8-18-14
Dear Sakamoto Families,
I hope you all had an enjoyable summer with family and friends. I am honored to be back for yet another successful year
serving as your principal at Sakamoto. For those of you that are new to Sakamoto, you will be happy to know that we
have an excellent community, one that values educational achievement and success for all students!
During the 2014-2015, we will continue to serve our students with the highest academic standards while still focusing on
the whole child. We will continue to bring more technology into the classrooms as well as opportunities for students to
learn and practice 21st century skills like collaborate, communicate, create, and think critically. Our Common Core State
Standards will continue to drive instruction and students will engage in problem solving and project-based learning in the
classroom. We also look forward to the field trips, school activities and fundraisers, and all of the great programs we offer
during and after the school day. We are very proud of our community and their hard work and contributions to support
our students and we look forward to another successful school year!
Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS): We hope our students have remembered the Sakamoto
ABC’s this summer:
Act Responsibly
Be Respectful
Care for Others
We will be spending time teaching students the specific expectations for positive behavior and begin implementing our
positive rewards system right away!
Awards: Last week at our district’s “Welcome Back” function staff members from schools and District departments were
honored with the “Exemplary Staff Awards.” Congratulations to Mrs. East and Mrs. Donahoe for receiving this honor!
Staffing: Please help me welcome teachers new to our school: Mrs. Miller and Ms. Smyrl will join our 5th grade team; Ms.
Pham will be teaching 1st grade, filling Mrs. Dorsey’s position. Mrs. Dorsey now has a job working as a coach for teachers
at other schools. While we will miss her, it’s a very exciting opportunity and we wish Mrs. Dorsey the best! We also
welcome Mrs. Doran, who will be sharing a contract with Mrs. Marquez in 4th grade. Mrs. Gentry and Mrs. Donahoe will
be sharing a class, and Mrs. Solomon and Mrs. Clifford will share a class. Finally, we have two new teachers in the SDC
classrooms – Ms. Duffy will be teaching Kindergarten SDC and Ms. Bola is teaching the ¾ combo. We are all very excited
about this year’s staffing roster!
Daily Schedule: The schedule will continue as it was last year. All grades will arrive at 8:45 on adjusted days and
regular days. Kindergarten dismissal is 1:45 everyday. On adjusted days the dismissal time is 2:00/2:05pm for
primary/upper grades respectively. On regular days our dismissal time is 3:00/3:05pm for primary/upper grades
respectively. Students should not be dropped off earlier than 8:30 and grades 1-6 should be picked up no later than 3:15
(or 2:15 on adjusted days). For more information about drop-off and pick-up, please visit our website.
Staggered Instruction: Across the school district, all grades, including kindergarten, will be following a common
schedule (see above). Staggered instruction is no longer continuing in Oak Grove School District at any of our sites.
Reconfiguration: All class lists have been posted on the office door. There may be some changes to these lists once
our enrollment numbers are finalized. Families will be contacted if their child’s placement is changed. We expect to be
done with this process by the end of the week at the latest. Please keep in mind that we make every effort to keep class
configurations unchanged, but enrollment changes that take place after the first days of school can sometimes result in
adjustments. There is always a possibility that children must be moved to a different classroom after the
final enrollment figures are in after the first week of school. Thank you for your understanding and support on
this important issue.
Communication: Weekly Envelopes will be sent home with your child on Tuesdays. Please review its contents, sign any
necessary forms, and return appropriate documents or notes in the same envelope to the teacher on Wednesday. You
may receive some envelopes today. I send out weekly phone calls on Sunday evening at 6pm, and occasional text
message reminders. If you are not receiving phone calls, please contact the office. Also, check for more information on
our new school website, facebook page and twitter feed! http://sakamoto.ogsd.net
YMCA ON-SITE CHILD CARE: We are fortunate to have an outside provider of licensed before and after school child
care located on our Sakamoto School campus. For further information, please call YMCA at 408-227-3319.
MEDICATIONS: Parents of students needing special attention or having medical issues need to come into
the office to complete the required forms. Our health clerk, Debbie Jung, or our school secretary, Pam O’Hara, can
help you. All medication needed at school must be prescribed by a doctor, be in the original container with a prescription
label, and a completed Oak Grove School District medical form on file. No “over the counter” medication is permitted at
school without a doctor’s note and medical form on file. Students are not permitted to carry their own medicine
on their person or in their backpacks.
DISTRICT HANDBOOK : You will receive a copy of this handbook in the next couple of days. It answers many
questions around behavior and homework expectations, and covers district policies and expectations, including dress
guidelines. Your support in encouraging high quality behavior and academic progress is crucial. Please review the
handbook with your child, sign the accompanying documents, and return them to your child’s teacher.
The partnership between families and school is very important and I appreciate all that you do for your children to help
them be successful in school. Let’s make it a great year!
Sincerely,
Ms. Jenay Kiddoo
Principal
Upcoming Dates:
Monday, August 18th - THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
● Kindergarten Special Day Class Orientation from 8:45–9:45am
● Tears and Cheers Event hosted by the Parent Teachers Organization (PTO) in the cafeteria at 9:00am
Monday, August 18th through Friday, August 22nd - ADJUSTED DAY SCHEDULE
● Kindergarten students attend 8:45am.-1:45pm
● Grades 1 - 3 students attend 8:45am - 2:00, Grades 4-6 students attend 8:45am - 2:05pm.
Monday, August 25th REGULAR SCHEDULE BEGINS (except Tuesday)
● Kindergarten students attend 8:45am - 1:45pm
● 1st through 3rd grade students (lower grades) attend 8:45am - 3:00pm (except Tuesday)
● 4th through 6th grade students (upper grades) attend 8:45am - 3:05pm (except Tuesday)
Tuesday, August 26th – ADJUSTED TUESDAYS BEGIN
Friday, August 29th – Teacher Inservice Day – NO SCHOOL
Monday, September 1st – Labor Day Holiday – NO SCHOOL