Dear OSES Families,

As we approach the final eight weeks of the school year, I want to take a moment to commend our students, teachers, and families for their dedication and hard work. This period is crucial as we strive for a positive and successful conclusion to the school year.

Our students have shown remarkable resilience and enthusiasm throughout the year, and now is the time to harness that energy to finish strong. Teachers are committed to providing engaging and supportive learning experiences, ensuring that every student feels confident and prepared for end-of-year assessments.

We encourage parents to continue supporting their children by maintaining regular routines, encouraging good study habits, and celebrating their achievements, no matter how small. Together, we can make these last weeks productive and memorable.

Thank you for your unwavering support and partnership. Let's make the most of these final weeks and celebrate the accomplishments of our wonderful students!

Sincerly,

Michael Singleton

My name is Shrika Velagapudi, I'm a junior at Orlando Science High School. I took up creative writing as a hobby this past summer, and recently had the wonderful opportunity to publish a nonfiction children’s book about 10 remarkable female scientists from around the globe who broke barriers and accomplished great feats in STEM. Traveling to India every summer, I was devastated to learn how many girls shared my same aspirations and dreams, but simply didn't have the resources or opportunities to bring them to fruition. This drove me to play my part as an advocate for STEM learning and overcoming systemic barriers: 100% of the profits made from my book, "STEMpowering Women", go to funding tech access and education for the millions of Indian girls living in poverty and denied opportunities.

"STEMpowering Women" is a compilation of varying women's journeys to success in the fields of STEM, as they conquer countless challenges and obstacles to prove the world wrong. Mentioned throughout this colorful, inspirational children's book are the tales and accomplishments of women scientists from all over the globe, such as Sally Ride, Antonia Novello, Marie Curie, and more. The aim of this book is to inspire young children, especially girls between the ages of 4 and 10, to take up careers in the field of STEM, and break gender barriers in this male-dominated area.

Due to supply issues at the OCPS level, we do not know if hot or cold lunch will be served. Please be prepared to have either lunch until further notice.

Breakfast and Lunch will be FREE for the 2024-2025 school year

If your child has food allergies and will require a special meal from OCPS please click on the link below to fill out the special diet order form

Special Diets for Food Allergies - Orange County Public Schools (ocps.net)

This was the first week of the final nine weeks. The school year is flying by, and students are working on mastering their grade-level curriculum. Additionally, March was a big push for Math Fluency. Classes in each grade level have been completing daily math fluency challenges to earn water bottle stickers, extra recess, dress-down passes, and the ultimate grade-level prize – the “glowing” prize will be announced soon.

On Tuesday, April 1st, students in grades 4, 5, and 6 will take the BEST Writing statewide assessment. Families received a detailed email at the beginning of the week. Please make sure your students arrive by 8 am, get a good night's rest, and have a healthy breakfast. The final FAST Progress Monitoring dates are listed below.

Contact Ms. Carter at Cayce.Carter@orlandoscience.org with any questions or concerns.

Our OSES Battle of the Books team recently competed against hundreds of other elementary schools in the county, answering challenging questions about this year's Sunshine State books! We're proud of their hard work and dedication. We'll find out on Friday if our team advances to the final battle in April — please keep your fingers crossed for Gemma, Piper, Thanvita, Shreya, and Avinash

It has been an excellent week back from spring break at OSES! in Social Studies we are learning about Where we are in the world! In ELA we are learning about using proper punctuation in writing and who is the main character in our stories. In Math we are learning all about 2D shapes and where we can find them . In Science we are learning about plants and their young! We are so excited to see what is next for us!

Watch First Grade grow! The fourth nine weeks emphasizes plants and living things! In anticipation of Earth Day next month, we are all learning about parts of a plant in Science and reading many stories in Reading (both non-fiction and fiction) about plants. Activities include examining different types of fruit (the suitcase for seeds!) under a microscope, dissecting flowers, and recording the growth of green bean seeds in a window. Mrs. Vancol's class has also been learning about different plant legends and will be writing their own legends connected to Florida's state symbols. Stay tuned for special STEAM activities related to Earth Day!

