The Otter Overview

Hello Otter Families,

What a fantastic start to the school year!

Our otters are settled into their daily routines and learning so much already! We love getting to partner with you to help prepare each otter for their unique future. It is a joy and responsibility that we take very seriously.

We have exciting new translation and accessibility features for our newsletter! Look for the "translate" and "accessibility" buttons at the top of the page!

Please review the information in this September newsletter and let us know if you have any questions or suggestions. We appreciate you!

Sincerely,

Jessie Lisenbee, OCE Principal

Matt Allen, OCE Assistant Principal

We love celebrating the accomplishments of our Otters! We have a couple of ways that we do this throughout the year.

Weekly Shout-outs - These informal shout outs give us a chance to recognize students and staff who positively contribute to Osage Creek. These are quick, positive recognitions and the recipient's name gets added to the Otterly Awesome wall near our entrance. Take a look next time you're on campus and see if you recognize anyone's name!

Monthly Otterly Awesome Romp Awards - These Otterly Awesome awards are given to a few standout otters each month from each homeroom class. These Otters have achieved greatness in their academic or behavioral goals. We will invite parents to the monthly romp celebration if their otter is receiving this award.

Bentonville Schools is committed to partnering with families. Our homework policy is here (BSD Policy 5.9) and our new expectations are listed below. You can support your student's learning by checking for weekly homework on Tuesdays and discussing the content with your student. Please return any required pages to your teacher the following Monday. Homework completion will show on student report cards in the Work Habits section using the scoring below.

7:25 am - We open our doors and welcome our Otters! For safety and security reasons, students may not be dropped off and left unattended prior to 7:25 am.

7:25-7:45 am - Students may eat breakfast in our cafeteria.

7:45 am - Students enter their classrooms and get settled for a successful day.

7:47 am - Our car line closes to ensure students are inside and ready to learn by 7:50.

7:50 am - Our tardy bell rings and instruction begins.

We begin each day with the Pledge of Allegiance, birthday celebration, and daily reminders promptly at 7:50 am. Please help your Otter be successful by ensuring they are on time, ready to learn.

2:25 pm - Final cutoff time for any transportation changes. Remember to call our office before 2:25 to adjust your Otter's afternoon transportation: 479-286-9500.

2:50 pm - Instruction ends and students are dismissed.

3:10 pm - Carline closes.

We intend to take our otters outside to enjoy some fresh air and free time everyday. To ensure their safety, we follow Bentonville Schools handbook guidelines which can be found here:

https://www.bentonvillek12.org/documents/parents/student-handbooks/338971

K-6 Inclement Weather Outdoor Recess

Elementary and middle school students will go outside for recess unless weather conditions make it unsafe or unwise to do so.

• Students will typically go outside if temperatures are 30 degrees F or above.
• If temp and/or wind chills are between 25 and 30 degrees building administrators may use discretion when sending students outdoors. Factors to be considered may include: wind, sun, cold weather apparel of students, length of time to be spent outdoors, other factors as they arise.
• In very hot weather, administrators will use discretion when sending students outdoors for recess. Factors to be considered may include: heat index, availability of shade, accessibility of water, other factors as they arise.

Fall parties will be held on Friday, November 1st.

Winter parties will be held on Friday, December 20th.

Valentine's parties will be held on Friday, February 14th.

Each party lasts 40 minutes and is organized by homeroom parents.

Non school age siblings may attend as long as they do not cause a disruption and do not partake of the snacks and crafts since supplies are purchased for the designated number of Osage Creek students.

Birthday parties and the distribution of party invitations is prohibited per the Bentonville student handbook. Handbooks can be found at https://www.bentonvillek12.org/documents/parents/student-handbooks/338971 and here is an excerpt from page 57:

Here are our Otterly Awesome teams!

The Office Team!

The Kindergarten Team!

The First Grade Team!

The Second Grade Team!

The Third Grade Team!

The Fourth Grade Team!

The Activity Team!

The Special Education Team!

The Support Team!

This month our core value is Compassion. Here is information from our counselors Ms. Nulty and Ms. Finer. Remember, if you need anything at all, please reach out and we'll do our best to help!

Ms. Nulty - cnulty@bentonvillek12.org

Ms. Finer - sfiner@bentonvillek12.org

We love parent volunteers and are so appreciative of all you do! If you'd like to help chaperone a field trip, volunteer during a class party, or any other student event at Osage Creek, volunteer training is required.

If you joined us on Thursday, August 29th for volunteer training and completed the online forms at the end, you're good to go! 🙂 If not, here are your next steps:

1. Review the volunteer training information HERE.

2. Review and digitally sign the training forms HERE.

3. Serve at Osage Creek and have an amazing time with our Otters!

All students are welcome to bring their lunch from home or eat in our fantastic cafeteria.

To add money to your child's account, visit bentonville.familyportal.cloud and log into your account. Need help? Feel free to call us at 479-286-9500.

Osage Creek follows the Bentonville Schools academic calendar. You can find the calendar HERE.

9/2 - Labor Day - No School!

9/6 - Ollie Trolley & Otter Romp

9/9 - Spirit Night at Handel's Ice Cream in Rogers, 3:00-8:00 pm

9/13 - PTO Membership Drive Deadline

9/17 - Constitution Day

9/20 - PTO Meeting at 1:30 pm

9/23-27 - Celebrate Freedom Week

9/23-27 - Book Fair!

9/26 - 4th Grade Musical Performance at 6:00 pm

9/27 - Rock Your School Day!

9/27 - PTO Ice Cream Party for any homeroom with 80% participation!

9/29 - UP Summit Community Day and Rocket Launch

We are fortunate to have an amazing PTO that does so much for our students and staff at Osage Creek! Please consider joining the Osage Creek PTO!!

We have enjoyed the shade on our playground SO MUCH during these hot days! THANK YOU to everyone who made this possible!!!!

Our PTO website is: https://osage-creek-elementary-pto.square.site/

PTO contact email is: OsageCreekElementaryPTO@gmail.com

We're happy to help! Please call us at 479-286-9500.

You can also follow us on social media or using our linktree:

linktr.ee/osagecreek