Notes from Oak - Sept 11, 2026

Our Character Trait/SEL focus this month is Respect—“seeing value in all people and things and treating them with care.” Throughout the month, students will revisit their classroom agreements and practice ways to greet and interact with one another thoughtfully and respectfully.

We’ll also spend time celebrating the ways we are alike and different, while thinking together about how we can show respect and appreciation for both. These everyday moments are wonderful opportunities for children to build empathy, strengthen relationships, and help create a caring classroom community.

You can continue the conversation at home, too! Try asking:

For more ideas and conversation starters to support your family’s learning, check out our Respect Family Newsletter here: Family Newsletter-Respect

Mon, Sept 14 - Author Visit: Steve Sheinkin & Thien Pham - Multi; 8:45-9:30am

Fri, Sept 25 - Picture Day

Wed, Oct 7 - PTA Association Mtng - Multi; 8:45-10:30am

Sat, Oct 17 - Walk-A-Thon - Oak Field 7:30am-12:30pm

Fri, Oct 30 - Spooktacular! - Multi; 2:30-4:30pm

You should have received an email via classroom parent to complete our annual Participation Waiver form. This is an important liability release and participant agreement that covers all our students and family members at PTA sponsored events. You can also access the form via this link: https://tinyurl.com/OakPTAWaiver. 

We're excited for the upcoming Walk-a-thon on Saturday, October 17th! To make sure every kid gets a t-shirt in the right size, please fill out this short form with your child’s size by Monday, September 14th here: Walkathon Student T Shirt Sizing. Please submit one form per child. If not submitted by Monday, a default grade-level size will be ordered.

Thanks for your participation, and we look forward to seeing you at the event!

The grade level Parent Night Out (PNO) is a beloved PTA subsidized Oak tradition that allows parents to connect with other grade level parents at a local restaurant. Please see below for upcoming PNOs

The PTA had our first Association meet on Wednesday, September 2nd and we reviewed the broad goals for 2026-27. We also approved our annual budget, with healthy allocations to continue beloved Oak traditions like Walk-a-thon, Auction, Room Parties, and other PTA events. We also approved budgets to continue funding school field trip bus transportation, invest in a new Oak Cougar mascot costume, and support school programs like Student Leadership and STEM Club to name a few. 

Thank you for participating in the Walk/Wheel to school event. The 6th graders were awesome and also won the recess with 57% to the 5th graders who came close with 53% participation rate.

This year, the Walk-a-thon event does not have a main lead - some of Oak PTA Executive team members are joining forces to keep this tradition alive! Therefore, we need as many parents to be involved (in small or significant ways!) as team members or sub-team leads. 

We know that everyone's schedules and commitments look different, so we have created different categories so you can manage the time and energy you are able to give. Each sub-team is paired with subject matter experts (aka past volunteers who know the drill!) to guide you through the planning. Whether you have just a few hours, or can lend your talents in the weeks leading up, there is a spot where your skills, time, and abilities would be appreciated! 

We will have a separate sign-up on Classroom Parent for special activities (like WAT t-shirt folding & distribution on Weds, Oct 14th) or on the day of activities such as lap counters, food stall or ticket sales volunteers, extra hands for lap course and tent setup/tear-down, donating coolers, etc.

Your time, dedication & joy is what has made this Oak Community so special! Together we'll make this fundraiser a huge success - with many smiles 😄😁😊.

Walkathon Planning Team

Emmanuel Ventadour (VP of Fundraising)

Deepti Dupey (Deputy, Fundraising)

Jocelyn Jackson (Parliamentarian)

Financial Reviewer: The PTA Financial Reviewer audits the financial books and records of the PTA on a semiannual basis. The review can be performed by an appointed Oak parent who is a licensed CPA. Our books are well-organized and up to date and we expect 5-10 hours of time commitment per 6 months audit with full support and documentation provided by the PTA executive board.  Please reach out to Roger Xu (wuyun1018@gmail.com) if you are interested. For additional information, please see the California PTA website: https://toolkit.capta.org/finance/pta-financial-review/

As you may have seen Los Altos School District’s ParentSquare newsletter, they are bringing all volunteer screening into one consistent, districtwide process to stay compliant with new state laws while preserving the welcoming and volunteer culture that makes our schools so special. 

