FALCON FLYER

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Falcon Community,

This has been another truly fabulous week at OTMS! Students are engaged in learning, traffic flow is improving and fall athletics are underway. Clubs, concerts and athletic competitions will begin following Labor Day, and our 1st Falcon Activity Night is on the horizon (9/13)

Each week I will share a few reminders in my principal's message and also feature a variety of events and topics throughout the Falcon Flyer newsletter to keep you informed. Can't find what you are looking for in the weekly newsletter? Please check the "Quick Links for Families" at the beginning of this newsletter. You can also visit the Overland Trail Middle website. Thank you for taking a few minutes each week to review the Flyer and engage in your child's schooling.

Our students will achieve this year because of your support and encouragement. Thank you for believing in our staff as we strive to inspire all of our students to become the best versions of themselves.

Dr. Trent Stern, Proud Principal of OTMS

Tuesday, August 27

Restaurant Night at Andy's

Monday, September 2

No School Labor Day

Tuesday, September 3

No School-Staff Professional Learning

Wednesday, September 4

Chipotle Restaurant Night

3:00 Musical Auditions begin

Thursday, September 5

3:00 Musical Auditions

3:25 Volleyball Games at Home vs Blue Valley Middle

3:40 Football Game Away at Pleasant Ridge

Monday, September 9

3:00 Rehearsals begin for Musical

3:25 PM Volleyball Games at Home vs Oxford

6:30 PM Instrument Try-It Night Commons

Tuesday, September 10

3:40 Football Games Away at Blue Valley Middle

Wednesday, September 11

3:25 Volleyball Games Away at Pleasant Ridge

Thursday, September 12

3:15 PM Cross Country Meet at Blue Valley Southwest High School

Friday, September 13

School pictures & retakes

Falcon Activity Night (FAN) 6-8 pm

• Traffic is improving during drop off and pick up. Please remember to form 1 line. Note: Overland Trail Elementary parents will begin to line up in the circle at 3:15 pm. Also, please do not block the roundabout on Lamar and left turns in and out of our traffic circle are not permitted during these peak traffic times.
• When the weather is nice, we have a number of students riding scooters and bicycles. We have additional bike racks on the east side of the school where students can safely secure their transportation with a bike lock.
• Everyone loves a cup of coffee to get them going. Unfortunately, we do not allow students to have anything but water in the classrooms. If students arrive in the morning with a coffee, energy drink, soda, or other beverage, they are expected to finish it before being dismissed to class.

Thank you for joining our staff for Back to School Night. We were pleased to see such a great turnout and appreciate your partnership in helping launch the school year. Our staff has been hard at work creating and sharing structured expectations for our school community, we call ours SOAR (Safety, Ownership, Acceptance, Respect), along with how we are going to teach and reinforce them in all settings. You may have seen our visuals or graphics during your visit. Click here to read a few points about why these are important to our school. In the coming weeks we will share more about SOAR so you can better understand how we are helping our students SOAR to success!

When visiting Overland Trail Middle or any Blue Valley School, please note that we use a buzz-in entry system, which adds an important layer of security as we work to foster a safe and positive learning environment.

During the school day, all exterior doors are locked. Family members and visitors who arrive during the school day are required to use the buzz-in system at the front of the school. Adults will be asked to use the outside intercom and security camera to show an ID, such as a driver's license or passport, and share the purpose of their visit before being “buzzed in.” Once inside, adults will continue to sign in at the office and wear a visitor badge while in the school. While office staff may quickly identify our visitors upon arrival, we cannot make exceptions to this process.

Thank you for your understanding and support to keep our schools safe.

This year's musical "Finding Nemo Jr" has something for everyone at OTMS! Whether it's performing as part of the CAST onstage or helping behind-the-scenes on CREW, we want you to be part of this awesome experience! Starting on Monday (8/26), informational packets will be available outside Mr. Levy's room (Rm 38) with all the details as well as a calendar of events. Auditions are scheduled for September 4th and 5th after school and rehearsals will begin Monday September 9th. We hope to see everyone get involved with "Finding Nemo Jr."!

We are excited to begin OTMS club meetings soon! If your student is interested in starting at Club at OTMS, please encourage them to fill out the Club Form, located on the bulletin board just inside the front entrance. Once they’ve completed the form, they will return it to the office to have the club approved. Information about approved clubs will be located on the Student Announcements page on Canvas. Club meetings will begin after September 4th!

The above photo shows some OTMS students participating in a Bubble Lab where they worked on quantitative and qualitative data, measurement and graphing.

Families who have bus riders are encouraged to sign up for BusZone to help track your student's bus. In previous years, Bus Tracker was used, but it has changed this year. Instructions for signing up are below.

BusZone Step-by-Step Directions for Families and BV Staff

BusZone isn't the only way to stay informed about your child's bus. Durham also uses Textcaster which allows you to receive text and/or email bus alerts when buses are not running as scheduled. Please click here to sign up today. (You will need to know your child's bus number which would have been communicated to you when you signed up with Durham.)

PTO Calendar – upcoming events

27 August: Restaurant Night at Andy’s

4 September: Restaurant Night at Chipotle

6 September: PTO Board Meeting

13 September: FAN night at OTMS

ANDY’S FROZEN CUSTARD NIGHT

Come out and support the OTMS PTO on Tuesday, August 27 from 3-7pm at Andy’s Frozen Custard on 135th Street! Andy’s will donate $1 for each treat purchased during this timeframe when you SHOW THE ATTACHED FLYER! Thank you for supporting PTO!

FAN NIGHT

The first FAN Night (Falcon Activity Night) of the year will take place on Friday, September 13.

For those new to OTMS, FAN (Falcon Activity Night) Night is a student only event where students have a lot of fun in a safe environment! Drop your students off, go to dinner, and then come back to pick them up.

Students will enjoy a DJ, inflatable obstacle course, basketball, games, and more! Pizza, candy, and drinks are also available for cash purchase at FAN Night. Wristbands (for access to FAN Night) are $5 and will be sold at lunchtime the week of FAN Night and at the door! Hint: get your wristbands early to avoid the long line at the door!

While this is a student only event, we do need adult volunteers … sign-up to help and donate here: FAN NIGHT VOLUNTEERS AND DONATIONS SIGN UP

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – Concessions Stand Managers

Games are starting and the PTO needs your help staffing our concessions stands for OTMS sporting events. Please sign up to volunteer. Information will be provided to you before your volunteer date.

Blue Valley families,

We are excited to have your families come to support our high school activities and athletics. It is great to see the entire community at these events. It is imperative that our parent community partner with us as we work to encourage positive elementary and middle school behavior at high school games or events.

We are asking that all elementary and middle school students enter the game with an adult and sit with that adult throughout the game. Please do not drop your child off at a district event without supervision as they will not be allowed to enter. It is challenging to monitor and keep all students safe without the help of our parent community. Thanks for your help with this protocol to make district events a great experience for all who attend. We hope to see your family cheering for our Blue Valley teams this school year.

Matt Ortman

Director of School Administration, Athletics and Activities

Blue Valley School District

If you have plans to travel with your student(s) which will require your child to miss an extended period of time, please contact Dr. Stern to discuss school protocols regarding extended absences. Also, for security reasons, your child likely not have the same access to district resources as they do now. Please review the following document regarding technology access when traveling outside the U.S. (click here).