SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
Dear Brookside Families: I often receive questions about the policies in regards to absences and tardies, particularly from those who have received attendance letters in the mail. As we now approach the end of our first trimester, our attendance records show a significant number of student absences and late arrivals. In the spirit of maximizing learning time and minimizing disruption to the process of teaching and learning in each classroom, I would like to provide some reminders and information about our legal responsibilities as a school:
The CA compulsory education laws require schools to report truancies. A truancy, as defined by the law, is a student who has missed three school days or is tardy or absent more than 30 minutes during the school day on three occasions in one school year without a valid excuse.
Valid excuses are: illness/injury, quarantine under direction of health officer, medical/dental appointment that can only be scheduled during school hours, and funeral services for a member of the immediate family. Despite illness being a valid excuse, the school will require a note from a medical practitioner if the number of illness days exceeds three consecutive or ten in a school year. We understand that illnesses do occur and do appreciate you keeping children home when fever, vomiting, or contagious virus/infection occurs.
Religious Holidays: An excused absence for religious holiday will be granted upon prior written request of parent or guardian. Please contact the school in advance of these holidays.
Truancy letters are automatically generated and mailed home once a student misses three or more school days without having reported a valid excuse as defined under the law. Thank you for understanding our school’s obligation to do so.
Trips and family vacations are not valid excuses under the law. These absences must be reported as truancies. One exception: If your family will be away for more five or more school days, an Independent Study contract may be requested. In this case, the absence can be excused if assigned class work is completed during the absence and turned in upon return to school. Information about Independent Study contracts can be found in our school handbook. A minimum of seven days of advanced notice is required when requesting an Independent Study contract. Please note that we very highly encourage and respectfully ask that family trips and vacations be scheduled during non-school days because of the significant challenges and disruptions that these absences tend to present.
Once a student is designated a truant, state law requires schools, districts, counties, and courts to intervene to ensure that parents and pupils receive certain services to assist them in complying with attendance laws.Our school handbook (CLICK HERE) is a great resource to review information regarding attendance policies.
Thank you for all you do to make sure that children are at school (on time) each and every day! I truly appreciate your help and understanding when it comes to providing optimal learning conditions for our students. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!
FROM PRINCIPAL AHL
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
Brookside Attendance Line: 818-597-4209 Please remember to call the attendance line 818-597-4209, not the Main Office line or your teacher, to report an absence. Please add the Brookside Attendance Line to your phone contacts! Please report absences whether or not they are considered valid excuses under the law (see above).
Clothing Donations Needed for the Health Office! Donations of elastic waist pants/shorts sizes small to large are needed in the health
office, along with socks and underwear (boy & girl). Also, if your student does
need to borrow a change of clothes from the health office, please be sure to wash
the borrowed clothing before returning the clothing.
Compassionate & Creative Tigers in Action! 3rd grader Sophie Vaughan recently coordinated a service
project and invited friends to join in her in sewing 35 pillowcases
to donate to the local Ryan's Case for Smiles Organization to
help brighten the hospital stays of children. Sophie started the
project under the American Patchwork and Quilting Annual Drive - The One Million Pillowcase Challenge. The goal of the
challenge is to create a million pillowcases (for various charities),
and they will continue the challenge yearly until they hit their
mark. Sophie e-mailed the local coordinator, read up on the
guidelines, solicited the donations, washed and matched up fabric for the pillowcases,
arranged the set up of the sewing machines and showed fellow students and their parents
UPCOMING EVENTS 9/27 Magic Morgan Deaf Magician Assembly Sponsored by Friends of Oak Park Schools 9/28 PTA General Association Meeting 8:30am in the MPR 9/29 & 9/30 OPUSD Parent Education Meeting with Counselor Holly Baxter 10/3 NO SCHOOL (local holiday) 10/4-7 Kindergarten Assessments (12:15 pm release for K only) 10/5 Walk to School Wednesday/BES Restaurant Day at SHARKY’S and YOGURTLAND 10/10 Picture Re-take Day 10/12 NO SCHOOL (local holiday) 10/17 NO SCHOOL (Elementary only, Secondary in School) 10/19-20 PTA Reflections Submissions Due 10/22 PTA BINGO NIGHT!
