The Owl
The Newsletter of OECHS -- May 16, 2020
Owl of the Year
Every year since our inception, our faculty has chosen one student from the Freshman class that embodies the spirit of our school. That person is honored as "The Owl". This is our school's highest honor.
This year's Owl is Grace G.! In their nomination, her teachers said:
"Grace is an outgoing, thoughtful student, who represents all that it is to be an OWL at Onslow Early College. In addition to her academic excellence, Grace engages in clubs and activities at the school that further highlight her dedication to the students, staff, and school spirit at Onslow Early College. Her efforts have offered her much success in her first year at the Early College. Grace has earned all A’s in each of her core, honor-level courses, and she was named female lead in OEC’s upcoming production of “Don’t Try to Wake Him! Hand me the Shovel!” Grace is truly an inspiration to her fellow students, and will continue to lead others in her skill, kindness, and determination for success."
Grace will join our past Owls, Andrew Z. and Cody W., on a plaque that will be displayed in Ragsdale. Congratulations, Grace! This is a well-deserved honor!
End of Year Grades
Although instruction has ended, we are busy behind the scenes compiling and analyzing grades! Together the North Carolina State Board of Education and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction mandated grading policy changes due to the pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home order (and remote learning). These new policies were created to ensure that no student is negatively impacted by the remote learning period. Please note that these policies only affect grades for the 5th grading period and final high school transcript grade. All community college course grades are recorded as-is on the college transcripts as institutions of higher education are not under the purview of the NC State Board of Education.
Early next week, all OECHS students will need to check their OCS student email accounts. They will receive an email from me that contains all of their actual grades from the semester. High school grades for the 5th grading period have already been adjusted to meet the NC State Board of Education mandates. Students will then go to a Microsoft Form where they will select their class and grade choice for how every high school and college course will be recorded on their high school transcript.
For semester long courses, the following choices will be displayed, along with a recommendation highlighted in green:
- G4-G5 average (with grades frozen as of March 13th).
- G4-G6 average (using grades until the end of the semester).
- PC19 (Pass--You get credit for the course, but no GPA. You can only use this if you were passing as of March 13th.)
- WC19 (Withdrawal--No credit for the course, but does not affect your GPA. You will use this if you were failing as of March 13th and were not able to bring your grade up to passing.)
For Year-Long (AP ONLY) courses: Credits will be separated into (2) half-credit semester courses, per the direction of the NC Dept. of Public Instruction. This is to ensure that no child be negatively impacted by separating the courses and to reward those students that were able to increase their overall average.
Fall Semester Grading:
The cumulative average (S1) for the end of the fall semester will serve as the final grade for the first course.
Spring Semester Grading:
Year-long courses will have the same four choices for the spring semester (second course) final average:
- G4-G5 average (with grades frozen as of March 13th).
- G4-G6 average (using grades until the end of the semester).
- PC19 (Pass--You get credit for the course, but no GPA. You can only use this if you were passing as of March 13th.)
- WC19 (Withdrawal--No credit for the course, but does not affect your GPA. You will use this if you were failing as of March 13th and were not able to bring your grade up to passing.)
For college courses, students will see their average from CCCC (if it has been reported to OECHS as a numeric grade). We are still waiting on a few grades from instructors. If a student failed their course, CCCC withdrew the student from that course to prevent their grade from being negatively impacted. The grade displayed in the email is the grade that is recorded on the college transcript.
NC State Board of Education policies apply as we utilize those college courses as high school credit. They have provided guidance that we can utilize PC19 and WC19 on high school transcripts for college classes. For college classes, you will have the following choices for how the grades are recorded on your high school transcript:
- The actual grade for the class.
- PC19 (Pass--You get credit for the course, but no GPA.)
- WC19 (Withdrawal--No credit for the course, but does not affect your GPA.)
Please keep checking your OCS email May 18-20 to see your grade choices and make your selections by May 22. If you decide to change your selection(s), we will have a brief window of opportunity at the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester to make any changes. -- Mr. Strope
Technology and Textbooks
Any CCCC computers that were borrowed will need to be returned to the college! Please contact Debbie Lucas (lucasd@coastalcarolina.edu) to schedule an appointment to return the laptop no later than 22 May. You will need to return the laptop to the Trades Building Room 112. You will need to bring both the laptop and the charger. The laptop will be inspected for external damages upon return.
