OMS Pirate Press Newsletter

• Schedule for the week of September 7-11, 2026.
• Upcoming Events/Save the Date
• Breakfast and Lunch Info
• Clubs and Activity Info: Art Club, Book Club, Homework Center, NJHS, Student Council
• From the Health Office
• FOMS--About FOMS, Spirit Wear Fundraiser and More!
• OMS Sings at Worcester Railers Home Opener and Oxford Town Takeover Night on 10/17. Discounted Ticket info
• OXPS Events and Fundraisers, Including Info about Weekend Backpack Program
• Oxford Community Events--Info about Fill the Truck Food Drive, scheduled for Friday, September 11th on all OXPS campuses and with DPW around the town of Oxford. This event is planned as "Do A Good Deed Day" in honor of the 25th anniversary of 9/11..
• Helpful School and District Resources

Please sign and have your child return all student forms AND please complete the online student handbook form sent via Parent Square.

Chorus and Band begin during extension periods this week! Students who did not sign up through the Google form are still welcome to enroll, just see your school counselor!

Monday, September 7th

• No school, holiday

Tuesday, September 8th

• School Forms due--submit to 1st period teachers.
• Drama Club Informational Meeting after school today. Students must have signed permission slips to attend. Permission slips are available in the main office and with advisor Ms. Nasis.

Wednesday, September 9th

• School Forms due--submit to 1st period teachers.
• Student Council Informational Meeting after school with Ms.Blood. Students must have signed permission slips to attend. Permission slips are available in the main office and in Ms. Blood's room.

Thursday, September 10th

• School Forms due--submit to 1st period teachers.
• Book Club Informational Meeting after school in the library with Ms. Kennen. Students must have signed permission slips to attend. Permission slips are available in the main office and in library with Ms. Kennen.
• Art Club begins today for those students who have submitted a signed permission slip.

Friday, September 11h:

• Do a Good Deed Day in honor of the 25th Anniversary of 9/11. Oxford DPW, in collaboration with OXPS schools, will hold a district wide non-perishable 1 day food drive today on all OXPS school campuses to help "Fill the Truck with Food" to support the Oxford Food Pantry. The DPW truck will be located in the AM student Drop area to collect AND there will be collection boxes inside OMS main lobby. Please see flyer under community section below in Newsletter.
• School Forms due--submit to 1st period teachers.
• Advisory: In advisory this week, students will provide feedback to FOMS regarding FOMS sponsored events to help guide FOMS to plan for the year to support the interests and needs of our students.

Fall Holidays and No School Days:

• Friday, September 4: No School
• Monday, September 7: No School, Holiday
• Monday, October 12th: No School, Holiday
• Tuesday, November 3rd: No School Students-Staff Professional Development Day
• Tuesday, November 11th: No School, Holiday
• Wednesday, November 25-November 29: Thanksgiving Break

Conferences:

• Monday, November 23rd: early release half day students; afternoon parent conferences at OMS and evening parent conferences at OMS (registration will be online via myconferencetime.com, information to be shared regarding registration week of November 9th)
• Tuesday, November 24th: early release half day students; (registration will be online via myconferencetime.com ; information to be shared regarding registration week of November 9th)
• Thursday, March 18th; evening parent conferences. (registration will be online via myconferencetime.com the week of March 1st)

School Student Events:

• School Portraits: Tuesday, October 6th. Make-ups/Retakes will be in early December, date TBA
• OMS Chorus Sings at Worcester Railers Home Opener and Oxford Town Takeover Night on October 17th
• OMS Scholastic Book Fair October 19-23, 2026. https://www.scholastic.com/bf/oxfordmiddleschool1
• Halloween Dance: Friday, October 23, 2026 6:30-8:30 p.m.
• OMS Dinner Theater: Thursday, November 5th @ 6:00 p.m.
• OMS Winter Concert: December 10th 6 p.m.at OMS Auditorium

School Breakfast and Lunch Menus are posted monthly and can be found here: https://www.oxps.org/menus

• After School: Students must be in a scheduled, supervised activity after school. Students are only permitted to stay after school if they are on a OXPS sport or have been invited by staff to stay for help session, detention, or a club or activity AND have a signed permission slip to do so.
• Late Buses: Beginning August 31, we will have late buses for the school year, which will run at approximately 3:15-3:30.

