Volume 1, Issue 3 September 9, 2015

PTA Membership

So far we have 80% membership, and we are looking for more to join our commYOUnity! We have had 100% membership EVERY YEAR since OKE opened it's doors 13 years ago. Your membership does NOT mean you must volunteer, though we have a place for you if you choose. Please download the membership form from OKEPTA.org, send it in with your kiddo, and join our commYOUnity. Thank you to all our parents, grand-parents, family members, faculty and community members who have joined the OKE PTA! Every year it is our goal to have one voice for each child enrolled at OKE.

Follow us @okekoalas

According to guidelines by the Texas Department of

State Health Services, any student exhibiting an elevated

temperature over 100.0 degrees, vomiting, or diarrhea

will be excluded from school. A student with a fever

higher than 100.0 can NOT return until they are fever

free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing med-

ication. Students with vomiting and diarrhea need to be able to toler-

ate food and liquids for at least 24 hours without the use of medica-

tion to relieve symptoms. Students diagnosed with a contagious ill-

ness that is being treated with prescription medication, must com-

plete a minimum of 24 hours of the prescribed medication prior to

returning.

News from the Nurse

Read, Deed, Run—New Program!

Read, Deed, Run is a 25 week program in which 4th and

5th grade students meet after school, on average twice a

month, to run one mile and perform a deed. During the

course of the program students perform 26 deeds, read

26 books or 2600 pages, and run 26.2 miles. Please come to our Parent

Information Meeting on September 10th, at 5:30 p.m. in the OKE Gym

for further instructions. This meeting is MANDATORY for anyone

who wants to participate in the program. There is a $50 fee to join,

this includes your training shirt, finisher’s medal,

finisher’s shirt, as well as supplies. You can bring the

money and registration forms the night of the meet-

ing or your student can return them prior to. For

more information, contact Jessica Estes 281-237-

7717. Deadline to sign up is Friday, September 18th.

Library News

Accelerated Reader testing began this Tuesday, 9/8. Students may test each morning in

the library from 8:00-8:20 AM. Students can pick up an AR pass from the gym. Parents can

also write a note giving their child permission to test in the library before school. Students

may also take Accelerated Reader tests during the school day using any school-owned iPad

or computer with teacher permission. You can learn more about the Accelerated reader pro-

gram through the OKE Library Blog: http://okelibrary.blogspot.com/

Today all 1st-5th grade students will receive a Renaissance HomeConnect letter with your

child’s username and password. Renaissance Home Connect is fun and easy to use. It allows

the teacher, parents and student to share information about the student’s progress in the

Accelerated Reader program. Be sure to look for this letter in your child’s Wednesday folder.

Did you know that water destroys more library books than anything else? Remember to

watch out for water! All OKE students received a large Ziploc bag

to protect their library books throughout the year. You can assist

your child by making sure that he/she stores this plastic bag in his/

her backpack throughout the year and uses this bag to keep library

books clean and dry. Also, please take some time to review the lav-

ender “Taking Care of Library Books” brochure with your child.

International Night

Koalas Around the World

Thursday, October 15th - 6:00-8:00 pm in the gym

OKE is committed to promoting multicultural awareness and a greater understanding of

diversity and inclusion among our students as one of our community’s strengths. By

working together, we can make our school and community a better place to live. We

would like for all the students, neighbors, businesses and families to feel welcome and a

part of our school.

Come out and enjoy your trip

around the world and learn about

interesting cultures, facts, places,

languages, and traditions of the

countries represented in our

school.

Individual Picture Day

This Thursday, September 10th is

picture day. Please send in your pic-

ture orders on or before that day. No

late orders will be accepted. Students

without picture orders will receive a

picture proof with an option to pur-

chase pictures at that time.

Grandparents’ Day

in the Outback

Monday, September 14th

is Grandparents’ Day at

OKE. Look for RSVP

forms inviting our grand-

parents to lunch. Forms

will be

coming

home

soon.

Student Run Bookstore

Coming Soon

We are looking for-

ward to our first

Student Run

Bookstore on Friday,

September 11th.

All books are $3.00

each (cash only,

please). We hope to

see you at the

bookstore!

Pedestrian Safety

Parents please help us keep our children safe. Be a good role model. Set a good example by putting

your phone, headphones and devices down when walking. Make sure you are using the cross-walks at all times.

Please review the tips below with your child.

Top Tips Teach kids at an early age to look left, right and left again before crossing the street. Then re-

mind them to continue looking until safely across.

Teach kids to put phones, headphones and devices down when crossing the street. It is par-ticularly important to reinforce this message with teenagers.

It’s always best to walk on sidewalks or paths and cross at street corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible.

This Friday, September 11th, OKE will join

the other Katy ISD campuses in honoring

our First Responders.

Students may wear red, white and blue or OKE spirit wear in

honor of those individuals who serve us as first responders.

Patriot Day is September 11th, and is marked by remembering

those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of September 11,

2001. Your child may see stories or reports on the news about

those attacks. We do not have lessons on these events in our ele-

mentary curriculum at school, but your child may hear about the

subject from other students, family, or friends.

Attention Dads and Father Figures

You are invited to take part in our Watch

D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students) program.

Please join us for our annual “Dads and Kids”

Pizza Night event. There will be free pizza,

drinks, and fun. Dads,

grandfathers, uncles, step dads, and adult brothers,

this is your chance to have a night out alone with your

student in a fun atmosphere.

When: September 24th

Time: 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Where: OKE Gym

Register as a Watch D.O.G.S. participant at the following link:

http://goo.gl/forms/3yraK634xW

Gifted and Talented

(GT) Screening Information Kinder—GT Information Packets will be sent home with all kinder stu-

dents mid-September. Kinder GT Parent checklists are due by 4pm on

Wednesday, October 7.

Grades 1-4—GT Information Packets will be send home at the end of No-

vember.

Grade 5—GT information Packets regarding

screening for Junior High will be sent home with

all 5th Graders on Wednesday, September 2. Sec-

ondary GT Parent Checklists are due by 4 pm on

Monday, September 21.

No late checklists will be accepted.

Parenting with

Love & Logic

Parenting Classes offered this fall for anyone interested.

Six sessions on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Child Care will be provided

Dates for the sessions are September 15, 22, 29;

and October 6, 13, 20.

OKE Open Learning Area

This course follows the video series parent training program titled “Becoming a Love & Logic Parent” developed by Jim Fay. The sessions will be facilitated by Cheri Hayes and Krista Saldivia, teachers at Kilpatrick. The sessions have been designed to:

Teaching responsibility without losing their love

Setting limits

Avoiding power struggles

Guiding kids to solve their own problems

Teaching kids to complete chores

A fee of $10 for the Becoming a Love and Logic Parent workbook will be charged. Please return the form below with either cash or a check made out to OKE in the amount of $10.00 to reserve a space. Reservations can be made no later than September 11, 2015.I (we) would like to take part in the Parenting with Love & Logic sessions on Tuesday eve-nings.

Name (s):

Student(s) name Teacher

___________________ ____________________

___________________ ____________________

___________________ ____________________

_______ Number of children that will be attending the provided child care

Odessa Kilpatrick Elementary

26100 Cinco Ranch Blvd.

Phone: 281-237-7600

Fax: 281-644-1570

Outback

Outlook

School Store

September 17th

During school hours