School Closure

Occasionally, snow or other weather conditions necessitate closure or delayed opening of school. School closure may take one of three forms:

No School: News media will be notified by 6 a.m. School will resume the following day, unless announced otherwise the next morning.

Delayed Start: If it appears that conditions will ease, school will convene two hours late. The media will broadcast this plan. Please continue to monitor reports, as unanticipated worsening of conditions may necessitate closure.

Early Closure: Should safety-threatening conditions develop during the day, students will be sent home early and media will be notified. Parents of Lower and Middle School students will be notified by telephone, and students will be supervised at school until they are picked up. Please be sure that the school offices have all of your current contact numbers so you can be easily contacted in these situations. Upper School students will be responsible for making their own arrangements, but may stay at school until they can be picked up.

Closure Announcements: Closures are posted on an emergency website called Newsbridge. OES also is a member of a school closure network that automatically contacts radio and television stations once our information is posted. Please check the website or monitor one of the major local stations. The television stations' web sites also provide links to school closure announcements. In addition, closure messages are left on the OES telephone system at 503-246-7771.

Community-wide Disaster

OES has contracted with an emergency calling company that can broadcast a message to all parent and employee home and work phone numbers. This system would be used only in the event of a community-wide disaster that would require ending the normal school day.

OES has made agreements with The Athenian School in Danville, California, and the Lick-Wilmerding School in San Francisco to act as out-of-state, same time zone, emergency contacts for OES. If a disaster of any kind occurs that incapacitates our phone system, both of these schools will be contacted with information regarding the status of the OES community. These schools have agreed to serve as information centers until our direct communication system is restored. Please use this system only in the event of a true emergency. Always try the OES numbers first.

The Athenian School
925-837-5375
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
All other times, in this order, call:
Head of School Eleanor Dase at 925-998-0203
Dean of Students Kathleen Huntington at 925-362-7207.

Lick-Wilmerding School
415-333-4021
Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-5 p.m.
After hours, in this order, call:
Operations Manager Velia Meyer at 415-720-0315
Head of School Albert Adams at 415-726-0727
Associate Head Ann Maisel at 415-716-4661
Asst. Head for Academic Affairs Ilana Kaufman at 415-716-5679
Dean of Students Brenda Kou at 415-716-5378.