OMS Pirate Press Newsletter

• Finding Nemo Musical Info
• Important Announcements
• Photographs highlighting our week:
• Schedule for the Week of November 11-15, 2024
• Save the Date Info for upcoming important OMS events
• Breakfast, Lunch, Snack Info
  
• From the Health Office
  
• Clubs and Activity Info
• FOMS events and fundraisers
• Fundraiser--Spirit Wear
  
• Community events
• Save the Date info for upcoming events
• Housekeeping Reminders
• After School activity guidelines
• Guidelines for morning drop off and afternoon pick up
• Parent Square
• Student technology
• water/beverage guidelines
• Helpful district and school resources

Oxford Middle School recognizes students each month who exemplify our Be The 3 goals of Respect, Responsibility, and Safety as well as showing that attendance matters, displaying citizenship, and showing growth in a variety of ways. This month, OMS celebrates Declan Sharry, Brooke O'Connor, Megan Riley, Grant Corriveau, Matthew Martellotta, and Timothy Hall-Cook as our October Students of the Month.

Finding Nemo, Jr. Musical November 15-17: See Flyer attached at bottom of this section.

• Shows
• Friday, November 15th 7:00 p.m., doors open 6:30 p.m.
• Saturday, November 16th 5:00 p.m., doors open 4:30 p.m.
• Sunday, November 17th 11:00 a.m. doors open 10:30 a.m.
• Ticket Info:
• Tickets on sale at OMS Main Office November 12-15th and at the door for each show.
• Ticket Prices: cash or checks made payable to Town of Oxford
• Adult: $10/ticket
• Students and Senior Citizens: $5/ticket

No School Monday, November 11, 2024: Veterans' Day Holiday

1st Quarter Grades Post Tuesday, November 12, 2024:

• Grades for the 1st quarter will post on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. Keep in mind that you will see grades for core classes and for only the first rotation of unified arts, as unified arts rotates every 30 days. The next rotation closes on November 25th with Rotation 3 beginning on November 26th.
• Information on how to access report cards can be found here: https://www.oxps.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=2106878&type=d&pREC_ID=2278462
• Conferences information is posted below in the "Upcoming Events" Section.

Winter Sports Season Registration Now Open:

Registration for winter athletics is now open on Arbiter Registration (FamilyID).

Here is the link to register: https://sites.google.com/oxps.org/athletics/registration

In the winter season we offer the following at OMS:

• Boys and Girls Basketball - grades 6-8

• Winter Cheer - grades 6-8

We will also have additional opportunities at OHS for grade 8 students:

• Boys' and Girls' Indoor Track (graded 8 only)

• JV Girls Basketball (tryouts open to grade 8 girls only)

Registration will be open until Friday, November 22nd. The first day of tryouts/practices for the winter season is Monday, December 2nd.

Please email our athletic director Kevin May at kmay@oxps.org with any questions.

Fall Sports Individual and Team Photos: If anyone is still interested in purchasing the individual and/or team photos from team picture day, here is a link to Casson-Foster's gallery.https://www.cassonfoster.com/f959249041

Annual OMS Student Council Food Drive: November 4-13, 2024. Student Council will hold its annual food drive for non-perishable food items which will benefit Oxford Food Pantry. Collection box will be placed in the main foyer of OMS and OMS Main Office. We ask that food items be non-perishable and not have expired. Thank you for helping to support our community Food Pantry and those in our community in need.

Annual OMS NJHS Toy Drive: OMS NJHS is partnering with Oxford Police to collect toys and gifts. We are looking for gifts for local Oxford school aged children 12-14 preferred. The drive will take place November 6-December 12th with collection location of Oxford Middle School Front entrance. Any questions, reach out to NJHS advisor, Jen Wagner jwagner@oxps.org Please see the flyer attached below.

Ski and Snowboard Club: ***THERE ARE ONLY A FEW SPOTS LEFT!!! ****It is time to register for OMS/OHS Ski and Snowboard club. This club is open to the first 30 paid OMS and OHS students. Please see the student Clubs and activity section below for information. Form packets are attached and are in the main office.

Student Council Food Drive to benefit Oxford Food Pantry. November 4-13, 2024. Info below in flyer.

NJHS Toy Drive November 12-December 12th. Info in Flyer above.

Students must have signed permission slips to stay after.

