Dear Olympic Families,

For those who are returning to Olympic, welcome back!  If this is your first year at our school, we look forward to meeting you and sharing all there is to know for a successful year.

Start-up

You should be receiving a welcome letter from your child’s teacher in the next day or two, if you haven’t already had it arrive in the mail.  This allows families to get to know their child’s teacher before the first day of school.  If you don’t receive a letter by August 23^rd, please contact the office at (360) 575-7084.

We are excited to continue a tradition at Olympic by holding our Back to School BBQ on Tuesday, August 28^th from 1:00 – 3:00.  The purpose of this event is to allow parents and students to meet their teacher, see where their classroom is and drop off supplies before the first day of school.  Families can come anytime between 1:00 and 3:00, it isn’t intended to be a two hour event that everyone stays for the whole time.  Our wonderful PTO will be providing a complimentary hot dog lunch as a way to welcome students and families back from the summer and allow for some time together as a school community.

The first day of school is Wednesday, August 29^th and the hours are from 8:30 – 3:00.  Breakfast is served from 7:45 – 8:10, in the gym.  In fact, all students report to the gym before school and line up in class lines marked by cones with teachers names listed on them.  We ask parents to drop their child off at the doors to help us keep everyone safe and secure.

Handbook

Our handbook provides students and their parents with important information about our school.  It will come home with your child on the first day of school.  We ask that all parents read through the handbook to be familiar with our policies and practices at Olympic.  Please sign the top page and have your child do the same before he/she returns it to the classroom teacher. We would like to receive all signature pages back at school by September 7^th and thank you, in advance, for your cooperation.

Wednesday Early Release

One of the ways we are working hard to help all our students reach their potential is by allowing teachers to meet together, weekly, to look at how students are progressing and make plans for meeting all students learning needs.  This weekly meeting happens from 2:30 – 3:30 on every Wednesday (except the first and last days of the school year).  So, we dismiss students at 2:00 on Wednesdays.

PTO

We have an OWLstanding PTO at Olympic and their first Meet and Greet of the year will be held on Thursday, September 6^th at 5:30 p.m.  The meeting is held in our library with dinner and childcare provided at no cost to families.  We welcome more parents to get involved with fundraising, family nights, helping in the classroom and more for the 2018-19 school year. Flyers will be going home each month to announce the date and times of PTO meetings.  They are also listed in the Longview School District calendar.

Explorer’s Club

Youth and Family Link provides a granted-funded after school program at Olympic that runs from 3:00 – 5:30 Monday through Thursday (Wednesdays  2:00 – 5:30).  This is not a drop-in program where students can come some days, but not others.  One of the grant requirements is regular attendance to see how much of a difference it makes for students’ progress in school.  Registration forms are in the main office and space is limited to 60 children.  So, you will want to fill out and return a form as soon as possible, if you are interested in your child(ren) attending this program.

Family Partnerships

At Olympic, we believe that students succeed when families and teachers work together and communicate, when necessary.  Please call, e-mail, message on Classroom Dojo or write letters to your child’s teacher whenever you have questions and/or concerns.  This clears things up quickly and helps everyone involved take care of issues in a timely and effective manner.

If you have questions about our school, have ideas for improvements, or would like to be involved in some way, please call me at 575-7084.

Sincerely,

Mike Mendenhall
Principal, Olympic Elementary School