Dear former students of Ms. MacDonald and Clear Lake families,

We are reaching out with a special request for all our former students and our current Clear Lake families who may have had or know Ms. MacDonald during their elementary years at Clear Lake. In 2022, Ms. MacDonald was diagnosed with cancer and has been battling ever since. As Ms. MacDonald begins a new course of cancer treatment, we’d like to surround her with the Clear Lake care that makes our community so special. We’re creating a memory book for her to read during treatment and would love to include your notes and cards.

Some ideas for former students to share:

A favorite memory from your time in her class

Something you learned from her

A moment that stuck with you

Kindly return cards or notes to your teacher or the Main Office by September 30, 2025. We will be making the delivery to her by October 3rd, 2025. If you have questions please contact Mrs. Niemi (stephanie.niemi@oxfordschools.org)

With appreciation,
Mrs. Stephanie Niemi
Principal, Clear Lake Elementary

Mrs. Sullivan's class takes the Traveling Trophy for the 2nd week in a row!! 

Mrs. Boyd's class has rocketed up the leaderboard this week and have now passed Mrs. Sullivans class! Ms. Bronikowski's class is close on both classes heels and it will be a race to the finish to see which classroom will take home the Traveling Trophy this Friday

We are in the final stretch and it could be ANY classroom at this point that becomes the overall classroom winner! The top classroom will win an ice cream party to celebrate.

If you have not registered your child to start fundraising, there is still plenty of time to get started! We are 75% of the way to reaching our school goal of raising $20,000. FUNd Run is our only large school fundraiser for the entire year and all donations go back directly to help support classrooms and the school as well as provide funding for field trips.

Check out the "Did You Know...The Clear Lake PTO does that?" Infograph to see just some of the ways the FUNd Run money is used to help support Clear Lake!

We are still in need of 13 volunteers to help at FUNd Run on Friday! If you are able to help from 12:30-3:30ish please use the link below to sign up. All volunteers must have returned an ICHAT form for the 25-26 school year and have their driver's license either already in the visitor management system or come in to have their driver's license scanned to receive a visitor badge.

Click the link to volunteer at FUNd Run: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F4AAEAB2DABF49-58524612-minute

Click HERE for the ICHAT form.

Help us reach 100% of students with updated information! 

We are still only at 82% of students who have updated parent/guardian contacts, emergency contacts, and student forms on file. 

It is advised to complete this on a computer or tablet to be able to view correctly. An appointment to come in to school and use a Chromebook to complete the update can be scheduled by contacting Mrs. Niemi at stephanie.niemi@oxfordschools.org

Annual Information Update: oxford.powerschool.com/public

ALL students, including new enrollments and students in DK/K, need to have their information reviewed and updated on a yearly basis. This is so our school has the most updated email(s), phone number(s), and emergency contacts for this school year. This information is used to send out important updates, weekly building communication, and in the case of an emergency or illness, when the office is not able to contact the parent(s)/guardian(s) first we then move on to contacts listed.  The health form in the update is the way to alert the school of any health conditions that they may need to know about, including allergies. 

If you’ve done the annual update before, just log in to your PowerSchool Parent account and update your information.

Families with students new to Oxford will need the code that was emailed to you from the district or reach out to barb.massie@oxfordschools.org and ask your your Parent Portal Access Keys (Access ID and Access Password).

Halloween: Classroom Halloween parties will take place on Thursday, 10/30/25 and Friday, 10/31/25. Your child’s classroom teacher will communicate the date and time in their classroom newsletter.

Students may wear their costumes to school, but they are not required. As you guide your child in planning a costume, please keep in mind that we would appreciate your cooperation in planning something that is school appropriate and not scary (gore/blood/morbid). As always, no toy weapons, weapon accessories (guns, knives, swords, light sabers, etc.), or full face masks will be permitted. If you do not want your child to participate in Halloween activities, please advise your child’s teacher. If you have any questions about the appropriateness of a costume in school, please contact Mrs. Niemi (stephanie.niemi@oxfordschools.org)

All Halloween party volunteers must also complete an ICHAT form and have it returned to the main office by 10/27/25 to ensure there is time to process. If you have not yet had your driver's license scanned into our visitor management system, you will also need to stop in the main office to do so by 10/29/25. If you had your driver’s license scanned last school year and it is a Real ID, it will need to be rescanned. This is due to a software update that will now ensure that Real ID driver’s license pictures print on the visitor badge. The office will be preprinting visitor badges for volunteers that have both the processed ICHAT and a driver’s license in the visitor management system to help make checking in faster. Volunteers that wait until the day of the party to have their driver’s license scanned may have to wait in line. Guests may always come in during the following school hours 9:00-3:30pm to have their driver’s license scanned.

ICHAT FORM

Monthly Calendar-at-a-Glance: Back by popular demand, the monthly calendar at-a-glance is back! Please note that the district elementary calendar can always be accessed HERE as well on the district website. These calendars are meant to reflect Clear Lake events.

Nutrition Services: There is still no further information as to whether free breakfast and lunch will be funded at the state level and provided after 9/30/25. Families that may qualify for free or reduced cost breakfast and lunch should fill out the Free & Reduced online application ahead of the 9/30/25 budget deadline in case the budget is not approved. Qualifying families may also receive additional benefits such as discounted internet, SAT fee waivers, and (if issued) P-EBT cards. Click HEREfor the online application for Free & Reduced meals.