FROM THE OFFICE
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
how to sew the pillow cases! Students pictured right with some of their creations for charity: Top Row (L to R): Elena McFadden, Ben Abdulaziz, Jackson Quon, Matthew Pemberton, Josie Norton,
Bottom Row (L to R): Grace Peterson, Sophie Vaughan, Samantha Abdulaziz, Sydney Brown, Kolby Von Mulldorfer, Natalie Wang, and Carly Theaker.
October Digital Spotlight With technology at their fingertips, students have been learning
about digital citizenship in the classroom. To further connect the
classroom and the home, we will be creating monthly digital spotlights to help get
conversations started at home. Thank you for joining this partnership to ensure your child’s
digital safety and responsibility.
Topic: Privacy
Discussion Starters: What does Privacy mean? What things are Private to you? What does Privacy look like online? Have you ever Googled yourself? Resources: For Parent Tips: Click Here For Common Sense Media Q & A’s: Click Here
Parent volunteers needed to coach, co-coach, judge and assist in the Odyssey of the Mind
program. This is friendly competition where students can showcase a wide range of talents
such as script writing, prop and scenery design, music, dance, building, robotics, etc. Coaches
work with students in teams of 5-7 to solve a long term problem and prepare for a
spontaneous problem on competition day. For more information please attend the
FROM OPUSD
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
information session on October 1, 2016 at Oak View High School, 5801 Conifer in Room 104
from 9:30-12:30.
OOTM Information Flyer 2017 Problem Synopsis Visit the FriendsofOakParkSchools.org website or email the District Science Specialist Debbie
Hammill at [email protected] for more information.
9/29 & 9/30: THIS THURSDAY & FRIDAY! Parent Education Event with OPUSD Counselor Holly Baxter
9/28- PTA Meeting This Wednesday! 8:30am in the MPR! Please join us for our September General Association meeting at
8:30am in the MPR this Wednesday, 9/28!
FROM THE BROOKSIDE PTA
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
Wednesday, October 5th! TWO Awesome Events! Walk to School Wednesday & Family Restaurant Event at Sharky’s & Yogurtland in Westlake! Walk to School Wednesday is October 5, 2016.
The event that promotes healthy kids, cuts down on neighborhood traffic & pollution, and
builds community spirit! Meet up with some favorite teachers & friends for the trek
to school. Mrs. Ahl and Stripes the Tiger will meet you at school! Locations & Times Deerhill Fire Station - 7:45am
Conifer & Bayberry - 7:55am
Conifer & Locust - 7:55am
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
Also on 10/5: Brookside at Sharky’s & Yogurtland in Westlake Village! After you’ve worked up an appetite walking to
school, come to October’s Brookside Family Restaurant Event at
Sharky's & Yogurtland in Westlake Village. Sharky's will donate
15% of all dine-in and takeout orders made between 11am- 8pm to the Brookside PTA.
Yogurtland will donate 20% of all sales to the Brookside PTA ALL DAY. Look for more
information in next week's Tidbits!
Back in the Garden NEXT WEEK! We are delighted to announce that our School Garden Program will
resume next week with garden clean up and 4th & 5th grade garden
classes starting Friday, October 7th. This will be the second year of
hands-on science and core standards aligned lessons in organic growing and gardening for all our students, provided by the District and delivered by our vendor,
2eden school gardens (led by Debra Leith, a Brookside parent and our very own PTA Garden
and Beautification Committee Chair).
Garden classes at Brookside take place on Fridays and we welcome parent support and
volunteers. Last year we heard so many great things about what our volunteers and teachers
learned too, so this opportunity not only benefits your student but, might just help you
develop your own green thumbs! This school year 4th & 5th grade will be in the garden in
Oct-Dec, 2nd & 3rd grade in Jan-March and DK-1st grade in March-May. Please check with
your teacher for more details of your class's garden schedule.