• Saturday, November 9th:
• Finding Nemo, Jr. Backdrop painting 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. at OMS cafeteria. All student artists, painters, cast, crew welcome to help us paint this amazing scenery backdrop!
• Monday, November 11th:
• No School today, Veteran's Day

• Tuesday, November 12th
• Quarter 1 Grades Released today.
• Finding Nemo Musical Rehearsal 2:00-5:00
• Gaming Club after school with Ms. Berthiaume in the cafeteria. Students must have signed permission slips to stay after.
• Video Club after school with Mr. Janerico. Students must have signed permission slips to stay after.
• Wednesday, November 13th:
• Therapy Dog Visit
• After School Band Students must have signed permission slip to attend.
• Finding Nemo Musical Rehearsal 2:00-5:00
• Thursday, November 14th:
• Finding Nemo Musical DRESS Rehearsal 2:00-5:00
• History Club informational meeting after school with Mr. Moriarty. Students must have submitted a signed permission slip in order to attend.
• Art Club Session 2. Students must have signed permission slips submitted in in advance for Art Club Session 2. This club is limited to 20 spots and is currently full, all future sign-ups will be on wait list.
• Esports Thursday League: Chess, NBA2k25, Smash Ultimate and Rocket League 2:00-3:15--**THIS IS A CHANGE IN TIME!!** Students must have signed permission slip to attend.
• Friday, November 15th:
• Finding Nemo, Jr. Musical 7:00 p.m. , doors open at 6:30. Cast and Crew arrival 4:00
• Student Portraits will be distributed on or before today. Retakes are December 10th.
• Saturday, November 16th:
• Finding Nemo,Jr. Musical 5:00 p.m. , doors open 4:30 p.m. Cast and Crew arrival 3:30 p.m.
• Sunday, November 17th:
• Finding Nemo, Jr. Musical 11:00 a.m., doors open 10:30 a.m. Cast and Crew arrival 9:30 a.m.

Students in PE did themed lap relay races as a warm up activity. Students skipped, did side to side foot shuffle, grapevine cross step, and more! This promoted agility, fine motor skills, while having a little fun!

• Parent/Guardian-Teacher Conferences
• Info:
• conferences are in person at OMS (dates listed below)
• Dates:
• Monday, November 25th afternoon 11:30-1:50 p.m. and evening times available 6:00-8:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, November 26th: afternoon times available 11:30-1:50 p.m.
• Thursday, March 6th: evening times available-- time TBA
• Core Grade Teams will meet with parents/guardians as a group.
• Sign ups will be online using MyConferenceTime.com
• Registration will open on Saturday, November 16th at 9 a.m. Registration will close on Saturday, November 23rd at 6 p.m.
• Information regarding sign-ups and directions will be sent home with families the week of November 11-15 and again the week of November 18-22.
• OXPS School Year 2024-2025 Calendar: https://4.files.edl.io/4acb/01/24/24/145713-e7ec4bb5-ee84-4575-880d-b5dc3f62160b.pdf
• Upcoming Calendar Notes for school closures/early releases:
• November 11th: Holiday
• November 25 and 26 half day early release students for conference days (see below)
• November 27-December 1: School closed for Thanksgiving Break
• December 21, 2024-January 1, 2025 School Break.

Grade 6 students were learning about structural force in STEM. As part of this project and learning, students learned about force, stress, the external factors that can play a role in force--compression, tension, shear, bending, torsion. As part of this process, students are building a structure to withstand 10 lbs of force. To finish the project, "just for fun," students will test their structures further by adding additional force and stress to determine the integrity of their structure.

Student meals are free this year and available daily to students.

Our breakfast for the first day of school will be grab and go.

Students arriving late to school will be able to obtain a grab and go breakfast daily upon arrival.

The lunch menu is linked here: https://www.oxps.org/apps/pages/food_menus

After School Snack Program: As part of the free breakfast/lunch program, the state has approved a free after school snack program. In accordance with state guidelines, these snacks must be distributed at least 30 minutes after the close of the school day. Therefore, they will be available in the main office from 2:15-2:45 daily. Students will need to provide name to obtain snack for food services record keeping in compliance with the state regulations. A menu for the month of snacks is located in the food service section of the OXPS website: https://www.oxps.org/apps/pages/food_menus

Mr. Hodgerney's grade 8 math students had fun playing with numbers and variables today. In order to learn to solve problems, they created problems to solve. Each student had a numbers, variables, and/or a math symbol in order to create balanced equations.

OMS offers a wide variety of after school activities throughout the school year. We encourage your student to become involved in our community, join activities things they have an interest or passion in or to explore a new activity of interest. These activities keep kids engaged in positive activities while also helping them to develop numerous skills and build community.