Menus and Account Info:
Find breakfast/lunch menus and directions for depositing money into your student’s account (Meal Magic Family Portal) at:
www.oxfordschools.org → Departments → Nutrition Services

Hearing Screening 2025-2026: 9/26, 9/29, 9/30, 10/1, 10/2. The Oakland County Health Division will be at Clear Lake to do hearing screening for students in GSRP, DK, Kindergarten, 2nd grade, 4th grade, EI classroom, and Center Based ASD classroom. They will also screen any student who did not pass a previous hearing screening unless the school is otherwise notified in writing by the parent/guardian no later than 9/26/25. See flyer below for more information.

Vision Screening 2025-2026: 12/5, 12/8, 12/9, 12/10, 12/11. The Oakland County Health Division will be at Clear Lake to do vision screening for students in GSRP, DK, 1st grade , 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 5th grade, EI classroom, and Center Based ASD classroom. They will also screen any student who did not pass a previous hearing screening unless the school is otherwise notified in writing by the parent/guardian no later than 12/4/26. See flyer below for more information.

September PBIS Celebration

The whole school gathered on Friday, 9/12/25 to celebrate the work everyone has been putting into creating a supportive learning community! Students have done an excellent job exhibiting the traits of caring, thinker, and principled! Students enjoyed an extra recess with bubble wands for all students and Mrs. Niemi brought the party box speaker to play music.

As part of the celebration there was also a ribbon cutting to officially open the new sensory sidewalk path and four square courts that were painted by Clear Lake parent and artist, Mr. Paskell. We thank the Clear Lake PTO for the support and funding to make these new recess spaces happen!

42 Strong Junior

Classrooms will begin launching the introduction lesson for 42 Strong Junior this week.

On Monday, 9/22/25, members of the 42 Strong organization along with a 42 Strong mentor and former Clear Lake student came to meet with the 5th grade classrooms and be there for their lesson. 42 Strong bracelets will be coming home with students as their classroom kicks off the program.

Each classroom is looking for one or two parents/guardians to help collect pictures for the 2025-2026 yearbook. Responsibilities would include submitting photos from class parties and field trips using the Yearbook link: linktree.com/ClearLakeElementary

If you are interested in helping your child's classroom teacher, please email them directly.

2025-2026 School Year

Dear Parents, Guardians, and/or Students,

Clear Lake Elementary is pleased to inform you that we have joined a nationwide 
community effort to make our school Heart Safe with Project ADAM. This decision is the result of our wish 
to ensure that our campus is prepared to provide an immediate response to someone suffering a cardiac emergency.

In the United States, it is estimated that annually 356,000 adults experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest as well as 23,000 pediatric cardiac arrests (Mozaffarian, D, 2015; Okubo, M et al, 2020). Although approximately 90% of those people will not survive the event, the likelihood of survival increases with prompt intervention. Early intervention that includes CPR and restoration of normal heart rhythm with the use of an AED increases the chance of survival.

Through our cooperative efforts with Project ADAM led by we have joined hundreds of schools throughout the nation in preparing our school for a life-threatening emergency. This program enables us to offer any person who may experience a sudden cardiac arrest the best chance for survival. 

One aspect of being a Heart Safe School is to practice a drill with our staff to rehearse our plan and practice our skills and staff have been trained to assist with an emergency during regular school hours.

After school hours, this is a Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) program. If you suspect someone is experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest, please use the equipment at our school to save their life. Good Samaritan laws protect the layperson in a life-saving attempt who is acting in good faith. We recommend becoming trained in CPR and AED use as an investment in your health and the health of others. You can learn how to recognize a sudden cardiac arrest and hands-only CPR and AED skills by watching this brief Project ADAM video.
FOR YOUR AWARENESS, WE HAVE AEDS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS AT CLEAR LAKE ELEMENTARY
› Outside main office in box labeled AED

AEDs are a life-saving device, and anyone can use an AED, even if you are not specifically trained. In the case of a cardiac arrest, call 911, start CPR and retrieve an AED. To use the AED, first press the power button to turn the device on. The device will then verbally walk you through the steps to use and save a life. Please note, the AED will not shock a person unless it detects a shockable rhythm. 

Many thanks for your participation in this important Heart Safe initiative in our school! If you have any questions, please reach out to me.

Stephanie Niemi-Principal, Project ADAM Site Champion

stephanie.niemi@oxfordschools.org

Stephanie Niemi

Principal, Clear Lake Elementary School

Email: stephanie.niemi@oxfordschools.org
Website: https://clearlake.oxfordschools.org/o/cls
Location: 2085 West Drahner Road, Oxford, MI, USA
Phone: 248-969-5206
Twitter: @sniemi01

Non-Discrimination Clause: The District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, height, weight, familial status, marital status, military service, veteran status, genetic information, disability, or any other legally protected basis, and prohibits unlawful discrimination, including harassment and retaliation, in any education program or activity that it operates, including in admission and employment. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies:  Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, 775 W. Drahner Rd., Oxford, MI 48371, (248) 969-5004.