Oak Creek Elementary

Oak Creek Families,

February is here and at Oak Creek, we are focusing on spreading kindness like confetti! Remember we will be doing a school-wide Kindness Spirit Week next week. See below for all the details.

While we understand that there are times an illness causes students to need to stay home, we also want to express our sincere appreciation for making attendance a priority in your household. Research has demonstrated that chronic absenteeism has significant impact on student achievement and on the social and emotional health of children. Absenteeism is considered "chronic" when students miss more than 10% of school days. That means that at this point in the year, if your child has missed nine days or more, for sickness, vacation or any other reason, they are considered chronically absent. Thank you for getting your child to school everyday that is possible, and doing your best to schedule vacations and appointments on non-school days. Every day matters!

If you have any questions, please see the FAQ section below, or feel free to reach out to myself or Carrie Beach at beachc@loswego.k12.or.us.

Thank you,

Barb Keeton

Principal

Oak Creek Elementary

Updated in Every Edition:

• Message from the Principal
• Dates to Remember
• Counselor Corner
• Message from Your PTO

NEW In This Edition:

• 5th Grade Forecasting
  
• Storytime Honoring Black History Month
• Student Art!
• Draft Boundary Maps Info

Repeated Information:

• OCE Kindness Spirit Week- February 7-11
• Standards-Based Report Card Note
• 2022-2023 Registration for New OCE Students
• Friendship Day Celebrations
• Virtual Spanish Language Health Workshops for Families
• Upcoming Health Lessons
• Oak Creek FAQs

LOSD District News:

• Hunger Fighters
• How to Find LOSD Covid-19 Information
• Back to School Clothes at Clothing Closet
• SafeOregon
• Subscribe to Lake Oswego Schools App

February 7: School Board Meeting

February 11: Report Cards will be available through ParentVue after 4:00 PM

February 21: No School: Presidents' Day

March 21-25: No School: Spring Break

April 1: 11:30 AM Early Dismissal

April 7-8: No School: Conferences

May 27: No School: Grade Prep Day

May 30: No School: Memorial Day

June 10: 11:30 AM Early Dismissal Last Day of Classes

Carrie Trullinger, your student's 6th grade Counselor for next year, presented forecasting information to the 5th grade classes this week. Forecasting is the process where students/families choose their elective classes for their schedule for next year. Students will choose their electives for next year by filling out a google form that has been sent to them by their 5th grade teacher. Please talk with your student about their elective choices and remind them to fill out the google form. The google form is due Friday, February 11th. The forecasting presentation and curriculum guide is located on the LOJ website. If you have questions about forecasting, please contact Carrie directly via email at trullinc@loswego.k12.or.us.

Check out this Kids' Storytime honoring Black History Month hosted by Katharine Phelps. It will be on Monday, February 7th at 5:00 pm. Register at respondtoracism.org

The elementary boundary review committee is developing a boundary recommendation to balance enrollment between Lake Grove and Oak Creek Elementary Schools.

The first two draft boundary maps, accompanied by a survey to gather community feedback, can be found on the district website under Elementary Boundary Review 2022. Survey respondents are anonymous and a summary of feedback captured in the survey will be shared with the boundary committee for consideration at the next committee meeting Wednesday, February 9.

Boundary Committee Meeting #2

Wednesday, Feb. 9

4-5:30 p.m.

https://loswego-k12-or-us.zoom.us/j/86895976104

All are welcome to observe the committee meeting. Thank you in advance for your engagement in this iterative process.

The Lake Oswego School District uses a standards-based report card for students in elementary schools. This report card measures a child’s progress toward proficiency or mastery of the priority standards in Reading, Writing, Language, Speaking, and Math.

This approach provides the means for communicating a child’s learning in more specific terms. Standards-based reporting articulates clear end-of-year grade-level standards for each subject. Using the scale below, teachers will communicate where a child resides on a learning continuum by indicating the student’s progress toward mastery of each identified grade-level standard.

The standards-based reporting scale:

4: The student works consistently at an in-depth and complex level within or beyond the end of year standard*

3: The student meets the grade-level expectation of the standard

2: The student nearly meets the end of year standard

1: The student demonstrates limited proficiency on the end of year standard

Important notes about the scale:

• Reporting is based on the end-of-year grade-level expectation. Therefore, proficiency would not be expected in the middle of the school year.
• A “2” represents the expected target for the majority of the school year as this indicates the child is progressing with the standard as expected. A “3” will be given when the student completely meets the grade-level standard.
• Details of what is expected at mastery level can be found on the report card or on the list of assessed grade-level standards.
• A “1” may prompt additional communication from the classroom teacher so parents will better understand their child’s learning journey.
  

