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Enter to Learn. Go Forth to Serve.
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Hello O'Hara Families!
We are very excited to welcome you all back for another school year!
Please join us as we pray,
God of knowledge & wisdom, bless all students young and old, as they begin a new school year. Help them discover & develop the gifts you have given. As they grow in knowledge, help them to also grow in kindness & compassion, learning respect for themselves & others.
We ask your blessing on parents, teachers and all those who care for our students. Strengthen them to surround our students with encouragement, support and love.
Remind us that wherever we go, you are always with us. Fill us with the joy of learning so that we may be better equipped to be your servants.
Amen.
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REQUIRED FORMS FOR ALL STUDENTS
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Please visit our
Forms & Downloads page to find a list of both required and optional forms for the 2019-20 school year. (Password is: HOUSE)
Required forms should be completed, printed out and brought to school with your student on Passport Day 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 at the front office on Passport Day.
Optional forms can also be brought to school on Passport Day.
*PRO TIP: we had one parent tell us that they snap a picture of the completed permission slip and keep it on their phone for reference all year - this way they don't have to look up their insurance info and Dr.'s phone number, etc. each time a permission slip comes home. Thanks for the great time-saving idea!
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CLASS LISTS
Class lists will be
posted online by 4:30pm on Friday, August 30.
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BUILDING CLOSURES
8/29 - 8/30: Our staff is on retreat; the building is closed on Thursday and Friday.
Tuesday, 9/3: Our building is closed to families until the designated Passport Day times (see below for schedule).
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PASSPORT DAY SCHEDULE (Tuesday, Sept. 3)
New Families: Report to O'Hara at 1:00pm; we will be taking new family photos.
Buddy Families: Report to O'Hara at 1:00pm
Returning Families: Visit school between 2:30pm - 3:45pm
*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.
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BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHTS - PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Mark your calendars! Back to School Night for parents will be held on 2 different nights:
Thursday Sept. 5 for Middle School Parents
(grades 6-8) and
Thursday, Sept. 19 for parents of students in grades Preschool - 5
.
These are mandatory meetings for all O'Hara parents.
(Adults only, so please make childcare arrangements.)
Middle School Night: Thursday, September 5
6:00 - 8:00pm:
All Parent Meetings
PreS - 5th Grade Night: Thursday, September 19
4:30 - 6:00pm:
Volunteer training offered in the library
6:00-6:30pm:
Pre-S & Pre-K parents meet in classrooms
6:30-8:00pm:
All-Parent Meetings
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O'HARA'S NEW GRADING/STUDENT INFORMATION SOFTWARE SYSTEM - PARENT ACTION REQUIRED
Over the summer, O'Hara transitioned from Teacherease to a new Student Information Software system called Alma. This is a positive change for our school; Alma is modern and user-friendly and there are many new features that we are excited to implement.
This Friday afternoon (8/30), all O'Hara parents with emails on record will receive an email invitation from Alma. In order to access your students' information, you will need to complete the log in and password setup following the instructions in the email. The email will come from this address:
notifications@getalma.com.
We will be sharing much more information about Alma in the weeks to come, specifically at our Back to School Nights.
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STAFFING UPDATES
Mr. Josh Ambroson ~ Title I Instructional Assistant
Mr. Ambroson has been an O'Hara parent for 4 years; Mirabelle will be in 2nd grade and Kieran will be in Kindergarten. Mr. Ambroson will work with Mrs. Relling and Mrs. Church in our Title program.
Mr. John Beltran ~ Middle School / Title I
Mr. Beltran worked in our Title program last year, and also took over Middle School health when Mrs. Woodward left on Maternity leave after Spring Break. He joins us full-time this year: he will split his time between the Title program and teaching the following classes: 6th/7th Grade Social Studies, 6th/7th Grade Character Education, 7th Grade Homeroom.
Miss Michelle Campbell ~ Fundraising & Events Coordinator
Miss Campbell was our KA Instructional Assistant last year. This summer, she joined Michelle Meador in the Advancement Office. Miss Campbell is an alum of both O'Hara & Marist.
Mrs. Katherine Cohn ~ 3B Homeroom
Most of you will remember Mrs. Cohn as a former O'Hara 5th grade teacher. She's back at O'Hara as a 3rd grade teacher this year after taking a few years off to be home with her young children. Her daughter, Olivia, will begin in preschool this fall as well.
Mrs. Sally Eagen ~ 1st grade Instructional Assistant
We are thrilled that Mrs. Eagen is returning this fall as a part time 1st grade Instructional Assistant. She will be here half-days on Tuesdays and Thursdays and split her time between the 2 first grade classrooms.
Mr. Bill Manning - Lunch & Recess Monitor
Mr. Manning has been an O'Hara parent for 3 years; Liam will be in 2nd grade, and Ella will be in Kindergarten. Mr. Manning will assist with student supervision at lunch time; both in the cafeteria and on the playground.
Mrs. Heather O'Neill ~ KA Instructional Assistant
Mrs. O'Neill has been an O'Hara parent for 4 years; Scarlett will be in 2nd grade and Liam will be in PreK. She joins Mrs. Mussio in Kindergarten.
Mrs. Stacie Seaver ~ 1st grade Instructional Assistant / Tech Support / Volunteer Requirements Coordinator
Mrs. Seaver will be splitting her time between the classroom and the front office again this year. She will work as the Instructional Assistant for 1st grade each morning, and will be in the office each afternoon to serve as tech support for our student chromebooks as well as maintain our volunteer database to ensure all volunteers are up to date on their requirements.
