Weekly Family Update #27
February 21, 2021
Principal's Message
Hello Falcon Families,
I hope you have enjoyed the three day weekend. My family needed the rest and relaxation! Like many of you, I am getting excited at the possibility of reopening our campus soon, and we will be ready as soon as we are allowed. In anticipation of reopening, we are asking for our students who have opted to return to campus to come pick up a Chromebook during our distribution event the week of March 1st. Detailed information can be found below.
In addition, our ASB students will be providing opportunities for our 6th grade students, and any 7th and 8th grade students who are new to OVMS, to come to campus for a tour and a walk around our beautiful campus. More details and a sign-up sheet will be out next week. We will begin these tours the week of March 1st.
I am very excited and hopeful that we can have our Falcons back soon!!!
Today PUSD sent out the annual district wide survey on our Local Control Accountability Plan, or LCAP. This plan is used to shape school site and district goals as well as guide the budgeting priorities for the district. The survey asks our community to answer the following question: “What programs or services would you like to see continued or improved in order to advance student and staff learning and wellness for the 2021-22 school year?” I would encourage all of you to participate. The survey is open now and closes on March 5th. Check it out HERE.
Thanks for all you do for our Oak Valley Community! Go Falcons!
Beaming with Falcon Pride,
Mr. Young
Colin Young
Principal
Oak Valley Middle School
Schedule for the Week of February 22-26
New Information
GATE Update
District Leadership from PUSD held an informational meeting on February 16, 2021 discussing updates to the GATE program within PUSD. At this meeting it was announced that PUSD was ending the GATE program at all PUSD schools and discontinuing GATE testing.
A recording of the meeting has been uploaded to the PUSD YouTube Channel. You can find out more information at the PUSD GATE website HERE.
What does this mean of Oak Valley? The only change this makes to Oak Valley is that we will no longer offer the one class of homogenous GATE humanities. Everything else remains the same at our school. We will continue to serve all our student needs in all classes and we will continue to offer the accelerated math track.
Poway Unified and all schools in PUSD, including Oak Valley, have moved to a more integrated and inclusive approach toward meeting the needs of students. For years, we have been working with our teaching staffs across the district to develop differentiation strategies to meet the needs of each and every student in our classrooms, including those who are identified as GATE. Poway Unified School District’s mission is to empower world class learners. In order to do this, all learning environments must be safe, inclusive, innovative, and equitable. For these reasons, Poway Unified has decided to end the GATE program. Poway is not testing new students for GATE. All middle schools will no longer offer homogeneous GATE classes. Oak Valley Middle School will continue to focus on ensuring all classrooms challenge students appropriately.
ASB Update
Stayed for more detailed information!!
8th Grade Chromebook Pick-Up Information
8th Grade - Return to Campus, Chromebook update:
If you are a family that has opted to remain virtual for the remainder of the year, you can disregard this message.
In preparation for our future return to school campus, your 8th grade student should pick up a Chromebook on Monday, Mar. 1st between 9:00-3:30 at the OVMS library door. Please wear a mask at all times on Campus and maintain social distancing. Thank you.
Please sign and have your student sign the attached Chromebook agreement and bring it with you to turn in to school when you pick up your Chromebook.
Should your student prefer a personal device, please keep in mind PUSD cannot be responsible for theft, damage, or a network issue on a student’s personal device.
If the time above is inconvenient for you, please email Donna Lawrence at dlawrence@powayusd.com to make other arrangements.
Note: Disregard this message if your student already has a school issued Chromebook or is scheduled to remain as a virtual student.
6th and 7th Grade Chromebook Pick-Up Information
6th and 7th Grade - Return to Campus, Chromebook update:
If you are a family that has opted to remain virtual for the remainder of the year, you can disregard this message.
In preparation for a future return to school campus, your 6th or 7th grade student should pick up a Chromebook on Friday, Mar. 5th between 9:00-3:30 at the OVMS library door. Please wear a mask at all times on Campus and maintain social distancing. Thank you.
Please sign and have your student sign the attached Chromebook agreement and bring it with you to turn in to school when you pick up your Chromebook.
Should your student prefer a personal device, please keep in mind PUSD cannot be responsible for theft, damage, or a network issue on a student’s personal device.
If the time above is inconvenient for you, please email Donna Lawrence at dlawrence@powayusd.com to make other arrangements.
Note: Disregard this message if your student already has a school issued Chromebook or is scheduled to remain as a virtual student.
Celebrate African American History Month
This week I encourage all families to visit the website for the California African American Museum, which is located in Los Angeles. There are virtual tours, heritage resources, videos, and engaging resources. While the museum is currently closed to in-person visits, when it reopens, admission is free and there are wonderful gardens you can walk through. You can find the link HERE.
Join us as we learn about, champion, and celebrate, what makes us uniquely different as individuals and what binds us together as one Falcon Family. This is what makes us exceptional Falcons.
