SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR
2009-2010
JUNE
4th-
Field Day
7th-
Move-up Day
8th-
LSRT Nominations (and biographies) are due
11th-
Parent Appreciation Breakfast
LSRT Elections
Intermediate Campus
Drama Club Performance
13th-
Carole Whelan Retirement Party 3-5
15th-
OCC Board meeting 6:00 Adams Campus
16th-
OA LSRT mtg.
6:00 Oyster campus
17th-
8th Grade Promotion
18th-
6th Grade Play
21st-
Talent Show
Intermediate Campus
22nd -
Talent Show
Primary Campus
Last day of school
for students End of fourth term |
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A Message from
Principal Liang-Aguirre
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June 18, 2010
Dear Oyster-Adams Community:
For the last Friday Bulletin of the 2009-2010 school year, I
wanted to publish some thoughts I shared last Friday at the Parent Appreciation
Breakfast. Having joined the
Oyster-Adams community two years ago as both a parent and principal, and
hearing it since then from many new parents, it is clear that being a parent at
Oyster-Adams can be an intense experience. The bar is set very high and coming
in new to the community it is obvious this is not just your average
PTA-type school. Not only do you need to
manage your child's education in two languages, communicate with two teachers
and navigate two campuses, but you're also thrown into a community where
parents are truly an active part of the school. No doubt, there is a constant
parent buzz at Oyster-Adams.
So what DO
Oyster-Adams parents do?
You chaperone, you organize, you fundraise, you write
emails, you edit, you translate, you serve on committees, you have meetings,
you are here all hours of the day and night. You write more emails, you read
with kids, you go camping, you cook, you complain, you suggest, you take
action. You make signs, you sell trees, you design t-shirts, you write the
Chancellor (you are the Chancellor), you write our council members, you write
our mayor. You lobby, you research, you
remind and you question. You dance, you sing, you take photographs, you
decorate, you clean, you publish, you cut, copy and paste.
Yes, this (and many more activities that I failed to
mention) is the public parent involvement that is so important and very appreciated. But there is actually one thing that is even
more important than all I've just described. It is what you do at home.
The
evidence is clear:
When schools work together with families to support learning, children tend to
succeed not just in school, but throughout life. One of the most accurate
predictors of a student's achievement in school is not income or social status,
but the extent to which that student's family is able to:
Create
a home environment that encourages learning; express
high (but not unrealistic) expectations for their children's achievement
and future careers; become
involved in their children's education at school and in the community.
It is the daily help with homework, insisting
that your child reads every night, having meaningful conversations every day at
dinner, on the bus or at the store, engaging your child in thoughtful
discussions on the day's ups and downs and helping your child through difficult
times. It's setting up a place for your
child to study and always talking about college as an expected stage of his or
her academic career. It's about pushing
your child to succeed, knowing when to stop and having the grace to admit when
you're wrong.
I always say that teaching is the most
difficult job -- being a parent is a close second. Thank you for striving to be excellent parents to your children, for
helping each other raise your children (I depend weekly on the graciousness of
many OA parents to help me with my own) and for making this school the special
place that it is. We couldn't do it
without you.
On behalf of Ms. Villegas, Dr. Lesmez, Ms. Baer
and all of the staff, we wish you a rejuvenating and safe summer filled with
books, new experiences, lots of ice-cream and many fire flies.
Monica Liang-Aguirre
Principal
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Week of June 21-22
Monday:
- Intermediate Campus Talent Show
Tuesday: LAST DAY OF
SCHOOL!
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Primary
Campus Talent Show
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PreK-K & 1st grade: 9:30AM
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday, June 28: ESY and Summer School begin
Reminder: ESY
(for special education students) is being held at Oyster-Adams Primary
Campus. Summer School will be held at Francis-Stevens.
Congratulations new 9th
graders! Last night we promoted 38
students to the 9th grade in a lovely ceremony. Click here to read
the Principal's comments in Spanish and English.
Transitions. At the end of every school year, we say goodbye
to teachers and staff who, for different reasons, will be leaving Oyster-Adams.
This year, among our 85 faculty, we have nine people who are moving on to new
adventures. These teachers have dedicated years of their lives to the children
at Oyster-Adams, shaping their minds, influencing their decisions and helping
them become global citizens. They have
also left indelible marks on our school by helping shape curriculum, designing
program and being wonderful colleagues. We will miss them dearly and we thank them all
for their years of service.
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Hector Alfonso: Hector will be moving back to his native
Panamá.
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Olga Artiga: Born and raised at Oyster (she was also a
student here!), Olga has decided it's time for a change in school and subject
and will be teaching ESL at Stoddert ES.
