Oak Middle School
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Sledding with PE
Dear Oak Middle School Families,
Even with the snow day on Tuesday, it was a smooth transition back to school after the February Vacation. Fortunately, the Physical Education classes and Play It Out Club were able to make good use of the most recent snow and went sledding. The highlight of my week was participating in sled races with some of the PE classes. I learned a very important lesson, if Mrs. Keenan pushes you down the hill during a sledding race you will win 100% of the time!
As we continue our work to develop our school district's next five-year strategic plan, you are invited to share your feedback through an online exchange. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts and rate others' thoughts about this question: What do you value most about Shrewsbury Public Schools, and what can we do better to prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities of the future? Please click HERE to participate in the exchange, which will be open over the next week. Your input is important to us and will be used as an important part of our strategic planning process to identify our school district's priorities and goals for the next five years. Thank you for your feedback!
We are actively preparing for Career Day on April 4th between 8:30-11:00am. Community partners in various trades and professions are needed for this event. We are hoping to host professionals from approximately 50 different fields. Our 500 7th grade students will be choosing two professionals with whom they will interact during a series of 20-30 minute informational sessions. If you have a career in one of these areas and you would like to share your experiences with 7th grade students, please complete this form. There is additional information about career day below. Thank you in advance!
Please reach out with any questions or concerns as our goal is to work together to make sure each and every child has a wonderful year at OMS.
In partnership,
Hallie Burak
Principal
508-841-1210
Pam Poitras
Interim Assistant Principal Grade 7
508-841-1205
Scott Yonker
Assistant Principal Grade 8
508-841-1213
Yearbooks for Sale!
The Oak Middle School Yearbook sale has begun! We are excited to continue our partnership with Casson-Foster Photographers for an exceptional product, capturing all the events here at Oak! Cost is $33.00 per book, and the sale runs through March 31. Yearbooks will be distributed here at Oak in June -- For an additional charge, you may opt to have your book shipped directly to your home address. All orders this year are electronic. Please follow this link for more information and directions in order to order a copy!
Homework Academy
Homework Academy will be held every Wednesday & Thursday from 2:35 - 3:45 in the media center. This is a drop-in opportunity for all students and they can come either day or both! Students can be picked up at any time or they can take the late bus which leaves from the front of Sherwood at 4:00pm.
Routes and Sign Ups for the Late Bus can be found HERE
Feedback Wanted!
As we continue our work to develop our school district's next five-year strategic plan, you are invited to share your feedback through an online exchange. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts and rate others' thoughts about this question: What do you value most about Shrewsbury Public Schools, and what can we do better to prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities of the future? Please click HERE to participate in the exchange, which will be open over the next week. Your input is important to us and will be used as an important part of our strategic planning process to identify our school district's priorities and goals for the next five years. Thank you for your feedback!
Community Members Needed for Oak Middle School Career Day
Oak Middle School is actively preparing for Career Day on April 4th between 8:30-11:00am. Community partners in various trades and professions are needed for this event. We are hoping to host professionals from approximately 50 different fields. Our 500 7th grade students will be choosing two professionals with whom they will interact during a series of 20-30 minute informational sessions.
If you have a career in one of these areas and you would like to share your experiences with 7th grade students, please complete this form.
Careers:
Medical: Nurses, Pediatrics, Medical Specialist, Sports Doctor, Surgeon, Physical Therapist, Psychologist
Human Services: Mental Health Professional, Teacher
Public Safety/Law: EMT, Police, Fire, Federal Agent, Lawyer,
Trades: Contractor, Interior Design, Realtor, Architect/CAD
Business/Finance: Accountant, Entrepreneur, IT Mgr, Financial Advisor
Art: Animation, Photography
Technology: Video Game Design, Software Engineer, Hardware Engineer, Aerospace Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Biotech
Animal/Wildlife: Biologist/Zoologist
Hospitality/Culinary: Restaurant/Hotel, Chef/Baker
Sports: Sports STEM, Statistics, Managers/Coaches/Owners, Community Relations, Sports Marketing
SHS Course Registration for all Current 8th Graders
This week teachers will continue to have conversations with students about their placement recommendations and you will be able to view and approve these recommendations in Power School on Friday, March 10th. If you have any questions about a placement you can reach out to your child’s teacher. You also can talk with your child about what electives they are choosing. Students will register in school for SHS courses during the week of 3/13-3/17. Look for an email later this week with specific directions for approving high school courses.
CROSSING GUARD NEEDED!
Interested candidates please send email Lindsey Stasiowski, HR Manager, at lstasiowski@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us.
