Check out the newsletter for May — a roundup of the year and upcoming end of school events!
Mapping Workshop!
9 MayCommunity Mapping!
2 Tuesdays, 3-4 pm, May 22nd and 29th
3rd-5th Graders (limit 12)
Parent Leader: Sandra Goff
In this free after school enrichment activity, students will head outside to look at good walks to school within the neighborhoods surrounding Ocean Avenue Elementary School. Sandra will cover some basics in community mapping and give students ideas for making their own maps!
Register today by contacting Gibson at 221-0780 or enrichment@oapto.org with your phone number, email address, and student’s name and age/grade. Also, if there are any parents who’d like to help out, please let Gibson know!
Learning Models Update
29 AprUpdate on Ocean Avenue School Learning Model Decision Process:
- A chart/matrix with some points of comparison between the three learning models under consideration (and being sent home in backpacks).
- There are some upcoming events for parents who are interested in learning more about the models. The presentation on Expeditionary Learning (EL) was held in March.
- Monday, April 30th, 6 – 7 pm: Presentation for parents on International Baccalaureate (IB) learning model. School library.
- Tuesday, May 1st, 7:30-8:30 am: Opportunity for parents to discuss learning model choices with teachers over coffee in the library.
- Thursday, May 3rd, 6 – 7 pm: Presentation for parents on Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC) learning model School library.
- Tuesday, May 8th, 5:15 – 6 pm: Opportunity for parents to discuss learning model choices with teachers in the library (parents can drop in prior to 6 pm PTO meeting).
- The School Improvement Team plans to vote at its May 15th meeting to recommend which learning model the school should adopt. There will then be a staff referendum on May 23rd to determine whether there is adequate staff support for the recommended model.
- Parents are welcome and encouraged to contact either of us with any input, questions or concerns about the learning model choices. If there is enough interest, we could also convene an informal meeting/discussion for interested parents prior to May 15th. Please let us know if you’d like to be part of such a meeting.
Mary Murphy and Laurie Williamson
mtmurphy121@gmail.com, williamson.laurie@gmail.com
Parent Representatives on the School Improvement Team
Clynk Bottle Drive
24 AprThe Maine Recycles Championship is coming to close on April 29th so make sure to drop off your bags by then to be counted. Ocean Avenue is currently in fourth place — keep returning those bottles to help us place in the top three. If you need a Clynk bag please contact the school.
Don’t be discouraged by the numbers. Clynk is ranking the school by bottles per student so we are in striking distance of the top three.
Close Buy Spring Catalog
31 MarThe Spring Close Buy Catalog is here! This time around all orders are online and are shipped directly to you. Plus it’s easier than ever to share the catalog with friends and family both near and far. The best part is 25% of the sales goes back to Ocean Ave… just make sure to choose “Ocean Avenue School” at checkout. In addition to great, local Maine products, there are also some wonderful summer camp options, so enroll today!
April 2012 PTO Meeting
29 Mar
Join us April 4!
What can you expect?Hear more about Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Pat Red, PBIS State Coordinator from the University of Southern Maine Unified Extended Teacher Education Program, will give us a “PBIS 101” and share what has been implemented at Ocean Avenue. We’ll meet in the cafeteria at 6:00 p.m. and have games in the library and a movie in the computer lab for the kids.
P.S Don’t forget about Parents’ Night Out on Friday, March 30 from 7 – 10 p.m. at Pearl, 442 Fore Street, Portland.
Parent Support Group for Parents of Dyslexics/Struggling Readers
27 MarThe Maine Twig/N.H. Branch of the Int’l Dyslexia Association is sponsoring a parent support group for parents of dyslexic and struggling readers. The event is free and open to all parents of children dealing with issues around learning to read/dyslexia.
Join them on Friday April 6th for a brown bag lunch from 12-1:30 at Portland Public Library in Meeting Room 3. Please direct any questions to: jshapiro@maine.rr.com
The Last Five Percent: The Most Remote, Magical, and Pristine Corners of the Ocean
26 MarWednesday, April 4, 7:00 p.m.
Franklin Theater, Waynflete School, 360 Spring Street, Portland, Maine
Join in an evening with acclaimed underwater high-definition film making pioneer and ocean conservationist Feodor Pitcairn. The event includes includes breathtaking cinematography and still photos from the most remote and remarkable places in the ocean, including a screening of Pitcairn’s film, Ocean Odyssey.
We will go on a high-definition journey from the kelp forests to the Galapagos, from Indonesia to Belize, and from Polynesia to the Azores so that we get to experience the last untouched five percent of the ocean. Feo Pitcairn is an acclaimed underwater cinematographer and still photographer. His mission is to capture the life and beauty of the world’s oceans in a way that will inform, engage and enlighten.
Doors open at 6:00 p.m. for visiting informational tables of Maine-based organizations that work directly on ocean sustainability. Admission to the evening is free, but donations will be accepted to benefit scholarships for Sustainable Ocean Studies, a 24-day marine biology summer program for students entering 10th, 11th, and 12th grades focused on promoting ocean sustainability. The program is offered jointly by Waynflete School and Chewonki Semester School.
FMI: About Feo Pitcairn and Sustainable Ocean Studies or call (207) 774-5721, ext. 318.
Sponsored by: Chewonki Foundation, Coastal Studies for Girls, College of the Atlantic, Friends of Casco Bay, GoMMEA, Friends of Casco Bay, Island Institute, Marine Environmental Research Institute, Maine Coastal Programs, Conservation Law Foundation, and Waynflete School.
Odyssey of the Mind Celebration!
25 MarCurious about Odyssey of the Mind and what our teams have been up to this year? Please join parents and students as we celebrate the work of Ocean Avenue’s three OM teams. They will present their own creative solutions to the complex problems they’ve been working on. All our welcome to bring something to add to our potluck or just come and enjoy this demonstration of our kids’ creativity!
When: Tuesday, April 3rd, 6-7:30 pm
Where: Ocean Ave Cafetorium
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