ISSUE #1 – SEPTEMBER 22, 2017

Welcome to another great year at OSA!

On behalf of the board of the Alliance of Parents and Teachers (APT), I’d like to welcome all new and returning families to OSA. We are looking forward to a year filled with great performances and events put on by our hardworking and inspired children. Academic standards continue to prepare our students for some of the best institutes of higher education in the country. Without a doubt, this is a special place, one that is reflected in our students, our teachers, and our parents.

The APT is dedicated to making your experience at this wonderful school as productive and rewarding as possible. To that end, we are continuing to fine-tune our new communications platform—Konstella—which will ensure more frequent, relevant information for our parent community.  

Another huge way that happens is through parent volunteers. An “all hands on deck” approach to volunteering guarantees that no one group of parents does all of the heavy lifting. It also fosters a great sense of community, as parents meet and interact with others in our diverse, artistic environment.

How can you get involved?

• Attend the APT general meetings. These are usually held the second Tuesday of every month. Many are geared toward parent education, so they are informative as well as community-building.
• Volunteer for one of the many arts events held throughout the year. Whether you sell tickets or merchandise, or help our students get ready for a show, your time is valued and greatly appreciated. Please email volunteer@aptosa.org to get involved.
• Join us! The board is still looking for a Fundraising Chair, and if that doesn’t interest you, your art emphasis might be looking for a parent liaison or other officer. We’d love to have your energy and input.

Have a wonderful year,

Mark Lecker
APT President

Join us at OSA’s annual State of the School events

Tuesday, September 26th and Thursday, September 28th
6-7:30pm at Sweet’s Historic Ballroom

We’re hosting two events to accommodate our families’ schedules—if you cannot attend one night, please be sure to attend the other one. This is an important kick-off fundraising event for our school, where you’ll learn about this year’s funding priorities, new developments and artistic highlights. There will be student performances, and food and refreshments will be served. We look forward to seeing you there!

Audio Production After Hours

Join Mr. McGovern in the recording studio and learn to take control of your productions! “Audio Production After Hours” is an opportunity for students outside of the AP&E emphasis to get an introduction to the music production process, and the tools used in creating original projects.

Course Topics:

• Digital Audio Workstations
• Software Instruments
• Recording Engineering
• Microphones
• Synthesis
• MIDI

Dates, times and costs:

3-month long terms
In the Recording Studio (room 305)
4:30 – 6 Monday – Friday
During regularly scheduled school days

Dates for October: 2nd – 27th
(Except Indigenous Peoples Day October 13th)

Dates for February: 5th – March 2nd
Except Presidents Day February 19th)
Dates for March: 5th – 29th

$700 per student per term
8 seats available per term
Not open to current AP&E students

Be ready for emergencies
Calling the police from your cell phone

If you or your child needs to make a cell phone call to the OPD for an emergency or crime in progress, dial 510-777-3211. This is the emergency line to OPD Dispatch. If you dial 911 from a cell phone in Oakland, your call gets redirected to CHP which adds time, as it is then routed back to Oakland.

Handy suggestion:  Program  510-777-3211 into your phone as “Aaaaaa 911 Emergency” so it’s the  first number in your contacts.

Save money with discount student transit cards.

If your student is commuting on public transportation, make sure you get a discount student transit card. You can go over to the AC Transit office and get one on the spot.

Address: 1600 Franklin St, Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 891-4777
Hours: Weekdays, 8am–5pm

Ever use an EpiPen? Learn how.

Go here for new instructions for generic epinephrine auto-injectors. Thanks for keeping our kids safe!

OSA News: Now accepting advertisements!

Ad space on the OSA NEWSLETTER is available for your business or organization:

$200 = 4 consecutive weeks, with 1 free (total 5 weeks)
$375 = 8 consecutive weeks, with 2 free (total 10 weeks)

Run your ad for 5 weeks: $200.
Run your ad for 10 weeks: $375.

We also offer free classified ads for OSA-related items.

We encourage everyone to scroll to the bottom of the OSA News every week to support the businesses that support our OSA community.

For more information or to place an ad, email OSANews@aptosa.org

News item submissions (deadline-Tuesday Noon) osanews@aptosa.org