Weekly Family Update # 5
September 13, 2020
Principal's Message
Hello Falcon Families,
We have had a great week here at Oak Valley. Students are settling into their classes, teachers are finding their groove, and my own kids are finally going to bed on time (most nights!). Please reach out to your teacher if you are still having issues with Canvas or Zoom. I hope that everyone is all set at this point, but if not, please reach out. We want to help!
We have heard your feedback and are going to make a slight adjustment to our Virtual Learning Bell Schedule. Many families have reached out and asked for the lunch period to line up each day. We swapped the Office Hours block and lunch period on Wednesdays and Fridays, so that lunch is now at a similar time each day of the week. An updated revised bell schedule can be found on our website HERE and by clicking on the button below. We appreciate your flexibility as we will continue to evolve and refine our educational program to best meet the needs of students throughout this unprecedented school year.
Back to School Night is coming!! We will be hosting a Virtual Back to School Night on Wednesday September 23rd. More information will be coming out in the newsletter next week. Save the date!
I would highly encourage all families to read the messages below from our PTSA and Falcon Foundation and please consider joining both organizations. The PTSA and Falcon Foundation are parent volunteer groups who work tirelessly to help support the students and staff at Oak Valley. Our PTSA sponsors student programs like the Breakfast of Champions Character awards, Reflections, and Art Corps. Our Foundation raises money to help provide so much to our school including materials for teachers and classrooms, technology, and even new flowers and plants for our grounds crew to plant each year. I am so thankful for their work. Please consider joining these organizations, we need you now more then ever!!
I would like to extend a huge congratulations to our Library Media Tech Donna Lawrence for being named the Poway Unified Classified Employee of the Year. Mrs. Lawrence was honored at the School Board meeting this past week. All of us Falcons are so grateful for her work. She prepared and checked out thousands of books to students these past few weeks. We are so lucky to have her as past of the Oak Valley Falcon Family. Congratulations Mrs. Lawrence!!
Thanks for being such an amazing Oak Valley Falcon Community!!
Beaming with Falcon Pride,
Colin Young
Principal
Oak Valley Middle School
PTSA News
Messages for OVMS Staff
Help us recognize our Oak Valley Teachers & Staff who work hard every day to prepare our students during these unusual times.
💙 Please email your POSITIVE feedback about the first week of school to: falconsptsa@gmail.com.
We will add all your messages to our kindness wall for all our teachers and staff to see. Let's fill the wall with positive messages and show them how much we appreciate all they do for our kids.
Spirit Wear - Sale Closes Soon
Have you purchased your OVMS Spirit Wear? Don't wait too long to order, click HERE for our online store, it closes on September 15th!
Spirit Wear Perks
Mostra in October: Wear your OVMS Stronger Together Shirt every Tuesday in October and Mostra coffee in 4s Ranch will give you 15% off your entire order!
Chick-fil-A in November: Wear your OVMS Stronger Together Shirt every Tuesday in November from 3pm-5pm and receive a complimentary ice cream! *No other purchase necessary
Join PTSA!
Parents we would love for you to join the PTSA!
The number one reason to join the Parent Teacher Student Association is to benefit your child and an opportunity to stay better informed and connected to other parents and the school.
Together we are stronger... Join here:
https://jointotem.com/ca/san-diego/oak-valley-middle-school-ptsa
PTSA Reflections Student Art Program is coming!
The annual National PTA Reflections Art program is coming. More information can be found HERE and check out the flyer below. We will have more detailed information about how your student can submit an entry in our upcoming newsletters.
A Message From the Library
Click HERE for more information and to submit your request.
Oak Valley Falcon Foundation
Welcome “back” to school, Falcon Families! While school looks different and a little strange for now, we still have the same world-class educators and exceptional students filling our Zooms, Kahoots and FlipGrids. Your Oak Valley Foundation is already working behind the scenes to help fund programming, equipment, training and materials to support all Falcon students and faculty. Did you know Foundation donations funded the shade structures that are part of the new building? We were getting our campus ready for outdoor learning before it was cool! Want to learn more about past and future funding plans? Be sure to follow the Oak Valley Falcon Foundation on Facebook
We need your help funding the budget gaps between what Oak Valley is given for expenses versus what we need to maintain our highest standards in education. Can you help with a donation of $150 or more to fund things like Science class lab consumables that students can use at home? What about $300 to support our Gateway to Technology or Art electives for much needed, non-funded supplies? Make your tax-deductible donation now at www.oakvalleyfalconfoundation.com and help us support learning for all of our Falcons!
The Foundation is run by parent volunteers, and with only three short years at the school, our board is ever-changing. Want a voice in fundraising and spending? We’d love to have you join our board of directors. Contact Foundation President, Darrell Keller, at ovfalconfoundation@gmail.com for more information.