Some expectations/protocols for staying after include the following:

• Free after school snack available in main office 2:15
• All students are expected to depart campus by their recorded departure means (bus or parent pick-up/walking). If a parent/guardian needs to alter the afternoon departure means, we must have a note on file.
• All students must depart at dismissal time unless we have written permission where the student will be staying for a supervised school activity.
• Students staying after school at OMS must have a signed permission slip to stay in a staff supervised club or activity.
• Students are not permitted to remain on campus to hang out before an athletic or school event that they want to attend later in the day.
• Students are not permitted to leave campus to go to store across street and then return.

***There are only a few spots remaining!****

Winter is just around the corner and it’s that time again for the OMS Ski and Snowboard Club at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, MA!

If you are a skier or snowboarder or are not but are interested in learning and would like to be….come join the fun!

Informational Packets of info are available in the main office, attached to the OMS Pirate Press Weekly Newsletter, and on the OMS Electronic Backpack.

Ski and Snow Board Club will run on Mondays, departing 2:00 from OMS and returning at 8:00 p.m. to OHS. The weeks of ski club are as follows: January 6th, 13th, 27th and February 3rd, 10th, and 24th. Should a week be canceled due to weather conditions, the week will be rescheduled to the next successive Monday at the close of the season (3/3, 3/10, etc.)

Transportation will be provided by First Student Transportation. In addition to the Ski Club adviser, Mr. Vinzi, there will be 1 chaperone for every 10 students.

All applications and payments must be received by Friday, December 24, 2024, but…the Ski and Snowboard Club is limited to the first 35 PAID APPLICATIONS returned.

These spots go fast, so don’t miss out!

Sign up now, so you aren’t disappointed.

Any questions, reach out to Ski and Snow Club Adviser, Mr. Vinzi: oxpsskiclub@gmail.com

The History Club is starting up! Meetings will be on Thursdays in Mr. Moriarty's room, Room 102. All students are welcome, but please remember to bring a signed permission slip to attend. In this meeting, we’ll talk about what the club does, hear from returning members, learn about National History Day, go over expectations, and more.

Do you want to play or learn a variety of games with your peers? Then gaming club may be for you! Students will have the opportunity to learn and play a variety of games such as chess, checkers, board games, card games, and family style games. This is a great way for students to interact, socialize, and build community. DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, GAMING CLUB WILL TAKE PLACE WEEKLY ON TUESDAYS. You can join by week, month or year. Students interested should obtain a permission slip, get it signed and return to the Main Office or adviser, Ms. Berthiaume. Questions, see Ms. Berthiaume mailto:dberthiaume@oxps.org See flyer below.

Attention video gamers, we are getting ready to kick off our Fall-Winter season of Esports, which is an online gaming platform where students compete against students We have two offerings--Rocket League, which is limited to students ages 13 and up who compete against students across the state and nation. That club will meet on Thursdays along with Super Smash League. Equipment is provided for this platform.

Due to small interest in the Tuesday section, offering Chess, NBA2k25, and Splatoon, those students interested will compete in these games on Thursdays with Ms. Kniskern. Students may need to bring their own equipment to school on these days and store the equipment with Ms. Kniskern for the day.

Students need signed permission slips to attend the informational meeting and future esports days. Please reach out to Ms. Kniskern with any questionsmailto:akniskern@oxps.org

Are you interested in learning more about videography and video editing? Join Video club! All OMS students are welcome to join, regardless of when you have video technology in your schedule. Learn how to video, edit, and more! Video club will begin on Tuesday, October 8th and run on Tuesdays after school through December 17th with Mr. Janerico. Students will need permission slips to attend. Permission slips are in the main office or can be picked up with Mr. Janerico. Questions? Email Mr. Janerico mailto:jjanerico@oxps.org

After school band will run on Wednesdays after school from 2:00-3:15 with Mr. Kim in the band room 122. Students staying for band will need a signed permission slip to stay for this club. Students will be able to take late buses home. Late buses begin September 8th and run between 3:15-3:30. Students interested should see Mr. Kim or reach out by email with any questions mailto:mkim@oxps.org

Homework Club will begin on Tuesday, September 10th!

Need help, time, and resources with homework, research, projects, and studying? The Homework Center will run on Mondays-Tuesdays-Wednesdays-Thursdays after school 2:00-3:00, with the exception of the once a month faculty days held mostly on Mondays. Students wishing to stay will need a blue Homework Center form signed by a teacher with a specific assignment/project to work on and the parent/guardian signature. See or email Ms. Kennen for permission slips and with questions. mailto:akennen@oxps.org . No homework club Monday 11/4.