*It is rare that a child will receive a “4” especially at the end of the first semester. A “4” score may prompt additional communication from the classroom teacher to discuss ways he/she is meeting the child’s unique learning needs.

Behavior Learning Targets are approached differently than end-of-year standards. For more information about your child’s progress, please contact the classroom teacher.

Registration for the 2022-23 school year (all grade levels) will begin January 19, 2022. This is for new students who have never enrolled in Lake Oswego before and for returning students who are not currently enrolled but will re-enroll for next year. Registration is online through ParentVUE. Parents do not need to register students for 2022-23 who are currently attending during the 2021- 22 school year.

Oak Creek will have an optional Friendship Day celebration on February 14th that may include an afternoon classroom activity with a Valentine card exchange. Students may bring their cards to exchange on Monday, February 14th. These cards should NOT contain any edible items, but may include small trinkets/games/toys. Please remember that students should bring in enough cards for each classmate or none at all. Look for any more specific guidance and list of student names from your classroom teachers.

The Clackamas ESD Student Health Access Coordinator, Leslie Delgado, will be hosting virtual workshops for Spanish speaking families on the third Wednesday evening of every month throughout the 2021-2022 school year. These workshops will be conducted in Spanish and will be focused on a variety of mental health and physical health topics that impact students and families. For more information click here.

Our teachers use the adopted Health Curriculum, The Great Body Shop, to teach the required Oregon Health Standards to our students. THE GREAT BODY SHOP is a comprehensive health education curriculum which is sequential, developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and medically accurate. The lessons align with Oregon’s Health Education Standards and are embedded with social-emotional learning. Watch your classroom teacher's newsletter for upcoming topics. If you would like to review the health curriculum, please contact the school office. More information, including an opt-out form if needed, can be found on the District website.

Dearest Oak Creek Families,

This February, we look forward to investing our time and hearts on the character trait of
K I N D N E S S in our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons, classrooms, and school.

The definition students will be learning this month is KINDNESS: the choice to act with words, gifts, or actions to bring appreciation, positivity, and encouragement to others and yourself.

Kindness is not only a feeling, but a choice that we get to make every day to bring good things into our lives and the world. Those good things can look like more than kind words: Kindness is given through our actions, encouragement, attitude, and gifts. We will spend time thinking about how to be kind to ourselves, our environment, our school, and to one another. We will get to experience meaningful words through compliments and feel the joy that comes from showing appreciation and acts of service to others.

We will also be focusing attention on cultivating friendships and the importance of being a good friend. Oak Creek students can also participate in our Kindness Spirit Week February 7-11th. We will continue to send reminders about this fun week!

Here are links for extension activities to explore KINDNESS further as a family:

K-2 KINDNESS Family Letter (English) 3-5 KINDNESS Family Letter (English)

K-2 AMABILIDAD para Familias (En Español) 3-5 AMABILIDAD para Familias (En Español)

Warmly,

Roxanne Davidson

School Counselor

Oak Creek is very fortunate to offer services for students or families experiencing need, thanks to the federally funded Title IA program, the Lake Oswego School District, generous donations from our community, PTO, Lake Grove Presbyterian Church, BeeLine Foundation, Love Inc., Kiwianas, and the Lake Oswego Rotary Club.

This form: OC Resources and Programs can be returned to your student’s teacher, the school counselor, or the front office. It will be kept confidential.

*****

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us. Your privacy will be respected.

503-534-2323 davidsor@loswego.k12.or.us

Dear Oak Creek Community,

Yearbooks

Reminder! If you haven't ordered yet, yearbooks are up for pre-order and are $20 until end of February. Pre-orders will be unavailable, and you will need to purchase them in person for $25 each after they arrive. Pre-Order Here

Donations

To make a donation, please click here: OC Donation

Your employer may match your donation. Don’t forget your spouse’s company too!

As tax season approaches, we remind you that all PTO donations are Tax Deductible.

EIN: 81-3009316 (for tax records)

Directory Spot

With Valentine’s day around the corner, you can make addressing your children’s classroom valentines easier by utilizing DirectorySpot!

If you WERE a DirectorySpot user last year, please log in (same username and password) to review your families new data for this school year. Please make sure you have the latest version of DirectorySpot to see the new features (check the app store for any “updates”).

If you are a NEW user, you have been set up and can download DirectorySpot for free from the App Store (iPhone users) or Google Play (Android users), or you can also access the data from the web.

