Ice Cream Social

The Ice Cream Social kicks off the school year with some sweet fun! A school wide event typically held on a Friday evening in September. Families and students enjoy meeting up with new and old friends.

Fall - Trick or Treating

A not too spooky outing for the family! Dress up and see your friends and teachers in costume! Trick or Treat along the lane of decorated cars and enjoy a fun filled afternoon of frights and delights!

Social distancing version: A not too spooky outing for the family! Dress up and see your friends and teachers in costume! Drive thru and pick up your free pumpkin and decorating kit, along with a treat!

Black History Month Celebration

Each year, Dayton Oaks ES students, staff and families are invited to participate in celebrating Black History and achievement all month long. Activities have includes student posters of famous Black Icons, Black History Facts BINGO & Trivia games and evening programs with invited guest speakers, crafts and more.

Culture Festival

DOES Culture Festival is a truly unique, fun filled event to celebrate diversity amongst students and their families. Through colorful performances, various multi-national cuisines and arts and crafts, the students get the opportunity to showcase their culture and talents.

Bingo Night

Get your dabbers ready! Bingo Night is a great way to hang out with your fellow dolphins playing the classic game of bingo!

Coupled with pizza, drinks and a variety of prizes ranging from games, movies, stuffed animals, indoor kids entertainment vouchers, (NinjaBe, Hyperkids, SkyZone, Launch, etc.) makes for an awesome Friday spring evening!

Movie Night

The final event of the school year takes place on the Dayton Oaks playground blacktop. Join us on a warm friday evening for a variety of food trucks and an outdoor family movie on a HUGE inflatable movie screen. While we wait for the sun to go down, our students perform for each other in a fun singing show we like to call “Dolphins Got Talent!”

After School Programs

The PTA helps bring a wide variety of fun programs to students to enjoy after their school-day is over. Students can engage in art, sports, drama, cooking, or STEM classes.

Artist in Residence

This program gives us the opportunity to bring area artists into our school to broaden the scope of learning and cultural exposure to every student at DOES. The Artist in Residence program tries to incorporate a variety of art mediums from year to year. Artists typically work with a DOES staff member to plan the curriculum content and implementation, then conduct the residency with students over the course of about a week.

Past visiting artists have worked with PE teachers to bring circus artistry to the school; with Visual Arts teachers to create a community mural; and with our music teachers to explore music and dance expression from cultures around the world. The possibilities are endless in this wonderfully creative PTA sponsored program!

Book Fair

The DOES Book Fair comes each year in the November-December time frame! The PTA collaborates with the DOES Media teachers to hold the Book each year! Did you know a portion of the profits go directly back to DOES and will help to expand our Classroom Diversity Libraries? Books can be previewed online in advance and on sale for a few days to allow time to shop!

Cash Back Opportunities

DOES partners with the boxtops program, AmazonSmiles, Harris Teeter and escrips among others to earn cashback on your purchases at these retailers. This money goes to purchasing laptops, ipads and many other items for the school. See the PTA website for the up-to-date list of participating stores and how to submit your boxtops!

Coat Giveaway

Drop off your new and gently-used coats, hats, and gloves. Place items in the provided bin while practicing CDC guidelines for social distancing, including wearing a mask.

OR donate directly to Howard County MultiService Center Click here for county wide specifics.

Dance Party Celebration

If we meet our fundraising goal for the year, we celebrate with a Dance Party. The night includes a DJ that leads dancing and games and free pizza and dessert!

DolFUN Run

This is our one and only fundraiser for the year. The DolFun Run event is a 1 mile run around the school, which starts off with a pep rally and ends with a finish line, medals, snacks and music!

FIRST Lego League

Dayton Oaks FIRST® LEGO® League introduces children to STEM through fun, exciting hands-on learning. Participants gain real-world problem-solving experiences and grow their critical thinking through a guided, hands-on STEM learning and robotics centered around a yearly theme.

There are 3 levels based on grade:

• Discover: PK - Grade 1 (ages 4-6yrs)
• Explorer: Grades 2 - 4 (ages 6-10yrs)
• Challenge: Grades 4 - 8 (ages 9-16yrs)

Food on the 15th

Students help sort healthy non-perishable food items and canned goods dropped off at the school to be donated to the Howard County Food on the 15th program which helps stock pantries of low-income senior citizens.

Gifts of Gratitude

At the end of the school year, Gifts of Gratitude provides an opportunity for families to contribute monetary gifts to various teachers and school staff.

Memory Book

We collect photos throughout the year from families and staff to put together in our annual Memory Book (aka yearbook). This amazing keepsake highlights the fun events throughout the school year, includes all staff and students, and commemorates the fifth grade class with a special memories section!

Reflections

The National PTA Reflections program is the PTA's cornerstone arts program. It offers students the opportunity to express themselves through the arts, develop creative thinking and problem solving skills, and recognize themselves as artists! All students who participate are recognized by the Dayton Oaks Community, and their work has the chance to go on to the local, state, and even national level. Children bring a designated theme to life in one of the following categories: visual arts, musical composition, literature, photography, film productions, or dance choreography.

For a few weeks during the fall and the spring, students run/walk/skip/sashay around the track earning sMILEs. Students will have an opportunity to walk (or skip, jump, run!) around the Dayton Oaks track during their Tuesday recess to earn smiles (and points) in this friendly and FUN fitness activity.

Students can earn points (and prizes) both individually and as a class, to hold the honor of the GOLDEN SNEAKER.

Spirit Wear

Show your school spirit and help support DOES PTA.

Staff Appreciation

We appreciate our DOES staff through the entire school year. During scheduled events we set up breakfast, lunch and dinner for DOES staff and plan special events. Over teacher appreciation week we bring in food and desserts daily for the teachers to enjoy at lunch.

Additional Support

Dayton Oaks PTA continues to work in tandem with Dayton Oaks Elementary School administration and staff to support all children and families in our community.