The National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) is an organization that recognizes middle school students for their academic excellence, character, citizenship, leadership, and service. Students with qualifying grades and conduct/citizenship are invited to apply annually.

Are you interested in reading some great books? How about discussing and sharing your favorite books with other students? If so the Book Club may be for you.

The book club will run after school on the dates below from 2:00-3:00 in the OMS Library with Ms. Kennen.

Book Club Dates for the fall:

November 7 and 21; December 5 and 19

See or email Ms. Kennen for more information about the club's next book and next meeting. akennen@oxps.org . Students wanting to stay will need to submit permission slips.

OMS rehearsals of Finding Nemo, Jr is well underway. Rehearsal calendar is below. Please know that rehearsals are now 2:00-4:00, with the exception of Friday, October 25th, where rehearsal ends at 3:15.

Please reserve the dates and times for our fall production:

• Friday, November 15th: 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday, November 16th: 5 p.m.
• Sunday, November 17th: 11 a.m.

Ticket Info is below in the Finding Nemo Jr Poster Attachment.

Are you interested in having a voice to help plan events and activities for OMS? Student Council may be for you. Students interested in pursuing student council must complete recommendation forms and submit to Ms. Granger. Please see or reach out to student council adviser, Ms. Granger with any questions mailto:cgranger@oxps.org .

Are you interested in art, exploring new art mediums, improving your artistic skills? Join Art Club! Art Club has limited space for 20 students per session. Art club will have 2 sessions as outlined below:

• Session 1 has ended.
• Session 2 will run on Thursdays November 7th through January 8th. Dates are as follows: Thursdays 11/7, 11/14, 11/21, 12/5, 12/12,12/19, 1/ 2, 1/9. Session 2 sign up info is below.
• Art Club Session 2 Sign-ups is now full.

• Please if you have not done so already, please return the health forms to the school nurse and send in a current physical with update immunization records It is important we have update information in our system.
• Those wanting to drop off medication for your child to take during the school year please contact me. You will need a doctor's order and a signed parent/guardian consent form when dropping off the medication. We cannot accept medication from a student. This includes students requiring inhalers and epipens.
• As we enter the colder New England months, we inevitably will have periods of cold and flu symptoms that will arise. Please see the attachment to help guide you with regard to protocols and suggestions for when to attend school and/or when students may need to stay home to recover.

Feel free to reach out anytime with questions or concerns: acronauer@oxps.org.

• Year round we have our apparel store open. We have all kinds of Oxford gear for families to choose from to show their Oxford Pirate Pride!
• Butter Braid orders will be in before Thanksgiving with a distribution date of November 22nd.
  

• January we will be hosting a Winter White Out dance (grades 6-8) on January 31, 2025.

• And in March, the delectable NOTHING BUNDT CAKES will be sold.

FOMS Spirit Wear Fundraiser

Want to be ready for the new school year with the latest Oxford and OMS gear? FOMS sponsors a year long OMS Spirit Wear Shop. You can order the latest in gear--t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, shorts, outerwear, hats, and more! . All proceeds benefit FOMS, which in turn benefit our OMS students and programs. Please see the link below to order and the flyer below for more info. https://www.kerringraphics.com/customer_portal/login.html?ut=b174a64a-ac5d-43a5-bfa2-424393e5bc8d

FOMS Spirit Wear Shop has started to add club and team clothing as well, should your child have special interests. There are several options--short sleeve tshirts, long sleeve tshirts, tank tops, shorts, sweatpants, a variety of sweatshirts, bags and much more! Stay tuned for more clubs and sports to come, as they are being added every week!

Reminder about food/beverages brought to school: Please remember that we do not allow energy drinks, and we are a water only in classes and hallways. Please refrain from sending your students in with such things as Dunkin'' Donuts drinks to school as they are not permitted to go to class with them. Thank you.

Water Bottles: Please pack a refillable water bottle with your child daily and remind them to drink water throughout the day. With seasons changing and heat coming on soon, the air will be dryer and students will benefit from hydration. They are beginning to present with dry throats to the nurse yet are not consuming water. Please encourage this at home through discussions and packing a water bottle for them. Thank you!

