May 3, 2024
Good afternoon Oxbow Families,
As Teacher Appreciation Week approaches, we want to highlight the importance of recognizing and celebrating the incredible work of our dedicated educators. This special week is an opportunity for us to come together as a community and show our appreciation for the hard work, passion, and commitment our teachers demonstrate every day.
Teachers play a vital role in shaping the future of our children, and their impact goes far beyond the classroom. They inspire, motivate, and empower our children to reach their full potential, and we are incredibly grateful for their dedication to education.
Here are some ways you can join us in celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week and showing our gratitude to your child's teacher:
Personalized Thank You Notes: Encourage your child to write a heartfelt thank-you note expressing their appreciation for their teacher's hard work and support.
Thoughtful Gifts: Consider giving small tokens of appreciation, such as classroom supplies, gift cards, or homemade treats, to show your gratitude for your child's teacher.
Classroom Decorations: Collaborate with other parents to decorate the classroom with banners, posters, or flowers to create a warm and welcoming environment for your child's teacher.
Volunteer Support: Offer to assist the teacher with classroom tasks, projects, or special events to show your support and appreciation.
Recognition: Take the time to publicly acknowledge and thank your child's teacher during Teacher Appreciation Week, whether it's through a heartfelt message/email, a social media shoutout, or a note to the school administration.
Also, this week, our 5th grade Owls had an opportunity to visit White Lake Middle School. They were able to see where their new classrooms will be located, where their lockers will be, what course offerings they will be taking and what electives they will be able to choose from. As we get closer to seeing them off to the next stage of life, it comes with many emotions for myself and for our staff. Our students have made so much progress over the years and we can not wait to continue to watch them from afar. We are proud of you Owls! Keep up the great work and shine bright!
Schedule:
May 6-10 - Teacher Appreciation Week
May 7 - No School for Students (Staff Professional Development Day)
K-Day at Oxbow for JK and K Students Only
Hungry Howie’s 4pm-8pm
May 9 - Skate Night at Rolladium 6:30-8:30
May 13th- 5th Grade iSTEM Field Trip to COE (lunch stays the same for 5th)
May 15 - Applebee’s 4-9pm
May 17 - Popcorn Friday/Hoot Shop
May 17 - Student Appreciation Day
Kona Ice Truck (Free) and
1 Free Bag of Popcorn
May 20 - OPC Meeting 7pm - Tech Lab
May 27 - No School (Memorial Day)
May 29 - 31 - 5th Grade Camp
May 31 - Carnival (5:30-7:30)
Bond 2024 Information:
Bond 2024 will provide upgrades to support the Huron Valley Schools music and arts programs!
Our Performing Arts Centers at both highs will see upgrades to seating, orchestra pit covers, lighting and sound. To learn more go to www.hvs.org and Get Out and Vote on May 7th.
Positivity Project:
This week our school community will be focusing on the character strength of Leadership. Leadership means you value each member of your group and inspire people to do their best.
Leadership can be both formal and informal. It is concerned with getting others to do what needs to be done while maintaining group morale to ensure readiness to act in the future. This character strength’s focus is on the personal qualities of leaders rather than the practice of leadership. These qualities include the ability to understand others and inspire them toward a common goal, the capacity to mitigate conflict and mold consensus, and the desire to lead other people.
For individuals, leadership is a way to achieve what you know is important, as groups of people invariably achieve more than individuals. If you want to achieve your vision for the future, you need to inspire others to join you. As an individual’s ability to lead develops, so does that person’s confidence and sense of self-efficacy.
To practice and encourage the character strength of leadership with your child, please visit the Positivity Project’s P2 for Families (password: P2), where together you will watch a video, read a quote, and talk about the answers to three questions.
Volunteers Needed at Lunch and Recess:
We are always looking for parents that are interested and willing to volunteer at lunch and recess. We have room to accommodate those volunteers that would like to help indoors or outdoors. As with any volunteering position, you must have a cleared CRC on file with the Main Office. Please reach out to Mrs. Greenleaf if you would like to help out. We are flexible and open to whatever works with your schedule.
Fridays tend to need the most support.
Lunch Hours are 11:45-2:00 pm/ daily
Student Learner Profile Form for 2024-2025:
For those that are interested in submitting additional information on your child as our teachers begin the placement process for next school year, please see the information below. This is optional and not required.
