OVA Connector

Here are the 3 important news items you need for this week!

1. It's count month! Please be sure to complete your 2 two-way communications each week in order to be present for attendance. If you complete your 2 communications by 3pm on Friday during count, you will be entered into a drawing for a $10 gift card.
2. Be sure to keep up weekly in your classes. While attendance is important, so is completing your work in Edgenuity!
3. In person support is available each week Tuesday and Thursday 9:15-1:00. Check out the information below.

Study hard & dream big!

October 18 No School

October 21 No School

November 12 Student Half-Day

November 13 Student Half-Day

November 14 Student Half-Day

November 15 No School

What: Social/Emotional Learning (SEL) is an important life skill! Tasks that fall under this category include: self awareness, self management, social awareness, and relationship building. Research shows that people who have mastered these four skills do better in school, careers, and relationships. OVA is now offering a twice-weekly resource for students who want practice in these areas. We know life for students can be challenging, we’d love to help. Some examples of topics would include:

• Empathy: possibly doing a community service project

• Mindfulness: Learning our body cues for anxiety and ways to cope

• Being Kind To Yourself: Learning about our unique qualities and celebrating them!

• Stress Management: How can we deal with the stressors of everyday life?

• Goal Setting: What is important to us in and out of school? How can we get there?

Who: This opportunity is for students in 5th - 12th grade.

When: Tuesday/Thursday 9:15 am-1pm

Where: OVA Room is located in the back of Otsego Middle School. Coming from downtown Otsego, go West on M89. Turn left on Grant street. This street empties into a parking lot. The middle school is across from the tennis courts. Our room has an exterior door right near the green dumpsters. We will be outside to greet you!

Details:

Mr. Matt Eldred, retired middle school teacher, will be the teacher on-site. He will interact with students, help them set goals and help with work completion.

Mrs. Anna Starr is the District Behavioral Health Coordinator & School Social Worker. She will be onsite to help social/emotional learning groups.

Both Mrs. Starr & Mr. Eldred are so excited to have fun with OVA secondary education students!

Lunch will be provided (for free) from our food service department. If you child does not want a school lunch, feel free to have them bring their own lunch!

Questions? Feel free to contact Anna Starr at astarr@otsegops.org.

For Count Month, complete your 2 contacts by 3pm every Friday and be entered into a drawing to win a $10 gift card!

Our continued efforts to enhance security to keep our students and staff safe will include the implementation of a new visitor sign-in procedure called Raptor. This is for those visiting and spending time in our buildings.

Starting next week, if you are visiting the school, you will stop at the main office as usual.

• With this new system, we will scan your ID to create a Visitor ID Label.

• This label will have your photo, name and location within the building that you are visiting.

• This allows others in the building to immediately know you are a welcome visitor in the school and have been checked in at the office.

• At the end of your visit, stop back in the main office to sign out.

With Raptor, IDs will be screened against the registered sex offender databases and a custom database created/maintained by each school that could include banned/restricted visitors, individuals with restraining orders, etc. Adding this level of security does not add a lot of time to the sign-in process, but will provide an added layer of safety and comfort.

National Safety Advocate, Carly Posey, is coming to Otsego to share her experience, lessons learned and the importance of being prepared.

For the 5th year, Otsego Public Schools is recognizing School Safety Week which is October 14-18. This year, along with carrying out each of the required safety drills at each school and an evacuation drill, Otsego is welcoming a national speaker to talk about the importance of being prepared where school safety is concerned, and lessons learned from one of the country’s largest school shooting incidents.

Carly Posey, an advocate for school safety, will speak to parents/guardians on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 6:00p.m. at the OHS auditorium. Two of her four children were inside Sandy Hook Elementary School when an armed man entered the building and opened fire. Both of her children survived, but the impact and lessons learned were significant. Posey was the Mission Director for the "I Love U Guys" Foundation, she has served as the Executive Director for the Safe2Tell Nonprofit and as Program Director for Anderson Software.

Several Otsego administrators heard Posey speak last year at a county safety conference and found it moving, informational and inspiring. “The loss experienced by the Newtown, CT community intensified our commitment to school safety in Otsego,” says Mark Rollandini, PhD, Otsego’s Director of Secondary Instruction and Safety Liaison. “She shared the lessons learned from that tragedy, which renewed our focus on safety and affirmed many of the improvements we have made recently.”

Otsego conducted a safety assessment in the Spring of 2022. The recommendations that came out of that process coupled with her message, helped prioritize OPS’s goals for school safety. “With our current effort to update our Emergency Operations Plan, and install the I Love U Guys protocols, we feel that Mrs. Posey's message, which ultimately is hopeful, will invigorate our staff and community to continue our commitment to school safety and create a culture of safety during the school day as well as at events and district programs,” Rollandini adds. Posey is also speaking to all staff on Wednesday morning.

Since 2018, Otsego has marked National Safe Schools Week by conducting the required drills in each school. That brings forth the message that there is a plan in place for different emergency situations as well as puts an emphasis on the need to practice in case of a real emergency.

Every OVA student is assigned a mentor teacher. Every Wednesday, the mentor teacher will reach out to the students they are working with with a short assignment. Students are expected to communicate back with their teacher or mentor. Each week, each student must respond to at least two communications with their teacher or mentor. The week starts on Wednesday and ends on Tuesday. This is a requirement and how attendance is taken at OVA. Attendance plays an important role in the success of the student in the OVA program. Please be sure to communicate with your teacher and/or mentor teacher.

• For anything in an online course you have questions about, please contact the online teacher of the course.
• For questions about two-way communication or how to log-into courses, please contact your OVA mentor teacher. For K-8 students, please contact cmcevoy@otsegops.org. For HS students, please contact either aleneway@otsegops.org or mscott@otsegops.org.
• For problems with your OPS email address or your Chromebook, please contact our director of technology, Michelle Triemstra, at mtriemstra@otsegops.org.
• If you are a high school student and have questions about your credits for graduation, dual enrollment or tech center, AP exams, or post-high school information please contact your school counselor. See picture for information on who your counselor is.
• For any other questions, you may contact the OVA coordinator, Ms. Maxwell, at tmaxwell@otsegops.org.