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From the Principal:
At last week’s Community Meeting, the upcoming School Raffle and Spring Dance were announced to the students and families in attendance. The Dance is on Friday, March 21st. Hope to see you all there. And please sell those tickets! There are a lot of great prizes available.
Another upcoming event is the first School Auction (off-site and adults only) on Friday, April 18th. We want everyone to know they are wanted and welcome to attend. Berkeley schools pull students from all over the city, which helps to create a unique and rich community. I am hoping our Auction will also represent our diverse school community. Please consider talking to a parent in your child’s classroom and encouraging him/her to attend the auction. Sometimes that personal invitation helps people to feel welcome.
And, please check out the newly updated Oxford website! Our thanks to one of our parents, Hillary Brooks, who totally revamped the website, it looks fabulous! http://oxfordelementary.org/
– Beth Rhine
Upcoming Events
March 5, Emmy Orth Projects due March 7, College and Career Day March 10, Presentation by the Girls Leadership Institute 6:30 pm March 19, PTA Meeting, 6:30–8 pm March 21, Community Meeting: Emmy Orth Celebration March 21, Spring Dance and Raffle, “Spring Jubilee,” 6–8:30 pm April 18, Silent Auction and Celebration, School Auction“A Toast to Oxford”
Presentation by the Girls Leadership Institute
Monday, March 10, 6:30 p.m.—this event is open to the public.
Please come early to make sure you get a good seat; we expect a full house!
Oxford is excited to host Simone Marean, the executive director at the Girls Leadership Institute (GLI). A leading national organization that focuses on girls’ emotional and social health, GLI speaks to packed auditoriums all over the country. Simone will speak on the following topics:
How and why girls of all ages are aggressive with one another
The Good Girl phenomenon: How the pressures of femininity, and the socialization of girls away from conflict, influences their aggressive behavior and approach to conflict
What girls need to avoid victimization
The importance of emotional intelligence for healthy conflict
The role of mistakes and the limitations of blame
A road map for healthy conflict
The importance of a plan for healthy communication and conflict at school and at home.
RSVP
Childcare provided for Oxford families. In order to provide our speaker with ample time to talk, we will not be able to provide dinner.
“Wine Wednesday” – Donate a bottle for our Spring Celebration & Auction
“A Toast to Oxford,” our first adults-only offsite celebration, is Friday, 4/18. This evening of fun will be at the beautiful Brower Center in downtown Berkeley from 7-10pm and will include live music, tasty food, drinks, and an auction with some fabulous prizes! Can you donate a bottle of wine to help stock the bar? We are minimizing the cost of the event by soliciting sponsorships and donations. EveryWednesday morning several Oxford volunteers will be stationed at both the Oxford and Walnut Street drop-off locations collecting bottles for the celebration (we aren’t allowed to have alcohol on campus). If you belong to a wine club and would be willing to ask for a donation, please contact Tara Baker for details on our event sponsorship opportunities and for solicitation materials. Thank you!
A Toast to Oxford Celebration & Auction: Fri, April 18th @ David Brower Center on Allston Way
The Brower Center
Please join us for Oxford’s 2014 offsite celebration and auction! This adults-only event will run from 7p-10p and feature live music, food and drinks, and a chance to celebrate our school community.
You will notice that tickets are free, and that a $20 donation is suggested, but not required: we want everyone from our community to attend!
If you’d like to donate more or less for tickets, you will also be able to do so via the website
We encourage everyone to forward this link to at least 5 friends and family, even if they do not plan to attend, donation via this website in the “I just want to make a donation” section
Please feel free either print your tickets at home OR to have them at will call and get them the night of the event: either is fine!
If you do not want to purchase tickets online or do not have access to a computer, we will have computers set up the night of the raffle to assist you. Or, if you’d like someone from our auction team to reserve a ticket on your behalf, please contact Maria Raven or Erin McMahon
“Spring Jubilee” Dance + Raffle, Friday, March 21st
Our Spring Jubilee is quickly approaching but the time to sell raffle tickets is here. We have just two more weeks to sell $15,000 worth of tickets- it sounds like a lot but it is only 50 tickets per child! Please help and/or encourage your child to sell tickets to neighbors, friends or perhaps at a busy location like the Farmers Market, Peets, Cal campus or 4th Street.
