OV Family Notes November 7

November 8 - MS Conferences 3:30 - 7:00 - sign up via parent portal

November 10 - No school (Veterans' Day observed)

November 13 - MS Conferences 3:30 - 7:00 - sign up via parent portal

November 14 - Options-based Response Drill (12:00)

November 16 - 19 - Spongebob the Musical at OV

November 17 - Schoolwide Q1 Celebration 10:50 - 11:30, Early Release Day

November 22 - 26 - Thanksgiving Break

December 12 - OV HS Art Show (6-8:30) and 7-12 Concert (7-8:30)

December 15 - Early Release Day

Students will be taking their Panorama survey during advisory on Monday, November 13, with makeups continuing throughout the week in advisory. This survey is one of our school’s key indicators of success, and provides the school as a whole and teachers with information about student engagement, belonging, teaching effectiveness, school safety, and the school climate. Please encourage your students to take this survey seriously so that we have the best and most accurate feedback possible on our work.

As a reminder, our first quarter at OV ended on Friday, November 3. Due to the significant internet outage at OV earlier this week, our report cards will be slightly delayed. We anticipate that these will be sent out via the parent portal on Tuesday, November 14. If you do not receive your student’s report card, please contact Carol Felion at cfelion@rnesu.org or Char Wessing at cwessing@rnesu.org so that we can troubleshoot.

On Tuesday, November 14, at 12:00, Otter Valley will complete its second options-based response drill of the year. Like our last drill, this will involve teachers and students practicing our lockdown procedure and then discussing options to “run, hide, and fight” in response to a description of an intrusion into the building. If your student needs particular supports or accommodations in this type of drill, please be sure that you are in communication with your student’s case manager or school counselor. If you have questions about our emergency response procedures and drills in general, please contact a member of the administration.

As a reminder, we are looking for feedback from our middle school families on the effectiveness of our middle school schedule and program. This survey will be instrumental in our continued effort to improve the middle school program for our students. Please complete this prior to the end of November to inform our planning for the 24-25 school year!

The link to the survey is here.

Families are reminded that the end of Quarter 1 is rapidly approaching. Students should be sure that they are keeping on top of grades and accessing Flex as needed. If you see your student is struggling, be sure that they are regularly attending Flex and completing homework. Please also contact your student's teacher so that we can best support academic performance.

I wanted to give you some information about our next VeggieVanGo event, which will be taking place on the OV campus on 11/8 (that's tomorrow!) from 10-11. Any individual associated with RNESU Supervisory Union (staff, parent, grandparent, etc) may participate AND may pick up for another family as well.

Please consider coming to get some free and healthy produce if it is a need for your family!

Our winter concert for all music students in Grades 7-12 and our art show for high school students will take place on December 12. The art show will begin at 6, and the concert begins right at 7. It should be an engaging and enjoyable evening for the arts at Otter Valley. Please consider attending. If you are an art or music student and have questions about what you need to do for the event, please contact your teacher.

While we have just gotten Quarter 2 started, I wanted to let families know some information about end-of-semester dates at Otter Valley. Final exams and projects will be taking place on Monday, January 22 and Tuesday, January 23 for high school students, while middle school students will be taking their winter STAR assessments and preparing for their Celebration of Learning (more on that below). Both days will run from 8:00 – 12:30 for students, with makeups in the afternoon. Busses will run at 12:30 and again at 2:30. Wednesday, January 24 will be our crossover day for all students, and no classes will be held on this date. Students needing to make up work during this time will connect directly with teachers to set up a time to be in the building on that date. If we have a number of inclement weather days prior to these days, we MAY push the end of the semester back. That will be communicated as early as possible.

As I indicated earlier this year, our middle school celebration of learning will take place on Tuesday, January 23, from 6-8 pm. All middle school students will use the time to present work that shows their growth as learners and how their work connects to who they are as a learner. We will also have our middle school art show and a brief concert from our middle school band and chorus. Note that this event is required for middle school students, and there will be a window in which learners are asked to stand at their presentation and present their work. If there are exigent circumstances that prevent your student from attending this evening, please discuss the situation with the administration and alternate arrangements will be made to give your student the opportunity to present. Please also note that we are working on providing transportation from our sending towns.