Hello Dragon Families,

I hope you are all doing well!

The colder weather has arrived! Please remind your student to bring a jacket to stay warm. If they’ve misplaced a jacket or other personal item, be sure to check our lost and found, located in the cafeteria with Ms. Carmen.

If your student will be absent, kindly contact the front office to inform us. Additionally, please notify the office of any changes to your student's transportation arrangements.

We hope to continue the joys and successes we are having. Please read through the newsletter for the most updated information. Thank you!

-Principal Brady

• December 11th- Canes Night Fundraiser 4pm-9pm
• December 11th- Band Concert 8:45am
• December 18th PreK-2nd Holiday Concert 9:00am-10:00am
• December 19th- 3rd-5th Grade Holiday Concert 9:00am-10:00am
• December 20th- Grading Day
• December 23rd-Jan 3rd- Winter Break

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 empathy. We’ll be emphasizing how important it is to show empathy. Throughout December, students will be recognized for demonstrating empathy in and out of the classroom. Encourage your child to share what they’ve learned about empathy with you at home!

Students who exhibit traits of empathy 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.

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.