“Be better today than you were yesterday and be better tomorrow than you are today.”

– L. Snow

Good evening Ochoa Families,

Here is to the Happiest and Most Prosperous New Year to you all!

A gentle reminder to everyone that we return tomorrow January 6th. 🫣 It is my sincere hope that you all had a restful winter break with your students! We are excited to have them return tomorrow. Truth be told, the last few weeks of the 2024 school year flashed by with the blink of an eye. Nonetheless, as 2024 came to a close I've been spending lots of time reflecting, both personally and professionally. This is how we grow. Taking a look back to assess what went well, where we can improve, making a plan to be better than than we were the day before and creating habits to move forward in that plan is where growth happens.

This week, staff are encouraged to have our students to do the same. This week we will reconnect, reestablish expectations and give them opportunities to reflect on the first semester. What were their academic and personal goals they set at the start of the year? Did they achieve them? What new habits* might they begin to develop that will improve the outcomes for the second semester. *See the document below that summarizes a book I read for the second time, Atomic Habits by James Clear. I highly recommend this book for our families.

The second quarter/semester 1 closes on January 16th. If students have outstanding assignments, they should meet with their teachers this week and make plans to complete and turn in their quality work. Any students who are returning from short-term independent study, it is imperative that all assignments are turned in upon your return. Failure to do so, will result in us being required to mark your student absent for the duration of the time. Let's talk with our students about how they can intentionally develop good habits that will keep them on a path of continuous growth.

Intentionally Develop Good Habits*:

• Make them obvious
• Make them attractive
• Make them easy
• Make them satisfying

In the coming weeks, our English, Math and Science classes will be providing students with a copy of their CAASPP/ELPAC reports. Students will review their results to set goals for this year's testing period. The English Language Proficiency Assessment, used to reclassify our multi-lingual students, will begin February/March and our CAASPP testing will start the end of April/May.

All of the parents of our English Language Learners/Multilingual students (student who speak a language other than English as their primary language) are invited to attend our January ELAC (English Language Advisory Committee) Mtg. Please click this link to view the fliers ==> ELAC/English Flier ELAC/ Spanish Flier

Finally, as a reminder, when we return, in January, our 8th graders will begin programming their courses for high school. Our 7th graders will begin to make their course selections/electives for next year and we begin the master scheduling process that dictates course offering for the 2025-26 school year. Click the link and tell us what is important for your students next year. Additionally, we begin our visits to our Elementary school sites to highlight Ochoa programs and offerings. Stay tuned for future communications around the programming process from me and the school counselors, Ms. Lewis and Ms. Coney as well as our high school counseling teams.

Warmly submitted,

-Principal Rowe-Andrews

UPDATE: At the last Saturday HUSD Budget Town Hall, our Superintendent, Dr. Reimann expressed that every student absence district wide, not only costs valuable learning time for our students, it also costs HUSD approximately $86 per student, per day. Our Assistant Sup of Business Services, projects "just a 1% increase in attendance, can yield as much as $2 million" back into the district to be used to better support student learning and development. That is a significant amount of possibility that our students are missing out on. How can we make changes at Ochoa with our student population to improve these outcomes? We are at 91.21% for December (👇from November 92%) and our goal is 98%.

Check back often for updates on our current budget shortfall.

Let's talk about the upcoming assessments for which students are responsible.

English Language Proficiency Assessment of California (ELPAC) Testing-begins in February/March This assessment is taken by our multilingual students, who speak a language other than English as their primary language in the home. The goal: reclassify as English Proficient

C.A.A.S.P.P.- ELA & Math Tests (7th & 8th Grade) This assessment is taken late April into May by all 7th and 8th grade students in California and assesses student reading comprehension, writing skills, and research skills

C.A.S.T.- California Science Test (8th Grade) This assessment is taken April into May by all 8th grade students; it covers all of the sciences from earth and space, physical, and life sciences.

*Click here to link to a current (2023-24) sample of the CAASPP student report.

We hope to see you in attendance for the budget meetings continuing this week.

Perhaps you have already heard about the "Critical Budget Shortfall" that Hayward Unified is facing? If not, here are some resources you might want to review HUSD Bd Mtg_11/13/24 Systematic Instructional Review/instructional audit of HUSD (2hr:41min-3:20) and Budget Presentation (4hr:50min-5:10); also please skim the budget page created to educate the community, on the HUSD Budget Solutions 2024-25 Page. The Community Budget Survey is now closed. Thank you to all who have taken the time to offer your input.

📕Update: the preliminary survey data was shared with members of the District Advisory Committee. I will highlight a few important points below for your consideration. There will be a first draft of a proposal as we return sometime in January. I will provide additional details as they become available.

