Altamahaw Ossipee Elementary School PTA

08/28/2026

PTA Membership Challenge!

Let the friendly class competition begin, because there's a sweet prize to win!

A membership drive is underway! We're keeping track of paid PTA membership by class. The class with the MOST paid membership will WIN BIG!

The winning class gets:
-An ice cream party for the whole class! 🍦
-A gift card for the teacher and teacher assistant!

So..who's going to take home the win?!

Scan the QR code and join the PTA today! Every membership helps us support our students,teachers, and school!

Ready...set...Join today!! 💙🍦

08/27/2026

Calling all AO fans.. Spirit Wear is Here!

It’s time to get your AO Spirit Wear! 💙

We’re excited to partner with Big Drip this year to bring you some awesome gear to represent our school wherever you go!
And we made it easy for you:

✨ Shop online
✨ Order from the comfort of home
✨ Have it shipped straight to your door
✨ A portion of your purchase helps support our school!

Whether you’re cheering from the sidelines, heading to school, or just want to rep your AO pride, we’ve got you covered.. check back throughout the year, they will be posting new items throughout the school year!

https://ao-elem-abss-nc.bigdripedu.com

Anything you’d love to see?! Drop your ideas in the comments, and we’ll see what we can make happen!

Happy spirit-wear shopping! 🎉💙

08/26/2026

Just a friendly reminder about Kindergarten Meet the Teacher!

Wednesday, August 26th 5:00-6:30

We can’t wait to see all the excited faces, welcome our new families, and help kick off an amazing school year. 💙

And there’s an extra sweet treat! 🍦 Scoop : Ice Cream Shop will be joining us, with ice cream available for purchase!

08/24/2026

‼️ Please see below for an important message from Mr.MJ:

Good evening AO Family, this your proud principal Mr. MJ with some quick updates after the first day of school!

It was so great to see so many smiling faces today as Ms. Strickland and I walked through all of our classrooms. Students were engaged in getting to know their teachers, meeting new friends and learning new routines and procedures. We can’t wait to see how much they remember tomorrow when they come back for day 2!

A few important safety updates:

Students did a great job going through our Open Gate Weapon Detection Systems this morning. Tomorrow will be even better as students will have emptied back packs of supplies and will have gone through the routine. Parents and Guardians, as you are walking your students to class this week please be mindful of a few things that we noticed today. First of all, if you have a purse or bag, please consider leaving it in the car. These almost always set off the WDS. If you have more than one phone, please try to hold one in each hand as you go through. Two phones in one hand set it off often today. If you have a bigger key FOB and a phone please put one in each hand. When held together they will set it off. And we had a lot of adults that wore steel toed shoes/boots today which set it off. We will have a wand to use to check those boots if it goes off. Again, we want to thank you all for your patience and understanding as we are all learning these new routines.

Afternoon pick up was great today for both Car Riders and Walkers. But in the interest of keeping all of our students as safe as possible, starting tomorrow Tuesday August 25 we will be requiring you to show your Car Tag to an adult when you pick up your students. We sent Car Tags home today with new to AO students and anyone else that ordered a new one before school started. If you cannot find your Car Tag and need a new one please use the link on our website to order one. You will fill out a Google Form to show how many you need and then you will click the Givebacks link to make your payment. Car Tags are only $2.30. Once ordered we will get them printed as quickly as possible. If you do not have your Car Tag starting tomorrow Tuesday August 25 we will ask you to drive around to the front office to show your ID. I know that many of our staff know many of our AO families but we do have a large number of new staff that do not recognize faces yet. We thank you ahead of time for understanding this important safety procedure.

Kindergarten Staggered Entry was tremendous today. We were so excited to meet some of our newest AO students. Kindergarten families, please remember that if your child attended Staggered Entry today they will not come to school tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday. If you received a GREEN post card then you are scheduled to attend Staggered Entry tomorrow Tuesday August 25. If you received an Orange post card then you will attend the Staggered Entry on Wednesday August 26. All Kindergarten families should come to Kindergarten Meet the Teacher on Wednesday from 5:00-6:30pm to see who your child’s teacher will be. And all Kindergarten students will officially start on Thursday August 27 in their new classes.

Thank you again for your patience with our buses this week. We have several new bus drivers driving new routes. Routes were running behind today and will likely be running behind for several more days. We will be contacting all families that have requested bus transportation as soon as your students are added to routes and then you can decide when you want your student to start riding.

I hope everyone gets good rest tonight so we can have a great Day 2. Have a great evening!

08/24/2026

Happy 1st Day of School!

The halls are buzzing, backpacks are packed, and those sweet first-day smiles are here!

From all of us at the PTA, we’re wishing our students, teachers, staff, and families an amazing school year filled with learning, laughter, friendship, and lots of wonderful memories! 💙

Here’s to a fantastic year! 🎉
Welcome back, AO!

