The Scoop: Military Family Support, Construction Update

Posted Date: 4/12/24 (5:55 PM)

Grant-Funded Construction Project: Attend an Upcoming Community Information Night

We are excited to invite you to an upcoming information night to learn more about the construction of the new Crescent Harbor Elementary School, funded entirely by state and federal grants. The landmark and rare funding opportunity is made possible because of the school’s location on a military installation and the strong advocacy of our district leadership and legislators.

During the information meeting, we will share renderings, project plans, and details about the timeline for construction and answer questions.

Where: Crescent Harbor Elementary School Gym
When: April 24, 2024, beginning at 5 PM

To stay up to date on the construction project, please visit the OHPS website at www.ohsd.net/grantfundedschools.

Online Enrollment is Open! Kindergarten Family Orientation Nights Help Introduce Families to Their Schools
Online enrollment for new families opened this week. Oak Harbor Elementary School and Broad View Elementary School hosted the first two of five Kindergarten Family Orientation Nights. Orientation nights provide an opportunity for families to receive a welcome packet, hear from school leadership, meet teachers, staff, and PTA members, learn more about the Kindergarten experience, and get in-person help with registration if needed.

Oak Harbor Public Schools Earns State Recognition for Support of Military-Connected Students
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) recently presented Oak Harbor Public Schools (OHPS) with the Purple Star Award for incorporating military-friendly practices and demonstrating a commitment to military-connected students and families.

In partnership with NASWI, OHPS prioritizes providing military-connected families with resources and tools to address students' unique needs they may experience when their parents/guardians are deployed or when relocating and transferring to a different school.

During this week's board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Michelle Kuss-Cybula and the Board of Directors recognized the students, staff, and community partners who made this award possible including:

⭐ OHHS Student 2 Student Club
⭐ OHE Anchored 4 Life Club
⭐ CHE Anchored 4 Life Club
⭐ State Representative Clyde Shavers
⭐ State Representative Dave Paul
⭐ NASWI Commanding Officer Captain Eric Hanks
⭐ NASWI Military School Liaison Jaime Thompson
⭐ NASWI Community Planning & Liaison Officer Brian Tyhuis

Approximately 39 percent of Oak Harbor Public Schools students come from active military families. In addition to year-round recognition of the daily sacrifices and challenges military children overcome while serving alongside their families, Oak Harbor Public Schools also honors their contributions throughout April for Month of the Military Child.

Oak Harbor Public Schools encourages the community to wear purple on Purple Up Day on April 15, a day dedicated to recognizing military-connected children.

To learn more about the resources available to military families, please go to the Oak Harbor Public Schools website.

Spring Break Food Drive Supports Rotary Club's Food4Kids Backpack Program
The Opportunity Council of Oak Harbor and Oak Harbor Public School's Exceptional Academy recently held a food drive to support Oak Harbor Rotary Club's Food4Kids Backpack program. The Rotary Club has coordinated the program since 2014 with the goal of providing students who face food scarcity with easy-to-prepare meals during the weekends when they don't have access to free meals at school. It currently provides meals for more than 200 elementary school students every week. Volunteers purchase, pack, and deliver the 200 bags of food to all five Oak Harbor Public Schools elementary schools.

“I think that the Rotary is a great humanitarian service, possibly the best for Oak Harbor and Whidbey Island,” said student Scott Fields.

The Opportunity Council and Exceptional Academy food drive helped provide additional food over Spring Break. The bags also included a gift certificate from Jersey Mike's Subs for lunch, and a Slurpee from 7-11.

“People need enough food to eat. I’m glad we helped,” said student Dakota Boyle.

Learn more about Exceptional Academy at ea.ohsd.net

Hillcrest Elementary teacher Mrs. Leith is participating in the Boston Marathon on Monday and she's got over 500 Hillcrest Herons and the #OneOakHarbor community cheering her on!

Mrs. Leith starts the race in Wave 2 at approximately 7:25 PST on Monday morning. Her students will watch live in her classroom as she crosses the finish line! If you want to track her progress throughout the morning, enter bib number 12803 on the B.A.A. Racing App available from Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Earlier this school year, the engineering students received the request for a community project to create a "Wheel of Fortune" type wheel with various book genres for students to spin and determine what genre to try next. The wheel is a fun way to get students to experiment with different book genres. It also incorporated the Dewey Decimal System to help students learn it and use it during their time in the library. The CTE students shared their appreciation for the opportunity to not only use different tools such as a laser engraver, but also allowed them to be creative.

"It's great that our class projects give us the opportunity to make something that can be used for generations, " said Sophia Kristoffersen. "I appreciated how Mr. Whiteman gave us the freedom to be creative with the project. He was always available to support us but would let us problem-solve on our own as well," said Eric Ward.

Every year, Hand-in-Hand Early Learning Center classrooms raise caterpillars and watch their life cycle into a chrysalis and then a butterfly. The students are always excited to release their class pet butterflies into the wild after they have spread their wings and have shown they are ready for the big world. Ms. Robin's class came outside on a beautiful day to let their butterflies go free.

This week the Seattle Opera School Tour performed Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers for students at Oak Harbor Elementary and Olympic View Elementary schools. Students interacted with the performers as the story unfolded with monkeys, tigers, and even a crocodile!

Ms. Duhrkopf's first-grade class at Olympic View Elementary is learning about Astronomy. They studied shadows and how they are created, and traced each other's shadows outside.

Girls Golf Sinks Competition! Once again the girls golf team cruise through their competition defeating the nearest team by 10 strokes. Highlights for the Wildcats included Reagan Syring's eagle on the 393 yard par 5 7th hole.
Wildcat Softball got back on the winning track defeating Sehome Mariners 18-3.

Go to ohhsathletics.com for full team results and other athletics news!

Congratulations to the 2022/23 yearbook staff for being published in the “Walsworth Yearbooks Possibilities Vol. 10!” Their page design was featured as part of the top 10% yearbooks across the country. This shows that the OHHS staff pushed the boundaries, got creative, never held back, and poured their heart and soul into the book.
Reporting by Oak Harbor High School student Linndsy Scheer, ‘24

Engaged families further student learning. When families are engaged in their children's education they achieve higher grades, have better attendance and behavior, and demonstrate a more positive attitude toward education.

Parent Teacher Associations & Organizations sponsor events and activities that enrich student experiences
School events are shared in school newsletters and are available on the calendar of each school's website
Our schools are always in need of more volunteers to support student learning and fun
Stay informed of your student's progress by attending parent-teacher conferences and staying up-to-date on class announcements.

Visit www.ohsd.net/GetInvolved for more information

Stay organized and plan ahead for important dates! The 2024-2025 Academic Calendar is now available on the Oak Harbor Public Schools website for Parents/Guardians and community members at www.ohsd.net/calendars. As a reminder, the new last day of school for Oak Harbor Public Schools will now be June 21, 2024 due to the two snow day closures in January.