Important Dates and Reminders:

April 4: IFLY waivers, permission slips, and payment deadline

April 7-11: Drop Everything and Write #4

April 11: Dress down day

April 17: IFLY field trip (disposable lunch bags and water bottles)

Our energetic second graders are back from a refreshing spring break, ready to tackle the final stretch of the school year! With end-of-year tests on the horizon, our young learners are diving into their studies with enthusiasm and determination. We are finishing off our March math madness this week and several of our second graders participated in Destination Imagination last Sunday. We are so grateful for the continued support from our parents and families as we conclude this year on a positive and successful note!

Reminder that next Thursday (April 3rd) is our much-anticipated Sea World Field trip the kids are very excited for check for a final reminder email from your student's teacher and we look forward to seeing our chaperones bright at 8:30am reminder all chaperones must check in at the school before leaving for SeaWorld!

It’s an exciting first week back in Third Grade! Hopefully everyone enjoyed their spring break. Students are hard at work identifying different Text Structures in ELA. In Grammar, students are reviewing and applying comma usage in a variety of sentence types. In Math, students were finishing up topic 9 with multi step word problems and beginning topic 10 focusing on fractions. We are also continuing our regions unit for Social Studies. April will be a very busy month for students as we work diligently to prepare for the FAST tests at the beginning of May. To help prepare students, please work on IXL and Study Island at home. When students complete 10 study island challenges and earn their ribbon, they will also earn a dress down pass! If you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher.

This week we easier back into the swing of things with some pre test to begin the new sections in math, science, and ELA. We worked hard on one last practice essay before the State Exam next week Tuesday. Then we ended the week with an inspirational “Dean with me” session.

For the "Dream with me" session we went outside, sat in a circle, one by one the students shared their dream job/career. The rest of the class poured life into their peers' dreams. Helping them the see themselves in that roll. It was beautiful!

This week, we read Luz Sees the Light, a story about a girl who changes an empty lot into a community garden full of plants and veggies. After reading, we talked about how kids can make a difference in their own neighborhoods. Students shared ideas like cleaning up parks, planting flowers to brighten spaces, and donating books or toys to help others. It was great to hear their thoughtful ideas!

We also worked on essays about whether emojis, like 😊 or 🚀, should be used in communication. The students thought about both sides, like how emojis can make messages clear and fun, but might not be great for serious topics. They did a great job organizing their ideas and writing their opinions.

Important Reminder: The BEST Writing Test is coming up next Tuesday, April 1st. Students will need to write a multi-paragraph essay. To help them do their best, please make sure they get a good night’s sleep and have a healthy breakfast before school. These little things make a big difference!

Thanks for your support—it makes our classroom a fun and positive space for learning!

Best,

Mr. Mateer

4th Grade Teacher

It’s great to be back from Spring Break this week! I hope everyone enjoyed their week off! In fifth grade this week there is going to be a strong emphasis on writing in preparation for the BEST Write Exam on April 1st. We will be preparing by looking at the different parts of an essay, how to write a thesis, and evidence and elaboration. On Thursday and Friday, we will be having writing boot camp in the cafeteria with all the classes to hype ourselves up and give our brains a good memory job before our test. We are also working on our new unit in our MyBook that focuses on mysteries. We will read a variety of stories on the mysteries we encounter both fictional and in real life.

The past two weeks our 4th and 5th graders have been busy learning about the Pop Art movement as well as some of the prominent artists of that movement.

I am very proud of their efforts and completed artwork. They worked hard at using shading and value to create their own Optical Art works!

2-5th grade!

We hope this message finds you well and that you are enjoying the beautiful spring season! As we enter the final quarter of the school year. We are gearing up for the FAST assessments! To help students prepare, a FAST Packet has been assigned on Delta Math. Please check your emails weekly for critical updates regarding the evaluations and our plans. This quarter will focus on Geometry, Data Sets, and Representing Data. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. Let's ensure we end this quarter on a high note!

Here is my Amazon Wishlist for my classroom for those who would like to donate for class use.

In order to help keep our families informed of the latest legislative updates regarding their student's education, a Parent Rights Resources page has been added to the school website.

Recent updates include:

• Internet Safety
• District Health Care Services
• Special Magistrate

The mission of Orlando Science Elementary School (OSES) is to provide a well-rounded education with special emphasis in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), while using research-based and innovative instructional methods in a stimulating learning environment. OSES is committed to the social-emotional learning and character development of all students.