Live Oak Elementary Newsletter ------------------ Dec 18, 2024

A publication of Live Oak PTA

Live Oak PTA Website

Live Oak Ed Fund

Important Dates

We want to share some important updates regarding the $24 million deficit that our district is facing and the corresponding Budget Reduction Plan recently shared by our Superintendent. These reductions are significant and will inevitably impact us here at Live Oak.

If you haven’t had a chance to read the plan, we highly recommend doing so. It provides valuable insight into how our district arrived at this point and outlines the difficult decisions being made.

We want to commend our Superintendent for working tirelessly to minimize the impact of these cuts and shield our students as much as possible. That being said, it was impossible for all of the reductions to come from areas that do not directly affect our children.

In an effort to keep you informed, here is a summary of the most impactful cuts to our students and community:

• Our school site budget will be reduced by 10%
• Class sizes will increase by 2 students (likely resulting in the reduction of 2 staff members)
• Elimination of elementary counselors
• Furlough days for all staff
• Elimination of instructional software and technology tools
• Elimination of TK-8 intervention programs
• Elimination of professional development for staff
• Elimination of social workers
• Elimination of resident subs and premium sub rates

These cuts are staggering and will not be easy to navigate. Our priority remains providing the best possible education for your children while maintaining a supportive and caring environment for our families and staff.

As we move forward, we will keep you updated on any decisions or changes that directly affect our school. Your partnership, understanding, and advocacy during this challenging time are truly invaluable.

This brings us to a final note: now more than ever, we need the help and support of our Education Fund and PTA. The only way our beloved school will be able to withstand these cuts is to band together, as we have always done in the past.

Thank you for your time, your understanding, and your unwavering support. Together, we will stand up for what’s best for our kids and our community.

With appreciation,

Mr. Fong and Mr. Shui

Dear Live Oak Golden Eagle families,

Live Oak PTA wishes everyone Happy Holidays! We hope that you all enjoy the Winter Break recharging with family and friends. 

Before we say goodbye to the last few school days of 2024, Live Oak PTA would like to express our gratitude to all of the families who have supported our efforts— whether that be through the form of membership, coming to our events, purchasing spirit wear, volunteering with us, supporting us with Measure Q initiative, participating in events like Reflections, community service drive or donating to Sister School toy drive. 

In a few short months, together we have kicked off a robust school year filled with tons of events. We’ve had a spectacular Movie Night, an Ice Cream Social, DI and FLL Info sessions, Book Club and Run Club meets, Trunk or Treat, Pumpkin patch, Reflections showcase and Eagles Market. We celebrated our staff with Welcome Lunch and breakfast and also organized an elaborate Holiday Luncheon. We hope you enjoyed trying different cuisines through various community dine out events, Menchies frozen yogurt and the variety of food trucks on campus during the PTA events.

Live Oak PTA is proud to have introduced new events like Trunk or Treat, Talent Show, Eagles Market and Spring Carnival in the past 2-3 years. These events have been well attended and appreciated by the community. Live Oak PTA has been commended by SRVCPTA for the variety of events that are hosted for the students, including the Preschool and DEI kids and in bringing the community together.

As 2024 comes to an end, our hearts are filled with immense gratitude for our amazing community. Thank you Live Oak families for your kindness, the generosity of your time and talents, and for spreading joy during thus far. Wishing you all have a wonderful Holiday Season and a very Happy New Year! We have a lot in store for the community when we return in 2025 on Tuesday, January 7th. Stay Tuned!

Best Wishes,

Live Oak PTA Leadership

Each $30 ticket bundle includes 2 standard movie tickets which can be used at any participating Regal Movie Theater location nationwide. 25% per bundle will be donated to Live Oak Elementary PTA! Perfect for gifts or use for family outings during fall and winter breaks! Purchase now through March 10, 2025. Buy your tickets now!