OMS Art Club Fall Session is about to kick-off. If your child is interested in art and would like to join the after school art club to participate in a number of fun and engaging special art projects, this is the club for them.

Art Club will meet on Thursdays beginning September 10th and ending on December 3rd.

Students interested in participating should return the attached permission slip in order to attend. These permission slips will be available in the Art Room #167 with Ms. Crutcher and the main office. Permission slips should be returned to Ms. Crutcher in room 167. The art club is limited to 20 spots for safety and materials reasons. However, there will be a second session later in the year for those students who did not get to participate during the fall session.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Crutcher kcrutcher@oxps.org

Are you interested in reading some great books? How about discussing and sharing your favorite books with other students? If so the Book Club may be for you.

Book Club Meets will hold an informational meeting after school on September 10, 2026 after school until 3:00 p.m. in the library with Ms. Kennen.

Book Club Fall Dates:

October - 5 (Location to be determined because of Staff meeting)

26 - Library

November - 9 - Library

30 - Library

December - 14 - Library

21 - Library

Do you love drama??? No, not that kind of drama...... do you love theater, stage, set design? We've got a spot waiting for you.....

Drama Club welcomes all students of all levels and experience. The club will help those to work on dramatic skills and overcome stage fright. In addition they explore theater, acting, set design and stage crew, costuming and make-up, etc. This fall the Drama Club will produce a dinner theater murder mystery and in the spring, we will have our annual musical.

Any student grades 6, 7 or 8 that are interested in joining the drama club this year should attend an informational meeting next Tuesday, September 8 in the auditorium. Students will need a signed permission slip in order to stay after. Permission slips are available in the main office and with Ms. Nasis.

Any questions, please reach out to Ms. Nasis cnasis@oxps.org

Need help, time, and resources with homework, research, projects, and studying? The Homework Center will run on Tuesdays-Wednesdays-Thursdays after school 2:00-3:00, Beginning September 8, 2026. Students wishing to stay will need a blue Homework Center form signed by a teacher with a specific assignment/project to work on and the parent/guardian signature. NHS and/or NJHS tutors available weekly at Homework Center. See or email Ms. Kennen for permission slips and with questions. mailto:akennen@oxps.org .

NJHS will hold its first meeting on September 2, 2026. NJSH students must have signed permission slips to attend. Permission slips are available in the main office and in Ms. Wagner's room.

National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) is a group of grade 7-8 students who have been selected to join NJHS as they excel the 5 NHHS pillars--scholarship, leadership, character, and citizenship. Students nominated and selected for the honor of NJHS have earned academic excellence (85% or better in all subject matters) during their time at OMS and display outstanding character and citizenship with conduct grades of A through D. Annually in the spring, those meeting minimum NJHS qualifications are invited to apply.

Student council is a group that learns about school leadership, celebrates school spirit, cares about our OMS Community, and encourages student voice. Student Council will hold its first meeting after school on September 9, 2026 with Mrs. Blood. Any student interested in participating in student council should attend this meeting. Students attending must have signed permission slips to attend. Permission slips are available in the main office and in Ms. Blood's room.

FOMS is Friends of Oxford Middle School and they are our PTO. Please consider joining FOMS and/or supporting their fundraising efforts, as they support OMS. FOMS helps to support end of year class trips, Spree Day, guest speakers, and appreciation days for students and staff. Please see more information below about FOMS Fundraisers and FOMS meetings. See the flyer attached below to learn more about FOMS.