School Garden Program Assistant Part-Time Opportunity Available with Vendor! Finally, and again on the subject of opportunities, our vendor is also currently advertising a part-time, paid opportunity to be a part of the team delivering this amazing program across the District. For more information
on applying to be a School Garden Program Assistant, head over to their
website www.2edenstudio.com and click on the 'School Gardens' tab. This is a great
opportunity for anyone who needs to work around school hours, has a keen interest or
experience in gardening and growing and, has experience in supervising activities with groups
of students.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
We Need YOU! Let’s Get Our Community Going: Phone Banking Volunteers Needed!
THANK YOU to everyone who has signed up for phone banking! We Need Your Help to Get Measure S Passed! It’s super easy and most
calls last only 20 seconds. We will need everyone’s help this
November to support the passage of Measure S to ensure safe and
quality Oak Park schools. Don’t delay and SIGN UP HERE. For more information and FAQ,
please refer to the original ParentSquare post HERE.
Calling All Potential Bingo Night Volunteers! Do you love Bingo?! If the answer is yes, the the Brookside PTA
needs you! The Brookside PTA’s beloved Bingo Night is coming up
on October 21st and we are looking for a few volunteers to work on our Bingo Night
committee. If you are interested, please email Bingo Night chair, Denise Helfstein at
[email protected] or join the Bingo Night committee group on ParentSquare under
PTA Fundraising HERE. You can also join any other groups you are interested in there!
Run Club is Returning in November! Our AWESOME PE Coaches, Coach Christa and Coach Gretchen, will be
helping run the Brookside PTA’s Run Club again this year. The program is
sponsored by your generous support and is FREE for all participants. It will be 4
months in duration and will begin in November and conclude the last week of February. Run Club will be on Wednesday and Friday mornings from 7:45-8:15am. Students may run one or both days. Waivers will be available and
can be turned in starting in October. A signed hard copy will need to be turned in via homework folders to the Run Club bin in the office workroom in order to participate.
Look for a ParentSquare post from Coach Christa soon!
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
PTA Reflections: IMPORTANT Rules & Reminders THANK YOU to our Brookside librarian, Kelly Shaver, for
promoting the arts and the PTA Reflections program during library
time this past week!
We want to remind all parents of participants to read the entry rules very carefully WITH their students.
No Adult Help! Each entry must be the original work of one student only. An adult may not alter the
creative integrity of a student’s work. Because the program is designed to encourage and
recognize each student’s individual creativity, help from an adult or collaboration with other
students is not allowed. Please help keep this program student-centered!
Please Read the Entry Rules and Rules for Each Category Carefully! Rules and Entry Forms for each category can be found HERE. There are very SPECIFIC rules
about what is permitted for each category and how entries are to be turned in. PLEASE NOTE: any entries received that do not meet the criteria specified in the rules will be returned. Our volunteers/teachers do not have the capacity to print any documents/photos
the morning entries are due. ALL submissions MUST be COMPLETE and ready when turned in on 10/19 or 10/20. If there is an issue of hardship, please contact the Office
Manager, Virginia Standring, who will then let us know if certain arrangements need to be
made. Also, if you are videotaping, please note that you must obtain a release from those in
the video. All submissions will be collected the mornings of 10/19 and 10/20 before school
in front of the school. For more information, contact PTA Reflections Chair, Bhavya Singh at
Renew/Register Your Ralph’s Card Shop at Ralph’s and earn 5% of your purchase for Brookside! You must
register or renew your Ralph’s Club Card every year starting September
1st. For directions on how to register, click HERE; after registering on the www.ralphs.com site
enter Brookside’s Group ID 83860 when prompted.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
Save Your Box Tops! Please collect and clip around the pink dotted line. Our school earns money
with each Box Top submitted. Simply fill out each sheet as many times as you
can. All we ask is that the dates are current and the tops are clipped carefully
by the pink dotted line.