Does your kid have a special talent that they’d like to showcase? Here’s your chance! Live OAK PTA is bringing the Talent Show on Feb 7th for the 3rd consecutive year. You will absolutely love this experience. A variety of talents are welcome - Monologue, original song, short skit, dance, gymnastics, recitation, music instruments, magic tricks, comedy act, puppet show, and many more. Just keep it fun! Sign up today!

Staff Holiday Luncheon

Thank you for your overwhelming support towards the Teachers and Staff Holiday luncheon! We were able to show our immense appreciation for our teachers and staff due to your contributions. Food was catered from 'The Kebab Shop' restaurant, and holiday treats were also on order. The staff lounge was decorated to usher in the holiday spirit. Thank you to all who volunteered to make this a successful celebration. PTA will be restocking the Teachers Lounge with the remaining funds.

Thank you Shravanthi Mora for chairing the event. Thank you PTA volunteers Sudha Pandrangi, Sapna Ramanan and Suchita Ghosh for helping with the teachers lounge decoration, food pick up and set up.

Eagles Holiday Market

Live Oak students' amazing creativity and hard work was on display last Friday where they set up booths to sell their handmade products to the community. The student participants did everything from writing business proposals, making products, jotting down the inventory list, marketing and logging sales. Participation certificates and goodies were distributed to all participants.

Thank you Live oak community for showing up in big numbers to encourage the kids. Much to the kids' excitement a lot of stores were sold out! The bubbles show was a big hit with the kids. Everyone also enjoyed the food and hot chocolate catered by local vendors.

We would like to thank the school, esp. the front office staff tremendously for helping out with the logistics and being patient with the children's questions. Many thanks to our sponsor Mr Yogi Sharma for your support. We would like to thank Shyamala Jayaraman for chairing the event and PTA volunteers Harsimran Kaur, Soumya Madabushi, Sudha Pandrangi, Sapna Ramanan, Anum Bashir and Suchita Ghosh for giving their time to this event. Thank you everyone for your co-operation in making this event a grand success!

Fall Breakfast Book Club

We had a successful fall book club thanks to all the parent volunteers and everyone who participated in the book club. Everyone participated and enjoyed their early morning breakfast. The groups were engaged and had great in-depth discussions with parent volunteers. It was great to hear their feedback on the books as well as what they enjoyed reading this fall book club and their preferences for spring book club. It was a great way for the students to see why it's important to read a variety of books to help them discover new interests and find their favorite book genre, 

Many thanks to our librarian Ms LeGate for picking these great books for the students.

A special thanks to our amazing parent volunteers; Madhvi Owen, Dave Maino, Shyamala Jayaraman, and Priyanka Kumari, for their time and dedication to the book club discussions. Thank you Wendy Sanchez for guiding our new team.

Lastly, thank you Nazish Yousuf and Shilpy Kapoor for chairing the event, coordinating the book sessions and arranging the breakfast this season.

Pajama Day was a huge success! As teachers share photos, they will be posted on the Leadership Site!

Live Oak is looking for Volunteers to help with Lunch support.

If you are available to help

Please sign up.

LOPTA's breakfast book club is such a great space for kids to come together and discuss, share their opinions on the wonderful books they read as part of the club.

It takes a lot of work planning the books, procuring them on time, planning breakfast for the children and coordinating with volunteers to help assist run the discussions. Thank you Nazish and Shilpy for your time and effort.

Eagles market is a wonderful platform for Live Oak kids to explore their creativity and business acumen. It gives them a glimpse of what it means to set up a store - work on marketing, manage inventory and sales.

There is a lot of work involved - starting from accepting registrations, motivating children to keep up with milestones and finally helping them understand and follow the rules of the market.

This is the second time Live Oak PTA has brought this program to the school. Shyamala helped launch the pilot program last academic year and has stepped up to chair the event this year too! We thank her for her time and dedication.

PLATINUM SPONSOR 2024-25

If you are interested in being a sponsor for any Live Oak PTA event, please reach out to Sapna at waysmeans@liveoakpta.net