Oakdale Elementary School

Ms. Blackstone Secretary

Mrs. St. Denis Secretary

Dear Members of Our Oakdale Family,

     I would like to extend a warm welcome to each and every member of our Oakdale Elementary School community for the 2009-2010 school year. In our school community, we have the opportunity to share our cultures, support our social needs, and meet the high expectations that we have for all of our children. We take pride in the rigor of our academic programs along with the quality of our art, music, physical education and library media programs. We also provide Positive Behavioral Support to each member of our school community, while recognizing students who are "Caught Making a Difference". We celebrate our extracurricular activities such as our Student Leadership Council, our after school clubs, our fifth grade basketball program, and in school enrichment activities. This is not something that can be accomplished in isolation, but rather takes a collaborative effort. Here at Oakdale, we have the support of our Board of Education, our Office of the Superintendent, and each and every staff member at Oakdale Elementary School. In addition, it is essential to have the family members of our students become active participants. "When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more." (Report from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory) You can do this in a variety of ways: monitor your student’s homework, attend scheduled teacher meetings, and join the PTO, our Principal Advisory Team, and/or the Oakdale Parent Educational Network. You are also welcome to visit us during the day, and suggest ways to improve our school through our parent surveys. These are just a few of the endless ways you can contribute.
     We have a student handbook as a resource for you. This is a means of communicating the school’s policies, regulations and services that we offer. After reading this, I recommend that you keep it available to refer to throughout the school year. If you have any questions on the handbook or any school matter, do not hesitate to contact me.
     I want to emphasize that I have an open door policy and encourage you to use it. I want to create the opportunity to have open and honest dialogue with you that focuses on improving the instruction and experiences of our students. We want to support our students in every way possible and provide them with a safe and orderly learning environment. So, please contact me with your ideas and/or concerns or to engage in friendly conversation.
     In the meantime, I look forward to working closely with all of you in order to meet the potential that all of our children possess.

Sincerely,

Mark S. Johnson
Principal