High School Weekly Communication

Happy Thursday OCHS! This week has been full of learning, chromebooks, and filotimo! Tomorrow is our first formal dress day - we are excited to see all of our students looking sharp in their blazers! Hoot hoot!

Friday, 9/13

• First Formal Dress Day

Monday, 9/16

• Students who have Summer Service Hours must turn in their forms via email or in person by the end of the day on Monday!

Tuesday, 9/17

• Back to School Night, 5:00pm
• Senior College Presentation, 6:00pm

Wednesday, 9/18

• Dress Down Day, $2 Cash Only or wristband from Back to School Night

Thursday, 9/19

• Picture Day

Friday, 9/20

• Picture Day Retakes

Our first formal dress day will be on Friday, September 13th. On formal dress days, students must wear a navy blue blazer over their OCS-embroidered polo shirt (long or short sleeve).

We understand the time crunch of getting a navy blue blazer in time for our first formal dress day. As a result, we are incentivizing this day by offering THREE dress down passes for every student who comes in full formal dress with a blazer on Friday, September 13th. For our high school students, these free dress downs will be wristband passes handed out that students can choose to utilize anytime before the end of the month of September.

We encourage all of our families to participate in our first formal dress day, and have attached a calendar of additional formal dress days that will be required throughout the year.

Navy Blue blazers embroidered with the school logo are available through our vendors, Tommy Hilfiger and Lands’ End. Students may also wear non-logoed navy blue blazers in a similar style. Blazers are not required to be embroidered, and can be purchased from major retailers such as Amazon ( 1, 2, 3), Target, H&M, Zara, Walmart, Temu, etc. Please click the links for examples of acceptable blazers.

As a reminder, our full Dress Code and Uniform Policy can be found here.

Back to School Night is on Tuesday, September 17th! Please join us at 5pm on 9/17. Our schedule for the times in each room are seen above! We also will be holding a presentation for all college-bound seniors at 6pm in the HS Cafeteria. Learn about the OCHS college application process and come with your questions! All students who attend will receive a wristband for a free dress down day on Wednesday, 9/18. See you there!

An optional Title 1 Meeting will be held in the high school cafeteria on Tuesday, September 17th, beginning at 5:00pm. Please email Jackie.McCutchon@odyssey.k12.de.us for more information on this optional meeting!

The High School is selling Fall Mums. All proceeds support OCHS student activities.

You can order a beautiful 9" planter:

• 1 for $10

• 3 for $25.

Color choices this year will include the following: Yellow, Orange, Red, Purple, and Pink. You can pick your colors when placing your order! All mums are grown at Frysville Farms in Ephrata, PA, and will be ready for pick-up the week of September 30th in the main lobby of, Building 20. The last day to order is Friday, 9/20/2024.

Use the link https://ocs-bpa.square.site/ for ordering or follow the QR code on the flyer! Reach out to Jackie Brandt at the HS with any questions at Jackie.Brandt@odyssey.k12.de.us

The OCS Code of Conduct for 2024-2025 can be found by clicking this link.

The acknowledgement form is on page 6 of that document, but also can be found here for ease of printing should your student need another copy. This form is due by Monday, September 16th.

Please be reminded that this policy begins on the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. Thank you!

Students may not use personal electronics (cell phones, tablets, laptops, smart watches, etc.) at school or on the bus.

When entering the building, students should not have any devices or their accessories (headphones, charging cords) visible. All electronics should be stored in students’ locked lockers. Students are not permitted to use personal electronic devices while riding the bus, and must abide by the Acceptable Use Policy and comply with driver requests to put a device away.

Students who violate this policy will be asked to turn over their phone or electronic device to an administrator. Refusal will result in an automatic suspension. If a teacher asks the student to put their devices away and the student refuses to comply with this reasonable request, the teacher will immediately call for an administrator who will remove both the student and the device from the classroom and proceed with the appropriate disciplinary consequences, including confiscation, detention or suspension.

