Express Newsletter
Lower School Hours for the 2022-23 School Year
- 8 a.m.–3 p.m. All Days (Except Wednesday)
- 8 a.m.–2 p.m. Wednesdays Only
Join us on February 2 from 7:00-8:30pm! OES CAST members Steve Brennan (MS) and Maego Powers (US) will be among our panel speakers for this meeting. They will present current support services at OES and the ways their team normalizes neurodiversity.
The enrollment window for spring classes will run from Wednesday March 1-Tuesday March 7. Spring program will start after spring break on April 4.
Important upcoming events for the week of January 16-20 and Beyond
There are multiple opportunities in this Season of Action for OES community members to be in service together.
Here you can find videos that walk through how to use SchoolPass.
Please join the Aardvarks for a day of science as a science fair judge!
The annual Aardvark Science Expo (ASE) will be held on February 24th at SPARC (our OES Sports and Recreation Center) at 6699 SW Oleson Road.
Have questions about drop off and pick up.
Fill out this form to request additional car signs
Extension and Greenhouse Coordinator, Paige Witte, are excited to host a decorative moss bowl centerpiece workshop from 4:00-5:30pm on Feb 15 in the OES Greenhouse. (Sign Up Details Inside)
If your family has another child ready to apply to OES for 2023-2024, it is easy to access our Admissions Portal.
Here you can find a variety of helpful hints and information for Lower School
A Message from the Division Head
by David Lowell
A Message from David Lowell 1-27-23
It was a pleasure to see so many of you at the midwinter coffees. For those of you who were unable to join us the slide decks are now posted in the Parent Portal. Next week includes two no Lower School days, Admissions visit days, February 2nd and 3rd. On these we invite to campus the families who have applied to have their children attend prekindergarten, kindergarten, Primary and first grade in 2023-24. All faculty are engaged across these two days, observing applicants and working on preparing the learning reports for their current students.
Midyear Learning Reports - Between now and our Admissions/ Report Writing Days, Thursday, February 2 and Friday, February 3, teachers will be providing students with a number of ways to demonstrate skill and concept development. Lower School learning reports will be posted in the parent portal after 4:00 pm on Friday, February 10.
Midwinter Curriculum Coffee Slideshows - We have posted the slide shows in the parent portal. The slides include guidance to help you understand the new or revised learning reports .
Specialist Reports - We have revised how specialists are reporting this year. All students learning reports will include curriculum summaries from each specialist who teaches that grade. Specialists will report individual student progress at designated grade levels according to the list below.
- PreK - Art, PE
- Kindergarten - Art, Music, PE
- Primary - Art, PE
- 1st - PE, Science, Spanish
- 2nd - Music, PE
- 3rd - Art, PE, Spanish
- 4th - Music, PE
- 5th - Art, Science, Spanish
Lower School Conferences - are scheduled for Thursday, February 16 and Friday, February 17. Access to conference sign-ups is through the Parent Portal. In person and virtual conferences are offered. Please make every effort to attend conferences during our designated days. Both short term drop-in care and Extension All Day mini camps are available for students on these days.
Short Term Care 2/16 & 2/17 - The LS Assistant Teachers will provide short term care for less than 2 hours for PK-5 students while parents meet with teachers.
- Families needing more than two hours of care should make other arrangements or sign up for Extension all day mini camps.
- This PK-5 drop-in program for students is free of charge and available 7:30-5:00 pm on February 16, and 7:30-2:30 pm on February 17.
- Note that short term care is closed from 11:00-12:00 on both days. We appreciate the prompt pick-up of your child. The drop-off location is the Lower School Performance Commons.
Extension All Day Mini Camps 2/16 & 2/17 - Extension All-Day Mini Camps are an all-day (7:30-5:00 pm) program offered during the February Parent Teacher Conferences. Enrollment is available in SchoolsBuddy and advance sign-up is required. Program specific information (location, activities, etc) will be sent to all registrants the week before the program begins. Contact Extension for more information about the all-day program.