Hello OCRS families,
Happy New Year to all of you and we hope that everyone is beginning 2023 healthy and happy with their loved ones!
New Year's Day often encourages us to take some time to reflect and consider the prior year. There is no question that 2022 was a challenging year for many of us for a variety of reasons. However, it has been wonderful to be able to reintroduce school activities and events like the Kindergarten 1st Day Celebration, PTA Holiday Bazaar, the Holiday Concert, Kindergarten Gingerbread House Making, and Holiday Singalong and we're looking forward to having more activities and events. We're looking forward to a terrific continuation of the school year into 2023!
Return to School, Tuesday 1/3
Students return to school on Tuesday, January 3rd. There is no school tomorrow, Monday January 2nd.
Student Attendance and Student Health
We know that it has been challenging for families to make sure that their child is attending school regularly while at the same time making sure to keep their child at home if they are sick. It can be really difficult because regular attendance is important for student success at school, but we also want to make sure to keep students and our entire school community healthy in light of the continuing COVID-19, ear infections, pneumonia, strep throat, and influenza that increased in the weeks prior to the Holiday Break.
We will continue to work with families when you have questions and concerns. The best guidance we can provide is to make sure that your child is attending school when they are healthy, try to schedule family activities outside of school hours when at all possible (we understand that this may not be possible for medical appointments), and to refer to both the linked Health Update for families and the district's policy in the Elementary School Handbook on keeping students at home due to illness. We appreciate the assistance of every OCRS family in keeping our entire school community as healthy as possible while also making attendance a priority.
Upcoming Dates and Events
View and subscribe to the OCRS Public Events Calendar at https://oldcounty.smithfield-ps.org/o/old-county-road-elementary/page/monthly-calendar. Clicking on the "Add to Google Calendar" to subscribe to the calendar on your own calendar app.
NO SCHOOL, Monday January 2nd
Students return to school on Tuesday, January 3rd
NO SCHOOL, Martin Luther King Day, January 16th
Thank you and Happy New Year!
Mr. Barrette
Holiday Sing-along
