OMS Pirate Press Newsletter

Popcorn with Principal Monday, August 24th 4:30-6:00 at OMS:

"Pop" by to say hello, meet OMS Admin, and tour the building:

• Don't forget, we have Popcorn with the Principal on Monday, August 24th from 4:30-6:00 where new students and families may visit, meet your new Oxford Middle School Principal, Leigh Joseph, and assistant principals, Miriam Sas and Maureen Remington.
• Students and families will also have the ability to tour the building as well to better familiarize themselves with it. We hope you are able to attend.
• We will have OMS NJHS and Student Council student reps available to guide students and families through the building. NJHS and Stu Co student should sign up with your advisors, Ms. Wagner and Ms. Blood in advance and arrive for 4:15.

First Day of School for students: Wednesday, August 26th, doors open 7:05 and school starts at 7:15:

• It's hard to believe but it's time to head back to school on Wednesday, August 26th! Doors open at OMS at 7:05 with 1st period starting sharp at 7:15. Don't be late!
• We are looking forward to an awesome year ahead and can't wait to see our students on Wednesday, August 26th!
• The info you'll need to prepare you for the first day and week are below. We are looking forward to having students join us Wednesday morning for a 7:15 start!

• New Staff Introductions
• Schedule for the week of August 24-28, 2026.
• Info regarding Student Schedules
• School Supplies
• Transportation: Buses, Morning Drop-Off, Afternoon Pick-Up
• Breakfast and Lunch Info
• Fall Sports Info--Last call for registration!
• OMS Welcomes New Staff
• Be the 3!
• Advisory
• From the Health Office
• Save the Date (Upcoming Events)
• Helpful School and District Resources

• OMS welcomes Ms. Miriam Sas to full time assistant principal at OMS.
• OMS and Barton welcome Ms. Maureen Remington, assistant principal, shared between the two schools.
• OMS Grade 6 welcomes Mr. Joseph Grady as ELA/History teacher.
• OMS Grade 7/8 split team welcomes Ms. Jennifer Townley as a science teacher.
• OMS Grade 7/8 team welcomes Mrs. Nora Hannigan as a Math teacher.
• OMS welcomes Ms. Kayla Turner to OMS ILC and Ms. Bonnie-Lou Piat to the grade 8 special education instructional assistant team.
• OMS welcomes new custodial staff members Mr. Joseph Shuflat.

Below you will find the OXPS School Calendar for the 2026-2027 School Year as well as information about school hours for each school within the OXPS district.

• Link to School District Calendar: https://files.smartsites.parentsquare.com/10103/2026-2027_school_calendar_-_final_approved_3.pdf
• Link to School Day Times: https://www.oxps.org/school-times

The first day of school for OMS students is Wednesday, August 26th.

OMS Doors will open daily at 7:05 a.m. with our school day starting at 7:15 a.m. promptly. Our school day will close each day at 1:45.

Thank you to those that joined us at Popcorn with the Principal. For those of you unable to make it, we wanted to share with you the slides with important info for you and your child to be aware of to start off with success, be prepared, and make the most of the year ahead. Please see our Welcome Back Slide Show: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1k0tHfyI1d3CjVOArjpAT4ioF6G2cIx8jmxcO4w85Bdw/edit?usp=sharing

Monday, August 24th:

• OXPS Staff 1st Day, No School Students

Tuesday, August 25th:

• OXPS PD Day, No School Students

Wednesday, August 26th:

• First Day of School for Students
• Doors open 7:05 a.m. Students report to the following locations upon arrival on 1st day:
• Grade 6 report to cafeteria
• Grade7 report to auditorium
• Grade8 report to gymnasium
• Students will be picked up by their first period teachers from these spaces.
• Students will receive a copy of their schedule in 1st period.
• Class Meetings by grade in Auditorium (Grade 6 period 2; Grade 7 period 3, Grade 8 Period 4) students will be called via intercom to auditorium
• School documents and materials sent home with students for parental review, signatures, and submissions.
• School Handbook Acknowledgement forms will be distributed electronically via parent square on or before Wednesday, August 24th and parents/guardians will be able to sign electronically for this form.

Thursday, August 27th

• School Forms due--submit to 1st period teachers.
• Regularly Scheduled Classes

Friday, August 28th:

• School Forms due--submit to 1st period teachers.
• Regularly Scheduled Classes
• During Advisory Period, students will indicate via Google Form whether they want to take chorus and/or band during extension block, via shared Google form in extension

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:

• OMS Chorus Sings at Worcester Railers Home Opener and Oxford Town Takeover Night on October 17th
• 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

Student schedules are available to students and families through the Power School portal. Students will get a paper copy of their schedule on Wednesday, August 26th in 1st period class.

However, please note: We may continue to need to make updates to schedules to balance classes in order to accommodate any newly registered students. If you are having difficulty accessing portal, please email tech support for OXPS techsupport@oxps.org .

Note:

• OXPS may make changes in individual student schedules based upon student educational needs only.
• All students will have Exploratory Spanish this year during the Unified Arts Rotations.
• OMS Students will not have General Music on the schedule this year; however, we will have chorus and band.
• Students will be scheduled for choral and band classes as we begin the school year, as we've done in the past, so you will not necessarily see that on your child's schedule currently. To this end, students will respond to a Google Form on Friday, August 28th, indicating whether they would like to enroll in chorus or band. Those classes will take place during the grade level extension period.

