Thankful Thoughts

I am hoping that you have some relaxation and family fun planned for the long Thanksgiving weekend.  I know that I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my husband and three young children at home enjoying a Thanksgiving feast, watching movies, playing and just having fun.

At this time of year I am reminded of all of the things I am thankful for:  my family and friends, a warm house, a wonderful job and food on the table.  I am also extremely thankful for the Oak Hill community – the staff, children and their families.  It is truly a pleasure to come to work everyday and serve in the role of principal at Oak Hill ES.  Thank you for all you do for our school to make it a very special place.

-AG

Festive Fine Dining

Today Oak Hill students, staff and parents enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving lunch in our cafeteria.  The atmosphere in the Oak Hill cafe’ was festive as tables were decorated with fall flowers and turkey centerpieces.   Many children were proud to host a parent or special adult (mentor, coach, family member) at their lunch tables or see a familiar face as a volunteer today.  First graders came to lunch in Thanksgiving headdresses reflecting native American culture or that of the original pilgrims.  It was wonderful to see the students’ smiles and delight in celebrating this important holiday with their friends and teachers today at school.

Ms. Sledge and I had the privilege of serving two classes during this month’s “Fine Dining” recognition.  Did you know that each day each class can earn a PAW for following cafeteria rules, exhibiting appropriate dining manners, and cleaning up their area well?  At the end of each month, the classes that receive “Perfect PAWS Awards” or a PAW on each day, are included in a drawing for Fine Dining.  One class in grades 1-3 and one in grades 4-5 is selected as the winners each month and are invited to have a “fine dining” experience as a reward for their excellent work. 

During Oak Hill’s Fine Dining luncheon, Ms. Sledge and I wear special PAW aprons and the students are treated to elementary school 4-start dining conditions.  This includes table service by the administrators, candles (battery operated), tablecloths and floral centerpieces (artificial).  The students also receive a commemorative paw print bookmark and an after lunch mint.   This is one of my favorite events of each month and is a great way to showcase excellent behavior for the entire cafeteria.  Ms. Sledge and I love spending a little extra time with the kids and also receiving their “tips” at the end of the meal.  Today they came in the form of thank you notes written on paw prints from Mrs. Dolenc’s fifth grade class and kind words shared by Mrs. LeClere’s second grade class.

You should be so proud of your children’s behavior not only in the cafeteria, but everywhere at Oak Hill.  I know I am!!!

-AG

 

Algebra isn’t just a Middle and High School Thing…

Did you know that students begin learning the foundations for algebraic thinking in Kindergarten?  Patterns, Functions and Algebra is one of the critical instructional strands that is woven throughout the mathematics curriculum.  The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ (2000) current standards support the development of student’s algebraic knowledge through experience with the study of “relationships amoung quantities, including functions, ways of representing mathematical relationships, and the analysis of change”.

At Oak Hill we are working as a learning community to develop our understanding of algrebraic thinking and how to best provide students of all ages opportunities to think differently about mathematics.  Mrs. Bowman and Ms. Wright are two of our teacher leaders who are sharing what they learned during a summer class with our staff during monthly workshops.  Teachers are learning right along with their students how to shift mathematical thinking to focus more on generalizations and relationships and less on memorizing algorithms and facts.   It is exciting to see how teachers are taking what they learn in a short workshop and are immediately applying the new knowledge with their students.

Embedding more opportunities for algebraic thinking into the mathematics classroom is just one more way that the Oak Hill learning community is working together to challenge all children to reach high expectations.   If you would like to learn more about this, I suggest you read the following article or visit the NCTM website.  http://standards.nctm.org/

Soares, Blanton & Kaput. “Thinking Algebraically Across the Elementary School Curriculum”. Teaching Children Mathematics  (December 2005-January 2006): 228-235.

Algebra isn’t just for middle and high school students! 

