Wednesday Express

Updated February 1

Please be sure to read all the way through the Express, as items are listed by date and new submissions may appear at the end.

Reminders...

This Friday, Feb. 3 - No Uniform Day; Wear RED for Caring
Friday, Feb. 10 - No School Day for Admissions Day
Thursday, Feb. 16 & Friday, Feb 17 - No School Day for Conferences; Childcare available (see below)
Monday, Feb. 20 - No School Day for Presidents' Day

A Note from David Lowell (new)

Every November our 4th and 5th graders take the ERB Comprehensive Testing Program standardized test. The test is a timed, multiple choice and nationally normed test consisting of eight subtests covering a wide range of skills and abilities in the following areas:

Verbal Reasoning – the ability to analyze information, draw logical conclusions, recognize analogical verbal relationships, generalize verbal categorical attributes
Auditory Comprehension (4th Grade only)
Vocabulary (5th Grade only)
Reading Comprehension
Writing Concepts and Skills (5th Grade only)
Writing Mechanics
Quantitative Reasoning – the ability to analyze mathematical concepts and principles, to make generalizations, and to compare quantities mathematically
Mathematics

We have recently received the results of the ERB tests administered last fall and are in the process of reviewing them. Overall, OES students performed notably well in all subtests, with median scores equal to or exceeding independent school norms in all categories. Click here for a graph showing 5th grade Median Scores.

We will be using the ERB results as part of our curriculum assessment by looking at comparative subtest strengths and weaknesses. We will also compare this year’s results to the average performance over the last several years to assess the effectiveness of various curriculum enhancements.

In addition to our school scores, we receive individual test scores for each of our 4th and 5th grade students. The individual scores provide us with another way to understand each child’s academic strengths and challenges. Individual student scores will be mailed home to the families of 4th and 5th grade students on Monday, February 13. 4th and 5th grade teachers will be available to discuss the ERB results with parents during the teacher conferences on February 16th and 17th.

Report cards
Last Friday, January 27, was the end of the first semester of school. Since then faculty have been working to finalize your child’s progress report. This year all progress reports for 1st – 5th Grade students and all Specialist Teacher reports will be available online through the OES Parent Portal. Beginning School progress reports will still be mailed home as our student information systems database is not yet able to handle the continuums format. Reports will be posted and mailed next week.

Specialists Teachers
Please join us for the Lower School PAL meeting on Friday, February 3 at 8:00am. We have invited the Lower School Specialist Teachers to come and talk about their programs and answer your questions. The specialist teachers will all be available to meet with you during conference days, February 16 and 17. Please contact the specialist teacher to arrange a conference or simply stop by the Lower School Library for a drop in conference.

Admissions Day
There is no school and no Extended Care on the Lower School Admissions Day, February 10. All Lower School faculty will be busy and much of the Lower School will be used for assessing applicants for grades PreK to 5th grade.

Re-Enrollment Contracts (new)

Re-enrollment contracts will once again be arriving to you via email. This is part of our ongoing efforts to improve our environmental and financial sustainability. Look for contracts to arrive in your inbox on Monday, February 6th. If you do not see it in your inbox, please check your spam filter/junk email folder. Contracts with deposits need to be returned to the Admissions Office no later than Tuesday, February 21st.

Please do not return contracts via the lockbox for tuition payments – they need to be returned to the Admissions Office.

Friday's Assembly (new)

Friday's Lower School assembly will focus on the pillar of CARING. To go along with the caring assembly, this week in the Lower and Beginning schools has been Random Acts of Kindness Week. Children have been encouraged to notice the positive actions others do during the week, which will be celebrated at Friday's assembly.
Friday will also be a no-uniform day, and students should wear RED to represent the caring pillar. The assembly will feature a 1st grade presentation about caring, and the next song in Mr. D's Pillars of Character collection. All are welcome to attend at 2:10 in the gym.

Childcare Options During Conferences (new)

Midyear conferences are for parents only. There are 2 childcare options on Thursday, February 16 and Friday, February 17.

All Day Extended Care
Extended Care will be available both days. Please watch for an email soon with details and information on registering. There is limited space and spots are filled on a first come, first served basis. Sign up eary!

Conference Time Supervision
Assistant Teachers will be available for those children who need supervision only during the conference time. This option is for students and their siblings ages 4 and up only.

Please note that this supervison is no longer located in the hallways. Please give yourself enough time to check your chil(ren) in at the following locations:

Thursday
7:00am - 3:00pm in the gym
3:00pm - 5:00pm in the LS library

Friday
7:00am - 3:00pm in the gym
(childcare will not be available after 3:00 Friday)

Look Ahead & Lean In (new)

Leadership Volunteer Positions for 2012-2013

It's already time for Parent Community Link to start looking ahead to our next school year! Please take a moment to investigate the different volunteer leadership positions open for 2012-2013. Click here to access a listing of descriptions. Express your interest in being considered for a specific position by clicking on the “Express Interest” icon shown by the job description. All interested individuals will be contacted by members of Parent Community Link between March and April to determine if a placement might work and to discuss options. We look forward to hearing from you!

