Enter to Learn. Go Forth to Serve.

Contact Us      Website      Calendar     Support     Fundraisers

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Good Morning O'Hara Families!

We look forward to seeing you all today at Passport Day. See below for today's schedule. Please note: in an effort to limit the amount of time families are asked to be outdoors, we have cancelled our Family Mass & outside social. Please read below for a few more updates, as well as reminders from last week's email. 
Blessings to you all as we begin a new year!

TODAY'S SCHEDULE
Today's Passport Day Schedule 
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: CANCELLED
Family Picnic Dinner & Social: CANCELLED

*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.
BACK LOT TRAFFIC FLOW
We have received information from the City of Eugene with the updated traffic flow plan for our back lot. Please review the map below and plan for extra time in your morning commute. As you will see on the map, once you enter O'Hara's campus from the back lot gate, drop-off and pick-up procedures are the same as they have always been. 
AIR QUALITY MONITORING
As you are all aware, w ildfire smoke is affecting air quality in the Eugene area. The health and safety of our students is our top priority and we are closely monitoring air quality conditions to guide our decision making around outdoor student activities. O'Hara uses the guidelines (español) set forth by the Oregon Health Authority for guidance on when/if/how outdoor activities will take place. Please join us in praying for the many firefighters on the front lines of these blazes, and for rain!
REMINDERS FROM LAST WEEK'S EMAIL
Required Forms for Students
Please visit our  Forms & Downloads page to find a list of both required and optional forms for the 2017-18 school year. 
(Password for website is: riseup)

Required forms should be completed, printed out and brought to school with your student today and turned into each student's homeroom teacher.  Please do not email forms to the school.   If you don't have a printer, or would prefer to fill out forms at school, we will have all required forms available in classrooms.

Optional forms can also be brought to school today.
Online Registration for O'Hara's HOT LUNCH Program is OPEN!  
We are so excited to offer Hot Lunches to our
families! The new, healthy lunch program, with a kid-friendly menu is made with organic, locally-sourced ingredients. Thank you to O'Hara parent Shanna Hutton, and our Kitchen Manager, Tracy Whalen, for their hard work and dedication in bringing this program to our school!

We will be offering tastings for our students and parents today, so make sure to stop in the cafeteria for a sample!

Volunteers are still needed to help in the kitchen, please contact Tracy if you can help. We are looking for 2 volunteers daily, from 9am to 1pm. This is an all year commitment and will count toward your required Family Involvement Hours. 
 
LUNCH LINKS:
September Cold Lunch Menu (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

Hot Lunch Contact: Tracy Whalen, Kitchen Manager (541-485-5291 x 303)
2017-18 Gospel T-Shirts
If you ordered your Gospel t-shirt before August 20, your shirt(s) will be available to pick up at Passport Day today. Please bring payment of $13/shirt; cash or check only.

If you would still like to order a Gospel t-shirt, there will be a table set up at Passport Day with sample sizes. Orders placed by this afternoon will be ready by the end of September. Gospel t-shirts may be worn, with jeans, on the designated day each month (beginning in October). Congratulations to 7th grader Taylor Heer on designing this year's t-shirt. Click HERE to ORDER .
2017 Jog-A-Thon
Students who turn in $120 in pledges by  3:10pm on Wednesday,  September 6th  will be entered into a raffle drawing that will take place at the Jog-A-Thon Kick Off Assembly.  Download a pledge form here.
Class Lists
Class lists are posted on  O'Hara's website.
Middle School Sports Physical Reminder
We recommend that parents schedule summer appointments for sports physicals for any students that might want to participate in middle school sports this school year. Students in grades 7-8 are eligible to play volleyball, basketball and track. Students in grade 6 will be eligible to participate on the track team in the spring. Students will not be permitted to participate in practice or competition without a sports physical on file in the front office. Due to our liability insurance, there can be no exceptions made to this rule. Click HERE to download the required form.
Morning Drop Off Hours
O'Hara's building is closed to parents and students until 7:50am each morning. Only students in choir, or with special case-by-case permission, will be permitted to enter the building. (Parents and siblings of those students must wait outside the building until 7:50). Students should be in their classrooms by 8:05, when the morning bell rings. We ask that all parents please exit the building promptly when the bell rings and not linger in the hallways. Parents of PreSchool - Kindergarten students should walk their child to the classroom. 

We will have an all-school Monday Morning Assembly each week. Students report to the gym instead of classrooms on these days; parents are welcome to stay for the assemblies.
O'Hara's Front Door Schedule
Please read below for a reminder of our schedule for the front entrance:
Parents will be able to open the front door by using their right index finger on the fingerprint reader located on the wall next to the front doors.
 
