April 2019

Parent Surf Report - Ocean Lakes Elementary School

From the Principal's Desk

Linda M. Reese, Principal

Parents,

We have a new assistant principal at Ocean Lakes. She started on Monday, April 1. That is no April Fools. Her name is Mrs. Molly Lewis. She formerly worked with the division writing social studies and science curriculum. We feel very fortunate to have her at Ocean Lakes. Please stop in the office and introduce yourself to her when you are the school.

It is that time of year to start thinking about next year. We will continue to have a prekindergarten class for the 2019-2020 school year. Prospective students have to be 4 years old on or by September 30. Students attend for a full day and follow the regular school calendar. If they live in our attendance zone, they will ride the bus. Students will eat lunch, participate in PE and go to the library. There is an application process. You can find an application and information about the process at the following location on the VBCPS website http://www.vbschools.com/curriculum/prek.asp . Ocean Lakes will have an application eligibility session on April 09, 2019 from 4:00 to 6:00 P.M. Other sessions are being offered at other locations on other dates. These are listed on the VBCPS website at the above link.

Please plan ahead. Kindergarten registration and orientation will be held Tuesday, April 23 at Ocean Lakes Elementary. Children who will be five years of age on or before September 30, and who are living in the Ocean Lakes Elementary area, should attend the orientation/registration. Students should attend with their parents. They will get to ride a school bus, visit a kindergarten classroom, and tour the building. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the program will begin at 9:00 a.m.

Our students are really reading. On January 28, 443 students enjoyed potato chips during lunch for reaching their reading goals. These students read enough minutes to be in the sand, water, or waves. We are so proud of their accomplishment. Please encourage your child to read nightly and to turn in their monthly reading calendar so he or she too can be in the waves or water on our hallway charts. In April all students in the water or waves will receive popcorn during lunch.

Spring is here! With that comes birds, flowers, and weeds. Yes weeds. We are going to have a clean-up day for the front yard and court yard at Ocean Lakes on Saturday, May 4, 2019. A flyer will be coming home soon as a reminder and details. This will include putting down mulch in the court yard, weeding, planting flowers, raking leaves, and power washing. Please join us if you can any time from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. We have a few rakes, and digging tools but if you can bring your own that would help out as well. Do not forget your gloves.

Have a great month.

Dr. Reese


Upcoming Events

  • 4/1/19 - 4th Nine Weeks Begin
  • 4/2/19 - Family Fun Night 6-7 pm; Tutoring Begins
  • 4/5/19 - Crazy Hat Day
  • 4/8/19 - Report Cards Issued; 2nd Grade Spring Concert joined by 5th grade Strings
  • 4/9/19 - PreK-4 Screening at OLES 6-8; Ben & Jerry's free ice cream cone day 12-8, Sandbridge location
  • 4/10/19 - Wear purple for military support; 5th grade field trip to Jamestown
  • 4/12/19 - 4/19/19 -Spring Break
  • 4/21/19 - Admin Professionals Week
  • 4/23/19 - K Registration 8:30 - 10:30
  • 4/24/19 - 4th grade Field Trip to Jamestown; 5th grade field trip to Planetarium
  • 4/25/19 - First Grade Gifted Testing
  • 4/26/19 - PTA Tricky Tray 5 pm; PTA College Scholarship Application Due Today
  • 4/30/19 - Volunteer Breakfast 8:30 am
  • 5/2/2019 - Kindergarten Pictures; School Planning Council Meeting
  • 5/3/19 - Chuck E. Cheese Cashola night; First Grade Field Trip; Super Hero Spirit Day
  • 5/4/2019 - Court Yard Clean-up


Calling All Volunteers

If you are interested in volunteering for OLES, please stop by the office to complete a volunteer form. Every volunteer must complete this form annually.

How do I log in my volunteer hours?

I have had many inquiries about how to document volunteer hours for Ocean Lakes Elementary. Go to http://www2.vbschools.com/volunteers/hours/landing.asp . Then click on Hours for a drop menu. Select How to log hours or if you know how to log your hours click on Log Hours for the page to fill in your information.


We are seeking volunteers!

Report Cards

Report cards will be issued to all students on Monday, April 8, 2019. All students in grades K-5 receive a standards-based report card that includes proficiency scores rather than single letter grades for student performance. The report card shares specific feedback, a student's progress towards skills, and understanding of each subject in a subject area.

OLES Mission Statement

Ocean Lakes Elementary opens the door to learning to all by providing a nurturing environment that promotes 21st century learners. By engaging and being responsive to all students’ needs while creating opportunities for teachers, parents and community partners to collaborate and support successful achievement for all our students.

