Oak Creek Families,
The spring weather is finally here, at least briefly, and we have certainly enjoyed the shift at recess! I hope you and your family get some time to enjoy being outside together this weekend!
Please make sure to read note from the nurse below about the norovirus. We appreciate your help in keeping our students healthy. If you are reaching out to let us know your child will be home because they are not feeling well, please report their symptoms. This will help us better track attendance.
Read below for important information, including details about our School Advisory Committee, our upcoming Spirit Week/Move-a-thon, and more! If you have any questions, please see the FAQ section below, or feel free to reach out to myself or Tess Kristoffersson at kristoft@loswego.k12.or.us.
Thank you again for your support from home!
Barb Keeton
In This Message:
Updated in Every Edition:
- Principal's Message
- Dates to Remember
- PTO Corner
NEW In This Edition:
- Youth Truth Survey - Closing Soon!
- Norovirus Information from the Nurse - Please Read
Repeated Information:
- Lost and Found Information
- School Advisory Committees (SAC)
- Purposeful People
- Nurses' Newsletter
LOSD District News:
- Asian Cultural Festival
- LOSD Cares
- Tualatin Food Pantry
- "I Love Lake Oswego" Clothing Closet
- SafeOregon
- Subscribe to Lake Oswego Schools App
Dates to Remember!
March 24: Teacher Work Day - No School
March 27-31: Spring Break!
April 13-14: Conferences - No School
April 17-21: School-wide Spirit Week
April 21: Move-a-thon
April 22: Adult Only Auction
May 26: Grade Prep Day - No School
May 29: Memorial Day - No School
June 12: Last Day for Students! 11:00 Dismissal
Hello Oak Creek!
SAVE THE DATE! Coyote Spirit Week, the school wide Move-A-Thon, and the adult only action are back! We cannot wait to bring the community together! Specific times and details TBA. Stay tuned.
Coyote Spirit Week: April 17-21, 2023
School Wide Move-A-Thon: April 21, 2023
Adult Only Auction: April 22, 2023
Seeking auction items (game tickets, house rental, etc.), party boards (hosted party for a group), and sponsors! Offer a donation today!
Volunteer Opportunities!
Have you gotten to spend time with your child in the classroom this year? If not, art literacy is a great way to spend an hour with your child and their classmates! No art experience is necessary. We need teachers and assistants. April is Kandinsky and May is Escher. Please join us. We truly cannot run this program without you.
Thank you,
Lauren Terpstra, Sara Temme, Kirstin Martin and Stephanie Zietzke
Other opportunities to get involved include:
Dine out and raise money for the OCE PTO!
Visit Panera on April 10th, show the attached flyer, and 20% of your purchase will be donated to the OCE PTO. Ordering online? Use code: FUND4U
Coming soon!
Oak Creek Spring Book Fair, April 10th-14th. More information to follow.
OMSI Night at Oak Creek, June 1st, 4:30-7:30. Free to all OCE families. More information to follow.
Order your yearbook! Pre-order for $25. If you make a “Direct Ask” donation, or a donation over $175, a yearbook is included.
Get your OCE spirit wear! Use this link to shop for all of your coyote gear.
Follow us on social media!
Facebook @ Oak Creek Elementary
Instagram @ Oak Creek Elementary PTO
Questions? OakCreekElementaryPTO@gmail.com
Oak Creek Elementary PTO Executive Committee
Kirstin Martin / President
Amanda Schade / Treasurer VP
Samantha McCaskey / Assistant Treasurer VP
Page Donnelly/ Membership VP
Brooke Mattern / Communications VP
Holli Hansford / Co-Events and Enrichment VP
Barry Hansford / Co-Events and Enrichment VP
Steve Farnham / Co-Fundraising VP
Heather Shoyer / Co-Fundraising VP
Lauren Terpstra / Parental Involvement VP
Rachel Wilde / Secretary VP
Teressa Raine / Sustainability VP
Norovirus Letter from Our Nurse
Dear Parent or Guardian and Staff,
Clackamas County Health Department has become aware that many students at Oak Creek
Elementary School are absent because of vomiting or diarrhea. The Health Department is
investigating the situation. From the information we have at this point, it appears that the illness
might be caused by Norovirus.
What is Norovirus? This is a common but highly contagious virus that is usually spread by
person-to-person contact but can also be spread through food, water, or contact with things that
infected persons have touched. Illness usually occurs one or two days after being exposed.
Infected persons are contagious while they have symptoms and usually for a couple of days
after symptoms have resolved.
Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Some people may have
a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness
often begins suddenly, and the infected person may feel very sick. The illness is usually brief,
with symptoms lasting about 1 or 2 days.
How serious is it? People with norovirus disease may feel very sick and vomit many times a
day. Most do not feel sick enough to seek medical attention, and most get better within 1 or 2
days. Few people with norovirus disease are hospitalized; but the vomiting and diarrhea can
lead to dehydration requiring medical attention.
