Oak Middle School
Sunday, November 13, 2022
Dear Oak Middle School Families,
It was so nice to see so many families at conferences on Tuesday. If you did not have the chance to meet with your child(ren)'s team of teachers I encourage you to reach out to them to schedule a conference!
On Thursday, November 10, 2022 the entire Oak Middle School came together for a Veteran’s Day Assembly. We had the pleasure of hearing from three veterans - Major Steven Brady, Captain Samuel Cantrell, and Colonel Nancy Hughes Collins. All three Veterans are residents of Shrewsbury and had connections to Oak Middle School. Thank you for spending some time with us and thank you for your service!
A special shoutout to our three student interviewers - Zoe Hutt, Annie DeFalco, and Shahab Chaudhry. These three students conducted live interviews of our veterans! A special thank you to Mr. Tony Uglialoro and the band for playing a number of Patriotic songs. Thank you to Worcester's North High School's Jr. NROTC for the Presentation of Colors. Also, a big shoutout to our IT department! It was a wonderful community event organized by Mr. Robert Dunn, Ms. Maura Egan, and Ms. Courtney Mulcahy. Thank you for making this happen! We hope to make this event a tradition at Oak Middle School for years to come.
The Sleep Health Advisory Committee is requesting your feedback regarding potential changes to school start and end times for the 2023-2024 school year in order to improve students’ health and well-being through better sleep. Please see the information below and click HERE to participate in the ThoughtExchange.
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
Anne Koertge
Assistant Principal Grade 7
508-841-1205
Scott Yonker
Assistant Principal Grade 8
508-841-1213
Congrats Oak School Cheerleaders! First Place!🥇🥇🥇
The Sleep Health Advisory Committee
The Sleep Health Advisory Committee is requesting your feedback regarding potential changes to school start and end times for the 2023-2024 school year in order to improve students’ health and well-being through better sleep. To review information on this process and to share your feedback, please click on this link: https://tejoin.com/scroll/808696397. Click here for a 3-minute video on the science of teen sleep and here for a summary of potential benefits and challenges to changing school start times. You are also encouraged to review information that the Sleep Health Advisory Committee’s Research Task Group presented to the School Committee last week: View their presentation slides here, read their full report here, and watch their presentation here.
Shrewsbury Public Schools Strategic Planning Public Forum
Shrewsbury Public Schools Strategic Planning Public Forum, November 16 at 6:30pm at SHS
Our school district has begun the work to create an updated strategic plan as our current plan comes to a conclusion. We are partnering with Focused Schools, an organization who will assist us in identifying our strengths and needs and ensuring that we have robust input from all of our stakeholders. As part of that process, you are invited to attend an interactive public forum to provide feedback for our next strategic plan on Wednesday, November 16 at 6:30pm at Shrewsbury High School. We are hopeful that many SPS parents and caretakers, staff members, older students, and community members will join us for this important discussion; if you plan to attend, please complete the RSVP form here so we can effectively plan for the number attending (to translate this form, see the short video here).
Thanksgiving Help
If your family might be in need of food for Thanksgiving holiday break, please reach out to our nurses. The pantry can provide ingredients for your holiday dinner that are shelf stable ( canned vegetables, cranberry sauce, stuffing mix, gravy, pie crust mix, pie filling, dessert mixes, canned fruit, creamed soups for recipes, etc.). Also due to the extended time off for the holiday, if you find you might be in need of breakfast and lunch food items, let us know. The last day for notification would be Thursday, November 17th, 2022; the food would be ready for pick up on Monday November 21, 2022.
The nurses can be reached by phone ( 508-841-1204) or email (OakNurse@shrewbury.k12.ma.us)
If you see something, say something!
Upcoming Dates
🎭🎭🎭The Oak Fall Play This Weekend 🎭🎭🎭
The dates are Friday Nov 18th at 7 PM and Saturday Nov 19th at 2pm
- Tickets will be sold at the door: $5 Kids and Seniors / $10 for adults
COVID test kits distribution on Monday, November 21st
HOLIDAY WREATH SALES
Order your holiday wreaths from the SMS PTO and help support the PTO and a local business!
