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PROTECTED:

First Day Routine

Assembly Day |

• Arrive 10 - 20 minutes before the Assembly, depending on if you are a new or returning family.

• No classes today. Watch the schedule to track your weekly sessions.

• Check in at the OHSC table outside of the Auditorium doors.

  1. Purchase your OMSI membership. Or pre-purchase and send in a screenshot of your membership card (electronic or paper)

  2. Pick up Scientist’s name tags (if new)

  3. Weekly Parent Volunteer sign-ups will be online.

  4. Enjoy an OMSI Science Assembly with all your friends

Classes Begin |

Volunteer Room Parents... please arrive 15 minutes before classes.  

Weekly Routine for Science Lab Weeks — (Repeat info as under Weekly Routine Private Page)

  1. Please show up 5 minutes early with your name tag

    (Younger scientists might want to stop by the bathroom before class.) Anyone arriving more than 10 minutes late will not be admitted. The disruption is too hard on the staff and we want to stay in good graces with OMSI. They LOVE our group because we are so easy to work with, in return, they give us many free classes and great first-chance opportunities. Our room monitors hate to have to turn away a child without a name tag, but they must follow the rules. If you have a special rare situation, please call me at 503.933.4875, and I will escort you late to class and request permission for a special late entrance.

  2. At the end of the hour, please meet younger children at the class (Level 1 and 2)

    Please show up 5 minutes before the end of class to pick up your child. Level 1 and Level 2 Science students will be released to you. Planetarium shows let us 15 minutes early.

    Please teach your child to stay with the Lead Room Parent and wait for you. Room Parents are not allowed to chase after students who dart out of class. Lead Parents will trust the student if they say they have permission to leave with a friend’s parents or older sibling. Lead Room Parents will wait 5 minutes, and any forgotten children will be dropped off at the OHSC Lobby table.

  3. Parents With Multiple Pickups

    Occasionally, a parent will have two children under Level 2 needing to be picked up. You can make arrangements with the Lead Parent to drop off one student at the OHSC Lobby table or arrange for another parent to pick up your child. Please let the Lead Room Parent know the name of your alternate. Please also make sure that your child knows the alternate’s name, in case we ask who they are going with.

  4. Co-op Homeschool Program Volunteer Hour

    This is not a drop-off program. Everyone takes a turn volunteering — somewhere! Just once each term. Make sure you have signed up or signed in for your registration day.

    If classroom volunteering is not your thing, we have plenty of other ways to give an hour to the program; walkers, assembly door greeters, head greater, name tag makers, and sign hangers.

    Some families would love it if this program allowed you to drive by, drop off, and let your child come to class on their own. This would change the culture of the program, which is not the vision of OHSC. It would also double our costs as we would be paying OMSI to watch our children. We really enjoy the reasonable tuition fees and I am so thankful that the parents in this program always step up to help out.

  5. Co-op Homeschool Breaks

    Co-op also means you get many turns to take a break from homeschooling. We all love a break, so please find a way to sneak off for a chat or cup of coffee on campus.

  6. Name Tags

    Your student and one parent will get a name tag. We write your Scientist’s last name on the back just in case it gets lost.

  7. In Class

    The name tag is your child’s ticket to get into class. If you want to enter the class, show your name tag at the door and the volunteer parent will let you in. No name tag, no entrance. This is not to be mean, just to keep our kids safe. We don’t want strangers coming in and sitting at the back of the class or following our children around the museum.

  8. Homework

    Younger classes will be an exciting 60 minutes of science-packed fun and learning for you to expand upon. Older classes have different “take home" activities. Sometimes it is an observation or question to ponder at home, and sometimes it is a hands-on continued data collection or research to finish up and bring the following week. Many of our families stop after class and spend a moment writing a little journal entry about the day. If you want suggestions on how to do this, please see me.

  9. LOST Name Tags

    If you forget your card or lose it, our name tag volunteer would be happy to give you a loaner for $5. Return it the same day for your $5, or make a “donation” to the volunteer’s coffee fund. (Thank you, Beth, for making all of our name tags. It takes lots of time to make 600 name tags to keep track of all of us.)

  10. Lost Parents

    Students should know who their on-campus “parent” is and where they might be located. If you are sending your child with another driver/grandparent/homeschool family, please make sure your child can identify with whom they came.

If you have any questions drop me a note. On Tuesdays, I am best reached by text: 503.933.4875

I’m excited to start another incredible term of science classes. See you on Tuesdays!

— Jilene 

(To find me, I start in the lobby . . . I always wear red!)