Team Information
Save the Dates
★ Monday, March 6 - PTO Meeting
★ Tuesday, March 7 - Early Release Day - 11:35am Dismissal
★ Thursday, March 16 - Last Day of Trimester 2
★ Wednesday, March 29 - Report Cards available on PowerSchool
★ Tuesday, April 4 - Grade 7 Career Day
★ Tuesday, April 4 - Early Release Day
MCAS Dates
Cell Phone Policy
Just a reminder that students are not allowed to use their cell phones during the school day. If a child ever needs to contact a parent/guardian they should come to the main office. We ask that parents/guardians not “text” or call students directly during the school day. Please call 508-841-1200 to have a message relayed to your child.
URGENT - THE PTO NEEDS YOU!!
•The SMS PTO is a singular PTO that serves BOTH Sherwood and Oak and welcomes all parents grades 5-8 at the monthly meetings.
•Each year the PTO works to raise nearly $40,000 to support field trips, media materials, enrichment programs, and much more at these 2 schools (approx 2000 students and 250 staff).
•There are many parents who step up to volunteer for PTO events, but the SMS PTO tends to be just a core group of 7-9 parents who plan, coordinate, and run all of the events throughout the year, and work tirelessly to reach the PTO mission.
•The roles of FUNDRAISING and COMMUNICATIONS need to be filled as there are parents leaving these roles in June.
•It is critical these roles are filled in order to maintain the support of students and teachers at Sherwood and Oak.
•Please consider joining the SMS PTO to see how you can help - the PTO is a team and will fully support and guide anyone wanting to fill a PTO role.
**NEXT MEETING: Monday, March 6th @ 7PM in the Oak Media Center
Feel free to email the SMS PTO at sherwoodoakmiddleschool@gmail.com if you would like more info, or would like to discuss these roles - thank you!
📷📸📷📸Photos of the Week📷📸📷📸
Play It Out Club Goes Sledding!
8 Blue Density Lab
8Red Enrichment Happy Atoms
Students at Work
Active Discussion in 8 Blue ELA
Student drawings-What's something nice someone's done for you recently?
Sledding in PE Class!
8 Gold Advisory
🎭🎨🖌️🎵Sports and Activities🏀⚽🏅🏈
We Are Hiring
Daily Substitutes
Paraprofessional Support Staff
Shrewsbury Public Schools are seeking to hire paraprofessional support staff. We are very pleased that we are 99% fully staffed for teacher and other professional educator roles as we start the school year. Like in many employment sectors in the current economy, we are also working hard to fill certain open positions. If you or someone you know is interested in making a positive difference in the life of a child, please consider joining us as a paraprofessional in our schools. We are in need of: child-specific aides who work to support individual students with special learning needs; applied behavior analysis technicians who typically work to support individual students on the autism spectrum; and special education instructional assistants. Experience working with children is a plus but not required, and we will provide training. There are positions open at all grade spans, both full-time with benefits and part-time, and the hours are great for parents with children in school. For more information and to apply, please go to https://schools.shrewsburyma.gov/hr/currentopenings. Please forward this information along, including to local college students seeking part-time work and those considering a career change to education. If you have questions, please email Lindsey Stasiowski, Human Resources Manager, at lstasiowski@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us or call her at (508) 841-8483. Thank you!
If you see something, say something!
The Locker
The Locker is a donation based program housed at Oak that helps families in the district that could use support with clothing and personal care items. We are happy to help you in the most discreet way possible, information will be kept confidential. It would be helpful to have as much information you can provide in what you are looking for and what will be most useful to your family.
We recognize that each student has their own preferences in what they would like to wear as far as styles and colors. If your child would be interested in helping us select items, we can arrange for them to come to the neatly organized closet and choose their own items.
Items can be sent home with your student if they are comfortable or pick up can be arranged through the health office.
Please complete this form if you would like help:
Questions? We are here to help!
Mrs. Hallie Burak
Mrs. Pam Poitras
Mr. Scott Yonker
Helpful Links
The Late Bus is Back!
We are thrilled to announce that we will continue to offer FREE late bus services for students at Shrewsbury High School, Oak Middle School, and Sherwood Middle School starting Monday, September 19th, 2022. Late buses will run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. The buses will depart from SHS at 3:30pm and from the middle schools at 4:00pm.
This is a limited service with fixed bus stops. It is not intended to provide service to all neighborhoods due to financial limitations.
Please click the following link for all the details:
https://schools.shrewsburyma.gov/transportation/late-bus
Registration is open and the late bus service will start next Monday, the 19th.