Originally delivered on 3/10/2025 6:00 am

SUBJECT: OHS Weekly Flash | Yearbooks and Parent Social tickets are on sale!

Weekly Flash

March 10, 2025

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

  • Updates from Principal Smyth 
  • Yearbooks are now on sale! Early-bird pricing until March 24
  • Get your tickets for OHS Parents' Night Out, April 3 at Boca Grille
  • Congratulations to OHS state winners in the PTA Reflections art competition
  • PTA Meeting Thursday at 7pm
  • Friday is the deadline for CT educator PTA award nominations
  • 5th grade fundraisers - recyclables collection and Hat Day March 20
  • Board of Education budget update
  • Team Teddy-St. Baldrick's fundraiser at OHS on March 21
  • Last call to return "Ivan" books 
  • Thank you to our Reading Celebration Week and Book Swap teams
  • Happy birthday Mrs. Budlowski!

To close out our Reading Celebration Week, we are doing a "Read the Flash" Contest.  There is a hidden code in today's Flash. Find the code, and email it to info@ohspta.com by Friday, March 14 for a chance to win a free drink ticket at the parent social.

Coming Soon
  • March 13 - PTA Meeting, 7pm
  • March 18 - Early Dismissal, 1:40pm (Conferences)
  • March 20 - Early Dismissal, 1:40pm (Conferences)
  • March 20 - NEW: Hat Day fundraiser 
  • March 21 - Team Teddy St. Baldrick's Fundraiser, 5:30-8pm
Looking Ahead
  • March 28 - Spirit Day (Buy spiritwear here)
  • March 31 - NO SCHOOL (Eid Al-Fitr)
  • April 1 - Early Dismissal, 1:40pm (Staff PD)
  • April 3 - Parent Social at Boca Grille at H. Smith Richardson, 7-9pm (tickets)

**Follow us on OHS Families Facebook & OHS_Families Instagram to stay in the know, and check out our OHS PTA website!**

Dear OHS Families,


I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!


We had a great week at OHS last week! Our 5th graders impressed parents, students and staff with their clever and creative inventions! I was so impressed with their hard work, engaging presentations, and the quality of their inventions. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these end up on Shark Tank! Thank you to Ms. Hanley for organizing a wonderful Invention Convention! 

We also had a terrific Reading Celebration Week! Classrooms participated in fun reading activities all week, and the students took home new books on Friday in our Book Swap. Thank you to the parents who organized Reading Celebration Week, and to the many parent volunteers who collected books all week and managed the book “shopping” on Friday. I also want to thank Ms. Kosh for helping facilitate the week and organizing our first “Masked Reader” event on Friday, which the kids seemed to really enjoy!

This coming week will be a bit more routine, which will be welcomed after a very busy week! Please make sure you continue to update your SDM daily with any dismissal changes. 


I hope you all have a terrific week ahead! Take care.


Sean F. Smyth, Principal

Yearbook sales are open! Special pricing until March 24

The year's not over yet - but it's time to order your 2024-2025 OHS Yearbook! 


Yearbooks can be ordered online at www.coffeepond.com 

  • Click on the Order Yearbooks banner
  • Enter the password 'ozzie25', select online order and continue
  • Enter your child's name and grade and the book quantity
  • Enter your email under contact and select add to cart
  • If needed, you can purchase more by clicking the order for another child button. If not, you can finish checking out.


Order by March 24th for early bird pricing of $20 per book. The price increases to $22 per book on March 25th, and orders can be placed through April 24th.


Have a great photo at a school function? We'd love to include it!

Every OHS student is represented in the yearbook. We include photos of the kids in the classroom, at recess, and at all of the amazing OHS events that take place throughout the year. If you have photos to share please email ohsottersyearbook@gmail.com and let us know the event and names of students featured.  We appreciate your help!


Any questions? Please contact the Yearbook Committee.

Tickets on sale for the OHS Parent Social

Enjoy a parents' night out with your friends from Osborn Hill! Join us at Boca Grille on April 3 from 7-9pm for the OHS Parent Social. Tickets are $25 each and include one drink ticket, light appetizers, and a sunset view over the golf course! Buy your tickets at ohspta.com until March 27. Tickets are non-refundable, but they are transferrable.  We hope to see you there!

Get your tickets HERE

Questions? Contact the Parent Social Committee

Congratulations Reflections State award winners!

Last month, we shared the winners from Osborn Hill's Reflections PTA arts program. All of our entrants were able to move onto the state contest. We are thrilled to announce that Everett Dvornek won first place at the state level, and will be moving on to the National PTA competition!


Please congratulate all of our OHS state winners in the PTA Reflections competition:

  • Everett Dvornek - 1st place in intermediate Music.  Everett's work has now been sent to the National PTA competition as Connecticut's first place winner in the intermediate Music category!
  • Hannah Boxer - 3rd place in intermediate Visual Art 
  • Adaline Miller - 3rd place in primary Choreography
  • Ari Melnikov - 4th place in intermediate Music 
  • Nicholas Miller - 4th place in intermediate Film 
PTA Meeting Thursday night

Our March PTA meeting will be this Thursday, March 13 at 7pm in the OHS LLC (library). We'll answer your questions and give updates on our spring activities. We hope to see you there! Read the Flash Secret Code: April 3 


Any questions? Contact Melissa Miller

Friday is the deadline for CT educator PTA Award nominations

The deadline to nominate educators for the Connecticut PTA's Outstanding Educator Award is this Friday! The CT PTA is accepting nominations for outstanding principals, assistant principals, teachers, school counselors, social workers, and paraprofessionals.  All nominees must be an OHS PTA Member. 


