Mustang Families,
The Illinois State Board of Education has released the annual Illinois Report Card, showcasing our school’s performance data for the 2023-24 school year. Check it out here: Illinois Report Card.
OLHMS is a home away from home for our scholars and staff! This designation highlights and validates the tremendous efforts of our entire school community!
At Oak Lawn Hometown Middle School, we pride ourselves on nurturing not only academic excellence but also the holistic development of every scholar to prepare today's learner for tomorrow's world! Our school is so much more than just numbers! We create experiences that go well beyond our walls in partnership with each of our families and this EXEMPLARY School Designation is a celebration of our partnership! We’re committed to building strong partnerships with families and fostering a dynamic community that supports our students every step of the way!
While we celebrate our many accomplishments this year, we also recognize there’s always room for improvement and growth. That’s why we are dedicated to continuous improvement and 100% growth over the next three years for every scholar! This year, we working though an ELA curricular pilot, supporting a new math curriculum and navigating a math grading pilot.
One exciting highlight from the Illinois School Report Card is our Annual Summative Designation, a federally required accountability category that measures how well we’re meeting the needs of ALL students. We are proud to announce that our summative designation is Exemplary, placing us in the top 10% of all schools!
This Report Card not only allows us to celebrate our strengths but also to reflect on our goals to help every student reach their fullest potential. At OLHMS, we firmly believe that every student can achieve high expectations, and YOU play a vital role in your child’s education. Together, as partners, we can create dreams into reality!
Did you know our school celebrated over 75 veterans this past Friday?
We are so proud of our school community for taking the time to honor, celebrate and acknowledge our brave men and woman who have served in our armed forces!
Here is the LINK to our Special Edition Veterans Day Communication
Here is the LINK to the full OLHMS Veterans Day Assembly
Here is the LINK for Oak Lawn Veterans Day Ceremony (Featuring our talented OLHMS Scholars)
Did you know that we will be collecting, packing and sending candy to the troops overseas in partnership with Jacky's Soldiers?
Once again we will be participating in partnership with Jacky's Soldiers to collect candy for our troops! Please help us collect your left over Halloween candy or the extra candy you may just need to get out of the house by sending it in with your scholar or dropping it off in the office or with their advisory teacher! Last year, we collected over 1,200 pounds! I believe we can tip the scale on 1,500 pounds! Here is a Fox News story from a few years back! We will be accepting these donations until the 13th of November!
Did you know we will be hosting a meal packing event on December 14th?
We are looking forward to our annual Feed Six event next month! Here is the LINK for donation/ registration forms.
We are so proud of our Mustangs and our entire school community! There is always something exciting happening here at the middle school! Thank you to our scholars for supporting one another and living our mission!
As a dynamic and supportive environment, believing in the gift we individually and collectively bring to the table is extremely important! Please remind scholars to follow our Mustang Musts of being responsible, safe and respectful. We are beginning to look ahead at trimester two and our scholars are prepared for continued success! Our Mustang Musts keep our opportunities very simple and we appreciate your partnership to reinforce this.
We are hearing about elevated challenges on social media outlets. Please talk to and check your child's phone activity so it doesn't impact our educational environment! Your support and proactiveness is greatly appreciated! Here is a LINKED resource for families with some tips for preventing cyberbullying.
Speaking of support and success, here is the Class of 2025 Graduate Expectation Letter. This letter has been distributed and discussed with our Class of 2025!
We love having fans here to support our Mustang Athletes. Here is the LINK for our Spectator Permission Form and Code of Conduct for student spectators. Student fans unaccompanied by parents, must have an electronic or paper form on file to attend home games. Students cannot stay in the building for games unless they are part of a club or activity.
Attention all 7th and 8th grade students interested in joining the National Junior Honor Society! There will be a mandatory meeting for petitioning members on Wednesday, December 18th.
- During this meeting, we will review the requirements for induction, which include submitting a Trimester 1 report card with a majority of 3's in both Core and Encore classes.
- Additionally, you must demonstrate leadership qualities, participate in service activities, and exhibit good character. If you're serious about making a difference and joining NJHS, be sure to attend!
Bus Behavior: Please remind bus riders that we must be following our Mustang Musts. We have been hearing about challenging, inappropriate and unsafe behavior on the bus riders to and from school. Students will be given consequences for their behavior which may include a suspension from the bus.
Bus Loading and Unloading: Families should not be passing buses in our parking lot. This is dangerous and almost caused an accident. Do not pass buses with their stop sign extended.
We can all support a healthy environment in and around school! Do your best to turn off your car while you wait for your scholar!