OES Aardvark Science Expos (new)

Parents, family, and friends of the OES community are invited to visit the OES Aardvark Science Expos where Middle & Upper School research projects/exhibits will be on display.

On Thursday, February 23rd, from 8:00am – 5:00pm, the exhibit hall in SPARC Gymnasium is open to the public. Student exhibitors will not be with their projects that day, though it is an excellent opportunity for members of the entire OES community to spend time perusing the wide array of 250+ incredible projects and reading exhibit boards.

On Friday, February 24, after judging, there is an open house from 6:30 – 7:30pm, followed by the awards ceremony from 7:30 – 8:30pm.

Buses will run between SPARC and the lower lot by the athletic fields from 6:20–9:00pm. If you would like a parking permit for SPARC, inquire at the Upper or Middle School office.

Would you like to help as a judge or volunteer?
Visit the Volunteer Opportunities page.

Click here to see the complete schedule.

Parent Technology Survey Results

Thank you very much to those who responded to the Parent and Media Technology Survey in early December. I have compiled the data from each question and created a document that displays the results graphically.
Click on the link below to view the results:
Parent Survey Results

Parent Technology Classes

As you will see in the survey results, there was a great deal of interest in discussions as well as enthusiasm for some parent technology classes. I am very excited about the possibility of teaching parents the technology skills that we are teaching the students. In particular, I hope to help all parents of students in grades 3-5 become comfortable with OES’s Google Apps for Education tools and expectations. I will be offering these classes beginning the week of February 6. Watch the Wednesday Express for links to class registration. The topics being considered for Parent Technology Classes are:

• Google Apps: an intro to how Google apps works and how OES students use cloud computing
• Configuring and managing social networking privacy settings
• Subscribing to OES calendars
• Understanding and Accessing Resources through the Parent Portal
• Managing Parental Controls on Mac products (laptops, desktops, ipads, ipods, etc.)
• Registering your email address with Google so you can link to OES’s Google calendars as well as have a Google Apps account for your personal use.
• more??

If you have ideas for other classes that you wish we would offer, please email me.

Midyear Conference Scheduling

Using the online scheduling system is very easy – open each of your children’s teachers’ scheduling pages below and pick a time that is most convenient for you.

Online scheduling will close Sunday, February 12 at 11:00pm. After this time you will need to contact the teacher directly to make any changes to the schedule.

Beginning School
Pre-Kindergarten
Bridgnell
Carsman
McAuley
King

1st Grade:
Marty Eastman-Brown
Chris Thompson
Doug Whitmore

2nd Grade:
Jackie Blake
Claire Kucera
Janet Schilling

3rd Grade:
Paula Hunger
Kiah Johnson Mounsey
Jeannie Rawley’s Class

4th Grade:
Kathy Narramore
(*Please note: Kathy Narramore’s conferences will be scheduled Monday, February 6 through Friday, February 10, before and after school. Her online scheduling will close Friday, February 3 at 11:00pm.)
Asha Sathyaraj
Jenny Shotts

5th Grade:
Tracy Arensberg
Natasha Busick
Alysa Williams

Grade-Level Parent Coffees

David Lowell, Chris O’Toole and the teachers will be hosting a series of grade-level parent coffees. These will be open-forum discussions for parents at the designated grade level. While we will be presenting a few topics of relevance to the grade level, we would also like to address topics of interest to you. Please contact your PAL Grade Level Representative if you have a topic you wish to have discussed at the coffee. Chris and I will be communicating with the Grade Level to review topics and plan the agendas. I look forward to seeing you at the Grade Level Coffees.

All Coffees are held from 8:00-9:00am in the LS Common Hall.

Grade	Date
1st Grade	Monday, February 6 (new date)
2nd Grade	Tuesday, February 7 (new date)

5th Grade Parents - MS Tour and Curriculum Night

For those of you that would like a chance to see the Middle School in action, Nancy Gray from the Admissions Office has offered to give a special tour of the Middle School for the OES fifth grade parents.

Wednesday, February 8, 8:15-9:00am, starting in the MS Lobby
(You are welcome to come at 8:00am if you would like to see our daily Gathering.)

On Wednesday, February 8, there will be a Sixth Grade Curriculum Night, 7:00-8:30pm in the MS Commons; this event affords you the opportunity to meet some of the sixth grade teachers and to hear about the 6th grade program. In addition, I invite you to read the Middle School section of the school handbook that may answer some of the questions you may have. Our weekly Middle School Messenger is also available online. Please browse through so that you may become more familiar with Parent Happenings and daily life in the Middle School.