If you think you have this infection, the following will help you and help prevent others
from getting sick:
● Stay home to rest for at least 48 hours after the vomiting and diarrhea have stopped and
you are feeling better.
● Sip fluids frequently as tolerated. Half-strength apple juice, sports fluids, flat lemon-lime
soda, or popsicles can help to prevent dehydration.
● WASH HANDS FREQUENTLY: Rub all surfaces of hands with soap, rub lathered hands
together vigorously for at least 20 seconds, and then thoroughly rinse the hands under a
stream of water.
● Wash hands after using the bathroom, cleaning, changing diapers, or before eating or
preparing food. Avoid sharing towels, and if possible ask ill persons to use only one
bathroom.
● Disinfect household surfaces with a bleach solution (1 cup of household bleach to a
gallon of water).
● Call your health provider if symptoms last longer than three days; if you have bloody
diarrhea or a fever greater than 100.5°F; or if you think you are becoming dehydrated. If
you have any questions, concerns, or need assistance, please contact the Clackamas
County Health Department Communicable Disease Control Program at 503-655-8411.
Seeking Volunteers for Our Advisory Committees (SAC)
We need you! Please consider applying for our school or district advisory committee for terms starting next school year. There is one application for all committees -- please mark the committee that is of interest to you. Only committees with vacancies -- School Advisory Committees and Long Range Facility Planning -- are listed in the application for this period. See the charters posted on the School Board Advisory Committees web page for more information about each committee.
The deadline for applications has been moved to Friday, April 7 at 5 p.m. Recommendations and selections will be made in April. All applicants will be notified by May 1. Thank you!
Youth Truth Survey - Last Call!
Last call to provide your feedback in the YouthTruth survey and help improve students’ experiences in our schools. Your response is incredibly valuable to us. Please take the parent/guardian survey before it closes at midnight on March 24 by clicking this link: ytsurvey.org/losdfamily23
Please note:
The survey needs to be completed in one sitting.
We ask that one member of each household fill out the survey.
If you have more than one child who attends the same school, you may respond to the survey multiple times - one time per child.
If you write any comments, please do not include your name or anything else that might identify you. Your responses are anonymous, and they will be combined with the responses of other parents and guardians before being shared back with school and district leadership.
If you have any questions about the survey or our plans for how we will use your feedback, please contact Principal Keeton.
Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback.
Purposeful People
Dear Oak Creek Families,
During the month of March, we will work together to practice the character trait of COOPERATION in our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons, classrooms, and throughout our school.
As a school community, we will be examining how Cooperation looks, sounds, and feels. Cooperation is about assistance, support, collaboration, & teamwork. It is a necessary tool in our toolbox for creating a community that cares for one another and in turn creates a school community in which each Forest Hills Falcon truly feels a sense of belonging.
The definition students will be learning this month is: COOPERATION: working together to reach shared goals
Students will be encouraged to use cooperation skills such as communication, self-awareness, and the ability to step up (or step back) when the time is right to best support whatever group you are working with.
March is also recognized as National Disability Awareness Month which we will honor by learning how our classroom communities are made strong by our diversity of learning styles and abilities. We each have different abilities, skills and ways of learning. We will direct our focus on inclusive practices and continuing our work with empathy & kindness. School Counselor-led lessons in March will be centered on cooperation through the critical lens of Disability Awareness.
To explore COOPERATION further as a family here is a link with some wonderful children's books about disabilities for you to continue the conversations at home.
In Partnership,
Roxanne Davidson
School Counselor
"I Love Lake Oswego" Clothing Closet Open to Entire Community!
I Love Lake Oswego Clothing Closet has received an overwhelming amount of support and donation during the pandemic. We want to give back to our community and encourage our community to lean on us not for just hard times, but for up cycling, sustainability, and for our environment. In the past the closet was just for students, and since the pandemic we have opened our doors to anyone within our community.
Visit https://www.ilovelakeoswego.com for more information.
SafeOregon
Parents-guardians who have concerns about a student’s well-being are encouraged to reach out to their principal, and to maintain strong lines of communication and partnership between students, families, staff, and other resources.
SafeOregon is also an effective way to report a tip regarding safety threats or potential acts of violence to our students or schools.
(Students should also be aware that intentionally providing a false report is a serious offense.)
Subscribe to Lake Oswego Schools App
Stay connected to the district and your school(s) and receive urgent notifications by subscribing to the Lake Oswego Schools App.
About Oak Creek
Reach out to us if you have any questions or need anything!
- Principal; Barb Keeton: keetonb@loswego.k12.or.us
- Administrative Assistant; Terese Kristoffersson: kristoft@loswego.k12.or.us
- Administrative Assistant; Tanya Goodwin: goodwint@loswego.k12.or.us
Address: 55 Kingsgate Rd., Lake Oswego, OR 97035
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OakCreekPTA/
Interested in OCE Spirit Wear? Check out this website sponsored by our PTO! OCE Spirit Wear
