OV Family Notes February 2
Bi-weekly updates from the OV Principal's Office
Upcoming Events @ OV
February 9 - Target date for 1st semester report cards via email
February 9 - Schoolwide Celebration from 10:45 - 11:30 and early release day
February 13 - NAEP Testing for 8th grade students
February 19 - 23 - February Break (no school)
March 7 and March 13 - family-teacher conferences for MS and HS - 3:30 - 7:00
March 8 - 10 - One Act Festival at OV
March 15 - in-service day, no school for students
Important Announcements and Reminders
Winter Ball - Feb 17
Our Student Council will be hosting a Winter Ball for OV students and approved guests on Saturday, February 17, from 7-9 pm. I wanted to remind families of our articulated procedures around school dances:
- Guests MUST be a student in good standing in Grades 9-12. Graduates and middle school students are not permitted to attend under any circumstances. Guest forms must be submitted to the main office by February 12.
- A student must attend school and all classes the day of or the student day prior to the dance in order to be able to attend. The exception to this is an absence excused by a doctor or other exceptional circumstances approved by the school.
- Students serving a suspension from school are not permitted to attend the dance.
- The student must display generally appropriate behavior in the month leading up to the dance. A student who has been suspended in or out of school in the month leading up to the dance is not eligible to attend. An exception may be made for students that have received one suspension IF the student completes restorative work and community service as determined by the Associate Principal.
Please see the flyer below for more info!
School Choice - Deadline Approaching
The school choice process is underway. School choice is only available on a limited basis for any student that will be in Grades 9-12 in the 2024-2025 school year. The school choice application is below.
If you would like to attend a Vermont high school other than Otter Valley, the first step is to complete the application. Once OV reviews and approves it consistent with our policies, it is sent to choice schools to review and approve. There are limits and restrictions on the number of students that can transfer in or out of a school in a given year.
You can also find the school choice form on the Counselor Corner section of the OV website.
Middle School Cell Phones - Reminder
While our middle school students are making a lot of progress academically and behaviorally, the use of cell phones remains a challenge. As we enter the new semester we are committed to the existing cellphone policy established in the Parent/Student Handbook. In all classes a poster will be displayed that provides a written warning and further consequences for having a cellphone out in class. This "written warning"/poster replaces a verbal warning/reminder from the teacher. Attached you will find the poster that will be in every student's class. If you have any questions please call and speak with Joel Jones, Middle School Associate Principal. (Please note we are aware of the misspelling of "policy" on the draft poster!)
8th Grade NAEP testing
Fifty of our OV 8th grade students will be taking the NAEP assessment on February 13. Families of 8th grade students received an email from me with a letter that detailed the process of the assessment, opt-out directions, and how the assessment will be used. I am including it here in case any families of 8th grade students missed my email.
Spring Conferences - Save the Dates!
Family-teacher conferences will be held on March 7 and March 13 from 3:30 - 7:00. Unlike the fall semester, middle and high school conferences will take place at the same time. More information will follow in the next newsletter, but I wanted to put these dates on your radar now!