Order online from Danielson's, using the link below, now through Wednesday, November 23rd. Delivery is available at an additional charge, or pick up for free on Sunday, November 27th at Danielson's (660 Main St, Shrewsbury) between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm. Questions? Contact SMS PTO at sherwoodoakmiddleschool@gmail.com
Ready to order? Click below and don’t forget to share the link below with friends and family!
https://bit.ly/SMSPTOWreaths22
FAIR TRADE CARAVANS
The holidays will be here soon. Check out all the unique handcrafted gift items available in our holiday fundraising catalog. 25% of everything you buy goes directly to Sherwood Middle School PTO. And with your purchase, you will support academic enrichment programs, media center materials and student field trips. Shop now: https://fairtradecaravans.com/fundraiser/sherwood-middle-school-pto/
DECEMBER PTO MEETING
The December PTO meeting will be Monday, December 5th, @ 7PM in the Oak Media Center.
Help us plan the next Sherwood Night Out and the next Oak Dance!
Help with the upcoming Spelling Bees, or our big spring fundraise!
The SMS PTO serves both Sherwood and Oak and we welcome parents from grades 5-8!
📷📸📷📸Photos of the Week📷📸📷📸
Diya Sankar ~ Gr 8 Self Portrait
Jordan LeBlanc
Neha Nagireddy gr 8 self Portrait
Last Song - Almost all the 8th graders!
🎭🎨🖌️🎵Sports and Activities🏀⚽🏅🏈
🏀🏀🏀Oak Basketball Try-outs🏀🏀🏀
Oak Basketball try-outs will be Monday, November 28.
Boys 3:00-4:30
Girls 4:30-6:00
Sign ups are now open in PowerSchool and will be open until November 18th. Please make sure you have an up to date physical (physicals need to be dated on or after 10/28/21) or you will not be allowed to try out.
Technovation Club
Technovation is a computer science, business, and entrepreneurship program for students in middle school and high school. Through a 12-16 week program, club members will work in teams to create an app or AI program that solves a problem in our community. Members will also make a user adoption plan or business plan explaining the future of their project. After finishing a project, members can pitch their projects in the Technovation Girls competition and compete in a regional (North America) competition. The club is planning to meet every Tuesday from 2:35 - 3:35 starting from November 15, 2022. The application due date has been extended: apply to join by November 14th, 2022!
Link to application: https://forms.gle/JKBwk6uLf8dz8Rjk9
🍪🍪🍪Cookie Cutters For Sale 🍪🍪🍪
3D printed cookie cutters are now available for purchase! They were designed by 7th grade students in the Design Lab class here at OMS. Cookie cutters cost $5 each, and all of the money raised will be donated to the Design Lab classroom. Donations will be used to purchase consumable materials (3D printer filament, plywood & acrylic for laser cutter, etc.) and maintain classroom equipment.
Please click the link below to explore the 60+ cookie cutter designs, learn more information, and order yours today!
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!
School Pulse
As stated in our student handbooks, Shrewsbury Public Schools is excited to be launching a new initiative for our students at Sherwood Middle School, Oak Middle School and Shrewsbury High School. ‘SchoolPulse’ is a Positive Psychology tool that provides weekly inspirational podcasts, check-ins, and the best Positive Psychology skills available. This will be done through text, three times a week. Participation is voluntary. Your child’s responses are completely anonymous (meaning we do not have their personal cell number or any personal information).
Some additional features include:
This service is entirely voluntary, and students can opt in and opt out anytime.
The child has access to an individual dashboard (accessed through their text), that shows their check-in responses in the moment and longitudinally.
The school will receive a general electronic report demonstrating the overall emotional pulse in the school. There is no individual data available to the school or district.
These texts are completely free.
Data shows that students who utilize and interact with SchoolPulse improve their thinking and feeling, and those who improve their thinking and feeling, ultimately improve behavior and academic performance.
You are welcome to participate as well. Simply text the word “Demo” to 78573, to see how SchoolPulse works. Enjoy!
If you want to find out more about SchoolPulse, simply go to www.schoolpulse.org.
Here is the video link that your children will see prior to the launch of the service at the end of September.
Our goal is to make each and every one of our students believe the statement, “You matter. You belong.” School Pulse is a proactive approach to making this goal a reality.
Team Information
Questions? We are here to help!
Mrs. Hallie Burak
Ms. Anne Koertge
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.