Principal's Corner
Volume III - October 18, 2018
We are excited to be back open next week for staff on Monday, and students on Wednesday. I appreciate your tremendous effort in planning and hosting pop-up sessions and field trips for our students over the last two weeks.
As we get back to the business of school, please let us know if you still have personal needs or anything that we might be able to help with. In addition, we are sure to find out about students that may need help. The well-being of our staff and students is an utmost priority.
When we return, our key is going to be flexibility. Post-Florence school is inevitably going to look a little different than Pre-Florence school. Not just the facilities, but the emotional state of our children, the availability and speed at which we can procure resources, changed schedules, kids moving in and out, and many other differences.
I ask you to take some time before the students return to think about all of these things, and how you will address them with your colleagues and with your students. Though things have changed this year, our mission is still the same, to educate every child that walks into our classroom. If we have a common voice of positivity and excitement even in the wake of disaster, then it will reflect on our kids, and we will have a tremendous year.
Please think about sending consistent positive messages as you communicate with parents, students, online, and with each other.
Can't wait to have you back. See you on Monday.
Brad
News and Announcements
RHS staff will return to the building for workdays on October 22 and 23. THERE IS NO STAFF ACCESS UNTIL 8:00am ON OCTOBER 22.
RHS Students will return to the building on October 24.
As we return, you will notice areas marked off with cones or caution tape. Please do not attempt to access these areas.
We will have a full staff meeting on October 22 at 1:00pm. On the morning of the 22nd, please go into your classroom and associated spaces to make notes about anything you see that is a concern. Make written lists of your questions and concerns, and bring them to the meeting.
Please note that there will be no access to any mobile classroom next week, and likely several more weeks. This will include STAFF AND STUDENTS. We will advise you of the plan for classroom usage for our teachers that use mobile classrooms.
Due to extenuating circumstances from Hurricane Florence, our district will not administer the PSAT/NMSQT on October 24, 2018. Our grade 11 students who meet all the requirements of the NMSC program, may still be able to enter the competition via an alternate entry process. We are currently discussing the alternate entry process with the members of the College Board and will share this information as soon as all details are solidified. Three campuses also ordered for grade 10 students and we are currently investigating additional options for grade 10 students.
JONES-ONSLOW EMC EXTENDS BRIGHT IDEAS APPLICATION DEADLINE DATE! Due to the closure of schools because of Hurricane Florence, Jones-Onslow EMC will be extending the deadline date for the Bright Ideas Grant Program. The new deadline date will be two weeks from the date that school resumes. If you have any question or need to access the bright ideas application, please visit Jones-Onslow’s website at www.joemc.com!
From Steve Myers, Assistant Superintendent/Chief Operating Officer
All,
First and foremost, I would like to thank each of you for your patience as we progress towards the opening of schools. As you know, we took a horrible hit when Hurricane Florence came through and we have been working hard to get some semblance of normalcy back into the school system.
With our schedule of openings identified last Monday, we anticipate having 24 schools open for staff on the 22nd of October and students for those schools in the classrooms on October 24th. As staff prepare for school, there are several items that we all need to be aware of as we work together as a team to get the schools open and ready for the students:
- Schools are still a work in progress. When your school is open and available to staff, please remember that the facilities will not be in the same shape as they were prior to Hurricane Florence. You may see a leak in a ceiling, missing carpet, maintenance issues and classrooms and/or particular spaces at your campus may not be available immediately (including mobile classrooms). If you see issues, please report them as work orders to maintenance so we can log them in and prioritize the work that needs to be completed. As you can imagine, we will have hundreds/thousands of issues to work out, so please have them entered into the work order system to ensure that we have them documented and so we can prioritize what needs to be done.
- Staff reporting to their schools – We are continuing to work on the schools up to the date that the teachers/staff are to report to the schools, (Phase 1 school teachers/staff to report to school on October 22nd). There have been reports that several teachers have been entering the schools prior to the scheduled dates to check out their classrooms and clean/prepare for when the students come back in. While the work ethic is commendable, we need to make sure that teachers/staff do not go into the schools until the scheduled date of return. Prior to this time, we will have work crews in the facilities to address several issues including ceiling tiles, maintenance work, and additional cleaning air quality testing.
- Mobile classrooms are being cleaned and assessed, but at this time have not been cleared for air quality; so please do not plan on mobile classrooms to be used during the first few weeks of school. We will contact each school as the mobiles are cleared for use.
