Dear Northern Oaks Lower School Families,

This past week’s Curriculum Night was a great success with around 200 parents joining each night! The admin team was able to share an overview of school curriculum basics, specials teachers were able to demonstrate a glimpse into their classroom experiences, teachers were able to share grade level-specific content, and the parents experienced an evening of what it was like to be a student and have time with their child’s teachers. It was also a great night for parents to meet one another, network, and see good friends. We are grateful to those who could join! If this was something you could not make, we hope you can join in future years. We will have another chance to spend time with your child’s teacher during October Break Conferences. Teachers will be sending a Signup Genius out in the coming weeks to scheduled Parent-Teacher Conferences between October 10^th – 12^th. 

The Big Give SA is next Thursday and Friday, it is 24 hours of giving to local non-profits in San Antonio, and this year marks our 8th year participating. Your support means so much to our campus and we are hopeful to have once again a successful 24 hours of giving benefiting GHNO!

We in Lower School are excited to show our Griffin spirit and support as we continue to honor our graduates and our senior athletes in the upper school by celebrating our second annual Homecoming week during the week of September 26th.

Our Kinder through sixth-grade students may participate in the below activities during the week of the 26^th. Please note, that this is not mandatory, and no family should feel compelled to participate in our Junior/Mini Mums activity on Friday. This is an opportunity for those who wish to show some Griffin spirit and support our upper school siblings and friends.

The Griffin Coloring Contest will be held Monday – Wednesday. Two winners will be acknowledged in each section: The best Griffin Coloring Page (provided to students on Monday) and the best Griffin Free Draw. Students may work on these during drop-off and dismissal from Monday morning through Wednesday afternoon. Our 5th and 6th Grade will be able to use their artwork as locker decorations. All lower school artwork will be judged by teachers on Wednesday evening, who will narrow it down to two finalists per section, and given to lower school leadership on Thursday for a final decision. Winners will be announced in each section on Friday. Students will take home their drawings on Friday and are welcome to bring them to the homecoming games Friday evening as a poster.

On Friday, students K-6 may participate in Griffin Spirit Shirt Day and can wear Junior Mums! Many of you may have seen the junior mums at Curriculum Night that are being sold by our Juniors to earn money for their senior trip. You still have time to purchase one from the PSO (see PSO Section below), or if you prefer you can make your own.

Clarification on Junior Mums: If you’re not from Texas, mums may be new to you. You can find many content tutorials online. Please note: Junior Mums should be made in school colors (red, black, silver, white), and are meant to show school spirit. Please note the size dimensions: Mums must be no wider than 3’’ in diameter, with streamers no longer than 6". These can be smaller taking into account the size of your griffin. There should be no noisemakers on them as this could cause distraction in class. They are worn with their regular uniform bottoms and a spirit shirt. The size and shape should be appropriate to their size, and the mum ribbons should not pass their waist, nor should they impede anything students may do during the school day (PE, Recess, etc).

We could not be more excited to share in the joy of Homecoming. Please let us know if you have any questions.

GHNO Field days will be coming in early November, see the box below for information regarding GHNO Field Day shirts, every Kinder-4th grade scholar should have one for the traditional field days where they compete against each other as Greek city-states! 5^th and 6^th grade are able to use their house t-shirts or intramural jersey.

The tradition of Grandparent Days continues, we will be moving it back to the fall as in years past and we are happy to announce they will be November 15^th – 17^th, please look for additional information that will come as we get closer to the days.

Sincerely,

Charles Brogan-Headmaster Lower School

Field Days are Coming! 

Each classroom K-4th has a Greek city-state they compete in during our field days. All students should have a shirt that ties to their class. You may order your shirts here! If you are unable to purchase a shirt due to a financial hardship please reach out to Ms. Rossanna Diaz 

5th & 6th grade compete as their houses to order house shirts, please see the PSO box below or order at www.ghnopso.org. House members can also wear a jersey.

