O'Hara Bulletin

September 4, 2015

Good Afternoon O'Hara Families!

As we begin another school year, let us pray:

God of wisdom and might,

we praise you for the wonder of our being,
for mind, body and spirit.
Be with our children as they begin
a new school year.
Bless them and their teachers and staff.
Give them strength and grace as their bodies grow;
wisdom and knowledge to their minds
as they search for understanding;
and peace and zeal to their hearts.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Please read below for exciting updates & reminders.

We wish all of our families a safe and fun weekend, and look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday!

Calendar

O'Hara has an App!

We are excited to announce the release of a new Mobile App for our school. This app is available for download in the Android and Apple Stores. The App is a new and effective way for the school to com municate with you and for you to stay connected with the school. The App includes our school calendar, dress code, quick links to email our staff and other valuable resources including Daily Mass Readings, the Order of the Mass, Sunday Reading Reflections, the Bible, a digital rosary and more.

Best of all, we can alert you of extra special happenings and cancellations via the app's push notifications system. Make sure to say yes to push notifications when loading the app!

You can download the app in the following ways:

Visit this link: http://www.catholicschoolsolutions.com/ocs.html

Search for it in the app store using the keywords: web4u ocs

Staff Updates

Mr. John Conway, 6th Grade

John has most recently been teaching science at Roseburg High School for the last several years. John is a member of St. Mary, attended O'Hara and Marist and did a portion of his student teaching here at O'Hara as well. Thank you to the interview team of Fr. Ron Nelson, Chris Milliron, Angela Mahalak, Maryanne Obersinner and April Cosgrove for the time with interviews.

Mr. Jim Dunn, 4th Grade

Jim has taught elementary school (4-6th) for 30 years and has recently retired from Cottage Grove. He is a former colleague of Mr. Brotherton's as well! Jim is an active member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Cottage Grove. Thank you to April Demers and Bob Brotherton for helping with interviews.

Class Lists

Click HERE to view O'Hara class lists for the 2015-16 School Year.

Lists are also available on O'Hara's website, for a limited time, on the Family Login Page. (password is: thrive)

Reminders

-O'Hara has made a change in our hot lunch program.

Due to this change, we will not have hot lunch available for students as we begin this school year. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we make this improvement.

-Middle School Back to School Night on Thursday

New this year, our Middle School program (6th-8th) will have a separate Back to School Night that will take place this Thursday, September 10. This is a required meeting for all Middle School Parents. Please make sure to mark your calendar.

-O'Hara's website has a new password

Certain sections of O'Hara's website, including the calendar page, require a password to access. The password for the 2015-16 school year is: thrive

-Gospel Theme T-Shirts are now on sale.

If you haven't placed your Gospel Theme T-Shirt order, and would like to, please follow the link below. Not sure what size you need? We will have sample sizes available on Passport Day.The deadline to order your t-shirt is September 15th. Click HERE to order your shirt.

*Extra info for our new families: Gospel t-shirts have a new design each year that ties into the school gospel theme for the year. Once a month, typically the first Friday of the month, students are permitted to wear their t-shirt, with jeans, to school. Purchase of a shirt is optional. The t-shirts are a Student Council fundraiser.

-Passport Day (Tuesday, Sept. 8) will have a different time schedule this year.

New Families : Report to O'Hara at 1:00pm

Buddy Families: Report to O'Hara at 1:00pm

Returning Families : Visit school between 2:30pm - 4:00pm

Family Mass: 4:15pm in the Gym

Family Picnic Dinner & Social: on the field following Mass. Families are invited & encouraged to pack a picnic dinner and stay to socialize.

*Extra info for our new families: Passport Day is a time to bring school supplies and for students to meet their teachers. Parents stay with their student(s) for the entire afternoon. Uniforms are not required on Passport Day.

-All Volunteers must complete new requirements before being cleared to volunteer this school year.

Returning Volunteers:

You have 2 requirements this year, both can be completed online. Both modules are required, even if you have completed them in the past, before you will be permitted to volunteer.

1. View the update video: "Preventing Bullying."

2. Read & sign the Standards of Conduct. This has been updated by the Archdiocese, so everyone is required to complete it again.

New Volunteers:

You have 3 requirements that are necessary before you will be permitted to volunteer.

1. Complete a Criminal Background Check.

2. Attend a Called to Protect Training.

Next training: Thursday, Sept. 10 @ 5:00pm in O'Hara Library.

Click HERE for more dates/times.

3. Complete the Standards of Conduct. This is done online and cannot be accessed until a background check has been completed.

Further instructions, links, and login/password information can be accessed HERE.

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