January 26, 2026
Important Dates…
Monday, January 26: OFP Super Bowl Square Fundraiser opens
Saturday, January 31: Kindergarten-3rd Grade Information Meeting, 12-1 p.m. in the Gathering Place.
Saturday, January 31: Open House for Prospective Families, 1-3 p.m.
Monday, February 2: Current/Alumni Family Registration for the 2026-2027 school year opens at 8 a.m. online.
Monday, February 9: New Family Registration for the 2026-2027 school year opens at 8 a.m. online.
Tuesday, February 10: Dine to Donate from 4-8 p.m. at the Troy Panera.
Friday, February 13: School CLOSED for Parent-Teacher Conference Preparation.
Monday, February 16: School CLOSED for Presidents Day.
Insights from the Outdoors
Birding in Winter
Winter is a wonderful time to study birds as a family and can be done by setting up a bird feeding station outside a household window. This is a great family activity to enjoy nature from your cozy home.
To set up a feeding station:
Select a space for your feeder that is 10-15 feet away from windows but close to bushes or trees for quick escape from predators. Placing the feeder 10-15 feet away from windows and glass doors prevents bird collisions.
Select a type of feeder. I would select a tube feeder to start with. This style of feeder holds seeds in a tube with holes along the sides for seed access. This style of feeder attracts many song birds.
A second option is a suet feeder which is a cage-like feeder that holds cake-like suet for birds such as woodpeckers.
I always leave a handful of seed on the ground for ground feeders such as robins and doves.
Different birds are attracted to different types of seeds/nuts. I prefer black-oiled sunflowers. This attracts many birds like blue jays, nuthatches, cardinals, chickadees, and more.
If you also have a suet feeder you will need to select suet. There are many varieties, but I usually stick to a basic general woodpecker suet.
It is important to clean the bird feeder monthly to prevent disease.
Inside the house you will want to place a basket with a simple birding field guide and binoculars. I love using Peterson’s First Guide to Birds of North America or Eastern Backyard Birds: A Folding Pocket Guide to Familiar Urban Species for their simplicity with children.
Download Cornell’s free Merlin app. This app will help you identify birds through images and songs.
Lastly, I would join Project Feeder Watch to help encourage learning through weekly observations.
Enjoy exploring the natural world around you! – Robin Ramsey – Naturalist
What a wonderful week we had with Omope Carter Daboiku–affectionately known as Mama O–back at Overfield as a visiting artist! Many thanks to the Ohio Arts Council and Muse Machine for helping to provide this opportunity. The children got to hear poetry read aloud, play with words and poems of their own, pair drawing with these words and ideas, and put on paper their dreams for a peaceful and happy future. We are so thankful to have experiences like these that expand our thinking and give us a deeper experience of the arts.
Lost and Found
We have accumulated many items that have become lost from their owners and are looking to find their way home! Please reply to this message if you recognize any of these lost items. Items that are unclaimed at the end of this week will join the Overfield spare clothes supply. Please help us in the future by putting your child’s name on all items that come into school. Thank you!
OFP Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser
OFP knows we have a lot of fantastic football fans in our community. We have decided to join in on the fun again this year and celebrate with an in-house fundraiser for the Super Bowl.
Use this link to purchase your tickets for a randomly selected square on our super bowl board and have a chance to win at the end of each quarter. Half of all ticket SALES stay with OFP and the other half will be split with a winner coming from each quarter of the game.