Here at Oak Creek, the PTO uses DirectorySpot to share information with our school community. DirectorySpot is a mobile, private, and secure directory platform customized for our school. It’s purpose is to provide a way to communicate with families about events and activities at Oak Creek as well as tools to help people stay connected. All schools in the Lake Oswego School District use DirectorySpot for this purpose. It can also serve as a way to look up class lists by teacher and as an online family directory.

You can access the directory, once you have your account and password set up,via the internet here or via the Android or Apple app.

For your security, the directory is by invite only. As a new family to Oak Creek, you should have received an email on how to set up your account. The email detailed how you can download the app and directs your family to set up a password for your account. Only Oak Creek families and staff can access our directory. Information for the directory is pulled directly from the school district’s enrollment data. If for some reason, information is missing or incorrect, you can edit the information yourself at any time and choose which information you wish to share or not share. If you log in and see your family’s data, note that you are the only one who can see this information aside from the DirectorySpot Oak Creek Admin.

If you have questions please refer to this helpful guide.

Still have questions?

Email us at ocedirectoryspothelp@gmail.com

Oregon Battle of the Books

We have added the option to donate $25 for a bundle of OBOB books to the school library. All students may use these books, not just those participating in OBOB. Order HERE. We are looking for helpers to record themselves reading the first book chapters. Book Titles Sign up in the volunteer sign up, below. More information is HERE.

Volunteers

We are still looking for volunteers. Please sign up HERE for events and activities you would like to participate in this year. No commitments required. Sign up and we will reach out to you.

PTO Website

Check out our new website. It is still under construction so check back for updates on this page. PTO Website You will find the link to the ordering site here also. We still have two positions available this year. Contact OakCreekElementaryPTO@gmail.com if you have questions or would like to join.

Thank you for your continued support and doing your part in our wonderful community.

Sincerely,

Oak Creek Elementary PTO Executive Committee

Kirstin Martin / President

Samantha McCaskey / Treasurer

Jesse Nguyen / Assistant Treasurer

Juli Webster / Membership

Rachel Wilde / Secretary

Wendy Jenkins / Parental Involvement

Iris Tilley / Sustainability

Grayce Moody / Communications

OakCreekElementaryPTO@gmail.com

What is the daily schedule?

First Bell - 8:10 am: Students are welcome to enter the building.

Tardy Bell - 8:20 am: Students who arrive later must check in with the office and receive a Tardy slip before going to their classroom.

Dismissal - 2:40 pm: Students taking a bus home will exit the building through lower doors, students being picked up by parents will exit the building through the top floor doors, students staying for after care will go to the assigned classroom.

Early Release on Thursdays - 2:00 pm

Will students and staff be wearing masks?

Yes, currently all students, staff and anyone who enters the building are required to wear masks. Additional information about mask requirements can be found here.

If you are still looking for an answer, please let us know by clicking here to submit your question.

We have made all of our COVID-19 information easier to find on our district and school websites. Look for the new LOSD COVID-19 Information graphic (above) and find information about guidance, protocols, notifications and more.

Included is a new COVID-19 Dashboard, which notes all active cases in each school currently. Active cases are people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and are currently in their 5-day isolation period. Once the isolation period is complete, the case is removed from the dashboard. The dashboard is updated with exposure notices.

Also included is the recording of LOSD's Information Session about exposures and quarantining. We anticipate making these Information Sessions regular events to make sure we address all of your questions and concerns. Look forward to notices about upcoming sessions.

I Love Lake Oswego Clothing Closet has received an overwhelming amount of support and donation during the pandemic. We want to give back to our community and encourage our community to lean on us not for just hard times, but for up cycling, sustainability, and for our environment. In the past the closet was just for students, and since the pandemic we have opened our doors to anyone within our community.

Visit https://www.ilovelakeoswego.com for more information.

Parents-guardians who have concerns about a student’s well-being are encouraged to reach out to their principal, and to maintain strong lines of communication and partnership between students, families, staff, and other resources.

SafeOregon is also an effective way to report a tip regarding safety threats or potential acts of violence to our students or schools.

https://www.safeoregon.com/

(Students should also be aware that intentionally providing a false report is a serious offense.)

Stay connected to the district and your school(s) and receive urgent notifications by subscribing to the Lake Oswego Schools App.

Reach out to us if you have any questions or need anything!

• Principal Barb Keeton: keetonb@loswego.k12.or.us
• Secretary Carrie Beach: beachc@loswego.k12.or.us
• Secretary Tanya Goodwin: goodwint@loswego.k12.or.us

Address: 55 Kingsgate Rd., Lake Oswego, OR 97035

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OakCreekPTA/

Interested in OCE Spirit Wear? Check out this website sponsored by our PTO! OCE Spirit Wear