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Knightly News

An Update from the Superintendent's Office - February 2023

Knightly NewsAn Update from the Superintendent's Office -February 2023

It is hard to believe that it is February already! I have some very important updates to share with you including a calendar change so please take a look!


I want to notify you of a calendar change. We will be cancelling school on Monday, March 6 due to District Speech being held at Oakland-Craig. We apologize for the late notice as we were not planning to host this event this year. Unfortunately, the prior host was planning to hold District Speech on the same day as Girls State Basketball, which was a conflict for several of our speech and basketball team members as well as those that participate in the band, dance team, or simply want to attend the basketball tournament if OC qualifies. As a result, Oakland-Craig has agreed to host so that our students can participate in both basketball and speech. As a result, there will be no school on Monday, March 6.

Parent Survey

We are partnering with BrightBytes, an educational research organization, in order to learn more about our climate & culture. We are reaching out to ask you to take part in the survey. Your participation is essential to help us form a more complete picture of the safety, discipline, physical & learning environments in our buildings. All of your responses will remain anonymous. If you have more than one child, please complete one survey for each building that they are served in. For example if you have an elementary student and a high school student, please fill out one survey for the elementary and one for the high school. Thank you!


https://bbyt.es/start/QG7NW

Special Education Survey


If you have a child that receives Special Education services we are requesting your participation in the below survey. This is something that the Nebraska Department of Education is requiring us to request from you. If you have more than one child receiving services, you only need to fill out one survey. We would greatly appreciate it if you could fill out the survey as soon as possible if you haven't already.

https://nde.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2mbpFNv0gqxo4NU?Q_CHL=email&RID=CGC_AcT7dguniizTWEz&_g_=g


Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Monday, February 6 and Thursday, February 9. Elementary conferences will take place in classrooms from 4:00-7:00 p.m. and Jr./Sr. High conferences will be in the new gym from 5:30-8:30 p.m. The Book Fair will be open from 4:00-8:00 p.m. each night in the elementary library. We have additional meetings taking place that we'd like to make you aware of.


Monday, February 6:

Parent Teacher Organization Meeting (All are invited!) - 4:00 p.m. in Elementary Art Room

Registration Meeting for 8th Grade Parents/Students - 6:00 p.m. in Elementary Choir Room

Registration Meeting for 10th Grade Parents/Students - 7:30 p.m. in Elementary Choir Room


Thursday, February 9:

Registration Meeting for 8th Grade Parents/Students - 6:00 p.m. in Elementary Choir Room

Registration Meeting for 10th Grade Parents/Students - 7:30 p.m. in Elementary Choir Room


The Oakland Ball Association will also be available during conferences so if you are interested in signing your children up for baseball or softball you can do that during Parent-Teacher Conferences. The city staff will also be available during conferences as they are looking to hire lifeguards and additional staff for the pool this summer. Stop by to see them if you or your child are interested in working at the pool this summer.

Oakland-Craig Strategic Planning

The Oakland-Craig Public Schools Board of Education recently adopted a strategic plan to prioritize goals for the next five years. Below you will find a link to the strategic plan in its entirety. The highlighted areas will be the focus for the remainder of this school year as well as the 2023-2024 school year. Prior to diving into the entire document; however, we would encourage you to take a look at the handout and watch the video summarizing the plan. If you are interested in serving on a community or parent advisory council, please email me at jessbland@ocknights.org. Depending on interest, we may not be able to include everyone but will do our best as we really value your input.


Strategic Planning Handout

Strategic Plan 2023-2028 (Full Document)

Strategic Plan 2023
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Health Career Pathway

Oakland-Craig participates in the Pathways 2 Tomorrow program at Northeast Community College's West Point campus. The Health Career pathway recently received grant funds to purchase a cadaver table that allows students to dissect images of real cadavers. This is an amazing opportunity for students. I would highly encourage Juniors and Seniors interested in a health career to consider taking classes through Pathways 2 Tomorrow as they will be able to determine if that is a pathway they want to continue to pursue and will prepare them for the next steps after high school. This cadaver table even includes animals so anyone interested in the veterinary field has a wealth of opportunities as well.
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After School Program

Oakland-Craig has been fortunate to offer an After School Program for the past four years. In the picture above you can see our staff working together on an inservice day to complete professional development activities. While we are grateful to be able to offer this after school care, we only have one more year with the grant funds and will then need to reapply to continue to provide the after school program. At this time we do not qualify to reapply as we have to reach a 40% free and reduced rate of which we are currently at 35%. We are so close! I think we can get there but we need everyone to apply for free and reduced lunch so we can continue to offer after school care to our elementary students!
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School Board Appreciation

If you see a Board of Education member please thank them for their efforts on our school board. We greatly appreciate the amount of time and effort they give to our district!

2023-2024 Calendar

The Board of Education has approved the calendar for the 2023-2024 school year. You will find a link to the calendar below if you'd like to do some future planning.

Inclement Weather

Winter is here and with that we likely will see more inclement weather, but hopefully not a lot. All weather delays and closures will be announced via our OneCall system, local news stations (KTIC, The Bull, KETV, etc.), and our school social media pages. If you are not on the OneCall system and you would like to be, please contact the school office. Community members are welcome to receive calls as well! You do not have to be a parent to receive our OneCalls. If you want to stay up to date with what is happening at the school, we are happy to add you to our list!

Free/Reduced Paperwork

While you may not be aware, our free/reduced percentage is a vital piece of our funding. We receive grants based on our free/reduced percentage so it is important that we have accurate numbers. Currently, 35% of our population receives free/reduced meals; however, some of our funding requires us to meet the minimum of 40%. The future of some of our programs (i.e. after school program) requires us to meet these needs so we are asking everyone to fill out an application. I have included a link to the application below. Even if you don't meet the income requirements, you can fill out the application. If we do not meet the 40% minimum, we will not be able to offer the after school program. Applications can be found in the high school and elementary offices or can be sent home with your child.


Free/Reduced Application

School Events

February 6 - Parent-Teacher Conferences


February 9 - Parent-Teacher Conferences


February 10 - No School


February 13 - Board of Education Meeting


February 17 - No School


March 3 - No School


March 6 - No School for Students, OC hosts District Speech

Community Events

February 5 - Swedish Heritage Center Meal (11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.)
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Contact Information

Jessica Bland

Superintendent

Email: jessbland@ocknights.org
Website: www.ocknights.org
Location: 309 N Davis Ave, Oakland, NE, USA
Phone: 402-685-5661