- A member of CO staff or I, will try to get out to each school prior to opening to discuss your concerns and also address any containment areas that will be in place prior to opening school.
We will be following the same guidelines mentioned above for schools opening in Phase 2 and in Phase3.
As Mr. Stout mentioned, pre Hurricane Florence schools will not look like post Hurricane Florence schools for the weeks to come. We are placing a huge amount of resources into getting us back to our “normal” state, but until then, our primary focus is getting students back into the classrooms as soon as possible.
Thanks for your help and patience.
Steve Myers
Assistant Superintendent/Chief Operating Officer
Onslow County Schools
200 Broadhurst Rd.
Jacksonville, NC 28540
Office: (910) 455-2211 ext. 20500
Fax: (910) 989-2130
PSA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Brent Anderson, Public Information Officer
910-455-2211 Ext. 20228
brent.anderson@onslow.k12.nc.us
Onslow County Schools, October 15, 2018 — OCS Superintendent Rick Stout announced a timeline for the reopening of our schools. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, schools will reopen for students in three phases from October 24th through November 5th. A complete restart of all 38 sites at one time will not be possible and the timeline could fluctuate given unforeseen circumstances.
Schools will open which have been identified by the district’s industrial hygienist as having “acceptable indoor environmental health and safety conditions.” Those which sustained the least amount of damage will open in Phase 1. 24 sites and approximately 16,800 students will be impacted. Moderately damaged schools are scheduled to reopen in Phase 2, which includes an additional 6 schools and brings back approximately 4,800 students. Phase 3 will include the most severely damaged sites, as well as the Thompson Early Childhood Center, and all the district’s Pre-K programs. With the remaining six schools enrollment of the district will return to pre-Florence numbers of just over 27,000.
Staff at each school are scheduled to return at least two days prior to students, with staff at Phase 1 schools returning October 22nd, and students returning October 24th. Staff at Phase 2 sites will return October 30th, with students returning November 1st, and Phase 3 staff returning November 1st, with students starting back November 5th.
Superintendent Stout shared this reopening information with district and school administrators during a meeting this morning. He thanked them for the work already done, and for what they have been doing in preparing for staff and students to return. He also let administrators know they will need to adjust to a new normal. “As we move forward with reopening our facilities, not all spaces within every school will be usable. Repairs and recovery will continue after facilities reopen. This means that, for the time being, class sizes may increase in certain schools and facilities may be used differently to accommodate for lost space.” Stout reminded everyone teamwork would be key to making adjustments, sharing, “District staff and principals will work closely with one another to ensure all facilities are used in a way which allows staff and students to work efficiently and comfortably.”
A list of the schools’ reopening schedule is attached to this release, and a video of Superintendent Stout’s complete presentation to district administrators is available on the OCS district website at www.onslow.k12.nc.us.
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Please share with students:
EC News
From Transportation: Any address changes will take 5 days depending on the number of request we receive may take longer. Any permanent changes must be changed in Power School. Students that has been displaced has to go through Terri Lee before transportation can begin. If you have any questions feel free to email me. Thanks
Theresa Best
Onslow County Schools
Transportation Department
EC/Head Start
910-989-2032/Office
910-989-3212/Fax
Athletic News
- Athletic practices will resume their normal AFTER SCHOOL practice times next week.
- At this time, our gymnasium is not clear for athletic practices or competitions. We anticipate resurfacing of the floor to occur within a few weeks. We will meet with PE teachers next week to discuss facility specifics.
- Many of our district's schools will be without gymnasiums for quite some time. Once our facilities are cleared, we will be helping our neighbors out with use of our facilities as we can.
- The baseball/softball fields and associated buildings are not clear at this time. No staff or students can access that area.
NCHSAA UPDATES
NCHSAA Updates
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
In this issue:
- Volleyball Reporting Deadline – Game Records on MaxPreps
- Regional Entry Deadline Extended for Women’s Tennis
- Regional Entry Deadline for Cross Country
- Online Basketball, Swimming & Wrestling Rules Clinics for Coaches
- Mandatory Public Address Announcement Script for Playoff Contests
- Alignment Appeal Process & Request
- Click It or Ticket PSA Video Contest
Volleyball Reporting Deadline – Game Records on MaxPreps
All schedules and results must be entered by Saturday, October 20, 2018 at 11:59 pm. Failure to do so may result in your record being pulled incorrectly for seeding purposes. Please also be reminded that only the best of five (3 out of 5) matches will be used to calculate the rankings. For clarity, the best of three matches (2 out of 3) should be marked with three asterisks (i.e. Tournament Match***). This allows MaxPreps to remove them from the data when reporting the rankings. If you participated in a tournament/tri-match/quad and played best three out of five matches, they should not be marked.
