The Bison Bulletin
OVCA Middle School Newsletter ~ February 22, 2021
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FEBRUARY MINDSET OF THE MONTH:
"Passion First!"
From the Principal's Desk
I hope this newsletter finds you warming up and thawing out after our bout with an Alaska-esque winter week! We are headed toward spring, and I am excited for warmer weather, sunshine, and green.
With Spring comes our second round of Parent-Teacher conferences. March 8, 11, and 12 are set aside for you to communicate and collaborate with teachers about your child, how they are doing, and where they need to be. Each teacher will have a room set aside for parents to visit and conference. More information will be coming very soon, and you will see those sessions appear on your schedules in the coming weeks. I highly encourage you to make the time to chat with your child's teachers, as it is a support we offer to help work together to help students grow and learn to be ready for next school year.
We will soon be announcing our winners for the Exact Path Learning Contest, and it was so exciting to see so many students work hard last week on their learning pathways! Be on the lookout for celebrations coming in the next Bison Bulletin.
As we head toward the end of 3rd quarter, continue to encourage your children in their learning. Sometimes we can get a bit anxious for Spring Break, but let's finish this quarter out strong! Our next Bulletin will come out on March 5th. As always, thank you for partnering with us as we grow our students. It truly is a joint effort, and we are honored to share that effort with you!
Be well,
Erin Goodridge
OVCA Middle School Principal
Student Recognition Corner
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Important Upcoming Dates
February 25/26: OVCA Staff Professional Days, NO SCHOOL
March 8: Middle School Parent/Teacher Conferences, 6-8pm
March 11: Middle School Parent/Teacher Conferences, 6-8pm
March 12: Middle School Parent/Teacher Conferences, 8am-12pm, NO SCHOOL for students
March 12: Last Day of First Quarter
March 15-19: SPRING BREAK, NO SCHOOL
March 22: 4th quarter begins
April 2: School break, NO SCHOOL
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Need to Contact someone at OVCA Middle School?
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ALL FAMILIES MUST COMPLETE SURVEY BELOW
WEBCAM PERMISSION FORM
OVCA is focused on providing a safe virtual learning environment. With this in mind, we ask that a legal guardian complete the below survey for each student enrolled with OVCA. The media release form includes two sections: Photograph, Testimonial and Interview Release, and Face to Face Platform (webcam) Usage School-Guardian-Student Compact. You will be given the choice to accept or decline each opportunity.
Together we can help students reach their full potential through personalized learning this year! Thank you for taking the time to complete this form.
If you want your student to be able to use their webcam when we are in the whole group setting, be sure to fill out the permission form below!
Newrow Tips and Tricks
- Turn your computer off each night or restart in the morning.
- Clear your cache and cookies daily.
- Refresh is your friend! If something is glitchy, hit CTRL+R for a hard refresh, and that fixes lots of issues.
- Google Chrome is KING...if you don't use chrome, Newrow will not work.
- 3 or less tabs open on your browser when you are in a Newrow class session.
- Webcams are optional for students. Students who wish to use webcams in class must have a webcam permission slip on file. You can access using the link HERE.
- Remember: It is not perfect now--but our feedback is helping developers tailor-fit this product to our needs. It will only get better from here! :-)
Project Elevate!
Check out Project Elevate stories about OVCA students and staff on our OVCA Facebook Page!
Project Elevate is a Stride initiative to share stories of successful students and staff, as well as school activities, events and more. These stories have allowed us to share this impact on a larger stage through media coverage, social media spotlights, and more! So far this school year, Stride has placed more than 1,000 positive stories about Stride-powered schools in all 50 states! We are proud to showcase the solution our schools provide to their communities in helping students unlock their full potential.
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Next voting window opens next week!
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RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS & FAMILIES
Stride Website--SPANISH VERSION
DID YOU KNOW?
Stride has a Spanish version of their website:
Stride has a Spanish version of the Parent Portal:
https://es.k12.com/sdk12parentportal/dforce/portal_sitelogin
FREE TUTORING THROUGH OVCA!
We are excited to announce our school’s new Tutoring Initiative! OVCA will offer personalized academic tutoring based on your child’s needs with an emphasis in the subjects of English Language Arts (Reading/Writing) and Mathematics.
At this time, our new tutoring program will be completely virtual through an online service called TutorMe. Through this program, your child will be able to access a tutor at any time of the day to work on any subject. While the emphasis will be in math and reading, tutors for all subjects are available. The tutor will work with your child’s curriculum to help them improve their grades and gain confidence. The focus of tutoring is to equip your child with different methods of learning so they can have life-long skills in how to best solve problems for assignments, homework and projects.
Tutoring Sign-Up Link
Please contact Allison McCartney, our OVCA Tutoring Manager for more information.
Resources for College Readiness and Career Planning
8th Grade College Planning Check List:
https://www.ucango2.org/publications/student/8th_Grade_Checklist.pdf
Study Habits:
https://www.ucango2.org/publications/student/Perfect_10.pdf
Understanding School Types:
https://www.ucango2.org/publications/student/Understanding_School_Types1.pdf
7th Grade Planning:
https://www.ucango2.org/publications/student/7th_Grade_Checklist.pdf
6th Grade Planning:
https://www.ucango2.org/publications/student/6th_Grade_Checklist.pdf
Oklahoma Promise Link – applications start 8th grade year :
WHAT DO WE DO IF THE OMHS IS DOWN OR LAGGING?
- Take a deep breath and don't panic. It will be okay, and it won't last forever! If you're having trouble, most likely our staff is too, especially if the K12 software is lagging. We keep everyone up to date on social media with any known issues, and will keep the lines of communication open. Students are not penalized for software disruptions when the entire system is down.
- Find some hands-on, offline activities to accomplish! Many teachers have different suggested sites for their courses that students can go in and work. Offline activities are a fun break from a day in front of the computer!
- Your teachers will reach out with instructions via email if it is an extended outage, so always be checking your LC email for information, as this is the primary method of communication.
- Take a "snow" day if it's all just too overwhelming. You know we don't have those in virtual-land anyway, so take a break and catch up when you are fresh. Your teachers understand and if it's happened to you, it's happened to them! It will be okay, and you'll be back online eventually.
Most of all, remember to give yourself grace. Virtual learning isn't for the faint of heart. It's hard work! And sometimes, technology fails us. If and when that happens, you have a plan in place.
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STRIDE NATIONAL NEWS
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The Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access educational programs and activities. As required by Title IX, the Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy does not discriminate on the basis of gender, in its educational programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the Title IX non-discrimination matters:
- Angie Foust, Title IX Coordinator, afoust@okvirtual.org, (405) 259-9478 ext 2069, 1160 S Douglas, Midwest City, OK 73130
- Additionally, you may contact the Office of Civil Rights by calling 1-800-421-3481.