Notes From Oak

What an incredible community event last Friday. Our International Festival was a huge success with 30 countries and cultures represented. Our students paraded around the booths celebrating and waving flags with our Oak Cougar mascot leading the parade. Families enjoyed yummy food from around the world (including especially delicious churros) and watched the incredible Folklorico Ballet dancers from Redwood City. A special thank you to all of the volunteers, PTA helpers, and participants in this special community event. Please see the above pictures of this amazing night.

Cares and Shares Grant Awarded to Mrs. Quigley

Congratulations to Mrs. Quigley one of our Third Grade Teachers at Oak. She is the recipient of the Cares and Shares Grant Award.

The Mission of the Cares and Shares program is to contribute to the well being of the community which we support while making an enduring commitment to early learning, childhood development, and the effectiveness of elementary school education.

The Cares and Shares program is a designated fund at the Los Altos Community Foundation (LACF). Founded in 1991, LACF, strengthens the community by stimulating local philanthropy and civic engagement.

Mrs. Quigley will be awarded $1000 which she will use to support her inclusive books for students and staff. She will be recognized at a ceremony on October 10th.

Professional Development Day on Friday

This Friday, September 27, is LASD Staff Development Day. Our teachers will meet with their colleagues from across the district to learn more about our new School City data system. School City is being implemented within LASD to ensure a viable curriculum consistent across the district. Topics covered will include leveraging student data to support collaboration and instruction, as well as developing key assignments and observation communication tools for students and parents. Additional sessions include engineering in the elementary classroom and responsive classroom techniques. During this LASD-wide Professional Development Day, we are asking teachers to learn specific skills, as well as providing choices for staff to find learning opportunities to feed their individual passions.

Walden West

Last night I went to visit our sixth graders at Walden West. They are having so much fun learning science in a wonderful outdoor classroom experience. Students are having a blast and enjoying the independence of the experience. Check out some photos of this amazing experiential learning opportunity.

Social and Emotional Learning

This year we are working on our Social Emotional Learning program to encompass many aspects. One of these areas is Project Cornerstone where we have PC facilitators in Kindergarten - 4th grade using a PC book to springboard discussion and activities around a theme. In 5th and 6th grades PC facilitators will use this book in a different way. They will still refer to the book, but they will not read the book. Instead, they will use Digital Citizenship lessons through Common Sense Media or Leadership lessons from a curriculum developed by parents and staff at Covington School.

In the upcoming month, the PC book is Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell

The focus of this book is to help students recognize that they have the power within themselves to deal with bully behaviors. The main character is empowered by a caring adult, her grandmother. As her grandmother fills her bucket, Molly Lou gains self-confidence, which empowers her to stand up to bullying behaviors. Molly Lou models positive self-talk to other students in her class and shows how positive energy can change negative behavior.

Our 5th and 6th graders will have lessons on confidence and what that looks like at their age.

In addition, our staff will tie into the PC theme by teaching directly our CARES attribute of Assertiveness. What does Assertiveness look like around the Oak campus and in our classrooms? We look forward to sharing with parents how Cougars at Oak demonstrate Assertiveness.

Hello Team Oak--

You’d never know it from the weather the past few days, but October is right around the corner. That can only mean one thing: It’s time to get excited for this year’s Walk-a-Thon. Join us on Saturday October 12th at 8:00 am. All students are automatically registered, and will receive a 2019 Walk-a-Thon t-shirt (this is your last chance to fill out your Back To School Forms to ensure they get the right size!). Tickets for snacks (on and off the course) will be available on Saturday. This is a great community event for the whole family. Whether you stay and walk all morning, or join us for an hour or two before or after a soccer game, it’s wonderful to see our community come together.

This student-centered event is designed to empower our kids to contribute to, and make a change in the Oak community. All students will have the opportunity to set up a Pledge Star page where they can reach out to neighbors, friends, and extended family to help raise money for Oak. This year’s Walk-a-Thon theme is “Team Oak Walks,” highlighting the power of teamwork and community when striving to achieve our goals. To that end, funds students raise through the Walk-a-Thon will go directly back to new and updated PE and recess equipment that they use every day.

We would love to see 100% participation by our students. Give them a little extra screen time this week, and have them click here to set up their Pledge Star page and email it to friends and family. Younger kids may need a little help, but this should still be a student-led effort! We want every student to be a part of Team Oak. Help them set a fundraising goal, and see if they can meet or beat it!

Our Lifesavers this week are…

Leena Faerber, Georgia Tsgaris, and Sabrina Hoellrigl, our International Festival chairs. Thank you for the hours of planning and hard work you put in to bringing this wonderful community event to life!

Sincerely,

Sara Payne

Oak PTA President

oakptapresidents@lasdschools.org

OAK SCHOOL PTA ANONYMOUS SUGGESTION BOX

The Los Altos School District (LASD) has initiated a Community Engagement Process to involve the public in formulating long term facilities plan to house Bullis Charter School (BCS) and ensure a top-quality education for all children.

Wednesday evening, nearly 200 people attended the first of two charettes designed to engage the community in small-group reviews of various ideas for solving the facilities challenges in the district, while working to generate new ideas. The results of these charettes will be further evaluated and discussed in upcoming workshops. The second charette will be Saturday, October 5, from 9:30-11:30 am in the Eagan Multi-Purpose Room. Your voice matters! Please take some time to share your opinions about a matter that impacts everyone within LASD. If you are unable to attend a charette but would like more information, visit the Community Engagement website.