Yearbook
Yearbooks have arrived and are ready to be picked up at the school! Most orders did not include home shipping addresses, so TreeRing shipped the yearbooks to the school instead. If you would like to pick up your yearbook, OEC's office is open and you can swing by 10am to 2pm Tues, Wed, and Thurs to CE 109 to pick up your Yearbook. Mrs. Kellum will have a sheet for you to initial when you pick up your copy.
Last Call for OVA Summer Courses
Attention Onslow Early College High School Students (and rising Freshmen):
Did you know that the Onslow Virtual Academy offers several classes over the summer? You must have a 3.2 Grade Point Average (GPA) and the approval of OECHS to enroll. Only 1 course is allowed!
OECHS students are limited to honors-level courses that are not offered at our school. The courses are completely online and you must have access to WiFi.
OVA summer courses for OECHS students will occur June 1-July 24, 2020! Please not that our dates differ from the rest of Onslow County Schools!
Eligible honors courses include:
- Art History
- Forensic Science
- Astronomy
- Physics
- Anatomy and Physiology
- Psychology
- Sociology
If students need another course to meet graduation requirements or CCCC prerequisites, they are permitted to enroll in a core high school course (not listed above).
Contact Mr. Strope (james.strope@onslow.k12.nc.us) for more details and/or to register!
AP Exams
On Monday, May 18th (4:00 EST), sophomores will take the APES exam online, at home. They will also have the APWH exam on May 21st (2:00 EST). Their teachers continue to prepare the students for this unique opportunity to earn additional college credit and make their future college applications more competitive.
The College Board has strict time limits on this year's at home exams:
- APWH has a 50 minute window (45 minutes to read and respond to the question and five minutes to submit).
- APES has a 50 minute window (25 minutes to read and respond to Question 1 and five minutes to submit; 15 minutes to read and respond to Question 2 and five minutes to submit).
Students must practice submitting responses with the AP 2020 Exam Demo. It will allow you to practice the different ways to submit your responses. If you can't connect to this demo from your planned testing device, you won't be able to access the real exam on test day.
Students (and parents) can go to https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students to find out more about the exam features, get free live AP review classes and access to AP practice questions.
AP Classroom is the best place for students to find practice questions for the upcoming AP exams. Even though the overall format of the exams has been shortened, College Board has loaded the site with the same types of questions that the students will need.
Below, you will find lots of useful information to help prepare for the exams. First, we have test specifications and rubrics/scoring guides for APES and APWH:
AP Environmental Science Resources:
AP Environmental Science Exam Information
AP Environmental Science Scoring Guidelines (We could not find a rubric, but did find this guideline that was applied to APES sample FRQs that provides insight on what AP scorers are looking for).
AP World History Resources:
AP World History Exam Information
We have also included the comprehensive AP Testing Guide (blue button following this article). One button click will take you to over 50 pages of everything you need to know about before, during, and after the exams.
The next blue button is the AP Exam Day Checklist. This is just a quick list provided by The College Board to ensure students have everything they need to be successful on test day.
Finally, we have provided a couple of videos and a link that give a quick overview of the exam process and tips for preparing and taking the online exams.
Keep working hard Owls! You have a chance to make a big impact on your future!
CCCC Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information and Resources
Students need check and use their my.coastalcarolina.edu account for information from instructors and the College. Personal emails may be filtered out by spam filters and not reach instructors. If you have difficulty accessing your my.coastalcarolina.edu account, please contact the helpdesk at helpdesk@coastalcarolina.edu or 910-938-6123.
Coastal Carolina Community College has also assembled a list of information and resources for our community as we navigate the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Writing Center, Math Lab, and other resources are now accessible online! Those College and community resources can be found at:
OCS Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information
Thank you for your patience and flexibility as the district navigates these unprecedented circumstances. As we all face the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, we would like to make our families aware of the services available to them throughout the school closures.
You can find all district COVID-19 information and updates here on the district’s website: Coronavirus Information.
Onslow Early College High School
Email: james.strope@onslow.k12.nc.us
Website: https://www.onslow.k12.nc.us/onslowearlycollegehs
Location: CE109, 444 Western Blvd., Jacksonville, NC 28546
Phone: 910-938-6702
Twitter: @OnslowECHS