-AG

 

Learning About Service Learning

This week Mrs. Fredericks and Mr. Sonoskey’s fifth grade classes participated in our first Community Outreach service learning opportunity.   Coordinated by PTA Community Outreach chair, Karen Tinker, students shared in an important lesson about giving to others.  After hearing a read-aloud of the book Uncle Willy and the Soup Kitchen each student completed a “backpack meal” bag for a needy student in a nearby school.  Each bag included healthy snacks such as microwave pasta, granola bars and fruit snacks that a child could take home on a Friday and have enough food to last through the weekend.  It was difficult for some of our students to fathom that there are kids in our area who rely on school for their meals – both breakfast and lunch – and that these bags would be their source of food for the weekend.  I was so proud of the questions the students asked and their committment to giving to others.  I am also very thankful for the generosity of our parents who donated all of the food, their time to share the information about the project, and  delivered the food to the donation site.  Oak Hill’s Kids Helping Kids project will continue and expand throughout the school year to more classes and additional grade levels.   You should be proud of the responsibility your children are taking in our community and of their desire to help others.  If you would like to become involved in this program, please contact Karen Tinker.

-AG

Field Days – More than just games…

Have you ever wondered why students get so excited about Field Days?  Its about a lot more than just games and a day outside of regular class.    For the past two years Oak Hill has held our Field Days during the month of October.  This is a change from the traditional June time frame.  Having Field Days so early in the year serves as a classbuilder for students and their teachers.  It allows inidividuals to shine in areas outside of the classroom and allow their peers to see a different side of themselves!  Field Days is also a wonderful opportunity for students to support one another and really bond as a team.  I am proud of our students’ behavior – especially their display of positive attitudes and sportsmanship – throughout the Field Day events.  Mrs. Lubeley, sixth grade teacher, shared with me how wonderful it was to see the kindness and support her students exhibited towards one another throughout the day.   While Field Day is full of fun, it is also full of opportunities for life long learning as well. 

-AG

Great Week at Oak Hill

What a great week!  Students in grades K, 3, 4 and 5 all enjoyed fall Field Days this week.  The cooler temperatures were just perfect for all of the games and activities that focused on teambuilding and fun.  Thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers who supported Field Days and to Ms. Price and Mr. Herring for their organization and leadership.   First, second and sixth grade Field Days have been rescheduled for next week when the weather promises to be dry and a bit warmer. 

Thank you for the wonderful turn-out for Oak Hill night at Chipotle.  I was amazed at the number of current families and alumni who supported this event – even in the cold rain.  There was a steady line throughout the three hour event and I saw many satisfied customers leaving.  We greatly appreciate the support of Chipotle and their generous donation of 100% of the earnings from the evening.  Oak Hill will soon be receiving a check for $3,160!  I know I also greatly enjoyed my burrito!

New spirit wear has arrived! Just in time for the Oak Hill Fall Festival, the new shirts were delivered to the classrooms Thursday afternoon.  I look forward to seeing the students proudly wearing their Oak Hill attire soon.

I hope many of you had the pleasure of attending the Chantilly Pyramid Choral Concert last evening.  There were many spectacular performances and the combined chorus – all of the groups from the elementary, middle and high schools – was truly inspiring.  Thank you for encouraging the participation of your children in our music programs.  And a huge thank you to Ms. Peterson and Ms. Pellegrino for their wonderful direction of our choruses.

As always our staff is very focused on building relationships with students and their families as well as providing a challenging learning environment for all.  If you would like to learn more about our instructional focuses for the year, as well as our PAWS goals and service learning projects, please review our 2009-10 School Plan (SIP) on the Oak Hill website:  www.fcps.edu/OakHillES

I look forward to seeing you at the PTA Fall Festival this weekend!  It will be held indoors due to the weather and promises to be a lot of fun.

-A.G.

Scoop Night at Baskin Robbins

Thank you for the great turnout at our third annual Scoop Night at the Franklin Farm Baskin Robbins.   I hear that a good time was had by all from scoopers to raffle ticket sellers to customers!  I hated to miss it, but was enjoying few days of vacation with my family at the end of last week.

Thanks to your generosity and that of Mr. and Mrs. Ghali, owners of Baskin Robbins, over $1000 was contributed to the Oak Hill Technology fund.  This money will help with the purchase of an additional mobile laptop lab for student use.  Our goal is to have one lab per grade level and we are almost there.  Each lab costs over $20,000 so every little bit helps us towards reaching our goals.