Compass to 2020 - Every Student, Every Day

Compass to 2020 is the new strategic framework for the division. It charts the course for teaching and learning across the division with the focus on ensuring that every student is challenged and supported to reach his or her full potential. The five year strategic framework includes four goals – high academic expectations, multiple pathways, social-emotional development, and culture of growth and excellence – and multiple strategies to guide this work. Interested in learning more? Click: http://www.vbschools.com/compass/landing.asp

Compass to 2020 Logo

Follow us on Twitter:

Follow us @oceanlakeses on Twitter to learn about all the ins and outs of Ocean Lakes Elementary School. We will be posting updated information, pictures from school, and much more!

Lost & Found:

Parents and students, please check the lost and found box for missing items. The blue box is located next to the gymnasium bathrooms. Valuables such as cash, jewelry, electronics, glasses, etc. will be held in the office. All items in the lost and found box will be donated to charity at the end of the year.

Clinic Notes

Choose Sun-Safety Strategies that Work

Broad spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher is important, but it shouldn’t be your only defense against the sun. For the best protection, use shade, clothing, a hat with a wide brim, and sunglasses, as well as sunscreen.


CLOTHING REMINDER:

Please remember to keep a seasonally-appropriate set of clothes in a Ziploc bag in your child’s backpack. Spilled lunches, restroom accidents, and mud that soil your child’s clothes can be quickly remedied if a clean set of clothes is available.

Dismissal Changes:

If you need to make a change in the way your child goes home in the afternoon, please send it in writing to your child's teacher (preferably not an email the day of as teachers can't check their emails during instruction time). If it's a last minute change, please call the office before 2:00 p.m. to report the change. Thank you for your cooperation.

Reporting Student Absences:

Student absences and late arrivals should be reported daily. Please call 648-3200 and use Option 3 to report absences or late arrivals. Please leave the following information: student name, teacher name, state whether the student will be absent or tardy, and reason for absence or late arrival. If you arrive to school after 8:10 you are considered tardy. A parent must come into the building to sign in your student. You CANNOT drop off your student in front of the building if there are no staff out there to assist them. The earliest we start parent drop off is 7:50 a.m. Thank you for your assistance.

Word of the Week

For the 2018-2019 school year, Ocean Lakes Elementary will continue with a Word of the Week (WOW word). Vocabulary is important to all of our students as they read and write every day. Each week, on the morning announcements we will highlight a vocabulary word. Students will also work on the WOW word in class. The focus will be on the part of speech, definition, writing the word in a sentence, and learning synonyms and antonyms. You can help at home! Ask your child about the Word of the Week!

Student Accident Insurance:

The school division is continuing to provide voluntary student accident insurance information. This information is available online on the school division website, http://www.vbschools.com/health/insurance.asp

  • April 1st - 5th - RECOURSE
  • April 8th - 11th - WRANGLE
  • April 22nd - 26th - BLAND
  • April 29th - May 3rd - ACHIEVEMENT

OLES Fundraising Opportunities

REDcard at Target:

Did you know that Target donates 1% of their REDcard holder’s purchases to OLES? Please take advantage of this amazing opportunity for our school! Target offers a 5% savings on every purchase made at a Target and Target.com when you use your Target REDcard. To take advantage of the many benefits offered by owning a Target REDcard, parents should visit the local Red Mill Target store at 2233 Upton Drive and inquire with any team member at a register. To sign up for a REDcard credit card all you need is an ID, and for a REDcard debit a blank check and ID. The process is super easy and takes only a few minutes to help support the Waveriders!

Harris Teeter Together in Education Program and Food Lion MVP Classroom Rewards Program

What is Together in Education?

Harris Teeter's Together in Education Program (TIE) is very similar to the program that Farm Fresh offered. All you have to do is link your VIC card to Ocean Lakes Elementary and shop Harris Teeter brands for a chance to earn funds. Harris Teeter has donated over $27.4 million to Together In Education schools since 1998! You have to link your card annually. There are NO LIMITS to how much a school can earn. To enroll, customers can go to https://www.harristeeter.com/together-in-education to link your VIC cards to Ocean Lakes Elementary. Friends and family can also link their cards to Ocean Lakes.


What is MVP Classroom Rewards Program?

Food Lion has a very similar program where they donate a portion of what you spend on the following brands my essentials, Healthy Accents, Home 360, On The Go Bistro, Nature's Place, Smart Option, Taste of Inspirations and Butcher's Brand products. . To enroll, customers can go to www.foodlion.com to link your MVP cards to Ocean Lakes Elementary. Friends and family can also link their cards to Ocean Lakes.