The first time a student is found possessing or utilizing a device, the device will be confiscated, students will meet with an administrator to reiterate the rules, and a phone call home will be made. The device will be returned to the student at the end of the day.

The second time a student is found possessing or utilizing a device, the device will be confiscated, students will meet with an administrator to reiterate the rules, and a parent or guardian must come to the school for a conference with the administrator and to pick up the device.

Additional incidences of a student utilizing or possessing a device will result in continued confiscation and parent conferences, including suspension(s) for the student. Any time a student refuses to comply and turn over their device, they will be suspended.

Medications - Emergency and Routine

If you have a student that requires emergency or other medications to be kept in the School Nurse's office, please send in or drop those off at school now.

All emergency medications MUST be sent into school. Medications that are controlled substances (medications that you give your license to pick-up) must be brought to school by someone over the age of 18.

Please call the School RN so that we may look for the medication and prepare.

Odyssey Charter School's Requirements for Medication can be found here.

Emergency Treatment Cards - This should have come home with all students. A new Emergency treatment card is required EVERY school year. This is a requirement by the Department of Education. Emergency Treatment cards MUST be turned in by Wednesday, September 18, 2024.

Required Health Screenings - Hearing/Vision Delaware Department of Education requires vision and hearing screenings completed on all students in Kindergarten, 2nd, 4th, 7th and 10th, all students that are new to Delaware Public Schools, and students considered for special education. Postural and Gait (Scoliosis) Delaware Department of Education requires postural and gait screenings (often referred to as Scoliosis) on all students in 5th-9th grades.

Required health screenings will begin taking place in the month of September. If you have any questions, please reach out to your student’s building RN.

HIGH SCHOOL HEALTH SCREENINGS WILL BEGIN ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2024. These will be completed on all High School students that are required by the State of Delaware (8th, 9th, 10th and students considered for Special Education Services)

As a reminder, students with specific health needs or treatment plans must resubmit these to the nurse each school year.

Juniors who are interested in parking on campus need to complete a parking application and purchase a parking pass for $15 from Ms. Lingo in the main office. The application can be found here, and parking spaces can be paid for online on Infinite Campus or cash in the main office.

Please see the map for information regarding our carline and parking at the high school. This map has not changed from last year, if you are already familiar with the high school procedures.

Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, all OCHS students will need to complete service hours. This was communicated earlier in the year through our course catalog changes as well as in scheduling meetings with our school counselors.

We will be utilizing a phased approach for the number of required hours per grade level, as follows:

• Seniors (Class of 2025) - 10 total hours
• Juniors (Class of 2026) - 20 total hours, 10 per year
• Sophomores (Class of 2027) - 30 total hours, 10 per year
• Freshman (Class of 2028) - 40 total hours, 10 per year

All students are required to complete Service Hours to graduate from OCHS beginning with the Class of 2025. Students will need to submit evidence of any hours competed - they can do so using this form.

Please see the attached calendar for the 2024-2025 school year.

Senior schedules currently do NOT include any work based learning, senior privilege, or student/lab aide periods. This is by design. Students who are interested in any of these programs will express their interest and we will adjust their schedules in the first two weeks of school once they have secured a placement or applied for senior privilege.

I am excited to share a few opportunities that you may be interested in applying for:

1. Are you interested in studying abroad and learning a new language for FREE while in high school? If so, I highly recommend you begin your application for NSLI-Y (https://www.nsliforyouth.org/how-to-apply/timeline/). It is super competitive! I am happy to help in any way.

2. If you are a history enthusiast, I highly recommend you apply for the Voice of Democracy scholarship here (https://www.vfw.org/VOD/)! You can win a $35,000!

3. Have you ever read anything by author, Ayn Rand? Here are some scholarships that you may be interested in applying to: https://aynrand.org/students/essay-contests/

Each of these opportunities are due in October(ish) -- it feels like a while away, but the deadline WILL sneak up on you. If you're interested, please map out time now for you to begin. You will want your teachers and counselors' support. I'm happy to help too! :)

Hey Seniors! Ms. Leighty here -- your new Assistant Principal!

