eagle news
Oak Harbor Elementary | December 2023
OHE Families,
Spring is here, and we have so much learning to share with our students over the next few months! Do you have or know a child who is turning five before September 1? Kindergarten orientation is coming right after Spring Break, on Wednesday, April 10th. We will have staff available to help with enrollment and tours. We will also have information about our Transition to Kindergarten program that supports students who will be four years old by September 1. Please come join us!
Our 3rd and 4th grade students will be participating in the state assessment (SBA) during the first two weeks of May, so they will be working hard in class to be ready to show what they know. All of our students will be taking their final iReady assessment next month as well. These assessments are helpful for us to see how much students are learning and growing academically, but they are only one measure. Our teachers will also be looking at how students are performing in class. Attendance is very important for students to be able to succeed academically.
We also have a lot of fun events coming up! Please check your Parent Square App for messages, as well as our OHE Facebook page, to keep up with all that is happening. We will be celebrating Arbor Day with the City of Oak Harbor, High-Five Friday, and more. If you are looking for a fun way to be involved, we are planning to march in the Holland Happenings Parade at the end of the month. All students are welcome to join us, but must be accompanied by an adult. Our OHE staff cannot supervise them at this event. We will be holding an OHE banner and passing out candy to on-lookers.
Please keep in communication with our staff and let us know how we can support your family.
Sincerely,
Christina Merritt, Principal
Oak Harbor Elementary
April 1-5: Spring Break No School
April 8: Enrollment Begins for 2024/2025 School Year
April 9: PTA Meeting 3:30pm
April 10: OHE Kindergarten Orientation 5pm
April 12: High 5 Friday
April 15: Purple-Up Day
April 18: First Grade Music Concert 6pm
April 19: Intent Cards Due
April 19: Yearbook Sales End
April 25: Elementary Art Walk 5pm
April 26: Go Green Spirit Day
April 26: Arbor Day
April 27: Holland Happening Parade & Festival
Join Us in The Parade
Would you like to walk in the Holland Happening Parade? We are looking for student volunteers to hand out candy and flyers, promoting how wonderful OHE is and why parents should enroll their students at OHE for the 2024/2025 school year. Students must have an adult walk with them in the parade. Check-in time is 10:30am and the parade starts at 11am. Be sure to wear your OHE spirit wear or blue and green. Sign up below.
I.D. Required
Identification is now required to check your student/s into school tardy. The new computer system replaces the old paper tardy sign-in sheets. Accepted IDs include U.S. government-issued licenses, identification cards, permanent resident cards, or active military cards.
In addition to tardies, we will continue to ask all visitors at OHE during regular school hours (8:15 to 3:05) to present a government-issued form of identification to enter school grounds or to check a student out of school. If no such identification is available, the parent or guardian will not be allowed past the front office.
No Pets Allowed On Campus
Reminder regarding dogs and other pets on campus:
Any live animals on campus should be pre-approved by the principal unless they are service animals. If your pets are accompanying you to pick up or drop off your student, please keep them in your vehicle or on the sidewalk off campus (not on campus in the parent loop area).
This is for the safety of our students, as well as your pets. If you have any questions, please direct them to the main office or the principal.
Drop Off Times
Please drop off students between 8:15-8:40 in the morning so they can be seated and ready to learn by the start of school at 8:45 am. Students should not be on campus before then unless they are participating in a before-school music program. We do not have supervision available before 8:15 am.
If you arrive early, please keep your student in the car with you until 8:15 am.
If you arrive after 8:40, please park on Jerome and walk them to the office so you can sign them in and we can give them a pass to their classroom. We only have 3 visitor spaces in our main parking lot, so it gets very crowded and dangerous for students when families use that parking area between 8:40-9:00am.
**Identification is required to check your student/s into school tardy. Accepted IDs include U.S. government-issued licenses, identification cards, permanent resident cards, or active military cards.
We will have staff and local community members line up at arrival time (8:15 am to 8:40 am) offering high fives, fist or elbow bumps, and words of encouragement to students on their way into the buildings.
The High Five Friday is intended to allow community members to make connections with our students, build positive relationships, and gain a greater sense of friendship with students in our community. If you would like to volunteer to greet our students, please contact our office at 360-279-5100.
Mrs. Elmgren, Paraeducator
Ms. Lee, Fourth Grade Teacher
Mrs. Boswell, Attendance Secretary
April is Stress Awareness Month
Identifying Signs of Stress in Your Children and Teens
Young people experience stress from a variety of sources. Some stress can be positive but too much stress is overwhelming. Tuning into emotional or behavioral cues is important in identifying potential problems.
Young people, like adults, experience stress. It can come from a variety of sources including:
Doing well in school
Making and sustaining friendships
Managing perceived expectations from their parents, teachers or coaches
Dealing with upheaval resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic
Some stress can be positive in that it provides the energy to tackle a big test, presentation, or sports event. Too much stress, however, can create unnecessary hardship and challenges. Adults can sometimes be unaware when their children or teens are experiencing overwhelming feelings of stress. Tuning into emotional or behavioral cues is important in identifying potential problems and working with your young person to provide guidance and support to successfully work through difficult times.
Here are some tips from the American Psychological Association (APA) on ways to recognize possible signs of stress:
Watch for negative changes in behavior: For children, stress can manifest itself through changes in behavior. Common changes can include acting irritable or moody, withdrawing from activities that used to give them pleasure, routinely expressing worries, complaining more than usual about school, crying, displaying surprising fearful reactions, clinging to a parent or teacher, sleeping too much or too little or eating too much or too little.
Understand that “feeling sick” may be caused by stress: If a child makes excessive trips to the school nurse or complains of frequent stomachaches or headaches (when they have been given a clean bill of health by their physician) or if these complaints increase in certain situations (e.g., before a big test) that child may be experiencing significant stress.
Be aware of how your child or teen interacts with others: Sometimes a child or teen may seem like his or her usual self at home but be acting out in unusual ways in other settings.
Listen and translate: Because children are often not familiar with the word stress and its meaning, they may express feelings of distress through other words such as “worried,” “confused,” “annoyed,” and “angry.” It is important for parents to listen for these words and statements and try to figure out why their child or teen is saying them.
Seek support: Psychologists have special training to help people identify problems and develop effective strategies to resolve overwhelming feelings of stress.
Parents, children, and teens do not need to tackle overwhelming stress on their own. If a parent is concerned that his or her child or teen is experiencing significant symptoms of stress on a regular basis, including but not limited to those described above, it can be helpful to work with a licensed mental health professional, such as a psychologist.
Access the full article: https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/children
Oak Harbor Elementary
Email: oheinfo@ohsd.net
Website: www.ohsd.net/ohes
Location: 151 Southeast Midway Boulevard, Oak Harbor, WA, USA
Phone: 360-279-5100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oakharborelementary