The Lion's Roar

Oak Hills Family,

Happy New Year! Hope that you are staying warm and that each of you had a wonderful holiday and were able to enjoy time together with your family. As we move into 2025 and get another calendar year kicked off, it is a time of celebration for all that was accomplished as well as time of reflection on how we can continue to improve. Thank you for your continued support of what we do on campus everyday with our students. We know that to be successful it requires all of us working together and is truly a team effort. A couple of pertinent items for this month:

• All of our students will be going through the course selection process for choosing classes for next school year in the coming weeks. The dates for each grade level are listed in the graphics below. Please feel free to get in touch with your student’s counselor concerning any questions about the course selection process.
• Academic Fair Jan. 14th - this is only for our 6th and 7th grade students returning to Oak Hills next year; this will be a come and go event. It is a time for students and parents to check out all the courses that we offer at each grade level and to meet the teachers of those courses. It is a great time to figure out what courses your student is interested in and would possibly like to enroll in next school year.
• 8th Academic Fair Feb. 3rd - this is only for our 8th grade students who will be moving on to Lake Creek HS next year. This will take place in the Lake Creek Auditorium. More information for this event is listed in a graphic below.

Thank you,

G. Whitehead

JANUARY DATES

1/9 – Boys Basketball vs. Creekside Park

1/9 – Girls Basketball @ Creekside Park

1/10 & 1/11 – Girls Basketball Tournament @ Magnolia JH

1/10 – Grade Level Meetings w/Students

1/14 – Curriculum Night Incoming 7th/8th Grade (5:30 pm @ Oak Hills)

1/16 – Boys Basketball @ Schultz JH

1/16 – Girls Basketball vs. Schultz JH

1/16 – Choir Parent Meeting @ 6:30 pm

1/17 – Girls’ Choir Night (3:30 pm @ Oak Hills)

1/23 – Boys Basketball @ Magnolia JH

1/23 – Girls Basketball vs. Magnolia JH

1/27 – 5th Grade Curriculum Night (5:30 pm @ Oak Hills)

1/28 – 5th Grade Field Trip to Oak Hills @ 9:00 am

1/30 – Boys Basketball vs. Waller

1/30 – Girls Basketball @ Waller

1/31 – Boys Choir Night (3:30 pm @ Oak Hills)

2/3 – 8th Grade to Visit Lake Creek HS

2/3 – 8th Grade Parent Night @ Lake Creek High School (5:30 pm in Auditorium)

2/5 – NJHS Meeting @ 6:50 am

2/6 – Boys Basketball @ Montgomery Junior High

2/6 – Girls Basketball vs. Montgomery Junior High

2/7 – Spring School Dance

2/7 – PTO Meeting @ 8:30 am

The Montgomery ISD Resource Center provides pantry and hygiene items to MISD employees, students, and their families beyond the school day. Click here for more information!

Through the annual Spring Soiree, the largest fundraiser of the year for the MISDEF, we can grow our giving capacity back to Montgomery Independent School District and support our educators who invest in innovation.

This year's 2025 theme takes us back to 1925, when Montgomery ISD was first established. The Spring Soiree, presented by Stewart Builders, we will be celebrating Montgomery ISD's centennial with a Roaring 20's theme at Margaritaville Lake Resort. Grab your feathers and pin stripes and help the MISD Education Foundation fundraise for another successful year of Educator Grants and promoting creative learning experiences for our students. Click on the graphic above for more information about registration and the event.

As adults, we know that there is hardly a worse feeling than that of being knocked down. Whether physically, emotionally, or simply metaphorically, being down has this way of making us feel, well...down! For our kids, this feeling can be even harder to overcome. Without the benefit of experience and the practice of resilience, kids may lack the tools needed to rebound quickly. We also know that there can be moments in life where it feels like not just one thing is holding you back, but many. We can help build resilience in our students in many ways. One of these ways is to show resilience ourselves, and to talk about times we recovered from a mistake, a setback, or a missed opportunity. We can also acknowledge that there are some situations in which resilience is VERY hard to maintain, and in those cases additional help or time might be required. In these situations, we might need to find patience, compassion, and understanding as our young people attempt to find their own personal resilience.

Questions to consider:

• Reflect on a time you showed resilience. What were the building blocks that

were in place that helped you to keep going?

• How can you relate to your child when they are feeling knocked down? How can

you see and meet his/her emotional needs before moving on to solutions?

Questions to ask your student:

• What does it mean to you to be resilient?

• What encouragement do you need when you are feeling discouraged?

• Describe a time you demonstrated resilience.

Hello lions!

With the cooler temperatures and the weather changing, the common cold, influenza and covid are the illnesses that seem to plague us all. We ask that everyone do their part and be as proactive as possible to reduce the spread of anything possibly contagious. Please keep students’ home that do not feel well.

Illness Requiring Exclusion from Schools-

Fever, Diarrhea, and Vomiting-exclude until symptom free for 24 hours without use of suppressing medications.

Per Texas Administrative Code TITLE 25 HEALTH SERVICES PART 1 DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES CHAPTER 97 COMMUNICABLE DISEASES SUBCHAPTER A CONTROL OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES RULE §97.7

*Spinal screenings will also be coming up in February for 7th grade girls and 8th grade boys.

*Please ensure your child knows their phone numbers! With the new cell phone policy, we can only help students with numbers we have in Skyward please ensure your information is up to date.

*All medications require a doctor’s signature yearly to be administered here on campus. This now includes over the counter medications due to a change in the Texas State Nursing laws. We do not roll consents over from school year to school year and we do not hold medications over the summer. Students are not allowed to transport or pick up medications.

*Health condition paperwork and action plans need to be done EVERY school year. Orders do not carry over to the next school year and health conditions are added yearly to your student’s profile in Skyward for teachers and staff, without documentation we do not add conditions.

*Immunizations-The State of Texas Immunization Law requires a Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) Vaccine (within the last 5 years) and Meningococcal Vaccine for 7th grade. Students will not be able to stay enrolled in school without the proper documentation. If you have a 6th grade student, and they receive any immunizations, please turn the record into the clinic so that their record can be updated and they are not delayed in starting 7th grade.

If your student has an exemption, the original affidavit must be turned into the clinic, not a copy.

Thank you!

Nurse James & Mrs. Bailey

To view the MISD Attendance Policy and Frequently Asked Questions click HERE

Here are a few tips to consider:

● Have your student arrive at school on time and attend every class period, especially the official attendance-taking period (9:15 AM JH and HS).

● A student who is tardy to class will be subject to the consequences established at each campus in accordance with the possible consequences in the MISD Student Code of Conduct.

● What happens if your student needs to see a doctor/dentist/therapist? If possible, we encourage you to schedule appointments outside of school hours. Obtain and submit a medical note for documentation to provide to your student’s Campus Attendance Specialist. Documentation is needed so the absence will be coded correctly.

● When you receive an absence notification, please follow up with your student and the campus attendance specialist. If you have documentation for your student’s absence, please submit as early as possible (it is recommended to submit within 48 hours). If you believe a teacher has marked a student incorrectly, please have your student reach out to the teacher of the marked period.

Oak Hills Attendance Specialist:

Mrs. Vanessa Villarreal

Email: OHJHattendance@misd.org

Phone: (936)276-4315

Fax: (936)276-4323

Gifford Whitehead, Principal

Preston Clark, Assistant Principal (L-Z)

Amy Gollogly, Assistant Principal (A-K)

Website: https://oakhillsjh.misd.org/
Location: 19190 Keenan Cut Off Road, Montgomery, TX, USA
Phone: 936-276-4300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oakhillsjuniorhigh
Twitter: @oakhillslions