OGMS Newsletter

Hello Ockley Families,

Thank you to the many families that were able to join us on Monday this week to kick off our year with our OG Block Party. I enjoyed meeting new students & families and reconnecting with returning folks.

It has been wonderful to have the buzz that comes with students re-entering a new school year. Our Dragon Leaders have been supporting our 6th Graders, all students have been building community in their classrooms and we have collectively reviewed our school wide practices. Below are the slides of information we have shared over the past 2 days.

Opening up the school year is an incredibly heavy lift. I have been impressed with our staff's student-centered focus, the high level of care that they have shown students and the all hands on deck when we needed to adjust. Our students have also showed up with a lot of Care, Collaboration and Growth this last week. I truly lost count of the many times I observed a student offering to help another student!

A quick note about a shift in our newsletter, I will be sending these out every other week, so be on the look out for the next one on September 13th. For real-time updates, check out the Trivory app where you get announcements, reminders, special schedule days and event information at the tip of your fingers on you cell phone. See more below on Trivory.

In Partnership

Julie Rierson

Pronouns: she/her

Principal, Ockley Green Middle School

August 28, 2024

August 29, 2024

Our Admin team and Climate Specialist reference the 2024-2025 Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook when responding to disciplinary incidents. More information can be accessed through the QR Code below.

Please refer to the Family Guide to Preventing Illness & Communicable Disease in School for helpful tips to support keeping your child and the school community healthy.

Check this out for when to keep your child home: System Based Exclusion

Middle Schools have some changes that impact the start/end times for students. The following will start this school year:

• the regular school day is extended by 15 minutes to end at 4:00 PM;
• staff meetings will now take place in the morning before school begins, resulting in a slightly later start for students; and
• there are 6 early release days for professional development.

We received our Tech Carts earlier this week! We are starting the process of filling them and distributing to classrooms for student use. Our Instructional Coach, Elise Hughes (Love) is taking on the role of Site Technolgy Liaison. She is working closely with our District IT support and secretary, Jennifer Jardee-Borquist, jjardeeborquist@pps.net to expedite getting these carts set up. Thank you for your patience while we put this new system in place.

I sent out a message earlier this week on behalf of our Counseling Team and requests for schedule changes. Please see below for that message.

A student’s schedule is based on the course selections from forecasting we received (including alternates) and class balancing. Once a class fills, then we are unable to add students to that class. I know it can be disappointing if a student did not get all of their primary selections. We ask that they keep an open mind with all their courses and try it out.

Below are a few important details our team want to share with students and their families

regarding schedule changes at Ockley Green.

● Priorities for Counselors at the start of the school year are:

• Scheduling New Enrollment students;

• Schedule corrections for wrong level class(es), i.e. scheduled for Health/PE 7 but needs Health/PE 8

• Duplicate class(es);

• Holes (missing class for a period) in the schedule.
  
  

● Through Sept. 13th our Counseling Team will review possible schedule changes for the following reasons:

• Student did not request the elective, either as a primary selection or an alternate, and wants to move to a preferred elective;
  
  

● There are no schedule fixes for the following reasons:

• Change of mind over the summer and wants to take a different elective;

• Change to another teacher or section of class for any reason, i.e. to be with friends.

How to Request a Schedule Change

Counselor Request slips are available by the Counselor’s Room (across from the Cafeteria) and in the Main Office. Students can pick one up during passing time or at lunch. Once they fill the slip out, they can drop it off in the box outside of the Counselor’s Office. Counselors will follow up with students, either with a new schedule or letting them know a schedule change is not possible.

Please reach out to your child’s Counselor with any questions. Ms. Galen, gdickstein@pps.net, for 8th Grade and Mr. Ian, igustafson@pps.net, for 6th & 7th Grade.

ParentVUE is a secure website and mobile app which offers parents and guardians real time access to:

• School Messages, Calendar, Attendance, Grades, Class Schedule, Course History, Grade Book, and School Information.

User ID and password remain the same each year. If you have not set up your account or have any questions, contact Ian Palu, ipalu@pps.net .

Each year parents and/or guardians are asked to review and update the information on file for their students. We have noticed a high number of non-working phone numbers and email addresses, which creates challenges in contacting families. Please take a moment to update this information in support of our ongoing partnership.

This information can be reviewed, edited and submitted online via PPS ParentVUE.

Benefits of verifying online via ParentVUE:

• Complete yearly verification of your student's information

• You can update your communication and language preferences

• Ensures the school has the most up to date information

• Saves paper and time

Go to ParentVUE and verify your student's information today! Questions? Contact Ian Palu, ipalu@pps.net

September 2nd - No School (Labor Day)

September 10th - Late Start for Students @ 9:30

September 19th - Picture Day

September 25th - Early Release for Students @ 1:45

September 26th - Back to School Night, 5:30 - 7:30