Continuing Information
OVMS PSTA and ASB Celebrate the Lunar New Year
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Lunar New Year trivia contests! We had a lot of fun!!
EVERYONE who participated can pick up a nice Participation Award. In addition, the top 5 students from each of the 2 contests (a total of 10 students) will receive a Winning Prize.
Your prizes for participating and for the top 10 can be picked up at:
Date and time:
- 2/20, Saturday @ 12-2 pm
- 2/23, Tuesday @ 4:30-5:30 pm
- 2/25, Thursday @ 5-6 pm
Location:
Spicy House
11134 Rancho Carmel Dr., Unit 100
San Diego, CA 92128
Don’t forget to order from Spicy House during our dine out that continues until 2/28. Mention Oak Valley PTSA and they’ll give 5% back to our school!
Falcon Families, please join our PTSA and ASB as we celebrate the Lunar New Year. Our goal is to create cultural awareness and promote diversity at OVMS and the 4S community. Please see the flyer below for your chance to participate in the fun!
Thank you to our PTSA and ASB for putting together this activity for all our Falcon Families.
PTSA Update
Would you like to be involved with the PTSA at Oak Valley Middle School?
We are beginning to plan for next year’s PTSA Board and would love to have new parents join the board. 🙌
Interested? Want a little more info? Send one (or all!) of our nominating committee members a quick note!
• Camille at camillejoydecamp@gmail.com (or text/call 858-210-8820)
• Cat at crpalomares@gmail.com
• Gurdon at ghornor@yahoo.com
• Melanie at melanie@smerican.com
No Place for Hate Update
A huge thanks to all of our Falcons who participated in our first No Place for Hate activity for this year. We are so thankful for our partnership with the ADL and the No Place for Hate program. Creating a school that is safe and inclusive for all students in our number one priority!
Check out the video below to see the hard work of our Falcons!
Attention 8th Graders: Preparation for High School
Soon our 8th Grade Families will begin to think about the transition to High School. If you will be attending a high school in PUSD, there will be a newsletter coming out with information on all of the virtual family nights and student presentations. Information will include times and virtual links. All student presentations will be held the week of March 15th. Students will hear about their future high school and receive information on how to start selecting their courses.
For families that are placing a transfer request, your student would need to attend the high school presentation of the high school that they are slated to attend, not the one they are choosing to transfer to. When they select their courses within synergy, they will need the high school codes for the school they are slated to attend (home location). Don’t worry, all virtual presentations will be recorded and accessible on the high school websites.
Student Presentations
Week of March 15th
Family Presentations:
Mt Carmel High School: March 2nd
Westview High School: March 9th
Poway High School: March 16th
Rancho Bernardo High School: March 16th
Del Norte High School: March 23rd
Caring Connections Counseling (CCC)
Intradistrict Transfers
For students who live in another school district and would like to attend a PUSD school, PUSD will accept Interdistrict Attendance Permit requests for the 2021-2022 school year starting February 1, 2021. Please note that the document must first be signed by your district of residence before it is submitted to PUSD.
Decisions on transfers are made by the Student Attendance and Discipline Office, not Oak Valley Middle School staff.
PTSA Art Corps - Volunteers Needed!
We hope to offer three lessons per class over that time period, so we hope to have several volunteers in each class. You do not need to have an art background. Art Corps lessons are being modified to be delivered via distance learning, and we plan on a brief orientation (virtual) as soon as we collect the names of all interested parent volunteers and finalize the modified program details. Please sign up if you are interested in learning more: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C45AEAB2FA7FB6-ovms7
Order Your Yearbook!
Click on the image below to order your yearbook.
Upload Photos for Yearbook
Click the image above to upload your photos
Asynchronous Fridays
Asynchronous Fridays are a day for students to work independently and for teachers to have time to prep, grade and collaborate as seen in the details presented at the last Board Meeting (bulleted below) as well as work with students needing support. This is still a work in progress and staff will continue the conversation to adjust as we move forward.
For Students:
· Review and preview work from the week to deepen learning
· Review feedback and complete corrections
· Independent learning time
· Reduce screen time
· Additional support time with peers and staff
For Teachers:
· Provide timely feedback to students; including grades
· Review assessments and plan based on student needs
· Complete required COVID attendance tracking
· Collaboration
· Professional learning
· Office hours to provide support to individual student
New Weekly Bell Schedule and Monthly Calendar
Our new weekly schedule started after Winter Break. This schedule should be much simpler and easier to follow for students.
Please see the attached weekly bell schedule HERE and below.
There is also a new monthly calendar attached HERE and below. We will follow this same weekly schedule pattern for the reminder of the year, unless the School Board changes our current school model, with the exception of a few weeks where we have to adjust for holidays. Please look at both of these documents closely.
Continuing Reopening Information
Parent Academy
Oak Valley Middle School
Email: coyoung@powayusd.com
Location: 16055 Winecreek Road, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: (858) 487-2939