A Starter Guide for New Families 2024-25

8/8/2024

Welcome to a new school year at Live Oak! We hope you are as excited to start the year as we are to have you joining our community this fall. The information found on this page is intended to reinforce and supplement that which you received via email over the last few months. While the Blackbaud Portal is going to be your main communications hub moving forward, this can be a resource to help you get on track for a joyful and successful school year.

Do Nows:

Make sure you can log in to the Portal
Fill out school forms on the Portal by Aug. 12
Download and register on the Pikmykid app
Review the Extended Day Programs resource tile

Coming Up:

August 19 - New Student & Parent Orientations (Live Oak School)

Kindergarten Orientation | 9-10:30am
New Student Orientation | 9-10:30am (For all students joining Live Oak in grades 1-5 and 7-8)
Sixth Grade Student Orientation | 9am-1pm (Lunch will be provided)
Lower School Parent/Guardian Orientation | 9:15-10:15am (For all parents/guardians of students new to Live Oak in grades K-5)
Middle School Parent/Guardian Orientation | 9:15-10:15am (For parents/guardians of ALL sixth grade students and parents/guardians of students new to Live Oak in grades 7 & 8)

Welcome to the Portal

Probably your most important Live Oak communications platform to get familiar with is what we call the “Portal”. It’s our internal system that will essentially serve as your hub of information for virtually all things Live Oak. We encourage you to check the Portal regularly to stay up-to-date on school happenings.

You should already have login credentials to access the Portal – they would be the same username and password that you used to login to Tuition Management upon completing your admission agreement in March. If you have not yet, you will use this link to login to the Portal; go ahead and bookmark that since you will be using it a lot.

Once you are logged in you should see some different menus:

Featured News: When you first log in you will likely see the featured news section by default. Important action items and time-sensitive news will be posted here for easy visibility.

Your child(ren)’s academic information: In the upper left of your page you will see your child(ren’s) name. Click on that to see an overview of their classes, day-to-day schedule, links to class pages, and other academic information.

Resources: These are the collection of resource tiles that will contain valuable information about specific areas of the school. You will find important overviews of processes and procedures, links to extracurricular content, information about volunteering and happenings around the PGA (Parent Guardian Association), and more.

News: The recent activity section will contain news items and updates from the school. We try to post items internally on this news feed that supplement or mirror the information that goes out in the weekly newsletter (sent out every Thursday evening).

Calendar: The Portal calendar serves as the official school calendar. Any changes to event dates, times, locations, etc. will be reflected on this calendar.

If you have not yet, please try to login to the Portal and let us know if you have any problems accessing your account. Reach out to Edie Alejandre, edie_alejandre@liveoaksf.org with any issues related to Portal access.

Complete School Forms by August 12

All school forms will be completed digitally within the Portal.

Log in to the Portal where you will see a yellow notification banner. Click on the notification and you will see the Annual Form that you can click on and complete digitally. There will be no need to print and submit the form unless you would like to print a copy for your own records.

Please contact Edie Alejandre, edie_alejandre@liveoaksf.org or Janeth Gutierrez Moreno, janeth_gutierrezmoreno@liveoaksf.org with any questions about the forms.

Registering on Pikmykid

Live Oak uses the Pikmykid app for drop-off and pick-up procedures. Incoming families, please review the “Pikmykid” resource tile on the Portal for an overview of the process.

The first step will be to download and register on the Pikmykid app. Prior to the start of the school year you will receive placards that contain your child(ren)’s student ID numbers; you will keep these in your car to facilitate the pick-up process with Live Oak staff. More detailed instructions as to the pick-up/drop-off process are outlined on the Pikmykid resource board.

Please reach out to Janeth Guiterriez Moreno, janeth_gutierrezmoreno@liveoaksf.org if you need assistance with the Pikmykid app or have questions about the pick-up/drop-off process.

Your Child Has Options With Extended Day

The Extended Day Programs include Morning Care, afterschool programming, study hall, Roots & Branches, and clubs. In addition, there are drama and sports programs available to students in grades 6-8 (at no extra charge). You can read all about the various activities in more depth on the Extended Day resource tile on the Portal; that’s also where you will sign up for Extended Day programs.

Use the school calendar on the Portal to see when Holiday Care will/will not be available by clicking on a holiday date and taking note of the description for the event which indicates Holiday Care availability. Reach out to our Extended Day staff at extendedday@liveoaksf.org with any questions you have about the programs we offer.

Getting Involved at Live Oak

Volunteer opportunities are varied and allow for degrees of commitment that make sense for each person. Any and all involvement is valued and critical to our school. The PGA resource tile is your main resource for information related to volunteering and the PGA in general. Even something as simple as your attendance at PGA meetings is valuable. The PGA typically hosts monthly meetings over the course of the year (in-person, as well as over Zoom) to provide updates on events, volunteer opportunities, etc.

We hope you’ll start thinking about areas where your interests, background, and time can help support Live Oak’s learners.

Welcome Resource for New Live Oak Families

In an effort to help support our incoming students and families, the PGA has created a New Family Quick Reference and FAQ document. New families will find information and links related to the day-to-day schedule, notable school procedures and policies, and important contacts around the school.

We know there is a lot of information to process when joining a new school environment. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions. We invite you to refer to the "Who Do I Ask? Who Do I Tell?" document above to find the appropriate contact for your question. If you cannot find the right person on that list, please contact our Admissions office at admissions@liveoaksf.org and they can help point you in the right direction with any needs or concerns that may arise. We are happy to have you at Live Oak!

A Starter Guide for New Families 2024-25

Приемная комиссия