Basketball News (new)

Mark your calendars for the final Sunday LS basketball clinic!

February 12 (new date! February 5 canceled)

The Varsity basketball coaches, Missy Smith and Lauran Pratt, will lead the players through a variety of drills and games that are designed to improve basketball skills. These clinics are free of charge and are open to all LS students grades K - 5.
All clinics will be held in the Main Gym from 4:15-6:00pm.
No need to register...just show up!
We hope to see you there!

State of the School (new)

Board Chair, Steve Grant, and Head of School, Mo Copeland, invite you to a presentation and question and answer session on the state of OES on Thursday, February 16 from 7:00 - 8:30pm. We will discuss the strategic plan and work we have accomplished in that area, the self-study and accreditation process, current admissions and fundraising targets, and the budget projection for next year. Finance Chair, Kirk Bass, and Associate Head, Kathy Layendecker, will present on the budget and current financial planning. We hope you can join us.

Midwinter Madness Kicks Off Thursday (new)

Midwinter Madness - OES's annual festival of fun and fundraising - will launch tomorrow with a Kickoff Assembly in the gym at 10:45am. Parents are encouraged to attend this event, which will also be attended by the 8th-12th graders. The Kickoff Assembly is a great chance to learn about this year's beneficiary organization, Elevate Oregon, a local non-profit that provides mentoring, leadership training and academic support to at-risk youth in the Parkrose School District.

A couple notes about specific fundraisers:

Parents from all three divisions are invited to pitch in by participating in the Parent Perambulation - a walk/bike/run-a-thon on the OES track, on Monday, February 13, 1:30-4:30pm. Interested parents donate $25 to Elevate Oregon and walk, jog, run, or bike a mile around the OES track to show support for the cause.

The Parent Perambulation will overlap with Midwinter Madness PowderPuff Football (games of flag football played between teams of girls from each Upper School grade), which is taking place 3:30-6:00pm on the turf field that afternoon. So you can enjoy some riveting gridiron action while walking your mile.

If you'd like to learn more about the Parent Perambulation, please contact one of the two parent organizers, or , or the faculty advisor for Midwinter Madness, 503.416.9352.

More information about Elevate Oregon is available here. You can also learn more about Elevate Oregon by attending the Midwinter Madness Kickoff Assembly, Thursday, Feb. 2,10:45am, in the gym. All parents are welcome.

CDL Books & Breakfast (new)

"Little Bee" by Chris Cleave
Please join Community Diversity Link in The Drinkward Volunteer Room on Friday, February 24th, from 8:00-9:30am to discuss Chris Cleave's incredible book, "Little Bee." The book will be discussed for one hour, followed by a review of the year's programs and conversation about plans for the 2012-2013 year. Click here for more information.

Volunteer for the Auction (new)

And get a cool auction T-shirt!

Anyone interested in helping please go to the VolunteerSpot website to sign up or email the auction office (auction at oes.edu). There are all kinds of opportunities to pitch in, from collecting bottles of wine curbside to entering data before the big event. There are also lots of fun jobs the night of the auction – setting up, selling raffle tickets, passing cocktails…

Tuesday, February 28: Please stop by the Charlton Room at 8:15am for a “bling party” to help put together the centerpieces for the auction dinner. As usual, there will be sweet things to eat.

The auction could still use some donations. Anything, big or small, is appreciated. How about extra air miles or hotel points?

The Wall of Wine is another great way to help.
Two wine shops have offered to help:

SEC WINES will take 10% off wine donations to the auction: call Eric at 503.805.5871
Anthony Dell Cellars will donate one bottle of wine for each bottle purchased for the auction, up to a maximum of 48bottles. Call Brandee at 971.218.7040, Wed. thru Sun.12-6.

Our volunteers will pick up your donation from both stores and deliver it to the auction.

Finally, don’t forget the deadline for the auction poster contest! The deadline for entries is Wednesday, February 1 and judging will take place February 3. Turn posters in to the division offices. Don’t forget the signature, name and grade.

Library Winter Reading Challenge

Second through fifth graders have a chance to win a $25 gift card for Powell's Books! Read four books between now and February 14th, fill out the form (with your parent's signature), bring it to the library, and your name will be entered to win. Forms are available in the library or online on the Lower School Library's webpage. Books should be at your reading level and new to you. If you read more, enter again! The prize will be delivered on Valentine's Day. Happy reading!

Flash Alert for School Closures and Delays

Are you signed up to receive the latest closure information via text or email?

If not, please visit:
http://www.flashalert.net/news.html?id=81

Closures and delays are posted on an emergency website called FlashAlert. 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.