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Nora Bustios: After 14 years at Oyster-Adams, Nora is
joining the staff at Tyler Elementary School to help build their fledgling dual
language program.
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Carlos Cárdenas: Off to new adventures!
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Prince Hunter: Will be transferring to a different school.
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Lilia Kozell: Is
relocating to Florida.
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Laura Peña: Laura will be moving back to her native Costa
Rica.
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Debra Ruddell: Is relocating to Colorado.
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Wendy Reeve: Wendy and family are packing up and moving to
New Zealand!
Summer Hours:Office and administrative staff will be working all summer getting ready for
the new school year. Offices will be
open 8AM-4:00PM at both campuses.
Are you enrolled
for next year? We are still
missing significant numbers of enrollment packets for next year from returning
students. Please don't risk losing your
spot and make sure you enroll by June 22.
TURN IN YOUR
BOOKS! Look under your beds, on your
bookshelves, in the car...It is time to turn in all library and classroom books.
Please hunt around your house and return all books that say Oyster Adams
in them. Thank you for your cooperation!
Campamento DeDos:Registration for the Oyster-Adams Spanish language summer camp 'DeDos'
continues for K-5 students! You may register your child on a per week basis or
for July 6-30. Checks must be made out to Hoop Ed.
Summer reading. Summer reading packets went
home with students this week. The summer reading program is going to be a little different this
year. We will be doing community reads at Oyster-Adams. This means that there are two required books for each grade. Each student will read the Spanish
and English required reading book and complete the short reading follow up
assignment provided by their Spanish and English humanities teacher. The assignments must be turned in to your
English language/humanities teacher during the first week of school.
Click on your child's grade in the fall for the book report forms he or she will need to complete over the summer:
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A
special email will be sent out soon with information on all the athletic teams
that Oyster-Adams will have during the 2010-2011 school year. Information will
also include when practices will begin for each sport.
All students who
participate on an athletic team will need to have an updated DCPS health form filled out and signed by a
doctor this summer (2010) or before the student begins participating in the sport.
So start getting those physicals now.
Questions email: Sallyhunsberger@juno.com
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June 18, 2010 Hello Oyster-Adams Community! Well, the school year is coming to a close so I'm taking this opportunity to
thank all the teachers, staff, administrators, parents, community and most
importantly, the students for making it fun and successful. OCC was very busy this year trying to make a difference in our children's
education and striving to make the organization stronger. Since we returned from Winter break, it feels like the time just flew by and we
are all now feeling exhausted as the year comes to a close. Some
OCC-sponsored highlights from the second half of the year: - The
Pan African celebration was a wonderful community building activity.
- We
had a very successful Auction, raised close to $60,000, and had loads of fun.
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The
Raffle continues to be a favorite for kids and we raised over $11,000.
- Fiesta
was a fun event and the pictures of Monica in the dunk tank were priceless.
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All
Heritage Committees are pooling resources to support the summer reading program
at the middle school.
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We
are supporting the purchase of 10K in Spanish leveled readers as well as new
Hand Writing Without tears materials.
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The
Parent Campaign is ending on a terrific note by raising over $80,000 as our
contributions continue to trickle in (If you have not already contributed,
please do send in a contribution).
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Our
children have experienced many fantastic fieldtrips.
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We
also supported the retirement celebration for beloved art teacher Carole
Whelan.
None of these events and educational support initiatives
would have been successful if we didn't come together as a community. For next year we want to build on our fundraising efforts, but also grow
stronger as a community and expand all families' involvement in our school.
