Ms. Catalina Quinones-Nelson: Hello Oakdale families. Welcome back to the 20-21 school
year. I would like to extend a special welcome to all of our new
teachers joining Oakdale this year and welcome back all of our returning
teachers and staff. Our goal at Oakdale is to work together to provide
our students with a rich learning environment. Our vision is to always
put students first. Our belief is that all students can learn.
As
educators we need to provide an equitable education, discover how each
child learns in order to differentiate our instruction to support
diverse learning styles. In a collaborative effort we want children, our
students, to thrive in all possible ways. Our hope is that all children
will love school and nurture a learning environment that is positive,
safe, warm, caring, as well as a fun place to learn and grow.
Student
success is attributed to the partnerships and the relationships we
build within our community, and it is most important now more than ever.
It truly does take a village and at Oakdale we value teamwork and
collaboration. Education is a joint venture and Oakdale greatly
appreciates the support you provide for your children, our students, at
home and at school to help them meet their learning goals.
This is a
different year for us. Coming back remote learning is something that
we've never done. We ended our year that way and we've been trying to
learn how to navigate the platforms so that we can provide the best
education for your students, for our students, for your children. I do
ask that as families we are patient along with our teachers. We are both
learning; parents are learning and teachers are learning.
Teachers are
concentrating on instruction and navigating new platforms on the
computer so I ask that we do have quite a few avenues when you need
support. Please don't always lean on the classroom teacher. We have a
wonderful computer tech, Miss Yolanda Svoboda, that will be helping us
navigate through the system, so if you don't understand how to get onto
the Chrome book, a certain platform, please reach out to her. There are
plenty of people that are putting their hands in to help so reach out.
Teachers will direct you into the appropriate person.
Although this year
looks different than any other, we are dedicated in providing your
children a memorable interactive engaging distant learning experience.
In the Oakdale spirit we pride ourselves on being respectful,
responsible, and safe. Now more than ever it is so important to continue
checking in with our students and our families. Our morning community
meetings provide an avenue to social emotional learning, social skills,
and a sense of belonging to our students. I also challenge you to be
thinking about ways you can continue communicating positively at home.
Some ideas might include writing a letter to someone special, calling
someone just to say hello, waving at someone, or decorating a mask with a
smile.
Our Oakdale team will be focusing on all of the positives that
we take from this experience, and as the role models in our little
Wildcats lives, it is important that we display a positive attitude
toward distant learning each and every day, and I encourage you to do
the same at home. Oakdale families, community, teachers, students, we
can do this.
We are Oakdale strong. We will get through it
together. I've always appreciated working for Oakdale, for our
community, and I would continue to do so as positively as we can during
this difficult time. If you need anything you know how to reach me. Thank you, and let's make it a wonderful year!