Oak Hills Family,

It has been a fast and furious February, and I apologize in advance as it is just about halfway through March, and I am getting the March newsletter out to you. I would like to quickly recognize a couple of our UIL teams and students who competed and finished out their seasons in February. First, congratulations to both our boys and girls basketball teams. All four teams finished the season with winning records, and the 7th Grade Girls “A” team brought home a district championship. Congratulations to Mrs. Whitmire and the cast and crew of the Oak Hills UIL One Act Play “John Lennon and Me” on a first-place performance at the district competition in Willis. This makes it back-to-back UIL district championships for Mrs. Whitmire and her theatre arts department. Finally, choir directors Ms. Norris and Mr. Sherfy had four students make the prestigious TCDA All-State Middle School Choir. Congratulations Cooper Campbell, Easton Flood, Tate James and Maegan Vaughn on this great accomplishment.

A few things as we prepare to finish out the month of March and head into the final stretch of the school year. It is only a natural inclination for students to start preparing for summer a little early. I encourage you continue to monitor grades and reach out to teachers, counselors and admin with any questions or concerns. Be vigilant with social media and have conversations with your student about the “dos and don’ts” of responsible social media posts and conversations. We have these conversations at school, but it is always good to reinforce at home as well. Hope that you and your family have a wonderful Spring Break and a reminder that Monday March 20th is a student holiday. As always, thank you for your continued support of all that we do at Oak Hills and for sharing your student with us each day.

G. Whitehead

3/7 – Track Meet @ Oak Hills (Starts @ 4pm)

3/7 – 5th Grade Instrument Selection Night @ 5pm

3/8 – Delayed Start Day

3/8 – UIL Choir in Willis

3/9 – Tennis Parent Meeting @ 6pm in Cafeteria

3/12 – Daylight Savings

3/13 – 3/17 – Spring Break

3/17 – St. Patrick’s Day

3/20 – Student Holiday

3/22 – Guest speaker on topic of empathy with students.

3/22 - Track Meet @ Oak Hills (Starts @ 4pm)

3/23 – Men of Montgomery Choir Concert @ 7pm (Montgomery High School)

3/23 – Girls Soccer vs. Stockton Jr. High (5pm & 6pm)

3/23 – Boys Soccer @ Stockton Jr. High (5pm & 6pm)

3/24 -- CARES Class attends Sunshine Day @ Montgomery County Fair

3/28 -- CARES Class @ Special Olympics

3/30 – Track Meet @ Waller (Starts @ 4pm)

3/30 – Boys Soccer vs. MJH (5pm & 6pm)

3/30 – Girls Soccer @ MJH (5pm & 6pm)

3/27 – 3/30 – Cheer Clinic in Competition Gym @ 3pm

3/31 – Cheer Tryouts in Competition Gym @ 3pm

Empathy: What is it? Why is it important? How do I help my teenager?

Empathy is the ability to understand the emotions of others. It helps us to understand how others are feeling and what their perspective might be. Empathy is a word that is used often by many people, but it isn't always a priority in people's lives. We can practice empathy in several different ways: cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and compassionate empathy. Cognitive empathy is when one has the ability to understand how someone feels, emotional empathy refers to the ability to share another person's emotions, and compassionate empathy is when you take feelings to actions. Compassionate empathy goes beyond understanding and relating to others and moves one into action. Teens who are more empathetic tend to have better social connections with others, can better regulate emotions, and engage in more helpful behaviors. So, how do we help our teenagers build their empathy skills? Here are a few tips to improving and practicing empathy with you teenager:

• Work on listening to others without interrupting.
• Pay attention to body language and other nonverbal communication.
• Try to understand people, even when you don't agree with them.
• Ask people questions to learn more about their lives.
• Look for ways you are similar to others versus focusing on differences.
• Discuss current events with your student and ask them how they think the people in the story might be feeling.
• Help them problem-solve different situations.

Building empathy skills with teenagers takes a lot of practice but it's worth it!

Immunizations for 6th graders:

If your 6th grader receives any immunizations, please forward a copy to the school nurse at april.james@misd.org so their health record can be updated and they will be ready for 7th grade.

Medication:

Please do not send any medicine to school with your student. Over the counter medicine must be brought in by a parent/guardian and a form has to be completed and filed in the clinic. The same procedure for prescription medication is required but will need a doctor’s signature before the medication will be accepted. All medication your student has in the clinic will need to picked up by the parent before the end of the year or it will be disposed of. Medication is not kept in the clinic for the next school year.

MISD Health Protocols:

The following health protocols are beneficial for preventing any infectious disease, and individuals should stay home if experiencing signs of illness. We ask that all individuals who will be present at a district facility to please exercise personal responsibility as it relates to self-screening, personal health and ensuring the health of those around you. If you or your child is sick with symptoms such as fever equal or over 100.0 degrees, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, or other symptoms indicative of infectious disease, please do not attend school or school events.

For an individual who tests positive for COVID-19, the CDC recommends the individual stay home for at least five days from when the symptoms first appeared, and no fever within 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications, and other symptoms are improving. If you need to report a positive case for a Montgomery ISD employee or student, that information may be reported on the COVID Reporting Form. This information will be used to report to the local health department.

Student attendance is an extremely important factor in the overall success of students in the classroom. At Oak Hills, our desire is for all students to be in class every day. That said, we know that students will get ill, appointments have to be made, and unforeseen incidents occur that affect a student’s ability to attend school. In the event your student needs to miss school, please notify Mrs. Sedoff, our Attendance Clerk, at OHJHattendance@misd.org or have your student drop off a parent or doctor’s note in the front office when they return to campus. Your student’s attendance matters! Attendance Office Website

Contact our campus mentor liaison Kim Ward at Kimberley.Ward@misd.org