How do I find out what is going on at school?

We all experience times of email overload and information deficit.

Keeping that in mind and knowing that people digest information in different ways, here are the many ways to find out what is happening at the O.C.

• The Open Classroom Community News is a newsletter published by parents. Every two weeks it is delivered to your inbox as a link to the online version or a pdf. Anyone in the community can contribute articles.
• The ocnews is an email list that is used for quick updates and reminders. Everyone in the community is subscribed to this.
• Class email lists are for teachers and the families within their classes to communicate regarding their class activities, issues and learning. All families should be getting class email for each child enrolled.
• Every committee has an email list to inform and discuss items relevant to that committee. This is another list that subscribes only members
• The Steering list is a quick way to learn how the governing body of our school works. Meeting  times, minutes, and agendas are posted here. This information is also posted on the web site as it is made available. You must make a request to be on this list if you are not already on Steering.
• The hallway that runs between the main office and the library has several information points. A calendar for community meetings, sports/P.E. and fund raising information and a general news bulletin board. Each classroom has a parent info board, too.
• For more informal communication ocsupport and a Google group monitored by volunteers are available. These are great for finding community recommendations eg. babysitters, trades people, and second-hand items.
• The school has its own official FB and Twitter pages and You Tube channel. Many parent have created unofficial pages as well. P.O.C.K.Y. for example.
• Last but not least- the best way to know what is going on at the Open Classroom is to ask a kid, preferably your own.

Where you go to adjust email list subscriptions-

http://ocslc.org/current-families/family-involvement/oc-mailing-lists/#form

Deseret News story about one of our great teachers and her wonderful class-

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865615003/Students-send-Halloween-candy-to-soldiers.html?pg=all#mKdkE8k4QKQEAExM.01

Today only* a chance to give to the Open Classroom!

Even a small donation can make a big difference.

See our Love Utah Give Utah page and show the Love-

http://loveutgiveut.razoo.com/story/Open-Classroom

*You can actually support our learning any day through to the PFOE fund via an envelope in your child’s classroom, the box in the office or at class meetings.

Oh, and the Smith’s Earn ‘n Learn program, Box Tops For Education, Dan’s Foods, and more! Look here for details.

Recently KUTV’s  Matt Gephardt came to the O.C. and we learned why pencils have “lead”.

This Friday after school you will find Mia’s and Lena’s classes raising funds for a trip to the Teton Science School. Yummy ice cream, delicious dairy-free frozen banana stuff and plants for sale- $3 each! Also available hand-crafted plant hangers made from our old playground balls. (Thanks, Penny!)

In the spirit of Learning Together, our 6-8 grade teachers- Claudia, Tina M., Gaby and Denny Jo have finished a technical certification course through Adobe Utah!

As a result, our upper students have some new skills to use in creating some amazing end-of-year projects. There was even an after school field trip to the Adobe campus for students who wanted to learn more.

What a great way to start out Teacher Appreciation Week.

Seriously, the posters for this year’s Art Stroll are amazing.

I can hardly wait.

Friday May 8th (tomorrow!) 5:30-8:30 at the school.

Food trucks on the playground, more food and seating in the cafeteria, photo booth in the music room, silent auction in the library and, oh yea, KID ART everywhere!

Hey! Next week is our PTKs!

These meetings between parents, teachers and kids are very important to our community. Our students have been evaluating how they feel about their progress and learning at school. They get to reflect on their social and academic growth and we get to hear how they hope to improve.  Parents can ask questions or express concerns and we can acknowledge students’ achievements. And we get the chance to show our appreciation to our wonderful teachers by treating them to dinner.

Before or after PTKs parents and kids can stop by the library to peruse the many award winning books for sale!

We are partnering again with local book vendor The Story Cupboard to give our kids quality children’s books and earn new titles for our school library. Last year we added about 90 new books to the library and many books were donated to individual classrooms.

We try to stay away from the over commercialization that often targets children in the world so you wont find the usual toy/movie/junk food ads disguised as a children’s book type stuff.

10/28 & 29 12:30-6:00

10/29 9:30-1:30 

Hope to see you there!

Dear Open Classroom Community:

I am writing to introduce myself, give you a little information about my background and to say how

thrilled I am to join your community!

I am a progressive leader who has strong ability to assist teaching staff in the art and craft of

differentiating instruction and assessment to meet students’ needs. As a teacher for 14 years I

excelled in this area, and later as I moved into leadership positions, I found my ability to teach this

skill to others was exemplary. I believe that as Principal, I will become part of a dynamic team and

be an outstanding team player.