We highly encourage all of our volunteers to follow the LASD approved volunteer process. For those interested in beginning the process to becoming a volunteer, please visit the link https://www.lasdschools.org/volunteer.

Contributions to LAEF and the PTA directly support Oak's instructional programs (LAEF) and vital school community initiatives (PTA). Thank you for investing in our children and supporting our school!

Donate to LAEF & PTA through links below. As a reminder, the ask is $1,800 for LAEF, $80 per child to the Oak PTA and $20 PTA dues when you become a member. 

Big thanks to our Room Parent Coordinators, Kristi Schramm and Jasmine McGee, for being this week's lifesavers! Their hard work helps coordinate volunteers across all grades for class events (Halloween,Vday parties, Teacher Appreciation and celebrating teachers for holidays and during their birthdays) and lessons(Art docent, Living classroom, Math centers and myriad others) so our teachers can focus on teaching. We appreciate you!

LAEF is funded by thousands of individual donations, large and small. Each school year, parents, community members, and local businesses come together to help fund our neighborhood schools and keep them among the top 1% of all schools in California.

Every gift adds up in making our schools rank in the top 1% in California. Donate or pledge to LAEF today to help fund teachers and essential programs at your school, and request a corporate match if it's available to you. 

Complete the LASD Back to School process at LASDEducationPartners.org

Step 1: Donate to LAEF

Step 2: Join and donate to the PTA for each school your children attend.

It was a busy first week in the Oak Library, especially with the hot weather. We had our first library sessions, lots of students came in at snack recess and lunch, and tons of books were checked out. Lessons involved covering the rules of the Oak Library and some fun and sweet read-alouds.

Thanks in advance to all the library volunteers hard at work keeping the class library times running smoothly.

You can still sign your students up for Birthday Book Club via the Oak Classroom Parent website: oak.classroomparent.com. Look for the tiny store icon along the top bar.

Students can also still turn in their summer reading sheets to me in the library. I already have quite a stack! The deadline is September 30th.

Go to this link: https://www.destinydiscover.com/aasp/ui/pick/picked

Choose California, type in Los Altos School District, and Oak Avenue Elementary School in Los Altos. There are multiple Oak Avenue Schools, so make sure you pick the one in Los Altos. This puts you directly into the Oak Library Catalog, which shows all the books the Oak Library owns. Click Go! You can browse the collection by topic, genre, grade level, etc. You can search for a specific book title or author. You don’t need to log in to do any of these searches. 

However if you do want to put a book on hold or read one of our ebooks, you will need to log in.

To log in, click on the login button at the top right. Enter this year’s google username and password that you use to log in to your school google account and submit. Search for the book you are looking for and put it on hold. Mrs. Forrest will pull the book for you and have it waiting for you in the library during the school year. No summer holds available.

All LASD students (unless parents opted out), have a student account through the Santa Clara County Library District, aka, the Los Altos Public Library. This student account offers access to eBooks, research resources, homework help, and much more.

To access the website, go to: https://student.sccld.org

You will be asked to provide an Account Number and PIN. The Account Number is S + Student ID + LASD (no spaces in between). The student ID is a unique 5 digit number provided by LASD. It is the same number as your student’s Powerschool number and is embedded in their school email address. The number is provided when you receive district communications specific to your student. The PIN is the student’s birth month and day (again no spaces). If the birth month or day is only one number, add a zero in front of it.

For example:

Account Number: S12345LASD

PIN: 0114 (for January 14th)

There are also resource links on the Oak School website under Programs/Library.

Please contact Mrs. Forrest at cforrest@lasdschools.org if you have specific requests, have any questions, or have difficulty accessing your account.​