As many of you may know, I have a lot of experience working in selective college admissions and one of my big goals is to ensure that as many of you as possible are admitted to top-tier institutions with awesome financial aid. If you have aspirations of attending a top college, I highly recommend you apply to as many fly-in programs as possible.

If you need or want support, don't hesitate to contact me. My email is amanda.leighty@odyssey.k12.de.us and my extension is 651.

Check out this list -- many deadlines are quickly approaching.

Link: College Fly-ins + Deadlines

Senior parking spots are now available!

To apply for a senior parking spot (first-come, first-served), please utilize the following link.

Senior parking spots are $35 and must be paid for on Infinite Campus or cash in the main office. Velocity can no longer be used.

Senior parking spots are assigned. Flex spots are not assigned. If you are painting your parking spot, you will be assigned a previously painted spot and will be able to paint your spot in August after checking in at the HS main office and receiving your parking permit.

Seniors, are you interested in Senior Privilege? Senior privilege applications will be available once student schedules have been released on the student portals. Please read below for information on this program!

Senior Privilege

Odyssey Charter High School is pleased to extend to qualifying seniors a late arrival/early release program option. The senior privilege program offers students who have a study hall during the first or last period of the day to arrive late or be dismissed early from campus. Students must complete the Senior Privilege Application Form and submit the Senior Privilege Agreement & Permission Form after their schedule has been released for the academic year.

Students applying for senior privilege must meet all of the following criteria, which will be verified at the submission of this application:

• Grade Point Average Requirement: A student must have a cumulative unweighted GPA of 2.50 or greater at the time of the application. Students must then maintain a minimum unweighted GPA of 2.5 throughout the year. Failure to maintain this basic academic standing will result in the loss of senior privileges until the requirement is met. Students may then be added to academic classes or study hall periods based on the administration's discretion.

• Required Course Completion: Students applying for senior privilege must have successfully completed the following courses: Health, Algebra 2, US History and Biology, and be on track to graduate.

• Availability of Schedule: Students applying for senior privilege must have open availability in their schedule and be free of all obligations. Students may not drop core classes or request alternative options to free periods for senior privilege.

• Available Transportation: Students are responsible for their own transportation. Students must also apply for parking if requesting senior privilege and provide their own transportation. Students will lose this privilege and, if applicable, their parking privilege if found helping other students to leave school property without proper permission.

• Parent/Guardian Permission: Once the initial application has been reviewed, parents/legal guardians will be required to sign an agreement/permission form for senior privilege. The parent/guardian may withdraw this permission at any time.

• Satisfactory Attendance Record: Students are permitted no more than a combined five (5) unexcused absences/tardy to school within a marking period in order to maintain their senior privileges. Students who accumulate five (5) unexcused absences will have their privileges revoked and will be asked to use the time to make up missing work. Senior privileges will not be reinstated until the following marking period.

Our final day of Senior Portraits for the Class of 2025 is on September 27th. You must sign up in order to be included in the yearbook! Sign Ups are now open for this date: https://seniors.legacystudios.com/odyssey-charter-wilmington-de/

· Below is the contact information for the Legacy Studios customer care service in case you require any assistance.

· Call: 716-512-6336

· Email: customercare@legacystudios.com

· Chat: https://seniors.legacystudios.com

Monday, September 16th

Middle school girls cross country tryouts- 3:00-4:30p @Banning Park. Pick up at the park.

Tuesday, September 17th

Varsity Boys Soccer vs. Wilmington Christian 3:00 @Chase Fields

Varsity Girls Volleyball @St. Andrew’s at 5p

Thursday, September 19th

JV/V Volleyball @Lake Forest at 3:30/5p

JV Field Hockey vs. Concord @Maple Zone at 3:30p

Check out https://www.odysseychartersports.com/ for all sports schedules.

• 2024-2025 Bell Schedule

• 2024-2025 A/B Calendar

• 1-Page School Calendar

• Dress Down Dates
• Dress Code
• High School Grading Policy