I am very excited about another fun fundraising opportunity that will take place on October 14 at the new Chipotle in Franklin Farm.   As part of their grand opening they will offer the opportunity for our community to purchase a meal for $5 (burrito, chips and a drink) and ALL proceeds from the evening will go directly to the school.  Wow!  Mark your calendars for Oak Hill night at Chipotle, October 14 from 5-8 PM. 

I hope you and your families enjoy a wonderful 3-day weekend.  I know that the students are getting excited for Field Days next week!

-A.G.

STAMP Out Bullying

Today all students in grades K-6 experienced a fantastic assembly thanks to the Oak Hill PTA.  In each of the 3 assemblies (k-2, 3-4, 5-6) both students and teachers were participants in sharing the very important messages regarding bullying prevention.  Jay, the presenter shared 5 important points:  

S – Stay away from bullies

T – Tell someone

A – Avoid bad situations

M – Make friends

P – Project confidence

 

 

Please ask your child about this great program!!!

I hope you are able to take a few minutes to go through the very hefty Friday Folders this weekend.  Once a year we open up the school folders to the community to send home information regarding programs and activities for students.  There is lots of great information inside!  Next week we will be back to our regular Friday Folder format.

I am hearing quite a buzz from both students and parents about the new spirit wear.  If you haven’t seen it, be sure to check out the showcase in the main lobby.  The deadline for ordering is Monday the 28th.  I am very excited to receive my new pink Oak Hill t-shirt!  There are so many great choices – something for everyone.  All orders will be delivered in time to wear at the Fall Festival on October 17.

Enjoy what looks to be a fabulous fall weekend!

-A.G.

What A Week!

The second week of school has been a busy one at Oak Hill.  We hosted two very well attended Back To School Nights.  Thank you for making meeting your child’s teacher a priority!  Thank you also for sharing the many compliments for our staff and positive comments your children are reporting with me and the teachers.  It means a lot to hear that our work is valued.   I was lucky enough to eat lunch in our cafeteria earlier this week with a group of first graders.  As I talked with them I asked each one how school was going and what their favorite thing was so far.  One little boy, who is new to Oak Hill, beamed and said, “I really like my teacher!”  Wow!   It made my day to hear how happy he is here at Oak Hill and what an impression his teacher has made on him thus far.

Bowl America’s Rolling Bowling truck was here all week as part of the bowling skills lessons in PE.  It was so much fun to see the students in all grades apply the skills they had learned in the gym to the real lane.  Two helpers from Bowl America were here providing instruction and praise for out great bowlers.  Lots of fun was had by all!!!

 

 

Today Virginia Delegate Tom Rust visited Oak Hill for Legislator’s Back to School Week.  He presented an assembly for students in grades 4-6 on the Virginia General Assembly and the importance of being an involved citizen.   I was so proud of the students’ excellent behavior and the thoughtful questions they asked regarding our state government.   It was fantastic to hear first hand how the local and state government in Virginia works and allow students to make important connections to the history curriculum.

I have had the pleasure of meeting many of the new families who have joined the Oak Hill community over the last few weeks.  I hope that many of you will join me and Ms. Sledge at our first Principals’ coffee on September 23 at 9 AM in the Oak Hill cafeteria.  This is an informal time to come and chat with us, meet other new families and learn more about Oak Hill.  I hope to see you there!

-A.G.

First Day of School

We had a wonderful first day of school at Oak Hill.  It was exhilirating to see the children come into the building with bright, cheery smiles on their faces.  The teachers and staff were all ready to welcome the students into the classrooms and begin the year.  We didn’t have many criers today- I only noticed one or two parents who seemed to be having a hard time leaving  this morning.  The kids did great!  

Ms. Sledge and I were able to visit all of the classes throughout the day and meet many of our new students.  I told the children how proud I was of the way they came in ready to learn and the excellent way they behaved in the halls. 

Later this week we will be reviewing our school-wide behavior expectations in both an assembly for students in grades K-3 and on a special WOAK broadcast for students in grades 4-6.  I was not surprised to already see our students displaying their P.A.W.S. today (Positive attitude, Accountability, Willingness to Learn, Safety).

I hope to see many families at our first PTA meeting Thursday evening at 7 PM.    Be sure to also take a look at the website to see pictures from the first day of school.    I look forward to seeing you at Oak Hill very soon.

-AG