(Please note: you will only be able to open the door if you have registered your fingerprint into the system at the front office. All information from last year carries over, so returning parents do not need to re-register. New families: please stop in the office on Passport Day to complete the fingerprinting process. )

Our daily schedule on school days is as follows:

7:50am - 8:05am: Front Doors & Interior Security doors open for morning drop off
8:05am - 2:35pm (2:00 on Wed.): Front & Interior doors locked, access through front doors with fingerprint only; access through interior doors by front office buzzer system only.
2:35pm (2:00 on Wed.): Front doors open for afternoon release
3:15pm - 4pm: Front doors locked, access with fingerprint only
4pm - 7:50am: Front doors locked. No parent access.*

*Doors will be open for sporting events and large school functions. Those running extra-curricular activities (sports, Scouts, etc.) will have extended hours of access as necessary.

We would like to ask that you please DO NOT hold the door open for anyone that you don't recognize.

Visitors to our school that do not have fingerprint access must push a call button on the entrypad that will activate a camera in the front office. The camera displays a live video feed of the front entry, including the ability to talk to visitors, if necessary, to determine their business with the school. Our front office staff, at their discretion, will be able to remotely open the doors for visitors. Parents who have not yet, or choose not to, input their fingerprint into the system will enter by pushing the same call button to be buzzed in. 

Grandparents, nannies and other frequent visitors to the school will be permitted to add their fingerprint to the system on an as-needed basis as requested by the parent(s) of their O'Hara student. Parents, please send an email to  Barb if you have a grandparent or nanny that routinely drops off or picks up your student and you would like to request fingerprint access. 
¿ Preguntas?
Si tiene alguna pregunta sobre cualquier artículo en el boletín, estamos para ayudarlos! Por favor póngase en contacto con madre de familia de O'Hara, Judy De Leon-Chavez. Ella pude ayudarles con traducciones o cualquier otra pregunta. 
IMPORTANT COMMUNICATIONS INFO
O'Hara's Website Info
O'Hara uses a password protected portion on our website for important resources for our families. The password to access this page has been updated for our new school year.
The new password is: riseup

Click to access the Family Login page.
Contact Info for O'Hara Families
O'Hara's 2017-18 School Directory will be going to print soon, and we want to make sure we have everyone's updated information included!  Please fill out this form , or email Barb Whitford if you have a new address, email or phone number to share with us. 
Email Communications from O'Hara
Please make sure to add the following email addresses to your safe senders list and/or your address book to ensure you receive O'Hara's weekly email bulletins (sent each Sunday afternoon during the school year) and other important updates:

Parents wishing to add an additional email address (work, grandparent, nanny, etc.) to our weekly bulletin distribution list should email that request to:  [email protected]
O'Hara's App for smartphones
We request that all parents download our app.
    O'Hara's app can be found by searching the app store for: web4u ocs

      The app includes quick access to the following:
      School Calendar
      Student Lunchtime Schedule
      Gospel Theme T-Shirt ordering
      Dress Code
      Weekly Bulletins
      School Supply Lists
O'Hara also uses the app to send push notification reminders for special dress days, early release days, Mass days and more.  
School Calendar
O'Hara uses a google calendar as our school calendar.  Parents can access this calendar via our app and our website.  It can also be added to iPhone calendars. Please visit our school calendar page on our website for the link to add the calendar to your phone:  http://www.oharaschool.org/school-calendar.html
Contact Info for O'Hara Staff
All O'Hara staff members have a school email address. Email addresses are set as follows: John Smith = [email protected]

There are two exceptions to note: 
     Mr. Leonard's email address is: [email protected]
     General Email for Piano Dept: [email protected]

Click HERE for a complete staff listing.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS AT O'HARA
Returning volunteers:  All returning volunteers are required to complete the  Safe Haven Safety Training . Follow the links for instructions:   ENGLISH   /   SPANISH .

New volunteers: 
All parents (and grandparents) wishing to volunteer at O'Hara must complete 3 requirements before being eligible to volunteer this coming school year.

Please contact Danielle Hauser with questions about your requirements.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AT O'HARA
Kitchen Volunteers Needed
With our new lunch program comes an exciting opportunity to volunteer with prep and clean-up in the kitchen. We are looking for 2 volunteers daily, from 9am to 1pm. This is an all year commitment and will count toward your required Family Involvement Hours. If you are interested in having fun in the kitchen, and serving our children please contact  Tracy Whalen  with the day or days you are available.
2017 Jog-A-Thon Volunteers Needed
Volunteers will be needed for O'Hara's 2017 JAT! Specific needs will be posted soon, but if you are interested in helping, please mark your calendar for Friday, October 20. Contact Danielle Hauser with any questions.
Room Parents
If you are interested in being a Room Parent for the new school year, please email Barb Whitford. Room Parents work closely with the homeroom teachers and coordinate activities with other parents in the class. If a parent works alone as the room parent, he or she receives 36 FIP hours for the year. If two parents share the job, each receives 18 hours.
Health Screening volunteers needed on Friday, September 29
Volunteers are needed for O'Hara's 2017 Health Screening. ( 8am - 11am)

- Volunteers are needed to walk groups of students to and from screening
- 6 Volunteers are needed to perform blood pressure checks
- Dentists are needed to perform dental checks
IMPORTANT LINKS


Family Involvement Hours: Instructions & Link to Log Hours

Volunteer Requirements: ALL volunteers have requirements each year .

"Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you."

Isaiah 60:1