Notes from Oak

• Fri, Feb 7 - LASD Design Challenge “Testing” Day - Blacktop at Lunch

• Thurs, Feb 13 & Fri, Feb 14 - 6th Grade Entrepreneurial Fair

• Fri, Feb 14 - Valentine’s Day- class party time TBD with teacher and room parents

• Week of Feb 17- 21- President’s Holiday and Winter Break - No School

• Mon, Feb 24 - Kick-off Assembly for Junior Olympics

• Thurs, Feb 27 - Girl Scout Cookie Booth on Blacktop 1:15-2:10pm

• Fri, Feb 28 - Coffee with the Principal (and Blach Principal, Bhavna Narula)

• Fri, Feb 28 - 2nd Grade Field Trip to Tech Museum

• Thurs, Mar 5 - Walk/ Bike to School

• Thurs, Mar 5 - Minimum Day- Noon dismissal for Kinder, 12:15 dismissal for grades 1-6

• Fri, Mar 6 - End of Trimester 2

• Tue, Mar 10 - STEM Expo

• Wed, Mar 11 - PTA Meeting 8:45am

• Wed, Mar 18 - Hearing Screening Kinder/2nd & 5th Grades

• Fri, Mar 20 - Jr High Principal Presentation to 6th Grade Students 11am-Noon Multi

• Sat, Mar 21- Spring Fling & Auction, Juniper Hotel, Cupertino 6 -10pm

Last week I announced the winner, however I forgot to mention the students who placed 2nd and 3rd in the GeoBee Competition.

The National Geographic GeoBee is an annual competition designed to inspire and reward students' curiosity about the world.

Students in grades four through eight (4-8) from nearly 10,000 schools across the United States will compete in the 2020 National Geographic GeoBee for a chance to win college scholarships and the glory of being the National Geographic GeoBee Champion.

Last week we held our annual Oak GeoBee. The questions ranged from locations around the world to geographical features. A big congratulations to all the 4th, 5th and 6th graders who competed, way to go! A special celebration to Sean M in 6th grade for winning the competition and also to Ananya M in 4th grade and Rohan G in 6th grade for being runners up.

Interested in reducing health risks from air toxins at your child’s school? GreenTown can help! Oak Avenue will install signs on the black fence next to the drive through to help remind parents to turn off car engines while they wait.

Word of the health risks to children from air toxins in idling vehicle emissions is spreading and schools are taking notice. The LAHS GreenTeam is conducting an Anti-Idling Campaign in early February and GreenTown Los Altos will be there to help. Three other schools have made inquiries and asked for materials to inform parents of the dangers of idling.

In 2018, GreenTown conducted surveys with the Los Altos Environmental Commission of idling cars at LAHS to quantify the amount of idling that was occurring and to estimate the resulting level of toxins and CO2 emitted. GreenTown shared the results with the LAHS Green Team and provided resources for a campaign at the school. Students designed signs, flyers, stickers, and window clings and worked with the school administration to install signage in the drive-through pick-up lane.

To understand more about the issue, we recommend two short videos and the Los Altos Environmental Commission Report:

• An EPA video (7-minutes) that explains the issues and dangers of vehicle idling.

• A KRON4 news cast about a Pleasanton school anti-idling campaign.

• Los Altos Environmental Commission Report with results of the surveys

If you are interested in helping your school reduce air toxins at pick-up and drop-off, contact us here and join the campaign.

Have you heard your neighbors talking about wanting to know more about Oak School? Perhaps a new family just moved into the area and they are looking at different school options. Maybe a neighbor has preschool-age children and they are inquiring about Oak School.

Please let families know Oak School is open for tours. Feel free to pass along my email address. I would be happy to set up a time to provide a personal tour and answer questions about the Oak School community. kattell@lasdschools.org

Please remember that attendance is compulsory. Absences due to illness, medical appointments, religious holiday observance, or bereavement are considered excused. All other absences are considered unexcused.

To report an absence please fill out an online Absence Reporting Form

at

https://www.oakschool.org/ajax/forms/displayForm.cfm?f=289

or

call 650-237-3939

and include the following information:

• Student’s first and last name

• Grade

• Teacher

• date(s) of absence

• Reason for absence

• If sick, please specify if your child has a fever, common cold symptoms such as a runny nose or cough, vomiting and/or diarrhea, and or any other communicable or contagious illness.

Student safety is our top priority in the Los Altos School District. We are taking every precaution to be sure that our students remain healthy as we learn more about the coronavirus.

