OV Weekly WAVES of News

Week 🖐🏻 🖐🏻 = 10

Helping Our Dolphins Grow, One Step at a Time 🐬💙

As parents and educators, our instinct is to jump in when our children struggle. We want to tie the shoe, solve the problem, find the missing folder, and make every disappointment disappear. If only we could earn frequent-flyer points for all the times we have said, “Did you check your backpack?” 😉

This week’s graphic offers an important reminder: helping our children does not always mean doing things for them. Sometimes the best support is giving them time to try, asking, “What have you tried so far?”, listening before offering advice, or encouraging them to use their own voice to explain what they need.

This is All You Need is lOVe in action:

• Learning: Mistakes, problem-solving, and perseverance help children build skills that last.
• Ownership: Age-appropriate responsibilities, such as packing a backpack, remembering a folder, or completing an assignment, help students become more independent.
• Voice: Giving children time and space to speak for themselves builds confidence and communication skills.
• Excellence: Growing independent, resilient learners prepares students to give their best both in and beyond the classroom. 🌟

A helpful question to try at home is: “Do you want help thinking through a solution, or do you need me to listen?” It is amazing how much confidence can grow when children know we believe they can handle hard things. 💪

As we head into the end of the first quarter, please note that grades close Tuesday, October 27. Report cards are expected to come home on November 10. 📚

Be on the lookout for dates and times for our upcoming Student Recognition Awards, where we will celebrate students for academic achievement, perfect attendance, and Ocean View’s very own Anchor Award! ⚓ More information is coming soon, because our Dolphins deserve to be celebrated for all the wonderful ways they shine! 🎉

All in,

Mrs. Murphey

🚗 Important Arrival and Dismissal Safety Update

If you've seen some extra "safety cones" in the parking lot these last few days, say HI as you drive by! Our PTA sees an issue and steps in to help here at OV and in the process, drums up interest in getting new members to join, because WHO DOESN'T WANT TO EMBARASS THEIR KID AT SCHOOL EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE for a good cause! I want to personally thank them for making our drop off and pick up MUCH safer!

The front parking lot IS closed for morning drop-off. The Kiss and Drop lane is the only area open for morning drop-offs. This lane is very busy, and the amount of pedestrian traffic for non-office business has become a safety concern. If you need to visit the front office, you may park in the lot. Otherwise, please wait until morning arrival ends at 9:25 a.m. before parking there.

In the afternoon, families using face-to-face pickup may not park in the staff lot. The car pickup lane has had to stop repeatedly for pedestrians, creating an unsafe situation. Please park along Mason Creek Road or Government Avenue, then walk on the sidewalk around the car pickup lane or across the field to the face-to-face pickup area.

Do not enter the staff lot from the second driveway at any time. Vehicles leaving the car pickup lane are heading toward that exit, and entering from the second driveway creates a serious risk of a head-on collision.

Student safety comes before convenience, every time. We expect our students to follow school rules, and we ask families to model that same respect for safety procedures. Thank you for helping us keep arrival and dismissal safe for everyone.

For Octobers School Board artwork display, Dennis Serrano Mejia's "Pterodactyl" was chosen by Mrs. Thebarge. Dennis' work based on his tenacity and craftsmanship! Dennis is a student in Ms. Conwell's 4th grade class. Great job, Dennis! 🥳

A huge Ocean View congratulations to two outstanding Dolphins: Daniel from Mrs. Cofield’s 1st grade class and Kailani from Ms. Conwell’s 4th grade class! 🎉

These amazing students were nominated by their teachers to receive a Positive Principal Phone Call Home for the fantastic choices, hard work, and Dolphin pride they show in the classroom. It was such a joy to hear the excitement and pride in their families’ voices when I called to share the good news. Those are the calls we love to make! 📞✨

Keep up the wonderful work, Daniel and Kailani. You are making OV proud! 🌟

Now the question is: Which Dolphins will be the next to earn a Positive Principal Phone Call Home? Keep showing that lOVe through Learning, Ownership, Voice, and Excellence! 🐬💙

Thank you for working with us and following the superintendent’s chain-of-command guidance (found on the NPS website) when a concern arises. For classroom questions or concerns, please reach out first to your child’s classroom teacher or, when appropriate, their case manager. This has long been our practice, and we appreciate your partnership in making it work.

Our front office team is always here to listen, investigate, mediate, and help find a resolution. Teachers and case managers are closest to students’ day-to-day experiences, though, so they’re usually the best place to start. They have the classroom play-by-play; we may need a recap! 😊

If your questions remain after speaking with the teacher or case manager, please reach out to an administrator. Thank you for collaborating with our staff to make sure every student’s needs are met and everyone is safe and successful! 🤝

Thanks to the wonderful generosity of our Ocean View community partners, we are happy to offer 50 snack bags for students and families who may benefit from a little extra support.

Each bag may include items such as Goldfish crackers, Cup Noodles, fruit cups, canned ravioli, milk, juice, cereal, oatmeal, Rice Krispie treats, rice, and granola bars. 🍎🥣

If you would like a snack bag sent home with your student, please complete the Google Form. Bags will be provided to the first 50 families who submit a request.