I have a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Maine in Orono with a

GPA of 3.97, a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development & Family Relations, Elementary Education,

and an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education.

In the summer of 2014, I was an Instructor at the University of Maine in Orono in the Educational

Leadership Program teaching a Master’s Level Course entitled “Seminar in School Leadership.” I

was deeply honored to be part of teaching and mentoring the up-and-coming new leaders.

I have eight years experience as a school administrator. I was Principal at Rockland Middle School

in Rockland Maine, having this post for the last six years serving students in grades 5 – 8. I was

Assistant Principal for Farrington Elementary School in the Augusta Maine school district serving

grades K – 6, promoted the following year to Principal of the Hodgkins Middle School (Augusta)

serving grades 6 – 8 (6th grade moved up with me). I have been a teacher for grades 1, 4, 5, 6 7 & 8.

I have eight years of experience in interviewing, training, observing and evaluating students and

staff. I have worked with several brand new teachers coming directly from college into their first

teaching posts. My new teachers have all successfully moved from probationary status in two years

to continuing contracts, which is not an easy accomplishment these days.

As a reflective practitioner, one of my main responsibilities was to analyze student data from

multiple sources, consolidate this data into reports, and use the data to inform instructional

decisions and professional development needs of my staff. In the last five years, I created, with my

staff, improvement goals based on this analysis, and we witnessed our students make outstanding

gains. I was also responsible for collaborating with all the administrators in our district in creating

a district-wide set of goals and working on action plans together to realize these goals.

I have taught staff and colleagues in workshop formats on several subjects. One of the most recent

presentations I offered my colleagues utilizing PowerPoint was on the subject of helping our most

difficult children. My focus of this workshop was on brain function and how children have learning

difficulties, such as impulse control, focusing, or difficulty shifting attention, and what we can do in

the classroom setting to assist these students.

Another example as a reflective practitioner is when I first arrived at the middle school in Rockland,

we had well over 1⁄2 of each grade failing 3 or more classes at mid-year. That was absolutely not

acceptable, so I asked a lot of questions about what teachers felt contributed to this problem. Most

teachers felt the problem was students’ lack of motivation to do homework and classwork. I chose

two books (from Pink and Deci) for our staff to study together addressing the motivation issue. We

concluded that our practices needed to shift in order to engage our students more. We also added a

mandatory after school study hall for students whose grades began to drop or when teachers or

students felt the materials they were studying were confusing. By 2011 we had zero children failing

in any course mid-year. This to me is the proper use of data.

An example of my consensus leadership style is the first year we tracked behaviors at RDMS (my

second year) ended with 93 suspensions (25% of our student population that year) and 167 office

discipline referrals (45% of our student population that year). There were high level bullying

behaviors, and fights would break out in our hallways. The teachers were deeply concerned with

these numbers and asked if we could explore new ideas to address the preventative side of

discipline. I sent one teacher to take a course regarding PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention &

Support), which she gladly accepted. When this teacher finished the coursework on PBIS, we

discussed the critical need our school. We both presented to the staff and we decided to implement

the system. We made this our school goal, which meant all our resources went into training.

Three years later, we had transformed climate and culture where students and staff felt respected

and safe. We taught the students our expectations, and rewarded them when we witnessed it. We

increased our daily attendance from a low a few years back of fewer than 90% to our current

average of 94% or above. As of May 2014, we had only four suspensions (less than 2%) and 24

office discipline referrals (12%). Our bullying issues decreased as well. We instituted a very active

Civil Rights Team who worked hard with me to continue to reduce these incidents.

I believe in connecting with students. I built outstanding rapport with my students, and I

successfully earned their faith, trust and respect in me. I attach one of my student’s letters she

wrote as a testament of the view of me.

I am sensitive and responsive to the needs of my students. For example, for our students with

emotional disabilities and had the highest risk of failure, I worked with our community to begin a

Rowing Program. A local sea captain and I absolutely believed that we needed to build up these

students’ confidence and to give them something hard to accomplish. We created this

expeditionary learning program, and the success for the students was enormous. This program

started six years ago and is still going strong today. We have students who say they would’ve

dropped out of school had this program not been available.

Another year, I established a bike repair shop, which assisted a different set of students with

different learning styles and interests. This also was highly successful in building up the students

and keeping them in school.

All children deserve the chance to succeed, and I will stop at nothing to see to it that all kids have

opportunities that motivate and inspire learning!

