Weekly Family Update #26
February 14, 2021
Principal's Message
Hello Falcon Families,
Happy Lunar New Year, Happy Presidents Day, Happy Valentine’s Day Falcon Families! Reminder that tomorrow, Monday 2/15 and Friday 2/19 are both holidays for the Presidents day holiday. We will have no school on both of those days. The weekly scheduled can be found below.
This week all students in PUSD will be given the opportunity to complete an optional anonymous survey on Thursday 2/18 in Connections on virtual learning and wellness. This survey was designed by students, for students. This anonymous survey was created by the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council and will help district and site staff in future planning. We are very excited to be collecting data from students’ at all secondary sites in PUSD.
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 15
Here's Jazz Band's latest recording, Killer Joe by Benny Golson. They used BandLab, building the tracks from the drums, bass, and piano on up. Enjoy
Thank you to all PTSA members for showing our appreciation to our teachers with Passion planners and goody bags this week! We are so appreciative of your support.
New Information
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!
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.
OVMS PSTA and ASB Celebrate the Lunar New Year
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 flyers below for your chance to participate in the fun!
Join us in celebrating the 2021 Lunar New Year, the Year of the Ox.
We are hosting a Chinese Culture knowledge challenge with lots of prizes for participants. We are also hosting a dine out fundraiser at Spicy House in CMR for the next 3 weeks!! Make sure to mention Oak Valley when you order.
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
Celebrate African American History Month
This week I encourage all families to visit the website for the National Civil Right Museum located at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. There are virtual tours, heritage resources, videos, and engaging resources. 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
Shortened February Break
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