All teams MUST make sure that ANY conference tournament match is categorized as a Conference Tournament Match. Failure to do so may result in your record being pulled incorrectly for seeding purposes.
Below are the classifications on MaxPreps:
· Conference Match = *
· Playoff Match= **
· Tournament Match= ***
· Conference Tournament Match= ****
NOTE: In the past, updating records on mobile devices have resulted in incorrect classifications. Please update on desktop or laptop computer.
Also, if your team had to play in a special playoff game to break a tie, those games must be categorized as a Conference Tournament Match.
Regional Entry Deadline Extended for Women’s Tennis
Due to power and internet issues at the NCHSAA Office, the deadline to submit regional tennis entries has been extended until October 17th at 9:00 a.m. As a result, there will not be a late entry window.
Click here for Regional Entry Web Portal Link
This portal will be the official and only entry into the regionals, if your tennis player has qualified from the conference tournament. DO NOT SEND ENTRIES DIRECTLY TO THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR. Upon submission online, the regional director will receive a copy of your entry.
- Regional Qualifying – Number of berths per conference: Click Here
- AGAIN: Regional Entry Deadline: Wednesday, October 17th at 9:00 AM (No LATE ENTRIES will be accepted after this time)
Regional Entry Deadline for Cross Country
- Use NC MileSplit (http://nc.milesplit.com) to enter teams into the regionals.
- Each school is allowed to enter up to seven (7) individuals for regional competition. Please have a copy of your registration confirmation at the Regional Meet.
- Entries are due no later than 9:00pm on Friday, October 19, 2018.
- Late entries may be submitted to the NCHSAA, using the form posted on the website, no later than 3:00pm on Monday, October 22nd. A $50 fee will be assessed for each individual entry.
- Regional hosts and directors are posted on the Cross Country page.
Online Basketball, Swimming and Diving, & Wrestling Rules Clinics for Coaches
The online rules clinic presentations - Basketball, Swimming and Diving, and Wrestling - will be available from October 17th through November 14th. As a reminder, all head coaches must complete the online or in-person rules clinic prior to the date of the first contest. The link to complete each rules clinic will be available on the respective sport-specific pages on the NCHSAA Website.
Mandatory Public Address Announcements for Playoff Contests
Please remember to read the required Public Address Announcements for our “Sportsmanship … Together We Make the Right Call” initiative as well as the Media Rights Announcement at each home playoff contest. You can find the announcements in the School Central portion of the website under “Gameday Links and Forms” or by clicking on this link.
Alignment Appeal Process & Request
Per the Articles of Incorporation, the NCHSAA Board of Directors will hear appeals concerning alignment adjustment requests at the Winter Meeting of the Board. Schools may request an appeal using the online Alignment Appeal Request Form. Please ensure you read the entire form to see what information must be provided and know that the form, in its entirety, should be send in at the same time. The deadline for submission is November 5, 2018.
Safe Schools Training
Good morning,
Please remind your “new staff members” (hired during SY 18-19) – to check their OCS email address – for their SafeSchools Training courses…
Courses were sent out Sept 25th thru Oct. 8th. (Due date range from Oct. 30th to Nov. 4th)
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks,
Carmen D. Thompson
Human Resources Department
Onslow County Schools
200 Broadhurst Road
Jacksonville, NC 28540
910.989.2021 x20414 910.455.1965 fax
Staff Shot Clinics
I am working with Realo to get our staff flu shots started ASAP. They will still be offering:
Flu - Highly recommended for all (two flu deaths in NC already this year)
Tdap - Highly recommended if you are around young children or haven't had one as an adult
Prevnar -- Please see vaccine questionnaire
Pneumovax -- Please see vaccine questionnaire
Shingles vaccine will be available at all Realo stores, but will not be brought to the schools.
I will send out a schedule to everyone on Tuesday of next week. If you are not in a phase one school, you may come to any of the clinics that are scheduled. Realo is bringing extra staff to help get them done as quickly as possible.
