MIDDLE SCHOOL OFFICE NEWS & NOTES
- After School Activities & Bus Passes: O.M.S. encourages all students to participate in as many after school programs as possible. Studies show that students who are involved in school activities generally do better in school. Students who stay after school, however, need to be supervised. For that reason, when students stay after school, they need to be here for a supervised program until they are dismissed for the bus. The supervisor of the activity issues the pass to get on the late bus. Students who stay after without supervision will not be able to board a late bus and parents will be responsible to provide transportation home. Students who are walkers are not allowed to utilize the late bus runs.
- Infinite Campus & Improving Parental Communication: Over the summer, the district adopted a new student data management system called Infinite Campus. It is a wonderful system that includes student grades, attendance, schedules, addresses, and a variety of other resources that are helpful in enabling us to provide a top quality education for your children. Much of the contact information that was imported into Infinite Campus came from our old system. In this day and age, that information changes rapidly! In an effort to improve school to home communication, please send updated contact information including addresses and phone numbers to the central registrar. If you have an email address, send it to Mrs. Hollander (657-2373 ext. 2210 or FHollander@onteora.k12.ny.us) so we can email information to you. As you can imagine, not all of the flyers we send home with students at the end of the day actually make it to you! We find that they sometimes get trapped in a book bag or lost in the abyss known as the student locker.
- Picking Students Up Early & Requesting Students to Ride Another Bus: If you plan to pick up your child early or would like them to ride a different bus from school on a particular day (e.g. going to a friend’s house), we can help. We do, however, need confirmation from the parent making the request. Please send a signed note either the day of the request or the day before the request. Include your name, your child’s name, and a phone number where you can be reached. If you are unavailable during the day, please leave a message for Fran Hollander, the O.M.S. secretary, at 657-2373 ext. 2210 verifying your written request. Thanks!
- Water and Student Learning: Water enhances learning, so hydrate! Research on the brain and learning has emphasized the role of hydration. It isn’t only athletes whose performance is impaired by low fluid level! Your brain runs on electrochemical reactions. Mental performance can fall when students are thirsty. Frequent small intakes of water are better for learning than limiting drinks to breaks and lunchtimes. The staff at O.M.S. encourages all students to bring their own water bottle to school.
- Parent Requests and Focus on Learning: Each day the Onteora Middle School Office receives numerous calls requesting us to communicate messages to students. We really want to help! At the same time, the fundamental purpose of school is learning so we would like to limit the number of classroom interruptions. You can help. The least disruptive time of the day is between 7:15 – 8:00 a.m. Whenever possible, please communicate your requests during that time, so we can reach students before or during Homeroom. Thanks!
- Thank You Parents! Over the last several weeks, O.M.S. has sponsored many activities. Some of those activities include 7th Grade Orientation, Back to School Night, PTSO meetings, and all kinds of sports events. More recently the Humanities class taught by Mrs. Loheide and Ms. Serkowski, invited parents in for the Native American Museum in which seventh grade students acted as curators, presenting the information and artifacts they had gathered about various Native American tribes. Like all O.M.S. events, it was wonderful and demonstrated some of the great things our middle school students, teachers, coaches, and staff are doing. Thank you so much for coming to these events and supporting the students, faculty, and staff at Onteora Middle School. Your support means so much to your children and to us! We look forward to your continued support and will do our best to communicate information to make you aware of the many events and activities taking place at O.M.S.
