O'Maley Family Focus

Dear O’Maley Families,

I have just a few updates this Friday afternoon.

First, grades will be posted for Term 1 in the Schoolbrains Community Portal on Tuesday after 3:00 p.m. The term closing was adjusted for the two days of school cancellation, and the remaining terms will be adjusted similarly (Hopefully we won't have many more cancellations!) Please see below for information on the portal and how to view your child's report card.

Once more, related to weekly COVID testing, please be sure your child knows that they are signed up. We are experiencing many students not coming to be tested despite being signed up.Testers travel through the building and stop at classes. Students are expected to know they are signed up and to come out when the testers come by. Information on signing up for testing can be found below in the COVID Update section of the newsletter.

Want to get involved at O'Maley? Our first PTO meeting was cancelled due to weather and will be held Thursday November 18th in the Learning Commons. Additionally, I am seeking parents interested in being part of our School Based Site Council. This council convenes monthly and is made up of staff, parents, and community members. The primary purpose of the council is to give input on school improvement and our school handbook. If you are interested in being part of the school site based council, please email me.

Please read on and contact me at any time with questions or concerns.

Best,

Principal Lynne Beattie

Topics in this issue of Family Focus:

• Upcoming Events
  
• SAILS and Community Service
• Physical Behavior and How You Can Help
• ALICE Safety Drill
• Message from the PTO for 8th Grade Parents
• COVID-19 Updates & Weekly Testing Sign-Up
  
• School Picture Retakes
  
• Schoolbrains Community Portal

• Tuesday, November 16 - Grades posted to Schoolbrains Portal
• Thursday, November 18 - PTO 6:00-7:00 pm in the Learning Commons
• Wednesday, November 24 - Pre-Thanksgiving Early Release at 11:00 am
• Thursday 11/25 & Friday 11/26 - No School - Thanksgiving Holiday

Students in Boat House have been dedicating some of their time to community work, exemplifying the Service value in SAILS.

One of the unfortunate impacts of the ongoing pandemic and the changes in school over the past two years is that many students have forgotten some of the norms of behavior in school. We recognize that our current 8th graders haven't had a "normal" school year since 5th grade, and other grades follow suit.

As a result, we are seeing many behaviors that are not typically prevalent in middle school.

Often times this behavior gets mislabeled as bullying. We have recently reviewed with students that bullying is defined as:

• Intentional
• Repeated
• Involving a power dynamic

Regardless of whether hurtful behavior is defined as bullying, it is still not tolerated, and is addressed when reported.

How can you help?

At home, please review with your child that at school it is expected that we keep our hands to ourselves, even when playing, we resist name-calling, even when "just joking," and we take responsibility for treating others respectfully.

We take all incidents of hurtful behavior seriously, whether intentional or accidental. We follow progressive disciplinary processes, which may often start with a conversation with a teacher or counselor before escalating up to an administrator and/or including a disciplinary consequence. Our intent at all levels is for these incidents to be learning experiences, with students having an opportunity to correct inappropriate behavior, to learn from the experience and change their ways.

Please let us know if something is going on with your child. Our counseling and administrative staff is here to help. Don't wait until there. have been multiple incidents before reporting.

The safety and well being of students and staff is always foremost in our thoughts and plans at O’Maley. Our Student Support Team meets regularly to share information and to plan for student assistance and protection. Our District and School Incident Management Teams review evacuation procedures, and we collaborate with the Gloucester Police Department to plan various drills to prepare for emergency situations. One of those is an armed intruder school safety drill. As much as we wish we did not need to conduct such drills, national safety research recommends that we do.

We have rescheduled our Fall drill for November 16th. The purpose of the drill is to provide an opportunity for students and staff to practice the research-informed Active Shooter/Armed Intruder procedures outlined in the O’Maley Innovation Middle School Emergency Response Plan. The procedures are based on the ALICE principles:

• Alert: Call 911 immediately. Provide real-time information about the type and location of the event.
• Lockdown: If evacuation is not safe, lockdown in a secure area. Barricade entry points.
• Inform: Communicate real time information on the intruder’s location. Use clear and direct language.
• Counter: If necessary, distract the attacker. Move toward exits. Throw objects or swarm.
• Evacuate: Run from danger when safe to do so. Use any exit necessary.