Great Hearts Texas Board Meeting - September 26

Due to shortened proceedings as a result of illness at the most recent Board of Directors meeting, there will be a special meeting of the Great Hearts Texas Board of Directors on Monday, September 26 in San Antonio at the law office of Schulman, Lopez, Hoffer & Adelstein (845 Proton Rd // San Antonio, Texas 78258). The meeting is currently scheduled for 1:00-3:00 pm CST, though we ask that you stay tuned to our website for potential updates to this time. You are invited to join in person or over zoom (a zoom link will be posted on our website 72 hours prior).

Important note: At a recent board meeting a number of parents shared their desire for continued full Zoom access to Board Meetings. We appreciate the input and plan to preserve the Zoom option going forward. Please stay tuned to your campus newsletters and the Board Meetings Page for news about meetings and potential updates to the process/parameters for public comments.

The Big Give S.A. is a 24-hour day of giving that will take place from 6 pm on Thursday, September 22 through 6 PM on Friday, September 23.

Stay tuned for Match Minutes info, which is a great way to double our impact on the school and other fun ways to celebrate our family's giving BIG!

This is a great day to share with family and friends about this special day of giving and ask them to support your school!

Thank you in advance for Giving Big! 

Questions about giving to our Academy, or how you can increase your impact on GHNO, contact DeAnna Macias, Director of Community Engagement and Academy Giving

To learn more about Texas Charter Schools or to see how you can get involved with advocating for our charter school check out the Texas Charter School Association page. 

GHNO Homecoming! September 30th will be a special Friday Spirit Day. Our upper school will be celebrating Homecoming and our Lower School students will get an opportunity to shadow this celebration by wearing Spirit Ribbons/Junior Mums.

You may make your own or purchase one ready to wear to support the fundraising efforts of the Class of 2024. These will be available in person at both lower school curriculum nights as well as online at www.GHNOPSO.org

If you have any questions regarding lower or upper school mums please reach out t.Amy Elkins

Interested in Adopting a Senior, you can by bringing their favorite lunches! This year, we will host 2 "Adopt a Senior" lunch days. We need your help to bring them lunch on both Wednesday, October 19, 2022, & Wednesday, March 22, 2023. 

Please sign up here and we will be in touch with your Senior's lunch order, plus reminders as the dates get closer.

Parents who wish to volunteer, please remember that you need to submit a background check before serving our students on campus. A new background check needs to be submitted each academic year. All of the information needed for volunteering is available on our school website on the PSO page Additional information can be found on our PSO website including opportunities to help under the volunteer tab.

21-22 Yearbooks

A very limited number of last year's yearbooks are available for purchase. Parents may order online through Configio. Books will be delivered to students in their classrooms. Click here to order.

Absences

The school receives state funding for all students who are in their classes at 10:30 a.m. each day. If a scholar will be out for a doctor's appointment during attendance time, please be sure to submit a doctor's note upon return so we may count him or her present for the day.

For full-day absences, please notify the Lower School registrar, Mrs. Rios, via email.

Please remember to provide daily absence notices if your student will not be at school for the day.

Extended absences during the academic year are highly discouraged and do affect student success. Excessive unexcused absences may result in loss of credit or enrollment.

Morning Tardies

As a campus, we are working to build the good habit of promptness in our students. Students may not sign themselves into school. If students are dropped off later than 7:50 a.m., parents must park and sign them in.

To read about the Breakfast and Lunch program at GHNO, please click here!

• The 2022-2023 Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) Application is now available. Please apply online HERE.

• If you apply, please be sure to select the options for sharing your status with other programs if you'd like us to be able to apply benefits to Athletics, after-school programs, or other campus programs.

• All students, regardless of status, will be charged the full meal price if they order a second serving of a meal.

• Families can load mealtime lunch accounts online or they may send in cash or check payments to the front desk payable to GHNO. Any of our receptionists will gladly load payments onto student accounts at no charge.

• If sending in cash or a check with your student for lunch, send it in an envelope, and please ensure their name, teacher, and class is written on the outside.

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For more information, visit the GREAT Hearts Texas Meal Service website.  

• Big Give SA-September 22-23
• Lower School Movie Night -September 23
• Homecoming week-September 26
• Fall Break-Parent Teacher Conferences October 10-14