Oxford Public Schools has implemented The Big 3 in all district schools as a way for us to focus on the following objectives in our community: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe. We've provided an opening draft of this to share with you that we'll be discussing with students and staff throughout advisory and classroom discussions. Staff and students will have a voice annually to contribute to our goals so that we can work together to have common language to discuss common goals to create a positive learning environment.

Students will have a student advisory once every 5 days. Advisory will be a place where we work together on important school community based topics. We will discuss The Big 3/Be the 3 and the qualities-Respect, Responsibility, and Safety. We will work on our community, team building, anti-bullying, goal setting, study skills, etc. We will use the research based curriculum Character Strong.

Want to be organized and prepared for the new school year?

The Supply Lists re located on the district website linked here https://www.oxps.org/oms-supply-list

Special Notes regarding supplies:

• Grade 6 students will have access to Chromebooks during the school day only in classes.
• Grade 7 and 8 students will be issued 1:1 chromebooks that will travel with them daily. It is important that grade 7 and 8 students arrive daily with a fully charged school assigned chromebook, and charging cord daily.
• Students should always have pencils.
• ALL students grades 6-8 will need a 3 ring binder for science class. The binder will remain in the science class daily.

Fall 2025 Athletic Try-Outs/Team Registration

Registration is now open on Arbiter Registration (formerly FamilyID) for fall sports. You may find a link to register for a sport below.

We offer the following sports during the fall season:

We offer the following sports at OMS. Note--OHS sports will have practices to start the school yar while OMS Sports begin Tuesday, September 2nd. More info to follow from coaches.

• Boys Soccer (grades 6-8); Coach Mr. Chris Perron
• Girls Soccer (grades 6-8); Coach Ms. Bonnie Lou Piat
• Cross Country (grades 6-8); Coach Mr. Bradley Mayotte

Additional OHS Sports, that grade 7 and 8 students may be invited to join, if waiver is granted by state. See notes next to each sport regarding grade and waiver status.

• Football (JV &Varsity) (Grade 8 may invited)
• Volleyball (JV & Varsity) (Update: No Waiver for grade 8 at this time, unfortunately)
• Boys Soccer (Varsity only)
• Girls Soccer (Varsity only)
• Field Hockey (Varsity only) (Grade 7 and 8 may be invited, awaiting waiver from MIAA)
• Golf (Grade 7 and 8 may be invited, awaiting waiver from MIAA)
• Fall Cheer
• Cross Country (Grade 8 may be invited, awaiting waiver from MIAA)

The link to Register: Fall Athletic Registration

Questions, email Athletic Director, Kevin May kmay@oxps.org

• Bus Transportation
• Bus routes and transportation are linked here: https://www.oxps.org/bus-routes
• Bus Riding info-seating, drop off time and afternoon dismissal time:
• OMS students ride the bus with OHS students. OHS students will sit in the rear of the bus and be dropped in the morning and picked up in the afternoon first.
• OMS students will sit in the front of the bus and be dropped off first at 7:05 at the Middle School, when doors open.
• Bus riders will be dismissed at 1:45 ahead of walkers and private transportation pick up line as buses need right of way to depart first so that the buses can make it to OHS for 1:50 for afternoon pick-up and then to the elementary school runs in a timely manner. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
• Bus stop safety: All school rules apply at the bus stop and on the bus. Students should be waiting at the bus stop, visible, and safely off the roadway.
• Morning Drop Off: Please pull into the lot, using the cut off between front drive and open field to travel and park facing Main Street in Lane 1 parent drop off lane, closest to the sidewalk and parallel to Carbuncle Drive to drop students. PLEASE BE COURTEOUS OF ALL STUDENTS AND FAMILIES AND PULL ALL THE WAY UP TO DROP OFF. This is very important for us to get all students into our building on time. Do not park head into curb. Do not pull out mid-lane, but wait for line to move forward. Do not pull forward to front doors as that is reserved for buses and specialized transportation. Please do not drive directly in front of school entrance, as that is reserved for buses, and do not park in parking spaces next to building as that is reserved for staff. Doors will open at 7:05 a.m. daily. Classes begin at 7:15 daily. Buses have the right of way.
  
• Afternoon Pick Up: Students riding bus will be dismissed first at 1:45. Student walkers and private transport riders will be dismissed immediately following bus departure from OMS at approximately 1:50. This is to be sure that buses can get to their elementary runs without issue in response to the busing changes in Oxford. Just like morning pick up, please pull into the lot, using the cut off between front drive and open field to travel and park facing Main Street in the 3 parent drop off lanes parallel to Carbuncle Drive to drop students. Fill Lane 1 first (closest to sidewalk parallel to Carbuncle), then fill lane 2 (just to the left of lane 1), and finally fill lane 3, furthest to the left from sidewalk but not blocking bus lane). We plan to dismiss lane 1 first when we release vehicles. Do not park head into curb. Do not pull out mid-lane, but wait for line to move forward. Do not pull forward to front doors as that is reserved for buses. Do Not park in parking spaces next to building as that is reserved for staff. Please do not block Main Street. Buses have the right of way. Please also do not drop along Main Street, Carbuncle, or Rear lot by Project Coffee for traffic safety reasons.
  
• 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.

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!

• 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