Cell Phones/Earbuds/Personal Technology: As a reminder to families, OMS has an "Away for the day" cell phone/earbud/personal technology rule, which is outlined in our handbook and has been communicated to students as well. The expectation is that those personal technology items will remain in the student's bag or Chromebook case the entire day without coming out during the school day. Teachers have also been supplied hanging storage to store phones as well. Students are issued a Chromebook by Oxford Public Schools and do not have a need for personal technology in our building. Please know that students who are caught utilizing the technology have progressive behavioral responses from staff--store it as directed, turn over to staff and it remains in office for the day, repeated use will include only returning the device to a parent/guardian to pick up, and may include consequences if it persists. We recommend that the technology stay home or settings are set by you to disable the device during the school day hours so that it is not a temptation for students. If you have messages that need to get to students, please contact our main office at 508-987-6074 and we will get messages to students.

Parent Square:

Oxford Public Schools will be moving toward the free online app called Parent Square for all Communication. Please sign up now so that you don't miss out on any important communications from the schools or district, including weekly newsletters and weather related school cancellations, as we will be moving away from the One Call Now system this year. Go to the following link to get started: https://www.oxps.org/apps/news/article/1961166

Families who pick up in the afternoon: When arriving to pick up your child, please proceed to the student pick-up area, filling the lane that is curbside FIRST then go to the middle lane, then to the outer lane. This is important to not back up the rest of our driveway to other traffic as cars cannot see the other open lanes or get through when you park in the outer most lane first. Thank you for your continued assistance in following these guidelines to help us expedite student drop off and pick up and keep our students safe.

The 1st official fundraiser of the year for the Class of 2027 has started! We have partnered with Meadow Farms, an online store associated with many different well known companies. Please look at the store link and consider purchasing something to help your class. If you do not see anything you like, consider making a donation! Please let me know if you have any questions! mailto:edykstra@oxps.org

For Yearbook, we are hosting a Paint Night! I have an outside crafter with SBT Designs coming in to run a holiday paint night in the OHS Cafeteria on Thursday November 21st from 6:30-8:30. We get to pick one of the three designs featured in the image to paint and assemble. The cost is $45, with part of the proceeds going to support our yearbook.

If interested, you can sign up in the link here. The crafter will then be in contact about what design you want to make that night.

Hope many of you can join in on this fun, festive evening!

OHS yearbook has partnered with Savers to do a clothing and household item fundraiser. Please see the attachment below to see how you can help to do some fall cleaning, pay forward your unneeded items in good condition by donating, while also helping OHS Yearbook to fundraise to reduce cost of the OHS yearbook. Items to be donated may be dropped at Oxford High School.

Oxford Police Host Operation Santa 2024.

Come see Santa and Mrs. Clause and receive a gift.

Date: Sunday December 8, 2024

Times: 12:00-1:15 and 1:45-3:00

Location: OMS front entry

RSVP: Register by email no later than 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 12th at OxfordOperationSanta@gmail.com

Info to Include in Registration: Parent name(s), names, ages, and gender of children, address and phone number of parent contact in case clarity on information is needed. .

Confirmation Info: A confirmation email will be sent by 11/12/24. If you have registered and do not receive an email confirmation on 11/12, please call 508-987-0156 by 3:00 p.m. on 11/12 to confirm.

More Into: Watch Oxford Police Facebook Page for Updates on Party.

Oxford Police welcomes donations of non-perishable food items on 12/8 to help stock the Oxford Food Pantry.

See picture of flyer below and actual flyer is attached as link for clearer view.

• Are you getting text messages of our automated calls/texts/emails? If you are not currently receiving text prompts about school and district news, please send a message to the number 22300 and type ALERT in the message in order to receive texts in the future.
• Our District Calendar can be found via the following links:
• District School Day Calendar: https://4.files.edl.io/4acb/01/24/24/145713-e7ec4bb5-ee84-4575-880d-b5dc3f62160b.pdf
• District Events: https://www.oxps.org/apps/pages/district_calendars
• School Hours The link to the school hours is here: https://www.oxps.org/apps/pages/school_times
• • At OMS, doors will open to students (buses and drop-off) at 7:10--this is a change of 5 minutes from 23-24 school year. All OMS classes will begin at 7:20 a.m.
    
  • At OMS afternoon dismissal will run as follows: bus riders' dismissal 1:50; walkers, bike riders, and private transport dismissal 1:55
• Electronic Backpack: Please be sure to remember to check the electronic backpack for forms, letters, community announcements as well. The link to the electronic backpack for OMS is as follows: https://oms.oxps.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=2070226&type=d&pREC_ID=2128528
• School Transportation Information: https://www.oxps.org/apps/pages/transportation
• School Breakfast and Lunch Menu: https://www.oxps.org/apps/pages/food_menus