November 2021 Edition

Ottawa Elementary School

Dear Little Bucks Families,

Thank you so much for supporting your child's educational journey by virtually attending Parent Teacher Conferences. Although there are times set aside for conferences throughout the year, please feel free to contact your child's teacher or myself about any questions or concerns you may have. We are here to help and support your family.

As school events continue to look differently due to COVID, we will continue to make these specials times of year memorable for your child. Our Thanksgiving Feast will only be available to students due to restrictions on visitors within the building.

November reminds us to be thankful for all that we have. On behalf of the staff at Ottawa, I would like to express our thankfulness for sharing your children with us each day and being a part of the Ottawa family! We are thankful for you and your Little Bucks!

If you ever have a concern, question, or comment please feel free to call or email and I will be happy to speak with you.

Stacey Denison, Principal

sdenison@buchananschools.com

Our school office is open 8:00am-4:30pm

Phone: 269.695.8409

Mrs. Stacey Denison, Principal

sdenison@buchananschools.com

Mrs. Hurd, Administrative Assistant

mhurd@buchananschools.com

REGULAR DAY OF SCHOOL

8:35am-3:43pm

ECSE/Preschool AM 8:35am-11:50pm

ECSE/Preschool PM 12:25pm-3:43pm

WACKY WEDNESDAYS

8:35am-3:10pm

HALF DAYS OF SCHOOL

8:35am-12:05pm

No Preschool or ECSE Classes on these days!

3 Half Day of School- Dismissal at 12:05- No ECSE or Preschool Classes

5 Extra Friday for Mrs. Clark's ECSE Classroom

7 Daylight Savings- Turn clocks back one hour!

9 PTO Meeting 6:30pm

11 Veteran's Day

15 Board of Education Meeting 6:00pm

18 Kickstart to Career Deposit Day! (Our first one this year!)

23 Picture Retake Day

24 No School for Students and Staff

25 Thanksgiving Day

29 School Resumes

Michigan Gateway Community Foundation and Honor Credit Union will be collecting deposits on Thursday, November 18th! Students may bring in their deposits on Thursday in a sealed envelope with the following information: Student Name, Grade, Graduation Year and Account Number found in their personal savings account register booklet. If you have questions regarding deposits, please contact the Michigan Gateway Community Foundation at 695-3521.

Please be sure to send your child with a coat, hat, and mittens/gloves for the colder weather and label their belongings. This is super helpful and will keep our Lost and Found empty as we will be able to return missing items to their owner.

We will continue to wait outside before school and will go to recesses outdoors unless the Real Feel temperature is below 10 degrees. Snow pants and boots will be needed when snow begins to fall.

Doubles facts are no trouble! :) First grade has been working on their double facts through hands-on projects, fun videos and song raps!

If you are wanting retakes for your child, they must bring the picture booklet that was sent home to school on the 23rd to give to the photographer. All students that were absent on Picture Day will have their pictures taken. Any questions, please call our office.

A BIG Ottawa thank you goes out to Britney Martin and Jennifer Hanover for giving of their time and talents over the years supporting Ottawa's PTO as President and Vice President! We appreciate all that you have done and will continue to do for our students and staff!

Thank you from us all!

We currently have the offices of President and Vice President open. If you are interested in having your name on the ballot for the upcoming election on January 4th, please send an email to Stacey Denison, sdenison@buchananschools.com

Welcome to Liz and Zach McGinnis as our new PTO Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. Thank you for joining our PTO Board of Officers.

We model and teach what we expect to see from students with the Buck 3. Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe. Pictures are displayed on our wall for the entire school to see on their way to lunch and names announced during our announcements.

A signed certificate will come home at the end of the week and their names will be shared in Ottawa's Update over the weekend for families!

Ms. Leenhouts is our Elementary Physical Educaton Teacher and is a member of SHAPE Michigan. She spends her mornings teaching at Moccasin and the afternoons at Ottawa. The many grants she has written have afforded our elementary students tremendous fitness opportunities, including climbing walls for both schools, participation in a roller skating program, and the All Kids Bike Program for kindergarten and first graders. She enjoys fitness and teaching skills that promote life-long health and wellness.

If you have questions regarding fitness for your child or the physical education curriculum, feel free to email Ms. Leenhouts at jleenhouts@buchananschools.com.

We want to make sure every single student gets out the door and home safely. Please remember the following:

• You MUST contact our school office by 2:00 pm if you need to make changes to your child's transportation routine.

• If you need to make changes involving a bus, these changes must be communicated to our office by 1:30 pm, before the buses leave for their middle/high school routes.

• Please do not message or email teachers as they are often in session and do not receive the messages until it is too late.

• If you need a numbered car tag for the pick up line, please come into our office.

• If you are picking your child up as a walker, they will be dismissed at the doors by our front office.

• Only car riders with parents in the pick up line will be dismissed at the north parking lot doors.

• November 15th
• December 13th

Meetings will be called to order at 6:00pm unless advertised differently.

269.695.8402

269.695.8400

Superintendent

Mrs. Patricia Robinson probinson@buchananschools.com

Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent

Mrs. Michelle Munyon mmunyon@buchananschools.com

Assistant Superintendent

Mr. Mark Kurland mkurland@buchananschools.com

Business Office Specialist

Mrs. Carrie Brunsting cbrunsting@buchananschools.com

Director of Special Education

Mrs. Karin Falkenstein kfalkenstein@buchananschools.com

Director of Technology

Mr. Philip Place psplace@buchananschools.com

We work hard every day to make our school the best it can be. Please tell us how we’re doing!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSedhHzyguA0_cCpd2Ue17lUTG5bV9LXzCoe6sP2f_BJrovA1Q/viewform