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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 10 FIP hours for the year. If two parents share the job, each receives 5 hours.
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STUDENT ASSESSMENTS
O'Hara will be administering reading and math assessments to each of our students three times a year: in the fall, winter, and spring. Students scoring below the 20th percentile may be recommended, by the building-level team, to receive instructional interventions in reading and/or math. Often these interventions will be implemented by our Title I program. Students receiving interventions will have their progress monitored during regular intervals.
Parents/guardians will be notified if their child is recommended to receive additional reading or math instruction. It is a blessing that our school is able to provide these extra services, as they can provide a just-in-time boost to student achievement. If you have any questions about instructional interventions, please contact
Mr. Milliron for more information.
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THANK YOU!!!
O'Hara's summer projects are nearing completion, and we are so excited to share all of the updates with our families. Tackling such a big list of projects in such a short time is no small feat, and we owe a big shout out to all of our contractors, and want to say an extra special thanks to the businesses and individuals below - these O'Hara families have been instrumental in helping us complete our projects.
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Online Registration for O'Hara's HOT LUNCH Program is OPEN!
Deadline for Early Sign-Up for Annual Membership is WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4.
Reminder for students with the Annual Plan:
Please remember, the default meal selection for your student is the hot lunch. If your student would like the Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Vegetarian option, then that option must be selected in the online ordering system at least 2 weeks prior to the meal date.
If your student would like to select the Salad Bar and/or the Hoagie Sandwich option instead of, or in addition to, the Hot Lunch, that selection must be made in the online ordering system by 9am.
Volunteers are needed to help in the kitchen, please contact
Tracy if you can help.
Hot Lunch Contact:
Tracy Whalen, Kitchen Manager (541-485-5291 x 303). Email is the best way to contact Tracy.
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We are changing how we take in Jog-A-Thon pledges this year. We are using a web-based platform that
makes it much easier for you to request pledges from your family and friends, and for them to make secure credit card donations online. We have already heard from parents how easy set-up is!
Our Jog-A-Thon is October 18; please register now to help our school meet our goal of raising $70,000. Our fundraisers help us bridge the gap between tuition and our operating costs.
Here's how to set up your student's fundraiser account:
- Go to http://pledgestar.com/oharacatholic
- Click "Not Registered For This Year's Event"
- Enter parent name and email address, then click "Submit"
- Follow the instructions on-screen to register students
When you finish, the system allows you to email pledge requests to your family and friends, and allows them to make secure credit card donations online. You will be notified each time a pledge is made, and you can track your pledge progress online. We will still have paper pledge forms for those who bring in cash and checks. You can turn those into the Advancement office.
SUMMER INCENTIVE DEADLINE REMINDER:
All students who reach their $120 pledge goal by 8:05am on the first Friday of school, September 6, 2019, will be entered into a raffle drawing for $100 cash.
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2019-20 ENROLLMENT OPENINGS
O'Hara has a handful of openings for the upcoming school year still available. If you know someone who might be interested in enrolling at O'Hara, please have them
fill out an application and contact the school right away. We currently have a handful of spots available in Preschool, Kindergarten & 2.
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2019-20 GOSPEL T-SHIRTS 
Online ordering available - deadline is September 13.
If you ordered your Gospel T-Shirt before August 15, your shirt(s) will be available to pick up at Passport Day. Please bring payment of $13/shirt; cash or check only. Payment must be made before receiving your shirt.
If you would still like to order a t-shirt, there will be a table set up at Passport Day with sample sizes. Orders placed by Sept. 13 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 O'Hara student Clara Gramzow - she designed our t-shirt this year!
Click
HERE to ORDER
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SPORTS PHYSICAL REMINDER FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS
A valid sports physical is required to be on file in the O'Hara office for any student participating in O'Hara's Middle School Sports. 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. Girls in grade 6 are eligible for volleyball this fall, and all 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. Please contact Barb Whitford to verify the date of the physical we have on file for your student(s).
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2019-20 VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS
All volunteers have requirements to fulfill before being eligible to volunteer at school this year
. Instructions are on our website, please
click here to learn more. Please contact
Stacie Seaver with any questions.
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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 7:50am). Students should be in their classrooms by 8:05am, 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.
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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 & Interior 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 - 8pm: Front & interior doors locked, access with fingerprint only
8pm - 7:50am: Front & interior 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. We also request that parents keep the school informed of any changes to their grandparent/nanny list.
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COMMUNICATIONS INFO FOR OUR FAMILIES
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NEW CONTACT INFO?
If your family has a new address, phone number, email address, etc., please make sure to update us with your new information. O'Hara's 2019-20 School Directory will be going to print soon, and we want to make sure we have everyone's information correct! Please fill out
this form
, or email
Barb Whitford
if you have updates to share with us.
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O'HARA WEBSITE UPDATE
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: HOUSE
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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:
communications@oharaschool.org.
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O'HARA'S APP FOR SMARTPHONES
O'Hara also uses our app to send push notification reminders for special dress days, early release days, Mass days and more. We request that all parents download our app.
O'Hara's app is available
HERE, or 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
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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.
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CONTACT INFO FOR O'HARA STAFF
All O'Hara staff members have a school email address. Email addresses are set as follows: John Smith = jsmith@oharaschool.org
There are a few exceptions to note:
Click
HERE for a complete staff listing.
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"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
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Joshua 24:15
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