Let us make a goal of raising $1,000. Please be sure to download the Box Tops flyer HERE from our Fundraising File Folder on ParentSquare and paste the box tops onto the sheet to make it even easier for our Box Tops Chair, Gale Saul! Questions? Contact Gale at [email protected]
Just for the Kids~Donate Today! THANK YOU to all of our generous and supportive families for
pledging to our annual giving campaign. If you haven’t already, please
contribute today online HERE so we can continue supporting key salaried positions and programs for music, computers, art, over 2,500 hours of instructional aide time and continue to improve programming and
enrichment for our children. If you donated at the suggested Bronze level of $350 per student or above, and didn’t receive your car magnet or other incentives, please contact
Tina Wang at [email protected]
Corporate Matching Please verify with your Human Resources department if your company offers
corporate matching. They will have an online process or a manual form you will
need to complete and have us verify the amount. For the verification process,
please direct all correspondence to Tina Wang at [email protected] The
organization name: Brookside Elementary PTA and our tax ID is: 95-6203985
Get Involved! Be a PTA Volunteer! Please take a look at all of our programs and fundraisers and
JOIN a group HERE on ParentSquare! If you would like more
information, please feel free to contact any of our board
members or committee chairs listed HERE or contact Kim Kavett-Moore, VP of Volunteers at
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
Traffic & Safety Volunteers! Thank You to our dedicated parent volunteers who arrive early in
the morning to help expedite the drop-off process. THANK YOU to Pam Norton, Jennifer Burstein, Ty Avendano, Luisa Kapitz, and Michele Abdulaziz. If you would like to help with traffic and safety, please sign up HERE.
Spirit Wear Chair! A huge thank you Judie Berro, our AWESOME Spiritwear chair for coordinating our spirit wear purchases this year!
Treat Your Skin to a Safe Spa Quality Facial at Home
BROOKSIDE TIDBITS COMMUNITY ADVERTISEMENTSThe Oak Park Unified School District and Brookside Elementary School
do not endorse any advertised products or services
TIGER SHOUT-OUTS!
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
Advertise in Tidbits! The Brookside Tiger Tidbits e-Newsletter is a very cost-effective way to reach over 600 local
families. Pricing Options:• $50 for 1 week/ad, $100 for 2 week/ad, $150 for 4 week/ad.
Interested? Please contact Tim Fontenette at [email protected]
Oak Park High Cheer Clinic on 10/23 Designed for AGES 4 and UP, participants will learn cheers and a dance to PERFORM during
HALFTIME under the Friday Night Lights on October 28, 7:00pm vs. Royal Football
game. OPHS Gym - 899 Kanan Rd, Oak Park. Check-in opens at 12:00pm
$40 by 10/15 (sign up by 10/6 to guarantee t-shirt size) $50 Same Day Registration. Fee includes instruction, participant game admission, snack & t-shirt to wear at
game. Proceeds benefit OP Cheer. For the registration form and directions on where to turn
the form in, please click HERE.
9/28-Magic Morgan of Deaf World Magicians at Oak Park High! Friends of Oak Park Schools presents: An Evening of Magic & Comedy
Starring Deaf World Magicians on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. Oak Park High School Pavilion. Admission is FREE!
Fundamentals of Finance Series at the Oak Park Community Center!
OAK PARK COMMUNITY INFORMATION
SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 TIGER TIDBITS
10/6- Candidates Forum at Oak Park High School
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The Community Foundation for Oak Park has previously held political forums for local and regional candidates as well as ballot measures, affording an opportunity for the public to meet its candidates and learn about local measures. The nonprofit Community Foundation for Oak Park supports specialized volunteer efforts within the community and serves as an umbrella organization for charitable groups and charitable trusts. It was established in 1979 and is led by a volunteer board of trustees. Charitable groups within the Foundation include Friends of the Oak Park Library, Oak Park Community Garden, Oak Park Performing Arts Alliance, Oak Park
Neighborhood School and the Oak Park High School Instrumental Music Association. Information about the Community Foundation for Oak Park may be found at www.OakParkFoundation.org or by contacting Jay Kapitz at [email protected].)