As public health departments across the nation are working to identify anyone who might be infected to prevent further spread of the outbreak, we encourage all students, parents, and staff to take common-sense precautions to prevent the spread of all infectious diseases, including common illnesses like colds and flu.

To prevent the spread of illness, staff, students, and families are requested to follow the guidelines below:

• Encourage students and staff to stay home when they are sick.

• Those who have a fever at school should go home and stay home until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever without the use of fever-reducing medicine.

• Separate sick students and staff from others, ideally in a separate place, until they can be picked up to go home.

• Promote hand hygiene among students and staff through education, scheduled time for handwashing, and availability of soap and water or hand sanitizer.

• Avoid touching your face, particularly your eyes, nose, and mouth.

• Teach and encourage proper cough etiquette—cough or sneeze into a tissue, sleeve, or arm (do not use hands).

• Perform routine surface cleaning.

• Consider not attending large gatherings, as this is where cold, flu, and other respiratory viruses often spread.

How is novel coronavirus spread? Are my children and family at risk?

It is unclear how easily or frequently this virus may spread from person to person, so it's important to practice good hygiene (e.g. cover your cough and sneeze, and wash hands, avoid touching your face). We are still learning about this new virus, but at this time the risk is low to Santa Clara County residents.

Is my family at risk of getting novel coronavirus?

At this time, the general public in Santa Clara County is at low risk for the new coronavirus. However, public health officials are still learning about this virus. It is important that everyone take preventative measures to help decrease the spread of the flu and other viruses that are in our community. Stay away from people who have signs of a respiratory tract infection, such as runny nose, coughing, and sneezing, and try to avoid gatherings with lots of people.

When should I keep my child home from school?

If anyone is ill with fever, cough or other symptoms, they should stay home from work or school and other public activities until they have recovered.

Should children whose parents traveled to China stay home from school?

If a child has not traveled to an area with ongoing circulation, and they are not ill, they can continue their everyday activities. But if a child is ill, they should be kept home.

Can a school send a student home if they recently returned from China and have cold-like symptoms?

Any student with a fever or respiratory symptoms can be sent home by the school. ​

What should I do now to protect my family?

• Get your flu shot to protect against flu, which can produce symptoms similar to novel coronavirus.

• Wash your hands with liquid soap and water, rub for at least 20 seconds.

• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, sleeve or arm. Do not use your hands.

• Avoid touching your face, especially your eyes, nose, and mouth.

• Stay home if you are sick with any respiratory symptoms, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and are feeling tired.

• Try staying away from large groups of people.

• CDC recommends against traveling to China. ​​​​

More information can be found on the Santa Clara Public Health Department website:

https://www.sccgov.org/sites/phd/DiseaseInformation/novel-coronavirus/Pages/home.aspx

It is definitely Flu Season. Please take a look at the link below regarding when to keep your student at home and what to do to stay healthy!

https://www.lasdschools.org/District/6315-Flu-Influenza.html

Dear Oak Community -

February is a short month, yet full of lots of fun and learning at Oak. With the Valentine’s Zipline STEM Challenge, Sixth Grade Entrepreneurial Fair, and class Valentine’s party, February is a full month.

Join us Saturday March 21 at the Juniper Hotel in Cupertino for our Spring Fling and auction! Get ready to bid on camps, local services, parties, sports memorabilia, and more!

Oak's 6th Grade Entrepreneur Fair -- February 13th & 14th

We invite you to come to a fun family shopping event for all students, parents, and friends of Oak! Our hardworking and creative 6th grade entrepreneurs will be selling their hand-made products in the Oak Multi just in time for Valentine's Day! Come shop for exclusive products at more than 25 booths!

Entrepreneur Fair Hours

Thursday, February 13th 1:15 pm - 3:15 pm

Friday, February 14th 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Our students have worked hard for weeks and are excited to show off their business skills. Bring your cash and enjoy this unique shopping experience!

Each booth will be donating 10% of their profits to a local charity.

LIFESAVERS

Our lifesavers this week are all the wonderful hot lunch volunteers who keep our kids fed every day! A big thanks to our hot lunch volunteer coordinator Kristin Morris, and everyone who gives up their lunch hour on a regular basis to serve our kids.