Papa John's Dollars for Dough

Calling all Pizza Lovers! You can help Ocean Lakes Elementary School just by ordering a pizza on-line from Papa John's. Each time you place an on-line order at papajohns.com, our school will receive a 10% return. Just enter our school code OCEANLAKES when ordering. Please feel free to share the code with your friends and family members so we can as much "dough" as possible.

School Spirit Days:

Show your Waverider school spirit on the first and third Friday of every month by wearing a school t-shirt or school colors (blue and white). This year each grade level was given specific colored T-shirts students can wear on these days also.

Parent Portal:

Parent Portal is parent and guardian computer access to important school year information about your child's progress, i.e. grades, attendance, assignments, notes from their teachers, and standardized test scores. You can sign up by going to vbschools.com and click on the parent portal tab. You must know your child's permanent ID # to sign up. Your child should know this # (they use it to buy lunch or login to their chrome books) or you can call the office for the #. You must have an email account to sign up as well. Specific instructions are on the website.

School Lunches:

Parents have the opportunity to pay for their child’s breakfast and lunch meals and ala carte items using a debit card or credit card (Visa, MasterCard). The secure Web-based payment system, SchoolCafe, allows parents to do the following:

  • Prepay money directly into their child’s school account
  • Schedule recurring payments
  • Set up low-balance email reminders
  • Monitor their child’s food purchases
  • View Daily Menus

SchoolCafe is available on the school division’s website.


Meal Prices 2018-2019 School Year

  • Full Price Breakfast $1.40
  • Reduced Price Breakfast $0.30
  • Full Price Lunch $2.85
  • Reduced Price Lunch $.040

VBCPS Reading Bus:

Virginia Beach City Public Schools invites preschoolers ages 2 to 5 years and their parents to “open the door to adventure” on the Reading Bus. The bus will be at Ocean Lakes Elementary at 9:30 AM on March 14th and March 28th. For the most current bus schedule, visit the website at www.vbschools.com.

PTA membership:

Please consider joining PTA. Individual memberships are $5.00 each or $10 for a family. You can join at member.pta.org. If you haven't already you will need to create an account first. You will select RED "join" button, click on the GREEN box "PTA's in your community". Click on state of VA on the map, then join your local PTA by selecting Virginia PTA, Ocean Lakes Elementary. Select your membership, verify your info and click on BLUE "join" button. Finally enter your payment info. For the month of November only you can send in cash or check for your membership. PTA has a lot of fun events planned for this school year and need your support!

Upcoming OLES Events

Purple Up for Military Children

April is the Month of the Military Child and to support our military connected students we would like everyone to wear purple on April 10th. The color purple represents the blending of the colors of our armed forces - Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy.

2019-2020 School Year Kindergarten and Preschool Registration

Citywide kindergarten registration is scheduled for Tuesday, April 23, 2019. If you have a child that will turn 5 years old by September 30, 2019 please plan on attending this event with your future kindergartener. Your child will visit the kindergarten classrooms, take a ride on the school bus, and enjoy a drink and snack while the parents listen to a presentation and complete registration paperwork. You will need to bring your ID, your child's birth certificate, 2 proofs of residency to include a mortgage statement or rental/lease agreement and a recent utility bill (not including Cox Cable), a recent physical (must be dated within previous 12 months of September 3, 2019) and a current immunization record. If you cannot attend on this date you are welcome to pick up a kindergarten registration packet from the office after April 23rd. The sooner we receive completed registration packets the sooner we will know the number of kindergartners to help us assign classes.

We will also have a 4 year old full day preschool class. Students must be 4 years old by September 30, 2019 and must go through an application process. Applications are available in the office or on-line at http://www.vbschools.com/curriculum/prek.asp. There are several application eligibility sessions at different locations around the city. Ocean Lakes will have an application eligibility session on April 9, 2019 from 4:00 to 6:00 P.M.

PTA Tricky Tray

Join us on Friday, April 26, 2019 for our annual PTA Tricky Tray event from 5-7 pm. Doors open at 5:00 and prizes are announced at 7:00. You must be present to win. Each class and many businesses donate themed gift baskets, merchandise, prize packs and gift cards we raffle off. There is something for everyone! All proceeds benefit our PTA. Invite your family, friends, and neighbors. We will also be taking orders for Papa John's pizzas at a discounted rate if you want to come in and enjoy dinner too. Pre-order sales forms will be coming home in your child's weekly folder soon. This year we will have a prize preview and ticket drop off on Thursday, April 25th from 6 - 8 pm.

