The Husky Bulletin 8/14/2024

8/14/2024

Dear Oak View Husky Community,

It is an absolute honor to join Oak View Elementary as your new Principal. The past two months have not only been filled with new learning for me, but also more importantly, it has been a time to start connecting with our amazing community.

Many people have asked me what my vision is for Oak View Elementary School. I believe in three pillars that are fundamental for a healthy, fun, and high performing school:

1. Academic Excellence: Innovative and culturally relevant learning

2. Strong School Foundation: We put unity in the community.

3. Social-Emotional Learning: Collaborative and meaningful learning that helps prepare students to be global citizens

I want scholars, families, and staff to feel safe and to feel a sense of belonging. I like to tell my teams, “We’re going to work hard and to play hard.” Our goal here at Oak View is for our children to have joyful learning experiences and to make memories that last a lifetime. This connects to our District Mission that says, Our Mission as a district is to inspire and prepare each and every scholar with the confidence, courage and competence to achieve their dreams; contribute to community; and to engage in a lifetime of learning.

Parents and caregivers are crucial members of a child’s education. Your feedback is really important to me. Please reach out if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Thank you for supporting this amazing community. It’s going to be a joyful year here at Oak View Elementary.

With gratitude,

Ryan Gibbs, Principal

Oak View Elementary School

763-425-1881

Gibbsr@District279.org

We’re ALL here, ALL the time, for ALL children!

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! We are excited to meet our new students and families while welcoming back our returning students and families! There is A LOT of information below, please take the time to read over all the important information.

Parent Pick-Up Procedure Change:

If your student(s) will be parent-pick up at the end of the day, at any point throughout the school year, please read carefully.

• Each family will be assigned a number and receive that number on a laminated piece of paper. (please pick this up at open house)
• When you pick your student(s) up at the end of the day (3:50), please show your number to the staff member out front.
• Your number will be communicated to staff members inside and your student(s) will come to your car!
• I will send a separate e-mail with more information about this change next week.

Please join us at our back-to-school Open House on August 28th! This is an open house style event, so come any time between 4:00pm and 5:30pm. Here is what we have in store for you...

• Meet your teacher and other staff
• Pay for school supplies- $35/student- a more detailed school supply email will be sent next week
• See your classroom
• Gather information from various community and school organizations in the gym

Enjoy a sweet treat from PTO!

Teacher assignments will be posted in ParentVue after 3:00pm on Tuesday, August 27th. Staff and administration work hard to create balanced and healthy classrooms. For this reason, please respect that we do not make changes to classroom assignments.

New families, please click the button below to create a ParentVue account.

Returning families, all back to school forms MUST be completed and/or verified to enter ParentVue for the first time each school year. ParentVue will prompt you to do this when you login. You will have to verify ALL CHILDREN in your home, even young siblings! Your ParentVue account is the same as last year and will work for all of your students in the district. Use the button below to access more information about ParentVue

Bus information (Bus number, bus stop location, pick-up and drop-off times) will be available in ParentVue on Thursday, August 22. Transportation information will also be emailed to families from the District Transportation Department on Friday, August 23.

Oak View will not have access to transportation information before Friday, August 23. Please wait for the Transportation Department communication.

If your child's bus information is not posted in ParentVUE on Friday, please inquire with transportation at 763-391-7244.

As a reminder, transportation is only available to students who live within the Oak View attendance boundaries. To find out if your address, daycare address, etc. is in our boundaries, please click here.

If you have further transportation questions, need to make changes to your student's bus information, etc. please visit https://www.district279.org/services/transportation or email transportation at BusQuestions@district279.org.

If you are interested in volunteering this school year, please fill out the volunteer application. This needs to be done every school year. This is your first step if you will be interested in chaperoning any field trips this school year.

Our first spirit day of the school year is all planned! Let's help the Minnesota Vikings start the season off with a WIN.....dress in purple/yellow or your Vikings gear.

Get a head start on your Oak View gear! Starting August 13th, the whole site is 30% off. Click the link below.

It is important that all families fill out the Educational Benefits Application every year. Families who qualify may be eligible for a variety of benefits, which may include free or discounted prices for the following:

· Field trips

· Some Community Education programs

· Clubs, activities, and athletics

· Instrument rentals

· Fees, including for AP testing, graduation and more

· Device protection plans on school-provided devices

· Comcast internet for home

· Xcel Energy account assistance for electricity bills

Additionally, the state of Minnesota uses a school district’s percentage of qualifying students from applications completed and approved prior to October 1 each year to calculate each district’s funding level. School district funding impacts every student:

· Class sizes

· The number of support staff the district hire to help students (i.e. counselors & social workers)

· Extra programming opportunities

Please fill out the Educational Benefits Application today to make sure your family can take advantage of these and other benefits!

8/28- Open House 4:00pm-5:30pm

9/3- First day of school

9/10- PTO Meeting 6pm-7pm

9/13- MN Vikings Dress-Up Day

9/16- Fun Run Kick-Off

9/17- Picture Day

9/27- Fun Run

Ryan Gibbs, Principal: GibbsR@district279.org

Jody Seppala, Assistant Principal: SeppalaJ@district279.org

Angie Passehl, Secretary: PassehlA@district279.org

Melody Hahn-Merges, Social Worker: hahn-mergesm@district279.org

Terri Simon, Counselor: simont@district279.org