I am a resilient, positive minded, cheerful upbeat person and find humor to be highly successful in

my dealings with children. I look forward to building outstanding relationships with my students,

families, staff, colleagues and community and am honored to join The Open Classroom. My

daughter has lived in Salt Lake City for the past several years and works as an RN at the University

of Utah Hospital in the Medical ICU, and I am so delighted to join her in beautiful Salt Lake. Each

and every time I’ve flown in to be with my daughter, I’ve said, “I’m home”, and now I really will be.

My beloved husband will remain in Maine for now and will join me later on.

Kindest Regards and see you soon,

Kathryn L. Hollicker

Dear students,

Greetings!  My husband and I have just finished driving through 11 states, beginning in Maine, in four days and three nights to be with you!  I can barely wait to meet you!   A few things about me:

• I am a mom of two children: A daughter who lives here in SLC, and a son who lives on the coast of Maine with his wife and son!
• I am a Grammie of a soon-to-be 13-year-old boy named Gabriel. I will have a picture of him in my office, so be sure to stop in!  I sure am proud of him; he’s so respectful, kind, compassionate, and hard working.
• I have a husband, John, who will stay in Maine with our dog, Lulu, for now. I miss both of them so much already!  But all I do is remember I’ve got all of you to look forward to, and I’m ok again.
• My cat, Mac, after Fleetwood Mac (yes, I love the band – go look them up), rode in our car in a large crate in order to join me in SLC and to keep me company!
• I am a Green Bay Packers die-hard fan.
• I love live hockey.
• Hiking is my favorite pastime.
• I used to run a bakery – no, that doesn’t mean I’ll have fresh pastries in the office every day J.
• I love, love (did I say love?) being a principal and seeing you kids every day!
• I believe in you and your talents and your future, and your hopes and your dreams. You have dreams, right?
• I like to tease (never in a mean way, but only to get you to smile).
• I believe school is hard sometimes, but persistence is the key (another word for persistence is grit).
• I want the absolute best school experience for each and every one of you.
• I am an awesome listener and a helpful problem-solver. That means you can come in my office any time to discuss what’s on your mind.
• I believe in giving our best.
• I believe we all make mistakes; yes, that includes me.

Now, what do you want me to know about you?  Please stop by with your family on any of these evenings between 5:30 – 6:30 – July 12^th, 19^th, 26^th, or August 2^nd.  If those dates and times do not work for you and your family, please book a time and date that does work for you!

Let’s have wonderful school years together!  I look so forward to working with each of you!

Hugs,

Kathy

At the bottom of your  registration page.

The part where you can sign your child up for a SLC library card?

Do it. If your child does not already have one, do it.

It is free even if you do not live within Salt Lake City boundaries.

There is a lovely, SLC library branch located just up the street from our school and others to be found here- http://www.slcpl.lib.ut.us/about

Libraries love your kids. They exist to help our children (and the rest of us) become successful as readers, social beings, critical thinkers and more.

-Karen
OC Library

P.S.  In case anyone needs more convincing-

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBRYsAfchkY

Dear parents,

You may have seen the news recently regarding schools receiving threats from anonymous social media accounts associated with clowns. This has been happening in other states for some time and has just recently been happening in Utah as well. Thus far, this issue has consisted of hoaxes and reported but often unconfirmed sightings, with a few arrests here and there. It is not our intent to stir up people’s fears regarding these incidents. We simply want to remind you of some simple ways we can all help keep your children safe.

Hoaxes or not, we want you to know we are tracking this issue and are taking it very seriously.  When students feel unsafe, it can disrupt our efforts to provide a quality education. We believe that most of these accounts are hoaxes and are intended to be humorous. Regardless, principals have been made aware of this issue. If your child has been threatened in any way, please contact law enforcement. We will aggressively investigate any person who is threatening or potentially harming our students and schools.

We are asking for your help to monitor your child’s social media accounts. We also recognize that many students may be tempted to dress like clowns and go “scare,” people either out in the general public or on school property. In light of the current environment created by these hoaxes, such actions would not be seen as humorous in any way. Please talk with your children and help them understand this.

Additionally, we encourage you to take the following measures to keep your child safe:

• Students should not accept friend requests or allow people to follow their social media accounts who they do not know. Many of the messages surrounding this use come from anonymous accounts, yet the students accept the request allowing the perpetrator to harass them. Additionally, please block offending accounts. Take screenshots if necessary to preserve inappropriate messages for potential investigation.
• If your child sees threatening messages against other students or against schools in general, those messages should be forwarded to administrators or law enforcement.