While it is important to have the financial resources to provide so many
opportunities for our children and our school, we also need to dedicate our
time to build a more robust community. I challenge all the Oyster-Adams families to become more involved and dedicate
time to helping make the school events and initiatives a success. We need
volunteer hours from everyone in order to have a more dynamic and cohesive
community. Our lives are all enriched by the involvement of many rather
than just a few, so please pull together and do not leave it to a few exhausted
parents to carry the load for the entire school. And speaking of volunteer help, a volunteer, or, ideally a
team of volunteers, is needed to head the annual campaign for the 2010-11
school year. This is the OCC's biggest fundraiser! The job involves
sending out fundraising letters, keeping track of donations and thank you
notes, and coming up with innovative ways to get parents and others to contribute to the OCC. Other good news to report, OCC kicked off its new Education Grant Initiative by
asking teachers to submit proposals for "dream" educational resources/projects
that they will implement next school year. We are using unspent funds
from our education enhancement budget to make this possible. We are happy
to report that the OCC voted to approve most of the educational grant proposals. Every teacher who
made a request is getting something. The teachers submitted many thoughtful proposals on how to enrich their
teaching experience. In summary, we are buying LCD projectors, science kits,
listening centers, listening devices, pulldown wall maps, an animal exercise
pen, curriculum-based books/dvds/videos/games, literacy materials, calculators, classroom supplies,
and storage units. We bought musical instruments to lay the foundation for a
school orchestra. We are coordinating to fund an improved computer lab. As we end the year remember that if TEACHERS OR PARENTS have anything that you
need to be reimbursed for, please submit your reimbursement form, along with
the receipts by June 22, 2010. Anything submitted after that date, will NOT be
reimbursed. It is very important that we close the books for this school year
on time. The forms can be found on the Oyster-Adams website (http://oysterbilingual.devis.com/Programs/OCC/). Happy Father's Day to all our wonderful Oyster-Adams dads! You are very
important to our community and we appreciate all the time, energy and laughter
you bring to the to the Oyster-Adams family. I wish you all a wonderful summer full of great memories! See you in the new
school year! If you need to be in touch with me: email - alvaradojay@gmail.com or home phone:
202-582-1142. Thanks, Jackie Alvarado and the entire OCC Board |
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June 18, 2010
New Family Engagement Team seeking volunteers. If you
would like to serve on a team next year created by LSRT to develop and
implement an action plan to improve parent involvement in ways that will
improve student achievement at Oyster-Adams, please contact 5th grade teacher
Julia Hainer at julia.hainer-violand@dc.gov
or parent Susan Stevenson at skstevenson@gmail.com.
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Postings for this space are limited to free or very low-cost events,
services or products that support the mission of our school. Please send your notice IN ENGLISH AND IN
SPANISH to wendy.jacobson@verizon.net
by 4:00 p.m. on Thursdays.
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June 18, 2010
OCA
is an after-school program located at both of Oyster-Adams campuses that has
been a part of the Oyster-Adams Bilingual School community since 1979. The program provides children with bilingual
academic support and a wide range of enrichment programs in art, dance, yoga
and sports. During the most recent
school year, OCA enrolled 150 students full-time.
OCA's
mission is to offer a high quality after-school option for working parents
aligned with the bilingual academic program of the Oyster-Adams Bilingual
School. It fulfills the mission through
a wide range of activities, with priority given to supporting students'
academic needs. OCA is committed to
keeping its after-school program accessible to all Oyster-Adams students. In recent years, 15-20% of the program's
participants have received need-based scholarship support covering 20% to 80%
of the monthly tuition.
Monthly Tuition
: $280.00 (first child). $270.00 (second
child), $260.00 (third child)
Hours: Oyster
Campus 3:15-6 p.m. Adams
Campus 3:15-6:15 p.m.
Special
features: All OCA classrooms have
bilingual counselors with training to assist students with homework assignments
in English and Spanish. About half the
staff graduated from Oyster and oca.
School closings: OCA does not open when DCPS is closed (school
vacations, weather-related closings). OCA operates on parent-teacher conference days and on half-days; on
these days, OCA organizes field trips in the region (parks, bowling, movies,
crafts, museums, etc.) at an additional charge ($40 full-day and $30
half-day).
Student : Counselor
Ratio Pre-K to 2nd
grade - 5:1 3rd - 6th
grade - 7:1
Registration: Commences in late May, with priority given
to returning students. Remaining slots
are filled on a first come-first served basis, with a maximum of 25 students
per classroom. Open only to Oyster-Adams
students. Click here and here for registration information.
Changes for 2010-2011: Tuition
is projected to go up approximately 10%.
On a pilot basis, parents will be
able to register their children at the Adams building (4th-6th
grades) for 2, 3 or 5 days at different tuition rates.
The program will have space for up
to 100 students at the Oyster building and approximately 50 in the Adams
building (depends upon how many take advantage of the partial week registration
option).
Further information: Contact OCA Program Director, Connie
Artiga-Oliver at (202) 329-6693 or connieoca2003@yahoo.com
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OYSTER-ADAMS BILINGUAL SCHOOL
Monica Liang Aguirre, Principal
Ibis Villegas, Assistant Principal
Karen Lesmez, Assistant Principal
Pablo Girón, Acting Intermediate
Campus Coordinator
Oyster Campus (PreK - 3rd Grade)
2801 Calvert Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Tel: 202/671-6130
Fax: 202/671-3087
Adams Campus (4th - 8th Grades)
2020 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Tel. 202/673-7311
Fax. 202/673-6500
__________________________Email: contactus@oysterbilingualschool.org
Website:
http://oysterbilingual.devis.com/AboutUs/
__________________________
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