Knightly News

It is hard to believe that the holiday season is upon us. We have several exciting activities planned to celebrate in the coming weeks. We will kick off the season with the high school band and choir concert on Friday, December 3 at 7:00 p.m. in the new gym. The elementary concert will follow on Monday, December 6 also at 7:00 p.m. in the new gym.

There are also several community activities coming up. The Chamber of Commerce is hosting "Kids Christmas" at the Harvest Moon Pumpkin Patch on Saturday, December 4 from 10:00 a.m. until noon. The Oakland Women's Club is continuing the fun during their Tour of Lights Saturday evening from 6:30-8:30 p.m.. Pick up your maps, candy canes, and hot chocolate (donated by Memories Cafe) in the elementary parking lot. Free will donation will be accepted. Several businesses are holding Open Houses the evening of December 9. We encourage you to support our local businesses by shopping local! The excitement continues on December 12 with the Swedish Heritage Center's Sankta Lucia Program. All students are encouraged to perform in the program. Rehearsals will be at the Swedish Heritage Center after school on December 2, December 7, and December 9. There will also be a rehearsal on Saturday, December 11 with a time to be determined later. This is another great way to support our community so we hope to see you all there!

School will dismiss for winter break on December 17 with no school from December 18 until January 3. Students will return for a full day of school on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.

From all of us at Oakland-Craig Public Schools, we wish you the happiest of holiday seasons!

We will be doing some work over winter break in our gym stairways. As a result, the gym, weight room, and wrestling room, will be closed from December 21-December 27. The walking track will still be available but please remember that a facility use form must be completed before using our facilities. In addition, all children under the age of 19 must be accompanied by an adult when using the district facilities.

Facility Use Form

Providing school meals has become significantly more difficult this year as school meal participation has increased. Adding to the challenges are COVID-19-related disruptions to school food service manufacturing, supply, and distribution channels. These disruptions result in frequent menu changes, reduced menu variety, and changes in meal service options. The most common problems are discontinued menu items, shortages, longer-than-normal lead times, significantly higher costs compared with pre-pandemic bids, delayed deliveries or deliveries that contain a portion of what was ordered.

In addition to supply-chain disruptions, many of our Nebraska school districts struggle with staff shortages, and these staffing limitations may restrict menu choices, reduce meal service options, and can impact the use of traditional service ware such as trays and cutlery.

These factors create unprecedented challenges for foodservice operators across Nebraska and there is no sign of relief coming soon. The food service industry predicts supply chain disruptions and staffing difficulties will persist well into 2022.

Nebraska school food service programs are continuing to provide students with nutritious meals. These meals may not be the same as what was planned due to the difficulties outlined above. Your understanding of these challenges faced by Nebraska school food service operators is appreciated.

While everyone is receiving free meals right now, some of our district funding relies heavily on our free/reduced meal rates. Currently, 36% of our population receives free/reduced meals; however, some of our funding requires us to meet the minimum of 40%. The future of some of our programs (i.e. after school program) requires us to meet these needs so we are asking everyone to fill out an application. I have included a link to the application below. Even if you don't meet the income requirements, you can fill out the application. I realize there isn't a direct benefit to households since everyone is receiving free meals right now, but the district relies heavily on utilizing funding provided based on our free/reduced rate so we would greatly appreciate everyone completing the application. Applications can also be found in the high school and elementary offices or can be sent home with your child.

Free/Reduced Application

Winter will soon be upon us and with that we likely will see some inclement weather, but hopefully not a lot. All weather delays and closures will be announced via our OneCall system, local news stations (KTIC, The Bull, KETV, etc.), and our school social media pages. If you are not on the OneCall system and you would like to be, please contact the school office. Community members are welcome to receive calls as well! You do not have to be a parent to receive our OneCalls. if you want to stay up to date with what is happening at the school, we are happy to add you to our list!

Elkhorn Logan Valley will be here on January 10, 2022 from 2:00-6:00 p.m. offering Covid booster shots and vaccinations for everyone 5 years and older that are interested. Students will not get vaccinated during school hours as their parents will have to bring them to be vaccinated. The public is also welcome to receive their vaccination or booster shot as well. Please note that the health department has a limited number of vaccine so we cannot guarantee that everyone that comes will receive the vaccine but we will do our best to accommodate everyone.

Those that choose to be vaccinated will complete a consent form at the time of the vaccination. In addition, you will need to bring your insurance card and your Covid vaccine card if you have already received the vaccine. They have to have the physical card. No pictures of the card will be accepted. If you do not have insurance, you will not be turned away. If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask.

I will continue to do my best to update you on the status of our illness and Covid-positive percentages. I have been posting this to the website on a weekly basis on the "Covid--19/ARP-ESSER III" tab.

Week 1: 3% ill, 0% Covid-Related Illness

Week 2: 3.7% ill, 0% Covid-Related Illness

Week 3: 1.6% ill, 0.4% Covid-Related Illness

Week 4: 1.4% ill, 0.2% Covid-Related Illness

Week 5: 1.9% ill, 0% Covid-Related Illness

Week 6: 1.2% ill; 0.2% Covid-Related Illness

Week 7: 3.4% ill; 0% Covid-Related Illness

Week 8: 2.7% ill; 0.2% Covid-Related Illness

Week 9: 1.9% ill; 0% Covid-Related Illness

Week 10: 2.1% ill; 0% Covid-Related Illness

Week 11: 2.6% ill; 0% Covid-Related Illness

Week 12: 2.1% ill; .26% Covid-Related Illness

Week 13: 2.4% ill; 0.8% Covid-Related Illness

Week 14: 3.5% ill; 0% Covid-Related Illness

Week 15: 1.6% ill; 0.5% Covid-Related Illness

Week 16: 1.3% ill, 1.6% Covid-Related Illness (Green)

Week 17: 8.2% ill, 2.5% Covid-Related Illness (Yellow) (Up to 4.5% Covid-Related Illness by End of Week - Orange)

Week 18: 1.4% ill; 2.9% Covid-Related Illness (Yellow)

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out via email, phone call, or schedule an in person meeting. Our goal is to keep students and staff safe and in school all year long.

After School Program Staff (3:30-5:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 2:30-5:00 p.m. Friday)

December 3 - High School Band/Choir Program

December 6 - Elementary Band/Choir Program

December 10 - Little Dancers Perform at Half Time of Basketball Games

December 13 - Board of Education Meeting

December 17 - End of 2nd Quarter/1st Semester (Grades finalized Monday, Dec. 20 so no late work will be accepted after December 17)

December 18 - January 3 - No School

December 20 - Teacher Inservice

January 3 - Teacher Inservice

January 4 - Students Return

December 4 - Chamber of Commerce Kid's Christmas, Women's Club Tour of Lights

December 5 - Chamber of Commerce Spaghetti Feed

December 10 - Lions Club Soup Supper (During OC Basketball Games)

December 11 - Lions Club Free Throw Contest

December 12 - Sankta Lucia Program at Swedish Heritage Center (5:00-7:00 p.m.)

Jessica Bland

Superintendent

Email: jessbland@ocknights.org
Website: www.ocknights.org
Location: 309 N Davis Ave, Oakland, NE, USA
Phone: 402-685-5661