The OMS Community Newsletter

Dear OMS Community,

We are already at the end of October which means we are past the halfway point for Trimester 1. Parent/Guardian-Teacher Conferences were held this month. If you were unable to meet with your child's teacher, please email the teacher(s) directly with any questions or to set up a phone call or meeting. There are two ways students and parents/guardians can stay up-to-date on academics.

• Powerschool & the Parent Portal: Parents/Guardians can monitor grades and view any missing assignments on the Parent Portal. (Students also have access to this information through Powerschool.) There are various settings you can utilize on the Parent Portal and you can turn notifications on/off based on your own preferences. If you need help with the Parent Portal, please call the OMS main office.
• Google Classroom: Students have a Google Classroom for all of their classes. This is a hub for many online assignments. While many assignments can be accessed through the Google Classroom, this space does not have all assignments. For example, any paper-based assignments would be turned into the teacher during class and not on Google Classroom. Parents/guardians, if you are viewing your student's Google Classroom, remember to check if a student completed the assignment before pressing submit. If a student submits a blank assignment on Google Classroom, it may look complete because it is "submitted" but the assignment could be blank. Note: We have an "OMS Students" Google Classroom which functions as a hub for school announcements for any clubs, activities, or resources for students.

Since we instituted the SPS Event Pass for OMS Students, I have been receiving positive feedback from the Stoughton community. Middle school students' behaviors at the SHS football games have improved and students who attend independent of an adult are demonstrating they are mature enough to do so. Great work, OMS, let's keep it up!

With the weather becoming colder, I have noticed a trend amongst some of our students to bring in a blanket to wrap themselves in. Please remind your child to leave the blanket at home. If they are cold, a jacket or sweater should suffice. Blankets become a safety issue in our hallways as they can cause other students to trip and run into each other.

A couple reminders about food during the school day.

• Students should either bring in their own lunch from home or get lunch from school. Food deliveries from Door Dash, Uber Eats, etc. are not allowed.
• Students should not share food with other students. This includes chips and candy. We have noticed family-sized chip bags during lunch. These sized bags are typically for sharing so please package the chips in smaller bags so students are not sharing it with the lunch table. With Halloween coming up, if students are bringing candy into school it should only be for themselves and not to share with others.

We have had a busy October here at OMS! Read through this newsletter to hear about all of the amazing things going on in our school community. In an effort to provide more frequent updates and to share all of the great things in our school, I will send out a weekly edition of the OMS Community newsletter moving forward.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Katrina Crowley

Our World Language Department decorated the main lobby bulletin board for the month of October to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Local artist Jordan Barros came in to talk to the 8th grade class!

Jordan is a multimedia artist whose work focuses on life, family, contemporary culture, black culture and basketball. His father is Dana Barros, Boston Celtics alum. One of Jordan's goals is to share his work and give back to the community that inspired him. His work includes paintings, graphic design and music. We were very excited to have him visit OMS and share his story with our students. You can learn more about him on instagram at @spauldingbarros or at www.jordanbarrosart.com

Thank you to Mrs. Bailey for organizing this opportunity for our Grade 8 students!

As part of the Stoughton Library's Summer Reading Program, Mathis Turlin (Grade 6, far right) won the prize of being driven to school in a police car. It was a great celebration for this OMS student who earned this prize for his summer reading!

Thank you to the PTSO for putting together a great Fall Ball! We had a great evening and student turnout at the Grade 6 Dance and the Grades 7 & 8 Dance. Thank you to our parent chaperones, faculty chaperones, and PTSO members for a great night.

MassBioEd visited OMS and worked with our Science teachers to deliver special Science lessons. In 8th grade, students learned about electrophoresis, the movement of charged particles in a fluid or gel under the influence of an electric field, a process used in clinical laboratories, forensics and industry, molecular biology and biochemistry, and medicine development. In 7th grade, students learned about making claims and supporting them with evidence and reasoning. They will be visiting throughout the year to work with our Science department. Students in Grades 6, 7, and 8 will all get the chance to participate in these lessons this year.

Grade 8 students took a field trip to Boston to visit the Bunker Hill monument, USS Constitution, and walk the Freedom Trail. In Grade 8, the Social Studies curriculum is US Government & Civics.

This October, the OMS Student Council is helping the homeless! Please join in the effort by donating travel-sized toiletries and non-perishable food items.

• Toiletry items can include: toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, deodorant, ponchos, drawstring backpacks, baby wipes, razors, and hand sanitizer.
• Drawstring backpacks, socks, winter hats, gloves, ponchos and hand warmers are very useful.
• Non-perishable foods like snack bars, peanut butter crackers, and other individually wrapped food items are ideal.

Please place all donations in the collection box in the front lobby. Donations can be made now through October 31st.

Thank you for your support and generosity!

We had two home cross country meets this season. Check out some of these action shots!

OMS Boys Soccer and Girls Soccer had a game under the lights this month.

On October 31st, we will have Crazy Hat/Socks Day! Students can wear a crazy hat and/or crazy socks. At the middle school level, students should not wear costumes or masks to school for Halloween.

The Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC) will be coming to OMS next week to present an assembly to Grades 6 and 7 students on Bullying and Cyberbullying. I will share more information about these assemblies in next week's newsletter.

As part of our school safety plan, we conduct drills throughout the year. In September and October, we conducted fire drills. In November, we will continue our school safety plan by conducting a Shelter in Place drill, Lockdown drill, and Site Evacuation drill. After each of these drills, an email will be sent home with more information.

The late bus is available to any OMS student who participates in an after school activity or who stays to work with a teacher. The teacher or club advisor will provide students with a blue late bus pass if they need to ride the late bus. There will be 3 different late bus routes. Please take a look at the bus routes and stops. If your child will be taking the late bus, please let them know which late bus number to take and which stop to get off at.

The Tutoring Center at the Stoughton Public Library is back! OMS students are invited to get academic support at the tutoring center on Mondays from 6:00 - 8:00pm. This will begin on Monday, October 16th and will run through May. The program will not run on October 28, November 6, and December 4.