School Site Council
The Oak Valley School Site Council has one (1) open parent positions for a two-year (2020 – 2022) term. School Site Council is an elected position. If you are interested in running for an open position, please submit your name, your student’s name, and a brief description of no more than 250 words introducing yourself and explaining why you are running for the position, to Assistant Principal Dr. Shannon Chamberlin at schamberlin@powayusd.com or bring it in to the Welcome Center. This description will be added to the election ballot. The deadline for submitting your name for candidacy is Monday September 21st. An election ballot will be sent out to all families on Wednesday September 23rd, the same night as Back to School Night.
The council will meet approximately 5 times during the school year (via Zoom), primarily in the fall to review school-wide goals, discuss site monetary funds, and approve a yearly plan for student achievement. The School Site Council consists of elected members representing parents, teachers, students, the school principal, and other school employees, each of whom serve a 2 year term. The first scheduled meeting will be on Monday September 28th from 3:00-4:00pm. All meetings will take place via Zoom.
We greatly appreciate your willingness to support Oak Valley Middle School with your time. Please contact Shannon Chamberlin, Assistant Principal, at (858) 487-2939, extension 6114 or by email, if you have any questions.
Mathcounts
Welcome back OVMS Students! The MathCounts Club will have an informational meeting at 8:00 AM Tuesday September 15. Anyone who is interested in joining this year's MathCounts Club and wants to learn about the club may attend the meeting. Parents are encouraged to attend the meeting as well:
Time: Sep 15, 2020 08:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://powayusd.zoom.us/j/93817995894?pwd=M1V5c3Q1MGhVZTlVSWNqNTlqaGJSUT09
Meeting ID: 938 1799 5894
Passcode: 1.J46w
Please visit this link to signup for the interest list.
The entrance test for the club will be scheduled on 9/22/2019 (Tuesday) morning at 8 AM. The entrance test will be held online through the Zoom meeting. Details to be sent to students signed up on the interest list.
Speech and Debate Club
Join the Oak Valley Speech and Debate Club to develop your critical thinking and analytical skills as well as to learn how to make arguments and be significantly more persuasive. You will learn tools that can make school easier and you will be able to use these tools to compete at tournaments of your choice. Fill out this Google Interest Form and come to our first meeting to learn about the club and meet our team.
Oak Valley Coding Club
Oak Valley Coding Club
The Oak Valley Coding Club (OVCC) is a club dedicated to learning computer programming. This year all club activities will be entirely online. We plan to meet weekly and learn both basic computer science theory and hands on programming using Python. We are planning to participate in multiple competitions this year including the American Computer Science League (ACSL), USA Computing Olympiad (USACO), and multiple in-club competitions created through HackerRank.
We will have parent coaches, experienced club members, and Del Norte High School students teach classes, organize competitions, and discuss special topics. Some special topics last year included Android game development, connected graphs using Python, and basics of machine learning.
Whether you are already a good programmer, or interested in learning how to code, make games, compete, or just have fun coding, the coding club is for you! If you are interested in joining, signup here. For more information visit our website or contact us at oakvalleycodingclub@gmail.com
Do You Still Need A Chromebook?
Please email Ms. Gigi at ghotaling@powayusd.com. She can reserve a Chromebook for you and make sure you are online and ready for your classes. Please be patient, she is responding to ALL emails and will help you as soon as possible.
Weekly Tech Tip
PUSD Parent Academy
The Poway Unified Parent Academy is the one-stop shop where parents can come to see and learn about the different types of educational technology tools that teachers are using with students in the district. These resources will make it simpler and easier for parents to understand what teachers use to engage students in meaningful ways in a virtual environment that highlights student collaboration. Click on the link HERE to check it out!
Grab & Go Breakfast and Lunch
Effective immediately, this is a notice that PUSD’s Food and Nutrition Department will be providing FREE meals to all children in the community 18 years and younger and any PUSD Transition students up to age 22.
Additionally, to make meal service more convenient for families, Food and Nutrition has expanded the schedule for meals to be picked up two times every school day. Breakfast and lunch meals are available for pick-up Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Students may pick up breakfast and lunch meals (together) from any of the 12 school sites at the time most convenient for them. Students do not need to be present to pick up meals but parents/guardians must provide evidence they have children 18 years or younger in the community for meal accountability.
We hope that this will be more convenient for our families, allowing students to have two pick up times that includes both lunch and breakfast for the following day. Free breakfast and lunch meals will be available at the school sites listed below.
Oak Valley Middle School
Email: coyoung@powayusd.com
Website: https://www.powayusd.com/Schools/MS/OVMS/home
Location: 16055 Winecreek Road, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: (858) 487-2939
The Poway Unified School District (PUSD) is an equal opportunity employer/program and is committed to an active Nondiscrimination Program. PUSD prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on actual or perceived race, color, ancestry, national origin, nationality, immigration status, ethnicity, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental ability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression or association with a person or a group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. For more information, please contact: Title IX/Equity Compliance Officer, James Jimenez, Associate Superintendent of Personnel Support Services, Poway Unified School District, 15250 Avenue of Science, San Diego, CA 92128, 1-858-521-2800, extension 2761, jjimenez@powayusd.com