Yearbooks

If you are interested in buying a 2018-2019 Ocean Lakes Elementary School yearbook, now is the time! Yearbooks are on sale for $25.00. Forms were sent home in the Wednesday folders and they are available in the main office. Checks can be made payable to OLES. The purchase deadline is April 11th. You may order online until April 15th. We will not accept order forms after the deadline. If you have any questions, please contact Marci McGohan at Marci.McGohan@vbschools.com.

Special Recognition Days/Weeks/Months in April

April 2 – International Children's Book Day

April 10 - Encourage a Young Writer Day

April 22 - Earth Day

April 24 - Administrative Professionals Day

April 25 - Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day

April 27 - National Arbor Day

April 8 - 14 - National Library Week

April 15 - 21 - National Student Leadership Week

April 23 - 27 - Public School Volunteer Week

April 22 - 28 - Administrative Professionals Week (Secretaries Week)

Month of the Military Child, National Autism Awareness Month, Mathematics Awareness Month, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, National Poetry Month, and School Library Month

SOL Testing - 3rd - 5th Grade

During the May 14 - June 5 testing window, all students in grades 3 and 5 are expected to take tests to measure achievement of the Virginia Standards of Learning. The grades 5 tests will be given in the areas of Reading, Mathematics, Virginia Studies, and Science. Students in grades 3 and 4 will be given tests in the areas of Reading and Mathematics.

The schedule for when the tests will be given is below. Please encourage your child to be in school and on time during the test period. Insofar as possible, avoid scheduling medical, dental, or other appointments that would cause your child to miss a testing session. Although make-up sessions will be provided, most students are more relaxed when tested with classmates during regularly scheduled sessions.

· Tuesday, May 14th – Grade 5 Reading Part 1

· Wednesday, May 15th – Grade 5 Reading Part 2

· Thursday, May 16th – Grade 4 Reading Part 1

· Friday, May 17th – Grade 4 Reading Part 2


· Monday, May 20th – Grade 3 Reading Part 1

· Tuesday, May 21st – Grade 3 Reading Part 2

· Wednesday, May 22nd – Grade 5 Math Part 1

· Thursday, May 23rd – Grade 5 Math Part 2


· Tuesday, May 28th – Grade 4 Math Part 1

· Wednesday, May 29th – Grade 4 Math Part 2

· Thursday, May 30th – Grade 3 Math Part 1

· Friday, May 31st – Grade 3 Math Part 2


· Tuesday, June 4th – Grade 5 Science

· Friday, June 5th – Grade 5 Virginia Studies

PTA College Scholarship Opportunity

Our PTA will be offering a chance of a $500 scholarship for any June 2019 high school senior who was enrolled at Ocean Lakes Elementary for a minimum of one year with a GPA of 3.0 or better and the acceptance to an accredited college, university, or technical school in the Fall of 2019. Interested applicants will need to complete an application, an essay response, submit 2 recommendation letters (one from a teacher or counselor) and a copy of their high school transcript. Deadline to apply is Friday, April 27, 2019 at 3:15 p.m. Selected recipients will be notified by May 10, 2019. More information will be posted on the PTA's Facebook page. To obtain the application, please contact our office or the PTA.

Community Events

Cherry Blossom Festival

Virginia Beach will celebrate their international sisterhood with Miyazaki City, Japan at the annual Cherry Blossom Festival at Red Wing Park. The event will be held on April 6th from 12 - 4 p.m. Learn about the culture and beauty of Japanese music, martial arts, and demonstrations.

Ben & Jerry's Sandbridge - Free Ice Cream Day

On Tuesday, April 9th, Ben & Jerry's at the Sandbridge location will be offering free ice cream cones to any visitor from 12 - 8 p.m. Their location is 312 Sandbridge Road. Come out and enjoy some free ice cream and hopefully some warm weather!

Recycling Zone Drive-Thru Event - Mt. Trashmore

Let's do some spring cleaning and get rid of those unwanted metals and electronics, personal documents in need of shredding, household hazardous wastes (such as paints and cleaners), old medications, and more. You can drop off these items on Saturday, April 13th from 10 am - 2 pm at Mt. Trashmore. Please enter from South Boulevard. Please see this website for more detailed information: https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/parks-recreation/special-events/Pages/earth-day.aspx.

Celebrating Children 2019 - Mt. Trashmore

Mt. Trashmore will host a free event to celebrate children. They will have a fun run, inflatables and family resource exhibitors. This event will be held on Saturday, April 27 from 9 am - 12 pm. Come join the fun!

HAVE A FUN, SAFE SPRING BREAK!

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