You can find more information on how to nominate here. The nomination form is linked here.


To check if your nominee is a PTA member or for questions, please contact Melissa Miller.

5th grade fundraisers - recyclables collection and Hat Day!

Our 5th graders are still collecting your recyclable cans and bottles to raise funds for their service project. The drop off box will be in the main hallway through next week.  Too many cans to carry in? Contact Rachel Parrish to arrange a pickup or drop off.

Save the date - Hat Day fundraiser on March 20

We're also hosting a Hat Day fundraiser on Thursday, March 20! Send $1 in with your child and they can wear a hat to school. Funds go towards the 5th grade end-of-year activities.

Education budget update

Thank you to everyone who reached out to the Board of Selectmen (BOS) to advocate for the Board of Education (BOE) Budget. Our advocacy was effective! Last Monday the BOS voted to reinstate $2 million back into the BOE budget - but we're not done yet! The BOE budget is still facing a nearly $2 million deficit. 


Our next step is to contact the Board of Finance (BOF) before they meet on March 20 and ask them to reinstate the nearly $2 million that was cut from the BOE budget. The more they hear from the public, the greater impact we'll have.  If this money is not reinstated to the budget, it is possible the BOE will need to cut programming or revisit expanding the Transportation Policy.


For more info on the budget process and how you can help, please click here for a message from our OHS Board of Education Rep Jean Shurman.

Team Teddy St. Baldrick's Fundraiser at OHS on March 21

Mark your calendars: the Team Teddy Osborn Hill School St. Baldrick’s event, which has raised $1.6 million for pediatric cancer research since 2010, will be back at OHS in less than TWO weeks – on Friday, March 21, from 5:30-8:00PM.

Join us for a fun and meaningful evening when Team Teddy-OHS holds its 16th annual fundraiser. There will be raffles, a bake sale, Super Duper Weenie and all sorts of fun for a great cause.


Team Teddy was founded in honor of Teddy Gerber, who was diagnosed with undifferentiated sarcoma in 2009, when he was a 3rd grader at OHS. One of Teddy's most joyful times during his illness was the first Team Teddy event held in March of 2010. OHS Pack 199 had been holding St Baldrick’s events for years before 2010, and offered to hold that year’s event in honor of him. Teddy was the star, overseeing the first 'shavee' of the night (his older brother John), as well as many of his friends. He passed away after bravely fighting his illness for nine months.


Each year since we have continued to meet at OHS on a Friday night in March, to remember Teddy and to raise funds for and awareness of pediatric cancer research. In 2020 and 2021 we were forced to hold virtual-only events due to Covid, but each year we still raised over $75,000. This year we have already raised over $40,000, bringing our 15-year total to just over $1.6 million.


The money raised by events like ours goes towards grants that allow scientists to better understand pediatric cancers and how to treat them more effectively, giving children a better chance to recover and live their lives.


Those who want to contribute without going bald can sponsor a shavee, buy treats at the bake sale, or purchase raffle tickets with the chance to win fantastic prizes. To sign up to be a shavee, make a donation, or check out our local sponsors, visit: https://www.stbaldricks.org/events/mypage/108/2025


Questions? Contact Jessica Gerber

Last call to return "Ivan" books

Thank you for an amazing month of reading "The One and Only Ivan."  We were so thrilled with the participation and amazed with all the completed trivia we received!  Prizes for the trivia winners were distributed last week. This is our final call for any remaining Ivan books that you may have borrowed from the PTA (or even that you've purchased and want to share back).  Please bring in any remaining books to the main office ASAP but by the end of this week at the latest so we can give them to McKinley for their reading challenge.  Keep up the great reading, Otters!


Any questions contact Jen Ruwisch and Lauren Castaneda

Thanks to our Reading Celebration Week and Book Swap teams!

It was a great week for our OHS readers! Thank you to our Reading Celebration Week chairs Cammie Liberty and Megan Strater and our Library Media Specialist Mrs. Kosh for organizing last week's activities. A special shout out to those who served as Masked Readers!

Thank you to all families that donated books to the Book Swap. It was amazing to see all the books on display in the library! Thank you to all who volunteered to collect and help the kids shop for books, and to our Book Swap Committee chairs Christina Mink, Julissa Pesok and Elena Cabrera.

Happy birthday Mrs. Budlowski!

We celebrated Mrs. Budlowski's big birthday last week with flowers and a gift card courtesy of the OHS PTA. She was also surprised by a performance of the birthday song by the 5th grade orchestra. Thank you for all you do for our school community!

Have news to share? Email Jen Braunby 10am Friday
to include in the following Monday's OHS Weekly Flash.

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