We are grateful for the caring community that helps keep our Dolphins fueled, supported, and ready to learn! 🌟

https://forms.gle/dT24VsfGUcf3BTmP9

📚 Get ready for Ocean View’s Vocabulary Parade!

On Friday, October 30, at 10:00 a.m., our kindergarten through fifth-grade students and staff will celebrate literacy and social-emotional learning by bringing character-trait words to life.

This is not a time for Halloween costumes. Students will dress to represent an unfamiliar word that describes a positive quality, such as generous, calm, persistent, or cooperative. Each outfit should include the word and its definition. Families are welcome to line the sidewalks and cheer us on!

As students explore new vocabulary, they’ll also think about how these traits help each of us become a positive contributor to our school community. We can’t wait to see the creativity, learning, and lOVe on parade! 💙🐬

Dive in, Dolphins! 🏀🐬 Basketball tryouts for OV Dunkin' Dolphins are coming up this Monday and Tuesday from 4:00 to 5:30. 🏀 Any 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade boys and girls who are interested are invited to take the court! 🙌 Please read the attached letter to see whether your student is interested and qualifies. ⚠️ This is a commitment, with weekly practices for anyone who makes the team. 🚗 Parents are responsible for all transportation after tryouts and are expected to be on time. ⏰ Students must be dressed to try out. 👟 We can't wait to see our Dolphins show up and shine! 🌊🏀 See Coach Ayers for a paper copy of the letter.

👕We are using a new vendor this year for OV Spirit Wear! There are so many choices so show your Dolphin Spirit! Please log on and order. It is mailed straight to your house! How easy! I can't wait to place to MY order! You can find both an English and Spanish version of the catalog on the website! Click on the picture to head straight there!

The Norfolk Public Schools Student Code of Conduct is available online this year. Please make yourself and your student familiar with the expectations laid out by Norfolk Public Schools. There will not be a "paper copy" coming home this year as in years past, so please also make yourself familiar on how to find this on the NPS website in the event you need information. Thank you!

🌏Ocean View Elementary School is READY for the NexTrex Recycling Challenge, where students collect clean plastic film like grocery bags and bubble wrap to earn prizes including a Trex bench 🪑 and Solo Stove. Trex upcycles over 400 million pounds of plastic annually into composite decking through its school program. Please bring ALL plastic bags and drop them off to room 136!

There are 2 types of absences: excused and unexcused.

Excused Absences - an absence accompanied by documentation (ie. illness, medical/dental appts, etc.)

Unexcused Absences - an absence WITHOUT documentation OR the following reasons (extra-curricular trips/family vacations, child-care for younger siblings/relatives, lack of transportation, or any absences without parental consent. These turn into TRUANCY.

* Only 5 parent notes are accepted per semester to excuse student absences.

* After 5 absences by parent note, doctor's notes are required.

We are tracking our Chronic Absenteeism closely. Our Attendance Tech will be doing home visits (to get Attendance Plans signed AND to verify addresses) and presenting truancy cases in court.

Please do your part and send your student/s to school every day!

Excessive absences, tardies, late pick-ups, and early dismissals contribute to the suspicion that students may not reside in the attendance zone for their current school. Parents/guardians are responsible for updating their addresses and phone numbers with their child(ren)’s school(s) every school year or when changes occur. OV'S Attendance Team will initiate address verification procedures based on the above suspicions, or if mail has been returned to the school. If evidence supports that the enrolled student does not reside at the address currently on file, that student will be withdrawn, and their parent/guardian must provide proof of residency to re-enroll.

§ 22.1-264.1. Any person who knowingly makes a false Student Handbook 2025-2026 Page Attendance 49 statement concerning the residency of a child, as determined by § 22.1-3, in a particular school division or school attendance zone, for the purposes of (i) avoiding the tuition charges authorized by § 22.1-5 or (ii) enrollment in a school outside the attendance zone in which the student resides, shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor and shall be liable to the school division in which the child was enrolled as a result of such false statements for tuition charges, pursuant to § 22.1-5, for the time the student was enrolled in such school division.

Per the NPS Student Code of Conduct, linked here https://www.npsk12.com/Page/1349, elementary students are not permitted to bring cell phones, Smartwatches, or Gizmo Gadget type devices to school. The VDOE and the Governor have enacted "Guidance for Cell-Phone Free Education Pursuant to Executive Order 33" which can be found at this link, https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57403. Elementary School students are not to have cell phones/electronic devices (smart watches), however, if a parent chooses to send one for safety reasons with their student, it must be off and not on their person. If a student has one visible during the instructional day, it will be held by the teacher and sent home at the end of the day. If the student repeats this offense, the device will be held in the front office and a parent will be required to pick it up. Please review the Cell Phone Policy carefully, as the discipline steps are leveled. The front office will not be storing/keeping student cell phones during the school day.

Ocean View has both an Instagram and Facebook page. Please follow us!

Also, please submit all inquiries and attendance documentation to out informational email address (askoves@nps.k12.va.us) . This is monitored throughout the day and responses will be timely!