So, You’ve Got a Kindergartner: What to Expect the First Year
Welcome to Oak View Elementary School! We hope this guide will help answer some questions you may have and support you and your Kindergartener with your transition into Oak View. If you have any additional school questions, please feel free to email the principal (TBD). If you have an Oak View Home & School Association related question, please contact us at [email protected]. (Please do not expect prompt replies over the summer break as both staff and volunteers are not working).
I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE MY CHILD’S CLASSROOM AND DESK! WILL I BE ABLE TO ON THE FIRST DAY?
You will be able to see both, but unfortunately, not on day one. For security reasons, and due to the fact that the teachers have to actively support their entire class in acclimating to a new school year, Oak View asks that you refrain from coming inside the school with your child. You will be invited to see both your child’s learning area and desk on “Back to School” night.
If you are planning on documenting the “First Day Experience” like many of us do, please arrive a few minutes early and snap some shots on the blacktop or in line. The first day of school is the first Wednesday in September! The school day begins at 8:30a.m. (You can view the Bloomfield School District 10 month BOE Approved calendar at the Bloomfield School District Website)
LUNCH & SNACK
Hot Lunch: Hot lunch is served every full day of school. Currently, it is $3.00 (subject to change) per day ($0.40 per day for those eligible for reduced price). You can send in cash or check or pay online at https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/login/getmain?requestAction=home. There is no need to pay ahead - you can even pay on the morning your child will be eating at school. On early dismissal days, no on-site lunch will be served. To learn more about Maschio’s, you can visit https://maschiofood.com/oak-view-school/.
When sending cash or check as lunch payment, please clearly mark an envelope with your child's name, classroom number and teacher and the amount enclosed. If your child wants an additional slice of pizza on pizza day, reference that and include another $2.10 (subject to change). Checks should be made payable to “Bloomfield Board of Education”. Send this envelope with your child to be given to the teacher.
Packed Lunch/ Home Lunch: If you send your child in with a packed lunch, please make sure that it is ready to eat, easy to open and that they have the correct utensils. If you would like to bring your child home for lunch, please send in a note for your child’s teacher and come to the front doors of the school at their scheduled lunch time to pick your child up.
Packed Snack (K-3rd Grade): Please send your child to school with a daily snack in a separate paper or reusable snack bag and clearly label it with your child’s name. Snacks should be healthy and easy for your child to open independently. On early dismissal days, students will only need a packed snack as no lunch period will be held.
Class Parties: For class parties and events, no candy or home-baked goods are allowed. Please refer to the school nurse's guidance for approved party foods.
If your child is in a peanut- or dairy-free classroom, please heed the teacher’s instructions regarding any dietary restrictions necessary to ensure the safety of other children.
CLASS PARENTS
At the beginning of the school year, each classroom will be assigned one to three Class Parents based on volunteer submissions. Class Parents will work together and with fellow parents/guardians to collect money for teacher and aide holiday and end of year gifts, collect and distribute class contact information as permitted, work with the teacher to set up snacks, crafts and games for class holiday parties, assist in the celebration of teachers and staff during Teacher Appreciation week, and collect money for the class donation to the annual big Oak View fundraiser. Class Parents are a great resource throughout the school year for information regarding class news and events. Class Parent volunteer sign-ups will be included on the OVHSA volunteer sign-up document sent out by the end of June. Not everyone who volunteers to be a Class Parent will be chosen because of the sheer number of people who sign up, but you have to have a completed form turned in to be eligible. Class Parents will not be chosen or contacted until late summer.
OVHSA & FUNDRAISERS
The Oak View Home and School Association (OVHSA) is the modern-day Parent Teacher Organization. Composed of parent volunteers, the OVHSA is responsible for providing the school with assemblies, book fairs, socials, and various fundraisers which raise monies that go directly back to the school and the community. A list of OVHSA sponsored events and committees can be found in the information packet given to you at orientation as well as on the Oak View HSA website. We will send out a google form that you can use to volunteer for OVHSA Committees and Class Parent positions.
OVHSA membership can be purchased through the online school store. For OVHSA membership, visit the school store: https://oakviewhsa.org/ .The cost of annual membership is per family (not per child) and includes benefits such as reduced out-of-pocket costs for HSA-sponsored social events and/or class trips. It also entitles you to one vote per member at HSA meetings on topics such as how to spend money earned from fundraising. Membership dues help to pay for or offset the costs of school assemblies, class trips, class parties, and classroom support for teachers. Membership dues are required for anyone serving as a Class Parent or Committee Chairperson.
Our OVHSA meetings are typically held at 7pm on the first Wednesday of each month. Information about OVHSA meetings and events can be found on the OVHSA Website: https://oakviewhsa.org/ , the OVHSA Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/oakviewhsa (only families with children currently attending OV are admitted to this page), and through our email correspondence.
MEDIA AND NOTIFICATIONS (GOING GREEN & VIRTUAL BACKPACK)
We primarily use email notifications and “Virtual Backpack” for more environmentally responsible communication. To join the OVHSA mailing list, please sign-up through our website or by using the QR code. Once you are in our system, you will begin receiving emails from [email protected] (please make sure these are not labeled as “junk” in your inbox). Please sign up for this as we send 99% of all information out via email.
The school will also need your email address as important notices about picture days and projects often come home this way and not in paper form. Virtual Backpacks from Oak View will be sent home weekly with pertinent information.