We’ve got some great prizes lined up again this year including our Grand Prizes: IPad Mini, Kindle HD, Giants tickets, Peets coffee for a year. Your child’s envelope will have a partial listing of prizes available to win, which they can show to potential ticket buyers.
We will be keeping track of each classrooms sales in the hallway and each classroom which sells more than 600 tickets will enjoy a movie and popcorn party. Remind your kids that this money pays for things like PE, Art and Gardening.
If you want more than 10 tickets at a time, please make a note on your child’s envelope. Thanks!!
SGC Survey
The SGC is beginning the process of gathering information/feedback from all Oxford stakeholders (parents/guardians, staff, students) to find out how we are doing, what we need to improve upon and what else, if anything, needs to happen at Oxford school. I know everyone is busy but please take some time and complete the survey. The information we gather from it will be used to direct decisions on how our schools funds are spent. Everyone’s opinion is important.
Paper copies were sent home this week. (If you complete the survey on-line, you do not need to do the paper one, too.) If you want to complete the paper survey, just send it back to school with your child. Thank you, and we really appreciate the feedback and your time.
A Production of “Grandma’s Hands”: You’re Invited
You are warmly invited to attend the original production of “Grandma’s Hands: College Bound” performed by all the 5th graders at Oxford. In this 9th rendition, Grandma’s great granddaughter, Nia, learns a very important lesson in life that – “there is no progress without struggle” through the voices of important leaders who fought for equal rights throughout history, from African civilization to the present time. Come explore the Civil Rights movement and so much more expressed through dance, poetry, instrumental music, monologues, and song. Thursday, March 13th and Friday, March 14th promptly at 9 am.
Berkeley Emergency Prep Fair
Let your friends and family know that the Berkeley Emergency Prep Fair is scheduled for April 26. This family friendly event will feature fun activities, games and demonstrations for kids, parents, and pet-owners aimed at increasing safety and preparedness in our community.
When: Saturday, April 26, 2014, 10:00 AM to 2:00PM
Where: North Berkeley BART Station, 1750 Sacramento St. (at Virginia St.), Berkeley
FREE!
Safety Crowdfunding Campaign Needs Support from Everyone!
Exciting news: Oxford has a live DonorsChoose.org campaign! Check it out and if you feel inspired, feel free to donate. The grant will benefit all of our students and school community, helping to build our safety preparedness. (We already had an anonymous donor as soon as it was finished and submitted. Very cool!)
Thank you for your support.
Earn $ for Oxford with your everyday purchases – ShopWithScrip!
ShopWithScrip.com helps us earn FREE money for Oxford, when we shop using gift cards purchased through the ShopWithScrip.com program. This is not eScrip. With ShopWithScrip.com, cards for places you shop give a rebate of 2-20% back to our school. For example, if you spent the following:
$100 Gap/Old Navy etc = $14 for Oxford
$40 Peet’s = $3.20
$100 Berkeley Bowl or Safeway = $4
$200 Amazon = $6
$50 iTunes = $2.50
$25 Barnes & Noble = $2.25
>> A total of $31 would go to Oxford!
You can choose from 100’s of retailers. Gift cards also make great gifts! Learn more at www.shopwithscrip.com. To start earning money for Oxford, sign up at ShopWithScrip.com with Oxford’s enrollment code (contact the PTA for the code).
If you’d like to order cards using a paper form, they are available in the wall bins outside the office, or from Tara Baker. The next SCRIP order will be submitted on Monday 3/10. Please complete your order & bring a check to Deanna in the office or to Tara by Monday. Checks should be made out to “Oxford PTA” & include “ShopWithScrip” & your order number.
Questions? Contact Tara Baker.
Playground Supervision After School
We ask that all parents pick up your children promptly after school (unless your child attends the Oxford After School Program or rides the bus). If you stay on the playground with your child after school, please supervise your child closely and enforce our playground rules.
Like us on Facebook
Stay up-to-date on Oxford happenings ON Facebook! Go to the Oxford Facebook page and “like” our page in order to receive updates, reminders and other messages from the PTA. This is an informational page only, not a discussion group.
Notices for the Newsletter
Please email all notices you wish to be posted in the weekly bulletin to news@oxfordelementary.org.
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