leave the car at home. We recognize that for many, walking or biking may not be feasible. If you live outside the immediate neighborhood and would like to participate, we are offering the option to park and join a group of other students and families.

Remember before you ride, do the helmet safety fit check and check out Bike East Bay’s tips for new riders.

Earth Day was last Tuesday, April 22 and Thornhill did not miss out on this annual global movement! The Green Team welcomed students at dropoff in the morning with native wildflower seeds to take home as well as a hand stamp to mark the day! Parents stopped for a sip of hot coffee and a mini doughnut (generously donated by Sophie Lieven, center in the picture) and kids grabbed some trash pickers and cleaned the front of the school.

Let's continue to celebrate our planet! Want to do something at home? Start a nature journal, create a bird bath, or play nature bingo! If you prefer to read a book, Ms. Fox suggests the following titles:

• Kamala and Maya's Big Idea

• Rocket Says Clean Up

• The Big Beach Clean Up

• The Earth Book

• To Change a Planet

• Earth Hour

• Old Enough to Save a Planet
  
  

About Earth Day

Hey fifth grade families!

Can you believe our kids are almost middle schoolers? With the final month of school packed full of exciting events and happy tears, we want to make sure that fifth grade families stay in the loop for every special moment as we celebrate this huge milestone.

Check out all the upcoming happenings here:

Yearbooks: Every fifth grade student will receive a yearbook at no cost. Yearbooks will be distributed by Friday, May 23.

The Legendary Fifth Grade Lock-in: Mark your calendars for Friday, May 23 from 6:00–8:00pm at Thornhill. Our awesome 5th graders will celebrate with a night packed full of activities — think backyard-style fun and outdoor games — pizza, ice cream, a movie in the MPR, and maybe even a surprise dance-off (we’ll curate a 5th grade appropriate playlist that’s so sigma). There will be time for yearbook signing too! The evening will be hosted by Mr. Wilkins, Mrs. Bernard, and a few parent chaperones to keep the fun rolling. Plus, Ms. Gelbron’s House of Art will be open for creative magic. No decorations, no fuss — just one unforgettable night of fun! This is a drop-off event for 5th graders only and free to attend - RSVP HERE.

Fifth Grade Graduation Ceremony: Wednesday, May 28 at 9:00am on the Thornhill upper playground (near the back green wall). Families are welcome and invited to support your graduating kiddo!

Fifth Grade Family Picnic: A Thornhill tradition! This happens Wednesday, May 28 immediately after school, at 1:35pm, at Lake Temescal Park, South Entrance. The event is organized by families, for families, and is NOT an official school outing or a dropoff party. Kids must be accompanied by an adult; if you're unable to attend, please make arrangements for your child to attend with another adult. Please sign up to contribute food, supplies, grilling skills and fun HERE.

Class of 2025 Legacy Gift to Thornhill: Each year, Thornhill’s graduating class of fifth graders “gives back” to their school with a special legacy gift. Past gifts have included decorative tiles in the front yard, the “little library” in the garden, special benches, game equipment… even the school’s signature mural that adorns the portable classrooms! Work is underway to determine the best legacy gift for this year’s class.

Questions? Reach out to 5thgrade@thornhillschool.org

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 30 is the LAST free plastic film collection at school from Ridwell. Collect your plastic film (plastic shopping bags and Amazon plastic envelopes included!) waste at home and drop it off by the front gate at school tomorrow! Look for the signs and collection bins. Ridwell will make sure they stay out of landfills and are turned into new decking materials instead!

Thornhill's membership with Ridwell ends this summer unless we have 4 more families sponsor an extension through the next school year. Get a membership at Ridwell for your home plastic film waste: the cost is only $14/month and Ridwell will pick up at your doorstep! Be sure to use get.ridwell.com/Thornhill to join Ridwell with an at-home membership by May 23, 2025.

Learn more about Ridwell:

• See how Ridwell works in your home

• Welcome to Ridwell

• CNN: How this father and son duo diverted millions of pounds from landfills
  
  

From the Sustainability and Beautification Team

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).