GYM & OTHER SPECIALS
At the beginning of the school year, your child’s teacher will let you know the weekly schedule for “specials” classes (music, art, library, guidance, gym). Typically, all specials are held one day a week, with the exception of Gym which is held twice weekly. On gym days, be sure that your child is wearing comfortable clothing and rubber-soled sneakers. If you are afraid your child will not be able to participate due to inappropriate footwear, you can check in with your child’s teacher to see if they will let you leave a pair of inexpensive sneakers in your child’s cubby.
CALENDARS
Each month, you will receive an Oak View School Calendar. This calendar details the going-ons for the month – fundraisers, half days, special schedules, etc. It’s important that you look at the back of the calendar as important notices, including notes from the Principal, are written there. For a lunch calendar, please visit https://bloomfield.nutrislice.com/menu/. All HSA related events can be found on the HSA Calendar posted on the HSA website (oakviewhsa.org).
LABEL, LABEL, LABEL
Kindergarteners lose things all the time. Please label everything you send into school with your child’s full name. In the event that you lose something big, like a sweatshirt or a lunch box, it can usually be found in the Lost & Found in the school (by the Gym). (NameBubbles.com is a great source for making labels that can go through the dishwasher and laundry!)
CODE RED
The first week of school, paperwork will be sent home including a CODE RED card. Please be sure to put a working number easily accessible to you on there. In case of emergencies, this is the number that will be called and texted. If your number should change at any time, it is important that you make the pertinent changes.
The Bloomfield Board of Education website can be found at https://bloomfield.k12.nj.us. Notifications for weather related school closings and delays are often posted here as well as other helpful information.
SCHOOL DROP OFF & PICK UP
School hours are from 8:30am to 3:20pm. On half-days, dismissal is at 12:30pm. On delayed-openings, school begins at 10am. If your child is going to be absent or tardy, please call the Absentee Line (973-680-8590 Option 2) and leave the child’s name, teacher’s name, reason for and duration of absence, and homework instructions, if any.
Kindergarteners line up on the black top near the playground area and all other grades line up on the black top near the middle and back school doors. (Applicable room numbers indicate appropriate line area). If your child arrives after 8:35 a.m., then he or she will need to enter through the front doors of the school and will be marked as tardy.
Students are released at the end of the day from the same areas they line up for school in. At pick up, teachers cannot release children to anyone other than the parent or guardian without proper notification. If you have a playdate scheduled and you will not be at pickup, please send in a note or email your child’s teacher. If you are late for pick-up, you must go to the front doors of the school to retrieve your child from the main office.
School Street is a Stop, Drop, & Go Area. Do not park on School street during drop-off and pick-up times. At drop off, please pull over, have your child exit the car from the side nearest the playground and carefully drive away. If you must park, do so in the Parent Parking Lot (not the Teachers’ Lot) located on School Street or on a flanking side street where allowed. When exiting School Street, please adhere to traffic signs indicating which way to turn.
If you are dropping off your child at the front of the school on Garrabrant Avenue, please cross within the crosswalk. Do not double park or perform UTurns here as Garrabrant is a narrow street and traffic is four ways.
BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT
“Back to School Night” is your first chance to meet your child’s teacher, explore the classroom, and hear about what’s going on throughout Oak View and within your class. Typically in November, after the first marking period, you will be called in for a pre-scheduled one-on-one conference with your child’s teacher. You are often given a choice of days/times on “Back to School Night” to choose from for conferences.
MONEY
Throughout the year, you will be asked to send in cash or checks for various things. Whenever possible, we use the Oak View school store (http://ovhsa.3dcartstores.com) as a payment option. In cases where it is not possible, clearly mark an envelope with your child’s info, contents, event/fundraiser name, and who the cash/check inside goes to. If it’s a large amount of cash, you can take it to the school office yourself where it will be handled appropriately. Many of our events have deadlines to send money in, so please check your email and child’s folder to make sure you get slips in on time. Checks for OVHSA sponsored events can be made out to “OVHSA”.
VISITING DURING SCHOOL HOURS
When visiting Oak View, please enter through the front doors of the school on Garrabrant Avenue. The new TPass system will require all visitors to show their driver’s license or photo I.D. before they can be buzzed in. After being buzzed in, visitors are required to report to the main office to get their visitors pass.
Between the hours of 3:30pm and 6:00pm, the only parents allowed to enter Oak View at the Garner Avenue entrance are those picking up children from After Care. If your child plays basketball, is taking an After School Explorers program, or practicing after hours for a school event, please adhere to the pick-up/drop-off rules outlined by the person or persons in charge of the event or activity.
BEFORE CARE & AFTER CARE
The YMCA currently offers an After Care Program here at the school for working parents and Before Care Program if the minimum number of families register. If you are interested in signing up or learning prices for either, please visit https://www.montclairymca.org/school-age-child-care/before-and-after-school-care/
OPEN DOOR POLICY
You’ll find that both the principal and the teachers at Oak View are remarkably easy to talk to and schedule sit-downs with to address concerns. They are busy, though, so an email or phone call to schedule something helps tremendously and allows them to devote uninterrupted time to addressing your needs. Traditionally, all email addresses at Oak View follow this pattern: [email protected]. If you should have an issue, please contact the appropriate parties so that a block of time can be dedicated to you.
