Hello OCRS families,
I hope that you were able to spend some time with family over the Thanksgiving holiday. Personally, I am very grateful for the opportunity to get together with my own family and just enjoy being together.
Believe it or not, we have just three and a half weeks of school until the Holiday Break, so we want to make sure that our students continue to work hard on their learning during this time and that our entire school community continues to work together to keep everyone healthy and safe right up until the last school day of 2021!
Distribution of Report Cards on Tuesday, 12/14
Families of students will be receiving Trimester 1 report cards on Tuesday, December 14th. Report cards will be shared with each family online using the district's Infinite Campus Portal. Report cards are based on year end goals, so the Trimester 1 Report Card indicates progress demonstrated during this period of learning towards the year end goals. Teachers have worked together with their colleagues across the district to make sure that the information that parents receive accurately reflects the learning that is taking place.
I will be sharing information from the district technology team about how families can set up their Infinite Campus Portal account if you have not done so already. We asked families to use their Infinite Campus Portal account earlier this year to update their child's contact information, so many families should already have their account set up and ready to go.
Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, 12/16
Parent-teacher conferences for elementary families are scheduled for Thursday, 12/16. This year all elementary schools are offering families the choice between an in-person conference at school or a virtual conference held online. All conferences will be scheduled by appointment between 1:00 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Teachers will be reaching out to families (if they have not already) to schedule appointments with their students' families.
December Spirit Days
We would like to give students and staff an opportunity to have some fun together and celebrate our OCRS spirit the last week of December. While we always encourage students and staff to wear their OCRS Spirit Gear on Fridays, we thought that some special theme days would make December extra fun! As always, participation is encouraged, but not mandatory. Here's what we are thinking:
Friday, December 17th: Silly (or Holiday Themed) Sock Day
Wear your favorite silly or holiday themed socks to school on Friday, 12/17! Holiday themed socks can be for any December holiday.
Monday, December 20th: "Merry Monday" Holiday Colors
Wear your favorite holiday themed colors to school on Monday, 12/20! Holiday themed colors can be for any December holiday.
Tuesday, December 21st: Ugly (or Holiday Themed) Sweater Day
Wear your favorite ugly or holiday themed sweater to school on Tuesday! Holiday themed sweaters can be for any December holiday.
Wednesday, December 22nd: Silly (or Holiday Themed) Hat Day
Wear your favorite silly or holiday themed hat to school on Wednesday! Holiday themed hats can be for any December holiday. Please be sure that hats do not interfere with mask wearing.
"Books are Wings" Book Drive
Smithfield High School is organizing a "Books are Wings" book drive in memory of Emily Halloran Otrando. The book drive is running from November 7th to January 1st and they are looking for new and "gently used" books for PreK through 12th grade students. We have a box set up at OCRS to collect the donations. Please see the linked flyer for additional information.
PTA Information
Book Fair and Holiday Store
The OCRS PTA will be organizing a Book Fair and Holiday Store in the next few weeks. Fliers about the book fair began to be distributed last week and the remainder will be sent home tomorrow. We will be sending out specific information about both the Book Fair and the Holiday Store later this week, so stay tuned!
PTA General Meeting this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
There is a PTA General Membership Meeting scheduled for Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. This is going to be a hybrid meeting. The meeting will be held in person at the school and will also be streamed online. Here are the two options to attend in person and virtually.
For families that would like to attend the meeting in person, we will be meeting in the new Media Center on the first floor of the school. There will be contractors working in other sections of the building, so we will need to stay just in the Media Center. All people attending the PTA meeting will need to wear masks inside the school building.
For families that would like to attend the meeting virtually, the Google Meet link and joining information is below. This option is for families that cannot attend the meeting in person, are not comfortable attending the meeting in person, or who would prefer not to wear a mask.
Google Meet joining info:
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/myj-fwjh-sjo
Or dial: (US) +1 929-266-1162 PIN: 440 641 038#
We're hoping to see you there, either virtually or in person!
Upcoming Dates and Events
View and subscribe to the OCRS Public Events Calendar at https://oldcounty.smithfield-ps.org/o/old-county-road-elementary/page/monthly-calendar. Clicking on the "Add to Google Calendar" to subscribe to the calendar on your own calendar app.
PTA General Membership Meeting, Wednesday December 1st at 7:00 PM
TENTATIVE School Picture Makeups/Retakes, Monday December 6th
Parent-Teacher Conferences, Thursday December 16th
Silly (or Holiday Themed) Sock Day, Friday December 17th
"Merry Monday" Holiday Colors, Monday December 20th
Ugly (or Holiday Themed) Sweater Day, Tuesday December 21st
Silly (or Holiday Themed) Hat Day, Wednesday December 22nd
NO SCHOOL, Holiday Recess, Thursday December 23rd through Friday, December 31st
Thank you,
Mr. Barrette
1st grade creativity
