Oakestown Intermediate Weekly Notes

School Office Contact Information

Main Line: 616-254-6880

Attendance: 616-254-6881 • oakesattendance@gpsbulldogs.org

Principal Brian Mulder: bmulder@gpsbulldogs.org

Assistant Principal Ellen Akhurst: eakhurst@gpsbulldogs.org

Sara Miller: 616-254-6885 • smiller@gpsbulldogs.org

Leah Vander Veen: 616-254-6886 • lvanderveen@gpsbulldogs.org

Danielle Flynn: 616-254-6884 • dflynn@gpsbulldogs.org

Important Upcoming Dates At-A-Glance

January 26

• Junior Survivor Week!

• Dollar Drive begins

January 28

• 1000th Day of School Dress Up Day

• Junior Survivor Fundraisers before school

• 6th Grade Field Trip to JA Biz Town - Pod 63

January 29

• Oakestown Talent Show • 6:30pm

• School-Wide Spelling Bee (Classroom Finalists) *Rescheduled*

February 4

• 6th Grade Field Trip to JA Biz Town - Pod 62

Our calendar of activities and events can be found here: Oakestown Events

This calendar is updated throughout the year. Please check back for updates and changes.

Parent Teacher Spring Conferences

The Oakestown staff would like to invite you to attend our Parent Teacher Conferences on Thursday, February 12 and Tuesday, February 17.

Please read this letter that contains everything you will need to know in order to sign up for conferences. The PowerPTC scheduling program will open on Friday, January 30 at 8am - please make sure to schedule your conferences before the portal closes on Monday, February 9.

You will need access to your Powerschool parent portal to schedule conferences. Please see here for set-up instructions or call our office at 616-254-6880.

Senior & Junior Survivor

Senior Survivor is an annual tradition at GHS that combines school spirit, friendly competition, and community service. During this week-long event, 18 seniors “move in” to the high school and take part in Survivor-style challenges as they compete to remain in the game until one champion is crowned.

Each Senior Survivor is paired with a Junior Survivor as their teammate. Junior Survivors are positive, energetic students who embody Grandville pride, excellence, and GRIT! During the week of Jan 26-30, our Junior Survivors will head up fundraising efforts at Oakestown to help keep their Senior Survivor in the competition!

At Oakestown, money raised from our Junior Survivor week fundraisers will go back to Senior Survivor to support Hand2Hand, the district student assistance fund and to the charity of choice for the pod that raises the most money!

In the past year, Oakestown student assistance funds have provided field trip financial assistance, eyeglasses, personal care items, headphones for our multilingual program and PBIS initiatives.

To learn more about the Senior Survivor program, please visit here: Grandville Senior Survivor

Stay tuned as we share more about our upcoming fundraising activities on our social media accounts!

Meet our Survivors!

Junior Survivor Week Fundraisers

**Student Participation Only**

Students should come right to the gym when they arrive on Wednesday morning.

Yearbook Orders

Online ordering is available to anyone who would still like a yearbook. Please contact Geskus using the link below, the school office or your student's homeroom teacher if you need to know if a yearbook has already been ordered.

Personal webcodes are required for online ordering. Please use the lookup tool link below or contact our customer service department.

Order site: https://gpi.portraitpics.co/login

Look up tool: https://www.geskusphoto.com/lookup

Customer Service: https://www.geskusphoto.com/contact-us

Oakestown Talent Show

The Oakestown Talent Show is on January 29 at 6:30! Get your tickets now before they sell out! All non-participating students, family members and friends will need to purchase a ticket. Seats will be on a first-come, first-serve basis in the Oakestown auditorium.

Tickets can be purchased via the QR code or here: https://donate.stripe.com/9AQ5kJ1sIfhZ7Re4gh

Each seat/ticket is $5. Please make sure to pay for the total amount of tickets needed.

Men of Oakes

Here is all the information you need to get familiar with the Men of Oakes program!

Once you're ready to sign up, please complete a background check.

Fill out the Men of Oakes sign-up form here: Men of Oakes Sign Up

Ele's Place Grief Group

Our SEL coach, Trisha Malott, is working with Ele’s Place to provide Grief Support groups to students at Oakestown. This program will be offered during the school day, once a week for 8 weeks. It is designed to help students who have experienced the death of someone important to them (although still significant, pet deaths are not appropriate for inclusion in this group). We know that children and teens can be deeply affected by the death of someone close to them, and we have seen children’s behavior, self esteem, and school performance suffer as a result of their grief. In small group sessions, students will have the opportunity to talk about their feelings and experiences with others who understand, express their feelings through a variety of activities, and learn positive coping skills.

Space is limited so please fill out this PERMISSION SLIP by Monday, January 19 if your child would benefit from this support. If you have any questions, please contact Trisha Malott at TMalott@gpsbulldogs.org or (616) 254-6766.

Attendance Policy

Parents: Absences and appointments can be called in at any time to 616-254-6881 or e-mailed to oakesattendance@gpsbulldogs.org. Please leave your name, your student's name, your student's grade, your student's teacher, the date, and the reason for their absence. (If no reason is given, the absence will be entered as unexcused).

If calling for an appointment, please let us know if they will be arriving to school late or if you will need to pick them up at a certain time. If you need to pick your student up prior to afternoon dismissal (2:35), please make every effort to call/email at least 1 hour before the release time. This helps us to cut down on the number of times that we need to call into classrooms for student early releases. Thank you!

All students leaving prior to our 2:35 dismissal time must be signed out by a parent before leaving the building. If you need someone else to pick your child up, please leave that person's information on the attendance line as well. Thank you!

Students After School

For safety, students must be out of the building by 2:45pm on full days of school unless they have an after school event or sport occurring at Oakestown. In which case, those students should immediately head to that activity.

On ½ days, students must be out of the building by 11:00am.

Birthday and Celebration Treats

Please be advised that all treats being shared with other students must be either bakery/store-bought or individually packaged. This policy helps us manage allergens and maintain a safe environment for everyone.

Please make sure to coordinate with your child's teacher before you bring in a classroom treat.

As a note, teachers and staff are able to accept homemade treats as gifts. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Drink Policy

Students should not have energy drinks, pop or specialty coffee drinks at school. Please make sure all drinks are finished before entering the building. Water is the only drink allowed in the classrooms and gym.