Otsego Middle School Newsletter

December 21- January 5: No School, Winter Break

January 6: Students Back, First day of school for 2025

January 8: Delayed Start

January 13: Student of the Month Assemblies 10:45 AM

January 13-17: Life Fitness 1st-3rd hour swim unit

January 15: Delayed Start

January 6: Middle School Swim Meet @ Allegan 6:00 PM

January 13: Middle School Swim Meet @ Portage Central 6:00 PM

January 15: Middle School Swim Meet @ Lakeview 6:00 PM

Miss DuFort’s 8th grade ELA class learned about the celebration of Diwali originating from India this past week. Diwali is the festival of lights, the main theme of the holiday is removing negative energy and "darkness" out of your life and bringing in positive energy, or "light."

The lamps the students created are representative of the inner light a person has and allowing that to win over darkness.

The students and staff this past week had fun in preparation for the holidays by participating in different spirt days!

Links gathered together this week to have a holiday party where they took part in a white elephant gift exchange. The party was a good time to reflect and give thanks to the accomplishments and friendships created this school year.

Would you like to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee? Now, is your opportunity. 11 million students across America will begin their spelling journey in hopes to make it to the National Competition in Washington DC. This is your chance to win over $50,000 and also be filmed on ESPN. Will this be part of your journey? It is free to join and the schoolwide spelling bee is an online test, so there will not be an audience to qualify for the next round! Register at https://online-test.spellingbee.com to get started today!

Otsego Athletics uses Final Forms for all sports registrations. Register today at: https://otsego-mi.finalforms.com

All forms must be completed before the first day of practice.

WINTER SPORTS START DATES:

GIRLS BASKETBALL 1/6/2025

WRESTLING 1/6/2025

On Tuesday, June 10th 6th, 7th, & 8th grade students will be participating in their end of the year field trips to the Air Zoo (6th grade), the Saugatuck Dune Rides and the Outdoor Discovery Center (7th grade), and Chicago (8th grade).

Although details about these trips have not yet been released to students and their parents/guardians, one thing that can be completed before details are provided is any parent/guardian wishing to attend these trips must complete a criminal background check to attend.

You can access the form using this link or you can stop by the OMS office to pick-up a form. Once the form is complete, the form can be turned in to the OMS office.

We are excited to offer some fresh, new apparel for all of our Bulldogs here at OMS. This online store has the option to purchase premade designs or build your own custom apparel. Orders can be shipped to your home or picked up in Hamilton. The store will be open until March and makes a great gift for any Bulldog Fan.

Middle School Girls Basketball is right around the corner! We will begin tryouts on Monday January 6th, 7th, and 8th. On Wednesday the 8th, we will make our team decisions. We typically keep approximately 12 players on each team. Players will need to wear shorts, t-shirt, tennis shoes for tryouts. Tryouts will be held in the MS Gym. Players should also bring a water bottle to tryouts.

In order to tryout, you must have all of your information turned in on final forms https://otsego-mi.finalforms.com/ . You need to have a sports physical on file, activity fee paid, parent documents signed and student documents signed. When you have everything turned in, it will highlight your athlete in "Green." If you are missing something, it will highlight them in "red".

If you have any questions regarding final forms signups, please contact our athletic secretary, Carrie Curtiss. Ccurtiss@otsegops.org

In the meantime, here is a calendar for January:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LEGz-qRY9L4jCh6cLxod9nDUyOLsXHi2Zhan_UkjBwU/edit?usp=sharing

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the specific coach for your daughter's grade level.

Jake Knash: 6th grade Coach jknash@otsegops.org

Alle Fiske: 7th Grade Coach Afiske@otsegops.org

Mary Reitenour: 8th Grade Coach Mreitenour@otsegops.org

Mrs. Z has been subbing in our building and wanted to make sure that we knew how great Grady is doing as a LINK. His peer lights up when Grady comes to hang out with him. Grady is new to LINKS this year and is already making a difference. Keep up the great work!

Have you heard? We are once again offering Math Lab after school in the Media Center!

Who: Middle school students who have received an invitation (via guardian email)

What: Extra support for math ELTs

When: Monday/Tuesday from 2:45-3:45 OR Wednesday/Thursday from 2:45-3:45

Where: OMS Media Center

Why: If a child scores below 60% on an essential learning target (ELT) assessment, they will be invited to attend two days of math lab to receive reteaching and another attempt at the assessment. The invitation will be sent via email to parents/guardians from Ronda Conner (rconner@otsegops.org). Guardians must sign their student up via Google Form (linked in invitation email) in order for a student to attend Math Lab.

***Please stress to your child to come to Math Lab with all of their math resources: workbook, chromebook, notebook, note sheets, calculator, and pencil.

Videos: Math Moments by Ms. McEvoy

How to access IXL - This video includes information on how to log in to IXL, how to access and use the different skill plans for our textbook, M-Step preparation, PSAT preparation, and NWE Personalized Maps for students.

How to access SAVVAS- This video includes how to access SAVVAS (Envisions program) to do assignments, quizzes, tests, past scores, and how to access and find videos to help understand topics better.

Thank you for keeping your contact information up to date in our student and parent portal to ensure that you are getting district and building communications!

There are a lot of volunteer opportunities at OMS! Check out all the options and sign up with us today by clicking on and filling out the form below.

Email: mvanderklok@otsegops.org, spatin@otsegops.org
Website: https://oms.otsegops.org/
Location: 540 Washington St. Otsego, MI 49078

Phone: (269) 694-7500