Roadrunner News

March 16: Professional Development Late Start--First bell for students is at 9:20 am

March 26-April 3: Spring Break-No School

The blurb and links below were put together by our Supervisor of Elementary Instruction and English Language Development Coordinator with support from our School Psychologists and Oakland Schools.

Social media and the news have been filled with Russian attacks on Ukraine. As the violence continues, you may be left wondering how to discuss these events with your child. Below are some resources to help you as parents guide these conversations with your child. Please encourage your child to talk to a trusted adult if they see or hear upsetting information, rather than discussing it with other children. This can help to mitigate the spread of misinformation and fear among students.

Supporting Youth Affected by War-National Association of School Psychologists

3 Tips for Talking to Kids about War and Violence-Little Justice Leaders

Our Royal Oak PAC (ROPAC) is a group of parents passionate about the education and the well-being of our children. The ROPAC sincerely welcomes any parent with a student(s) in Royal Oak Schools to join us in our mission to make our schools a destination for students receiving special education services to thrive.

We are committed to promoting inclusivity for all. We believe students of all abilities deserve respect, support, and resources.

The ROPAC usually meets monthly during the academic school year. Topics are discussed that are relevant to our students and we often have guest speakers. See below for the flyer about the upcoming meeting.

We would love to have you join us!

Below is the flyer for the Spring RO Pistons Basketball Academy. For those who are not aware, we in Royal Oak have a special connection with the Detroit Pistons, as Aaron Smith, who is the Director of Youth Engagement & Development for the Pistons, is also the varsity boys' basketball coach at Royal Oak High School.

This particular session will be predominantly, if not entirely, all boys, though girls are welcome to sign up if they have interest. Please do note that the intent is to have a similar program for just girls in the fall. More to come.

The message below is from Sarah Olson, the district's Executive Director of Teaching & Learning.

We are thrilled to share that we will be distributing a new Chromebook to each Oakland Elementary student. At this time, we are preparing to distribute at Oakland Elementary sometime during the window of March 17th-March 25th. The purpose of this program is to ensure that every student be assigned and receive a Chromebook for their educational use. These Chromebooks will not need to be returned at the end of the year; rather they are for students to keep in their possession for the next several years of their schooling in Royal Oak. There is no cost to families to receive the Chromebook. Parents must complete this Chromebook Agreement Form for each child in order to receive a Chromebook. For additional information on this program, please go to this link on our website.

March 28-April 4th, child care is available for families currently enrolled in Young Oaks.

Please complete the form to apply for Spring Break Break Days. Slots are limited and will be filled on a 1st come, first served basis. MARCH 4th is the deadline.

In order to run our Half-Day or Break Day Programs, a minimum number of enrollments must be met.

Just a heads up to all that we will not be accepting any forms/money going forward, but you can order online at the Kaiser website. The link is below and the code for online ordering is 2122YBOAKLAN.

Kaiser Studio

This is being reposted, as we had a good response to the original post in the fall, but our supply is running low again.

As many of you know, we have a "pantry" at Oakland where we keep a variety of items and non-perishable food so that we can support kids and families at periodic times throughout the school year. Donations are always welcome, and right now I would like to put out a specific request for any lightly used sweatpants sizes 5-12, as these often come in handy for a variety of reasons. (As I am sure you can imagine when you have a couple hundred kids doing the things that kids do.) If you are able to make a donation, please just drop it off in the main office with Mrs. Hall. Thanks in advance for your support.

Hearing screenings for grades K, 2, and 4 will now be taking place on April 7th and 8th at Oakland. If your child is in one of these grades, there is nothing you need to do. If your child is in grades 1, 3, or 5 and you have concerns and would like them screened, please let their teacher or Mrs. Hall (angela.hall@royaloakschools.org) know and a permission slip will be sent to you.

If you or anyone you knows has an incoming Kindergarten student planning on attending Oakland next year, please review the information below:

Kindergarten/developmental kindergarten enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year has begun. Royal Oak Schools processes new student enrollments online at www.royaloakschools.org Click on the "Enrollment" tab and then "How to Enroll" to begin this process. Once you have completed the online enrollment, including step 5 which is uploading the required enrollments, our enrollment staff will process the enrollment and send a confirmation email. If you are not able to do so at home, please contact Gina Harwood, Enrollment Coordinator at gina.harwood@royaloakschools.org to schedule an appointment for assistance.

Michigan State Law stipulates that a child must be 5 years of age on or before September 1 in order to enroll in kindergarten or developmental kindergarten for the 2022-2023 school year. If a child is not 5 by the September 1 enrollment eligibility date, but will be 5 no later than December 1, an option for parents or guardians to enroll their child in kindergarten/developmental kindergarten is available by completing an Age Waiver form which is available on the website.

Internal Elementary Transfer Request forms are also available on the website. If a parent wishes to request their child attend a school other than their attendance boundary school, a completed form must be submitted to the Enrollment Office in person by February 28th at 4:00 p .m. in order to have priority consideration. Receipt of a completed transfer form is not a guarantee that your child will receive a spot. Further information is available in the Transfer Request Guidelines document on the website.

In light of the tough economic times facing our area, we are attempting to help Royal Oak Schools families by making sure that all of our children have enough food. “Blessings in a Backpack” is a program designed to provide students on the free and reduced lunch with enough food for three meals a day during the weekends. This program, sponsored by the North Woodward Community Foundation and the Meijer Corporation has begun in Royal Oak Schools.

If you agree to take part in this program, during the school year, your child will receive a bag every Friday, filled with food for the weekend. The simple meals may include food like macaroni and cheese, beef ravioli, fruit granola bars, peanut butter, soups, juice and other items.

If you would like to have your child participate in this program, click on the link, fill out the form, and return it to your child’s school AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Blessings in a Backpack Form

“We need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in.”

Desmond Tutu

He/Him/His • (What's This?)

Email: sam.lynch@royaloakschools.org
Website: royaloakschools.org
Location: 2415 Brockton Avenue, Royal Oak, MI, USA
Phone: 248 5424406
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sam.lynch.370
Twitter: @STLROeducation

It is clearly an understatement to say that we have had a challenging last couple of years. A clear offshoot of this is that many of our kids and families are struggling with any number of things, be it social-emotional, financial, or any variety of issues that have been amplified by the pandemic. With this being said, please know that Oakland is a community that looks to support all of its members, both with school resources and our network of outside supports.

If you find your kids or yourselves in any sort of need, please feel free to reach out to me at sam.lynch@royaloakschools.org. Any request for assistance will be discreet, with full intent of following the wishes of each and everyone of you with regards to who might be made aware of your challenges.

In short, we care deeply and want to help.

During the first several months of the pandemic, I periodically wrote some thoughts that I thought important for some of us to think about. Many in our community have already read them, but I have had multiple people inquire about seeing some of them again, and we also have several new families joining us. With that in mind, I will keep the links below active (and may periodically add to them). Feel free to take a look or share or ignore, whatever your inclinations may be.