YOU MUST BRING:
YOUR INSURANCE CARD
Completed form (I am attaching it so you can fill it out ahead of time, but if you forget, they will have some available -it will just take more time)
Lanell Perkins
Nurse Supervisor
Onslow County Schools
Phone 910-347-2808 (38009)
Fax 910-347-2939
From Mark Johnson, State Superintendent
Educators:
Many in North Carolina have experienced a challenging start this school year due to Hurricanes Florence and Michael. Many students and teachers in eastern North Carolina will have to start the school year all over again in the next few weeks – some may not be back until November.
The response by leaders, educators, and citizens across North Carolina has been outstanding.
Bipartisan cooperation in Raleigh is strong. Local leaders have worked tirelessly to open schools. And despite the obstacles, educators have taken it upon themselves to help students learn through efforts such as pop-up classrooms.
We should all be proud.
The Department of Public Instruction is disbursing $60 million on top of other disaster and insurance funds to help the hardest-hit schools. We worked with the legislature and the governor to address the needs, and I am grateful that both agreed on these funds so quickly. We are wasting no time getting these funds to the schools that need them.
Anyone can help students and teachers most affected by donating to FAST NC.
Also, I commend the State Board of Education for moving quickly this week to provide flexibility for affected school districts in the mCLASS testing for the Read to Achieve program.
As is the case with many disasters, when Mother Nature throws her worst at us, we respond by showing our best.
Thank you for everything you do. North Carolina is fortunate to have you.
Sincerely,
Mark Johnson
State Superintendent
Drive Out Childhood Hunger with Amy Goss of RMS 3rd Annual CHEW Golf Tournament
When
Friday, November 9, 2018 from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM EST
Where
Bear Trail Golf Club
245 SW Plantation Dr
Maple Hill, NC 28454
Sign up to Attend United Way's
Drive Out Childhood Hunger with Amy Goss of Residential Mortgage Services, Inc. 3rd Annual CHEW Golf Tournament. Presented by Lawson Wagner Insurance
Tee up for a good cause and register for the 3rd Annual Drive Out Childhood Hunger Golf Tournament, benefiting United Way's CHEW Program. CHEW (Children Healthy Eating on Weekends) provides weekly backpacks to over 500 students who may otherwise go hungry over the weekend. Help us provide a lifeline to our community's neediest children.
Tournament Details:
4- Man Team Captain's Choice Superball Style Tournament
Registration/Light Breakfast: 8:00 AM
Shotgun Start: 9:00 AM
Prices:
$60 per person
$240 for four man team
Golfing Aids:
Team Mulligan: $40.00 with option to buy extra Mulligans for $10 per person
Team Throw: $40.00
Beverage Carts will be making the rounds! $2/beer
Prizes:
1st Place: $500
2nd Place: $200
3rd Place: $100
Additional prizes: Longest Drive and 2 Closest to the Pin
Hole in One Prizes: Pebble Beach Vacation, Flat Screen TV, Callaway Golf Clubs, $500 Visa Card.
Additional Features:
Hole Challenge: Pay $10 to accept the hole challenge. You get a free golf club (all you pay is shipping). Hole in one wins $5000.00. Hit the ball within 12 inches of the hole to win $500 gift card.
Wheelbarrow of Beer: Purchase tickets to win a wheelbarrow of beer! $10/ticket or 3 for $25
50/50 Raffle: Purchase your 50/50 raffle tickets for a chance to win a cash prize! $5/ticket, 3 for $10, or 7 for $20
Ball Roll: $15 per ball of 3 for $40 for a chance to win a Chartered Fishing Trip
Sponsorship Levels:
Milk Money ($150): Benefits include: Hole Sponsor, option to provide golf bag promotional items, and mentions on pre media outlets.
Breakfast Bar ($300): Benefits include: Hole Sponsor, name included on event banner, opportunity to provide golf bag promotional items,and mentions on the pre/post media outlets.
School Lunch ($550): Benefits include: Hole Sponsor, Logo on event banner, 4 man team for tournament, option to provide golf bag promotional items, and mentions on pre/post media outlets.
Click on the link below to register.
Contact Shelly Kieweg if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at the Tournament.
Sincerely,
Shelly Kieweg, Community Impact Director
United Way of Onslow County
910-347-2646