Dear Obama Family,

Greetings Obama Family! It is my pleasure to welcome you back to the new school year! I look forward to continuing to serve as the Principal. I am excited about the number of parents who signed up to be a part of our Parent Advisory Group! We will work collaboratively to ensure that Barack Obama is a safe place for learning and growing. We will communicate with you via email, telephone (all call), text, website, Class Dojo, and monthly parent newsletters. Please make sure that your contact information is up to date. You can do this by completing Final Forms. Make sure to sign digitally at the end to submit.

Finally, the names have been chosen for the Open House Gift Card raffle. Those families have been notified and can pick up the gift card at the Parent Teacher Conference on September 18, 2024.

https://mapleheights-oh.finalforms.com/

Visitors & Guests: We would like to welcome you to Barack Obama Elementary school. The procedures for our guests and visitors to the building are to arrive at the main entrance of the building (Glenwood Ave.), visitors will press the buzzer to gain entrance into the main office. If you are here for meetings you will need to sign in. Guests/visitors who visit classrooms or provide services will have their IDs scanned to create a visitors pass. All of this is to ensure the safety of our students and staff. As a reminder, photo IDs are required when signing students out for the day before 2:45 p.m.

Meetings: We understand that your time is valuable, to ensure that we are able to meet your family’s needs, schedule a meeting with Dr. Hughley (Principal) or Mrs. McCrystal (Assistant Principal) 24 hours in advance. We will make every effort to meet and/or return calls between 24 to 48 hours.

“Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18.”

“The term Hispanic or Latino, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, refers to Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.” The Census Bureau estimates there were roughly 334.9 million Hispanics in the U.S. as of July 1, 2023.

“In 1976, the U.S. Congress passed a law that required the government to collect and analyze data for a specific ethnic group: “Americans of Spanish origin or descent.” That legislation defined this group as “Americans who identify themselves as being of Spanish-speaking background and trace their origin or descent from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America, and other Spanish-speaking countries.” This includes 20 Spanish-speaking nations from Latin America and Spain itself, but not Portugal or Portuguese-speaking Brazil.”

1 https://www.factmonster.com/biographies/hispanic-heritage-month

2 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US#

3 https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/09/05/who-is- hispanic/#:~:text=The%20 Census%20 Bureau%20 estimates%20there,19%25%20of%20the%20nation's%20population.

Hasta Luego!

Good Day,

Rising Stars applications will be going home the week of August 26, 2024. Please fill out the completed application with 3 emergency contacts. Make sure your child can attend 4 days a week from 3:00pm-6:00pm. THIS IS A STATE MANDATE!

At Barack Obama Elementary School, it is our goal to create and sustain a positive learning environment in which all students can succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. The PBIS team is committed to reaching that goal by setting high expectations and creating a positive school culture that celebrates and acknowledges positive behaviors. At Obama, we do this through individualized and whole class rewards. Please reference the PRIDE matrix for behavioral expectations. Click the photo to view the matrix in larger format.

Our PBIS team works hard to bring fun and exciting programs, assemblies, and prizes to our students. We would like to encourage all parents/guardians to join our PBIS committee this school year. We will be meeting on the first Wednesday of every month from 3:30pm-4:30pm. If you are interested in joining our team, please reach out to Mrs. McCrystal (crystle.mccrystal@mapleschools.com) or Jules Wilder (juliana.wilder@mapleschools.com). We hope to see you at our first meeting on Wednesday, September 4th.