The main purpose of this community building activity is to support teachers and school to be ready for Monday. School will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. At 12:00, we all need to be out of the buildings for the custodians to do a final inspection and lock the school.

I’ll offer an additional guided tour of Adams (@Meyer - 2501 11th street NW) on Saturday from 10:00-10:30 a.m. This tour is for families or students who did not have the opportunity to see our new swing space. I will also be available to answer any questions you may have.

Teachers who need help filled out a form requesting specific types of support in the following areas: classroom set up, organization, creating bulletin boards (we may need welcome signs and letters). The custodians will be the points of contact to direct families where help is needed. We also need volunteers to help us move some tables from Oyster to Adams; if you have a truck and can come on Saturday, that would be appreciated.

Lastly, we would like you to help us plant some nice flowers at the front of the school. We do not have the supplies (gardening tools, plants) so please bring them if you have them!

We encourage all families to walk or bike to school if possible. We also want to remind our community that there is no parking in the following places at Oyster until after 9am: the driveway (used for morning drop-offs only) 29th street directly in front of the driveway (used for school buses for students with special needs), and in front of school on Calvert street (right behind the bus stop)- this last location is for buses to Adams. Under no circumstances can cars be left parked or unattended. They will be ticketed and towed.

We also encourage parents to leave students at the entrance of the building; parents are not allowed to walk students into the classrooms except for Pk4.

• We are excited to have an updated new website. If you are looking for a specific form, or information (e.g., How to sign up for lunch at school), you may find it in there. If it is not there yet, please reach out.
• The first day for PK4 is next Thursday, August 31.
• There will be two play dates prior to the first day of school for PK4 students (8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.) as follows: Tuesday, 29 - students with last names A-L; and Wednesday, 30 - students with last name M-Z.
• The next principal’s communication will be sent on Tuesday, 9/5.
• Please have patience with the team organizing transportation. It has been a complex process, and we will do everything in our power to attend to the needs of our community. We will be closely monitoring the plan and adjusting as needed. Remember that all questions or requests should be addressed to the school administration.
• At this point we do not have the capacity to accept new transportation requests, buses have reached full capacity.
• For the first days of school, we are asking parents to wait until their student boards the bus before leaving. There will be one person from school on site to check attendance. There will not be an adult at the sites for bus drop off in the afternoon. Parents are fully responsible for being on time at the drop off destinations in the afternoon.
• School supplies: be reminded that you do not need to buy school supplies for your child. Instead, families should contribute to the OA School Supplies Fund (OCC) . The teachers depend on the money from the funds to get the right supplies at the right time and price—this guarantees that classrooms are stocked and ready to go on day one.
• Families at the Oyster campus will receive the first weekly note from teachers today, and families at the Adams campus will receive it next Friday.

This is all for now, please reach out if you need anything and thank you for trusting our school.