When walking to and from school:

• Never approach strangers, even if they pretend to know you or know your child’s name.
• Students should walk in groups.
• Students should be familiar with friends, families, and neighbors along their walking route to be able to find a safe place to request assistance if necessary.
• Parents should provide supervision for younger students as appropriate.

There are many other common sense tips to help keep kids safe as they walk back and forth to school. We encourage you to have age appropriate discussions with your child regarding any of these items or any others that would help keep them safe.

On  Wednesday, October 26th we had the honor of hosting some amazing visitors to our school!

Picture book author Kristi Yamaguchi came and talked to some of our younger classes and students from the Avenues Preschool about her newest book Cara’s Kindness. Combining her experiences as a gold medal Olympic figure skater with the talents of illustrator Tim Lee, Ms. Yamaguchi created an adorable cat character to explore friendship, kindness and generosity. Cara Cat is joined by Poppy Pig in her own picture books for K-2 graders– It’s a Big World, Little Pig and Dream Big, Little Pig illustrated by Tim Bowers.

Time for all of those boots, gloves, warm socks and coats.

Recess is going to be awesome today!

A reminder of the who-what-how-when-why of weather related school closures and delayed starts from your friendly SLC School District!

And don’t forget to give your family enough time to get to school safely and on time.

November 22, 2016
Dear Family and School Community,

We are extremely fortunate to have such a diverse community where we have students hailing from six out of seven continents, speaking over 100+ languages and practicing a plethora of religious doctrines. In the last couple of weeks, there have been a number of hateful acts that have occurred throughout the United States, including our state and our school district.

Our schools are safe places where all students, faculties, staff, and community members are respected and valued. As we engage in dialogue with students and staff, regardless of political opinion, we must use this time to build a supportive and inclusive environment of critical thinking and educational discourse that educates our students.

As we continue into the school year, promoting excellence and equity throughout our school communities, please remember our commitment to civility and positive dialogue. We must exemplify strength and empower ourselves and our students as we continue the vital work that we do with our children. Keeping students safe is our priority.

It is at this time that we need to encourage a culture of positive discourse and monitor our behaviors as we continue to provide support, compassion and empathy to our students and colleagues. Regardless of hateful rhetoric and personal political opinions, we can all agree that they do not belong in our classrooms. We are here to nurture, support and provide a safe space for all students, staff and community members.
Please note that we have no tolerance for discriminatory acts that occur. We will deal with all complaints accordingly. Currently we have several policies that address:
• political activities on district property (http://www.slcschools.org/policies/documents/G-17-Policy.pdf)
• discrimination, harassment, retaliation (http://www.slcschools.org/policies/documents/G-19-Policy.pdf)
• cyberbullying and hazing (http://www.slcschools.org/policies/documents/G-20-AP.pdf)
Please contact the following if you have any questions:
• Equity Department: Claustina Mahon-Reynolds (801) 578-8281
• Student Services Department: Mindi Holmdahl (801) 578-8202
• Family & School Collaboration Department: Jenny Mayer-Glenn (801) 578-8283

Please see the resource links below for support for families:

Name	phone	link	Comment
Communidades Unidas	(801) 487-4143	http://www.cuutah.org/	workshop with information for parents
Catholic Charity Services	(801) 977-9119	http://www.ccsutah.org/	Workshops
Jewish Community Center	(801) 581-0098	JCC	open safe place for all religions

Yours in Solidarity,

Claustina Mahon-Reynolds
Director of Equity

Upper grade students recently visited the U of U to get a taste of the university experience.

See the SLC School District article here. Thanks to our counselor, Dan, for arranging this field trip.

Later our 8th graders hosted representatives from local high schools to see their more immediate options. The students heard presentations and asked thoughtful questions about what the various high schools have to offer them.

Thank you to all of the high school counselors, teachers, students and administrators at Innovations, East, West, Highland, Roots, Realms of Inquiry, SPA, SLCSE  and City Academy who took the time to visit and enlighten our future graduates. It was great to see some of our “old” friends who have moved on!

Our 3-5 grade classes collected pet supplies and donated them to the Sugarhouse location of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in December.

Nearly 200 pounds of food and toys for the pet food pantry. Our students hope to keep families together with their pets through hard times.

To understand human homelessness better read Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate or The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson. Or visit the Road Home website for more information about actively helping families in these situations.

Provided below is a link to an Equity webpage for parents and students to better access equity information regarding Title IX, Title VI, and Section 504.  This page could be placed as a useful link on LEA and individual school website.  I invite you to browse through the site and would appreciate feedback from your lenses:

http://www.uen.org/equitytoolkit/parent-student/