08/21/2026

What a sweet day! 🍦

Thank you to everyone who came out for Open House today, stopped by the PTA table, and took a few minutes to learn the scoop on what we have planned for the year! We loved seeing so many familiar faces and meeting new ones.

A special thank you to Exceptional Events and Scoop : Ice Cream Shop for helping bring our ideas together and making today extra special! We couldn’t do it without you!

We’ll see you bright and early Monday, August 24 - doors open at 7:20!

Here’s to a wonderful school year ahead, we’re so excited for all that’s in store! 💙

Interested in joining the PTA? We’d love to have you! Visit the link below to join us for a great year! ✨

https://www.givebacks.com/causes/41f3f456-89cb-4980-8f85-50dd4d43d59c/shop/items/13002

08/19/2026

‼️Please see below for an important message from Mr.Mj :

We look forward to seeing everyone at our 1st-5th grade Meet the Teacher tomorrow from 5-7pm. When you arrive, please park in the back and enter through the gym doors. We will not be letting families in the front doors tomorrow evening.

We have a few new safety updates that we would like to share with you. This year in ABSS all students and visitors will need to pass through our Open Gate Weapon Detection Systems (WDS). Although we will not use them at Meet the Teacher, they will start being used the first day of school Monday August 24.

All Car Riders and Bus Riders will enter the building from the gym doors. The WDS will be set up on both sides of the gym. Students will walk through them and then go straight to breakfast or to class. Two trained staff members will be at each station. If the WDS goes off, one of the staff members will quickly look through the backpack to see if an item set it off. The student will walk through again and if it doesn’t go off they will be on their way to class. If it goes off a second time without the backpack then the student will go to a private location to empty pockets and try to determine what set off the WDS.

The towers will be set up at Meet the Teacher so families can see what they look like but we will not be using them until Monday.

The settings on the WDS are at a level to detect weapons. Many common metal items will not set it off such as metal water bottles, keys, phones, or belt buckles. It will go off for items such as 3-ring binders or laptops. We will be learning with you all the first few weeks. The best practice will be for students will be to walk through the WDS while holding the straps to their backpack so they do not touch the WDS towers. Touching them, even by accident, will likely set them off.

Because of this new safety update our Car Rider/Walker arrival procedures will be a little different this year too.

Gym doors will open at 7:20am like normal. Car riders will enter through the doors on the ball field side and Walkers will enter through the doors on the parking lot side.

We will close the car rider side doors at 7:45am so we can move the WDS to the front office area. We will still let Car Riders out around the corner by the tree until 7:50am. These students will walk in through the gym doors by the parking lot. Any additional Walkers will also enter the gym doors until 7:50am. We will no longer be able to use the Primary Building entrance for Walkers. At 7:50am we will close the gym doors and all remaining Car Riders/Walkers will need to be driven around to the front office to be checked in my an adult and will be marked tardy.

Students that do enter the building before 7:50am will have a 5 minutes to get to their classrooms and if they arrive after 7:55am they will be marked tardy. Breakfast will still be available but will be taken to the classroom to eat.

We know the first couple of days there will be a learning curve for everyone. We want to thank you ahead of time for your patience and flexibility as we work through all of these new procedures.

As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to Mr. MJ (Principal) or Mrs. Strickland (AP).

08/19/2026

Back to school means busy nights, so let’s make dinner easy!

Texas Roadhouse is offering a Back-to-School Togo Dinner Special!

No cooking, no dishes—just good food, family time, and a great way to kick off the new school year!

Scan the QR code to order! 🤩

08/18/2026

We couldn’t be any more proud! Our two incredible administrators were part of this amazing team recognized for their outstanding work with Summer Reading Camp!

Their dedication to our students, educators, and literacy continues to make such a meaningful impact. We are so grateful for all they do to support student success and expand access to learning opportunities in our community.

Congratulations to this superstar team, and especially to our two administrators, we are SO proud of you! 💙

At last night’s Board of Education meeting, this superstar admin team was recognized for their incredible work with the Summer Reading Camp! Leading 40 staff members and serving 530 second and third graders this summer, they also partnered with the Alamance County Public Libraries Mobile Checkout Bookmobile, which visited sites each week. Thank you for your outstanding dedication to expanding literacy access, supporting our educators, and driving academic success!

📷 Pictured right to left: Director Peter Martinek-Jenne, coordinators Kelly Holloway, Jalanda Allen, Heather Ellingworth, and Mackenzie Strickland, plus a photobomb from a future reader! 📚✨

08/18/2026

We're so excited to welcome our amazing new teachers and staff.

Please help us give them a warm welcome when you see them around campus! 💙

We can't wait for an incredible school year filled with learning, laughter, and new memories. Here's to a fantastic year ahead!