Thank you to Anny Frehner, Claudia McCoy, Danielle James, Angela Kao, Amy Leung, Ksenia Lewin, Pei-Sun Log, Ai Okada, Jackie Pao, Sara Payne, Noriko Tsuruoka, Gitta Thoen, Maki Eguchi, Meina Cui, and Wei Du.

Sincerely,

Sara Payne

Oak PTA President

oakptapresident@gmail.com

Oak Apparel

OAK SCHOOL PTA ANONYMOUS SUGGESTION BOX

Just a reminder that tomorrow at lunch the Valentine’s Delivery STEM Challenge will be in action!

It will be set up near the basketball Courts, there will be at least 2 ziplines set up for quicker access. The 1st-3rd graders should eat first and then come to test their creations, and 4th-6th test first before eating.

We are well on our way to raising $3.4M for this school year. To everyone who has donated -- Thank You! Generous donations from families like yours enable your school to offer music, PE, STEM, art, computer science, mental health services, and more.

If you have yet to give to LAEF,

Make a tax-deductible donation today!

Gifts of any amount are appreciated and help

us reach our goal of 100% participation.

One-time donations, monthly donations, and pledges are welcome.

Also,

find out if your company will match your donation to LAEF

and be sure to apply.

Last school year, LAEF received over $840,000 from corporate matches!

Needed: Additional LAEF Board Members for Oak

Would you be willing to represent the Oak community by serving on the LAEF Board?

To find out more about this opportunity,

contact current Oak LAEF Board member Amie Wang (amiedywang@gmail.com),

and check out the online information about this volunteer position.

6th Grade String Fling Concert

6th Grade Orchestra Students from Loyola, Oak, and Springer will be featured in a performance with Blach Intermediate School Orchestras. Come to see the progression of string students from elementary to middle school. It is a free concert/workshop, everyone is invited!

String Fling Concert

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

7:05 PM

Blach Intermediate School

Thinking Ahead to Junior High

Are you a future Blach parent and interested in what the future holds in junior high school for your child? You’re invited to tour our National Blue Ribbon Blach Intermediate School.

Meet the principal, talk with students and teachers, and visit classrooms. Learn how classroom instruction, innovative curriculum, and an unparalleled array of electives prepare students for success in high school, college and beyond. Blach is a welcoming and inclusive junior high school that focuses on the whole child and empowers and engages students to become global citizens and lifelong learners.

Take a look at the Blach video in our media gallery and please sign up using this link to join the tour that is most convenient for you. Tour dates are as follows:

Friday, March 13, 9:30am-11am

Monday, March 16, 1:30pm-3pm

The MVLA Parent Education Speaker Series presents:

Scott Hartley

The Fuzzy and the Techie: Why the Liberal Arts Will Rule the Digital World

Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020 - 7:00 - 9:00pm

MVHS Eagle Theatre

3535 Truman Avenue., Mountain View, CA

Join us as Scott Hartley, venture capitalist and author of The Fuzzy and the Techie, explores the vital role of liberal arts in humanizing our technology, shattering assumptions about business and education today.

While Silicon Valley is generally considered a “techie" stronghold, the founders of companies like Airbnb, Pinterest, Slack, LinkedIn, PayPal, Stitch Fix, Reddit, and others are all "fuzzies"— people with backgrounds in the Arts and Humanities.

Learning to code is not enough; the soft skills—curiosity, communication, and collaboration, along with an understanding of psychology and society’s gravest problems—are central to why technology has value. Well-rounded people are the instrumental stewards of robots, big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning; offering a human touch that is of critical importance in our technology-led world. A new generation of entrepreneurs, those who are both fuzzy-and-techie, is fast emerging, and will be the center of our future economy.

For anyone doubting whether a well-rounded liberal arts education is practical in today’s world, Hartley’s discussion offers inspiring insights.

Audience: Parents and educators of students grades K - 12.

To register for this free event, go to https://mvla2019-20-scotthartley.eventbrite.com

Books available for purchase, thanks to Books, Inc., (cash or check).

Sponsored by Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF), MVLA High School Foundation, Mountain View Educational Foundation (MVEF), and Los Altos-Mountain View PTA Council.

Mission:

It is Oak School’s mission to ensure high levels of learning for all students. Every day we respectfully collaborate to develop confident, resilient, joyful learners who care about the Oak School community and become responsible citizens.

Email: kattell@lasdschools.org
Website: https://oakschool.org/
Location: 1501 Oak Avenue, Los Altos, CA, USA
Phone: (650)237-3900
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Oakavenuesch
Twitter: @OakPrincipal