Any questions? Reach out to FOMS by email: oxfordfoms@gmail.com

FUNDRAISERS:

• Oxford Spirit Wear Store is Open! Please visit the store to get all of your Oxford Pride Gear. A percentage of each order goes to FOMS- MA, Oxford Middle Pirates - School Spirit Shirts & Apparel
• FOMS will be holding a Pie/Cookie Dough Fundraiser this fall with delivery before the Thanksgiving Holiday. Stay tuned, more info to come!

GET INVOLVED WITH FOMS:

• You can join FOMS by attending meetings. Upcoming meeting dates are as follows:

1. 9/9 at OMS @ 5:30
2. 10/14 at OMS @ 5:30
3. 11/12 - moved to Thursday due to Veterans Day; at OMS @ 5:30
4. 12/9 at OMS @ 5:30

• You may also support FOMS by volunteering to work in the OMS School Store, Pirates Cove. Pirates Cove volunteer sign ups - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084FACAC2AA4FB6-65220110-pirates

Greetings from the OMS school nurse! I hope you all had a great summer!

Just a few reminders to families that have students who need to have medication administered here at school. This includes inhalers and epipens.

Medications in Schools

• Prescription medications require an updated physician's written order and must be in the original container.
• All medications also require a consent form from parent or guardian. The form can be found on the OMS website under the Nurse page.
• All medications should be transported to and from school by a parent or guardian (we cannot accept medication from a student). This includes inhalers and epipens.
• If you are dropping off an inhaler, I will need the Asthma Action Plan provided by your student's health care provider.
• If you are dropping off an epipen, I will need the Allergy Action Plan provided by your student's health care provider.

Ms. Cronauer will be available before and after school this week to receive any medication your student may need throughout the school year. (This does not include Tylenol/ibuprofen which the school has on hand. You will be receiving a form about that on the first day of school).

As always if you have any questions please feel free to reach out anytime at: acronauer@oxps.org

I look forward to a happy and healthy school year!

OMS Chorus is scheduled to sing America the Beautiful at the home opener of the Worcester Railers on Saturday, October 17th, which happens to be Oxford Town Takeover Night. Secure your discounted tickets as a member of the Oxford community via the following link: https://www.gofevo.com/event/Oxfordtown2

See the attachment below.

Please consider supporting the OXPS Weekend Backpack Program to support the needs of our community students even when school is not in session. any question, please reach out to OXPS food director Stephanie Collins, scollins@oxps.org

"Order a limited time Oxford blanket! These are great to bring to outdoor sporting and spirit events. All sales will support the OHS yearbook. See the attached PDF with the link to place your order. The online story will close on 9/18."

The Oxford-Webster Travel Basketball League is open to kids grades 3-8 who live or attend public

school in Oxford or Webster. It is a competitive league which means there are limited roster spots, we

play other towns, and playing time is not equally distributed.

Games are played on Sundays with typically two practices during the week. The season runs from the

beginning of December and through the middle of February, with playoffs held through early March.

We are committed to having every child that is offered a roster spot the opportunity to play

regardless of financial situation. We recognize that times can be difficult, so we encourage families to

please reach out to us privately and we will discreetly work with you.

Check out our website for more information www.oxfordwebsterbasketball.com. Follow our Facebook page for the latest news and announcements (Oxford Webster Travel Basketball).

Any questions? Reach us by email at oxfordwebsterbasketball@gmail.com.

• Are you getting text messages of our automated calls/texts/emails? If you are not currently receiving text prompts about school and district news, please send a message to the number 22300 and type ALERT in the message in order to receive texts in the future.
• Our District Calendar can be found via the following links:
• District School Day Calendar: https://files.smartsites.parentsquare.com/10103/2025-2026finalcalendar.pdf
• District Events: https://www.oxps.org/school-calendars
• School Hours Link: https://www.oxps.org/school-times
• At OMS, doors will open to students (buses and drop-off) at 7:05 a.m. and OMS classes will begin at 7:15 a.m. This is a change from 24-25 school year, as we will now be opening doors and beginning and ending our day at OMS 5 minutes earlier than last year.
• At OMS afternoon dismissal will begin at 1:45 p.m.
• School Transportation Information: https://www.oxps.org/transportation