In preparation for the upcoming drill, assemblies will be led by O’Maley administration and Gloucester Police Department to inform and train students. We held an assembly for 6th graders on November 4th and for 7th and 8th graders on November 9th. Procedures were reviewed with staff members on November 9th as well. Given that drills of this nature can be trying for some students, we also prepare to support the social-emotional well being of students before, during, and after the training and drill.

COVID-19 at O'Maley: We had two new case of COVID-19 reported at O'Maley since our last update and currently have two active cases. All close contacts have been contacted. Since we started school August 31st there have been a total of thirteen cases reported among the O'Maley community. See the new GPS COVID Dashboard for updated data each week: https://backtogether.gloucesterschools.com/updates/dashboard-covid-cases

Please remember to conduct a daily symptom check with your children. Link here for the daily symptom check information. Please be sure to call the nurses' office at 978-281-9847 if your child is experiencing any of the symptoms as described. Our nurses, Kim Cameron and Alycia Gossom can answer questions and will guide you as to what you need to do related to testing and/or documentation from your child's doctor. Students must not come to school with symptoms.

As we head toward the holiday season, please be aware of the COVID-19 Travel Guidelines. Link here for information on what is needed to return to school following travel.

To Sign Up for Weekly Testing: Link here: https://www.cic-health.com/consent/ma?district=Gloucester.I encourage families to sign their children up to be tested. Individuals signed up to participate last year DO need to re-register. Parents/Guardians MUST complete the form to give permission in order for a student to be tested.

Masks & Distancing: Per the Massachusetts DESE and the Gloucester School Committee, all students and staff will be masked in GPS buildings except at lunch or mask break when they are socially distanced at 3 feet or more. Per DESE, masks are required in public schools until at least January 15, 2022. Masks are not required outdoors. For details on our health and safety protocols district wide, please visit the GPS COVID Guidance and Updates website at https://backtogether.gloucesterschools.com/.

Students must bring their own masks to school each day. While we all wish we did not have to wear them, masks continue to be required indoors at school. Thank you!

To conserve paper, and to ensure that families have access to student performance information, report cards are not printed or sent home as a hard copy. Report cards for Term 1will be accessible in the Schoolbrains Community Portal at approximately 3:00 p.m. on November 16th.

Our Portal is open for all students and families, and parents/guardians who are new to the portal should have received an email containing your login information. If you did not receive an email, or already had one and have forgotten it, please email Mr. Destino, jdestino@gloucesterschools.com or Mr. Hurley, dhurley@gloucesterschools.com and they will send it to you.

Information about the portal, what you will find there, and how to login is below.

Parent Letter re. Schoolbrains Community Portal

Link to the Schoolbrains Community Portal Login

Student/Guardian How-to

November 12 | November 1, 2021 | October 22, 2021 | October 17, 2021 | October 8, 2021 | October 3, 2021 | September 27, 2021 | September 20, 2021 | September 13, 2021 | August 30, 2021 | August 9, 2021 | May 13, 2021 | April 23, 2021 | March 15, 2021 | March 8, 2021 | March 1, 2021 | February 11, 2021 | January 25, 2021 | January 17, 2021 | November 23, 2020 | October 26, 2020 | October 2, 2020 | September 22, 2020 | September 12, 2020 | September 4, 2020 | June 18, 2020 | June 12, 2020 | June 5, 2020 | May 29, 2020 | May 22, 2020 | May 15, 2020 | May 8, 2020 | May 3, 2020 | April 26, 2020 | April 19, 2020 | April 12, 2020 | March 30, 2020

Email: lbeattie@gloucesterschools.com
Website: http://omaley.gloucesterschools.com/
Location: 32 Cherry Street, Gloucester, MA, USA
Phone: 978-281-9850
Twitter: @omaleyprincipal

Hello 8th grade parents and guardians,

You are invited to the first 8th grade committee meeting of the year on Thursday November 18th at 7:30pm at Magnolia 525 Tavern located at 12 Lexington Avenue Gloucester. At this meeting we hope to discuss events that we will be able to plan for our kids and fundraising to pay for those events. If you are able to join us please fill out the below google form so that we have an accurate head count to give the restaurant.

https://forms.gle/vM689tXYwUtVFWph9