Thank you!
This is an optional form for parents to share a bit more information about their child with our school team.
https://forms.gle/2EXhytLRRRC7XaQa9 Due by May 17th at 4:00 pm.
Student Placement for 2024-2025:
As we begin to wind down this school year and the warmer weather approaches, our staff is already beginning to plan ahead for next school year. We are beginning to look at our Continuous Improvement Plan, class placements and early fall activities.
Developing class lists and placing students in classrooms is a complex and time-consuming task and one that our staff takes very seriously. I have the utmost confidence in our staff and believe that we are very fortunate here at Oxbow to have such amazing educators. Our staff spends a tremendous amount of time and energy trying to determine the best possible classroom placement for all of our children, in order for all students to be successful. Our team works collaboratively over the next month to create balanced classrooms that also meet the needs of individual students. A number of different factors are taken into consideration when creating class lists.
Our team does a wonderful job of using their experience, data points and knowing each child’s learning style to provide the best placement for them. Please note that we will not consider requests for specific teachers. We simply cannot accommodate requests without compromising fairness to all students. In addition, please do not put your child’s teacher in a difficult position by requesting a particular teacher, asking them to share it with me or asking them to share your child’s 2024-2025 placement. Class/teacher placements will be posted in Skyward Family Access in August as we get closer to the start of the new school year.
Student Dress Code:
As the weather begins to get warmer, we kindly ask for your help and support in ensuring that students are wearing school appropriate clothing. This includes shirts that are not crop tops, spaghetti straps, short spandex shorts, short shorts, or sandals with no socks. As you can imagine, this can be a distraction in the classroom and it could take away from student’s learning. I appreciate your support with this.
Tick Season:
This week, we unfortunately did find a tick on a student and another on a staff member. Please be sure to review the information that was shared with families in April regarding ticks.
Where do ticks live and what do they look like?
Ticks tend to live in forests, in dense moist leaf litter, and in tall grasses. They can be transported on animals such as squirrels, foxes, and deer, as well as waiting on plants to grab onto humans as they pass by. Ticks are tiny, some as small as a poppy seed, and although some people think they are kind of icky, most ticks are harmless. Some, like the black-legged (deer) tick or the American dog tick, may spread tick-borne diseases. Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever can be dangerous, but both are treatable and even preventable if precautions are taken.
What precautions can you take to avoid ticks?
Here are some prevention methods that work well.
• Wear light colored long-sleeved shirts and long pants. This will make it easier to scan clothing and see any ticks before going inside.
• Tuck pant legs into long socks.
• Stay on trails.
• Do quick buddy tick checks: look on the legs, back, and arms of a partner.
• Conduct a thorough full-body tick check nightly and shower/bathe regularly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that parents check children “under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs, around the waist, and especially in their hair.” This is a good practice to get into as students come home from school, or when they come in the house after playing outdoors.
What are some common tick-borne symptoms?
Common tick-borne disease symptoms include rashes or bulls-eye like markings, flu-like symptoms, aches, and joint pain. See your pediatrician immediately if symptoms appear.
Tick Removal
If a child comes to the office with a tick, our Office Staff will call home and notify the parent. Unfortunately, our Office Staff cannot remove the tick. The child’s parent(s) can however come up to the building and assist in the removal of the tick.
â— Use a tick removal instrument to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
â— Pull upward with steady, even pressure
â— After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area with rubbing alcohol or soap and water
Some doctor’s prefer for you to save the tick in the event of further symptoms developing.
Only the black-legged tick typically can transmit the germ that causes Lyme disease, and only after being attached for at least 24 – 36 hours. One of the earliest and most common symptoms of Lyme disease is a rash that’s often shaped like a bull's-eye. The rash occurs on the same site as the bite. Other symptoms include fever, fatigue, muscle aches, joint pain and headaches. If you’ve been exploring outdoors, especially in wooded areas, forests, areas where tall grasses and or shrubs are present, or have found a tick on your body, and show these symptoms, see a healthcare provider.
Some helpful resources:
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/index.html
https://www.oakgov.com/community/health/health-a-z/information-a-z/ticks
Please take note, that the Main Office staff can not directly remove ticks from your child. They will however call you as soon as it is brought to our attention. You will have the opportunity to come up and remove the tick from your child’s skin.
Thank you,
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Greenleaf