Researchers estimate that idling from heavy-duty and lightduty vehicles combined wastes about 6 billion gallons of fuel annually. About half of that is attributable to personal vehicles, which generate around 30 million tons of CO2 every year just by idling. While the impact of idling may be small on a per-car basis, the impact of the 250 million personal vehicles in the U.S. adds up. For saving fuel and reducing emissions, eliminating the unnecessary idling of personal vehicles would be the same as taking 5 million vehicles off the roads.
Absenteeism in the first month of school can predict poor attendance throughout the school year. Half the students who miss 2-4 days in September go on to miss nearly a month of school. Read more...
The most recent federal data show that in the 2020-21 school year, at least 14.7 million students nationwide were chronically absent. This means that chronic absence has almost doubled from the more than 8 million students, pre-Covid-19, who were missing so many days of school that they were academically at risk. Read more...
Absenteeism and its ill effects start early. Read more...
Poor attendance can influence whether children read proficiently by the end of third grade or be held back. Read more...
By 6th grade, chronic absence becomes a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school. Read more...
Research shows that missing 10 percent of the school, or about 18 days in most school districts, negatively affects a student’s academic performance. That’s just two days a month and that’s known as chronic absence. Read more...
Students who live in communities with high levels of poverty are four times more likely to be chronically absent than others often for reasons beyond their control, such as unstable housing, unreliable transportation and a lack of access to health care. Read more...
When students improve their attendance rates, they improve their academic prospects and chances for graduating. Read more...
Attendance improves when schools engage students and parents in positive ways and when schools provide mentors for chronically absent students. Read more...
Most school districts and states don’t look at all the right data to improve school attendance. They track how many students show up every day and how many are skipping school without an excuse, but not how many are missing so many days in excused and unexcused absence that they are headed off track academically. Read more...
It is great to see so many scholars taking advantage of the opportunity to come in early or stay after school for additional time and support with academics. Please remind our scholars that this time should not be treated as a social opportunity and our school expectations of being safe, responsible and respectful should be maintained at all times. We appreciate everyone's support and partnership.
Student Device Repair Program:
Your student's device is protected against accidental damage, theft, fire, flood, natural disasters, power surge and vandalism. If your child’s device needs repair, below are the costs associated with each incident during a school year:
1st incident - No Charge (one-time fee waiver)
2nd incident - $25.00
3rd incident - $50.00
Membership is $6.00 per student and $10.00 per adult
PTSA Meetings are at 6:00pm monthly
- Next PTSA Meeting is January 7th at 6:00pm
- Reach out to Delecta Harris, our PTSA President for more information (olhmsd123ptsa@gmail.com )
- PTSA Facebook
All parents/ guardians/ staff & students are highly encouraged to join the PTSA and attend meetings. This is an incredible opportunity, partnership and fun way to support our scholar’s experience at the middle school!
If you are interested in supporting our school in a different capacity please reach out to our PTSA! Maybe you do not have the time to donate, but your contributions can still be made through your membership!
Oak Lawn Community High School
Oak Lawn Community High School (co-ed)- Upcoming Shadow Day is November 25th. Incoming Freshmen Course Selection Night is February 5, 2025. Information found at Community HS. Additional information and questions can be answered by contacting Maria Vanderwarren, at 708-741-5602 or mvanderwarren@olchs.org.
Harold L. Richards High School (co-ed)- Perspective current 8th graders can attend the Open House on December 4th from 6 pm- 8 pm. Information found at Richards Open House.
Brother Rice (all gentlemen)- Shadow Days can be scheduled on Fridays by registering at BR Shadow Day
De La Salle High School (co-ed)- Shadow Days can be scheduled by registering at De La Salle HS.
Marist (co-ed)- Shadow Days can be scheduled on Fridays by registering at Marist Shadow Day.
Mother McAuley (all ladies)- registration must be completed 24 hours prior to shadowing. The next big Shadow Day is February 17th, however, other dates can be scheduled by registering at McAuley Shadow Day.
Tuesday, November 19 at 8:15am
Parents of 8th Grade Girls
November 21-24
6th-8th Graders
Shadow days at McAuley are offered everyday! We invite all 6-8th grade girls to experience a day in the life of a Mighty Mac.
Registration link can be found here: mothermcauley.org/admissions/shadow-mcauley
Morgan Park Academy (co-ed)- Shadow Days can be scheduled on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays by selecting “Schedule A Shadow Day For Middle School” at MPA Shadow Day.
Mount Carmel (all gentlemen)- Shadow Days are typically held any day that school is in session. If interested, register at MC Shadow Day.
Providence Catholic High School
St. Ignatius College Prep (co-ed)- Shadow Days can be scheduled by registering at St. Ignatius CP.
St. Laurence HS (co-ed)- Shadow Days can be scheduled by selecting “ Fill Out Our Inquiry Form” at St. Laurence HS.