• 📌Budget Solutions Fact Sheet _12/19/24
• 📌Budget Survey Results_12/19/2024
• 📌LCAP Plans_2024-25
• 📌Systemic Instructional Review Report (SIR) by WestEd

I would love to hear your thoughts, so email me with HUSD Budget in the subject line. I will take back all of your cares, concerns, and suggestions as a member of the District Advisory Committee.

What do we care about at Ochoa MS?

1. School Safety- is a top priority for a number of reasons. Our students and staff deserve to work and learn in classrooms that are safe, clean, and well maintained. Failure to do this can have an impact on learning, recruitment and retention.

2. To be able to recruit, hire and retain top teaching talent and support staff for our students. This requires competitive salaries, benefits and professional development for staff. It has the potential to grow the community with increased value for property owners, making Hayward a desirable place to live, work, and learn. Many staff and families, cannot afford to live where they work and the children go to school.

3. To provide supports for the whole child, such as counseling supports and other wrap around type services and resources. Post COVID, we are seeing changes in student needs that require academic interventions as well as social emotional support. When we, as human beings are worried about things like food insecurity, home life, or anything that makes us feel less safe, we CAN'T focus on learning. As an automatic, biochemical response, that part of our brain will shut down. These supports are crucial for our students!!

4. Family Engagement-Creating and maintaining a community of learners that includes learning with families and engaging families regularly to get involved in their student's learning and overall wellbeing.

SBDM meets: **Tuesday, January 7, 2024: Meeting Agenda (Eng/Span)~Hybrid

Next meeting 2/4/2025 ~ Submit Meeting Agenda Items by clicking the box below Due: 2/28/25

I feel it important to share with you the urgency of getting students to school each day. Ochoa, like all schools sets an attendance goal for each month. Although we strive for 98% monthly attendance rate, we have not been able to reach 95% as of yet this year. We are noticing patterns of absences, Monday, Wednesdays, and Friday each week. If your student has appointments, we ask that you make them at the end of the school day whenever possible. We especially are noticing patterns of absences around holiday weekends. More than anyone, we recognize the need to enjoy a little family time, however doing so may come at a cost to your student's learning. Take a look at our attendance rates so far this year.

Our monthly Attendance goal: 98%

December attendance-91.21%

November attendance= 92.17%

October attendance = 93.5%

September Attendance = 93.3%

August Attendance = 94.19%

When our students miss instruction, they are still responsible for the work and mastering the content. Repeated absences over time (days, weeks, months, years) has the potential to create learning slide. This can make children fall behind their grade-level peers and create a level of anxiety, when they are unable to perform in the classroom. Help your student move toward the path to success this year and make sure they are in attendance daily and for the duration of the school day. Quarter 2 starts this week, let's turn our attendance rates around. Help Ochoa achieve a 98%!

Keep your Child on Track in Middle School_English

Keep your Child on Track in Middle School_Spanish

• The N-word+ ban policy translated into Spanish for easy access and understanding.

• A document outlining the history and harm of the n-word, also translated into Spanish, to help families discuss the significance of the policy at home.

• A link for families to provide their input on the policy, ensuring their voices are heard.

• A resource guide on how families can support at home (Spanish here and English here) with practical tips on fostering conversations about respect, inclusivity, and the importance of eliminating hate speech.

• Slide decks from the presentation: English presenter and Spanish presenter

• Spanish Words That Are Anti-Black & Anti-Indigenous video

Ochoa Families, there are many interventions that we put in place here at Ochoa to support all of our students; some are especially for those students who may be struggling academically and or behaviorally:

• Attendance incentives & programs (AC Transit Free bus pass)
• COST- Counseling supports (individual/group)
• Tutoring Support (Lunch/ After school/Weekends)
• Focal Student Progress Monitoring
• After school Programming (YEP)
• Restorative Circles & Mediations
• Academic Counselor Check Ins
• Student Success Team Meetings
• Progress reports (weekly)
• Check In-El Spec

This is a non-exhaustive list, however these supports are put in place to ensure your student gets the help they need to be successful and thrive here at Ochoa Middle School. When students do not meet academic or behavioral requirements, they are in danger of being placed on the 1) Risk of Retention List (Academics) or 2) The LOP List (Behaviors). I want to share with you what being placed on either of these lists might mean for your student. Please know that I am sharing this information proactively with the best of intentions for us to work in partnership.

Students at Risk of Retention (ROR)

Identified during the 3rd-4th qtrs

When students are unable to maintain their academics and have three or more "Fs" on their quarterly report card, we begin to hold a series of student success team meetings, academic check ins and start a process of progress monitoring your student. We offer one or a combination of the interventions listed above. If there are no improvements in their grades from Quarter 1 through the middle of Quarter 4, we will make a recommendation for retention. Students with three or more "Fs" on their report cards, will then be placed on the LOP list, where they become ineligible to participate in school related events such as: clubs, games, dances, end of year field trips, end of year fun school related activities up to and including 8th grade promotion. These lists apply to 7th and 8th grades students.

Students on the Loss of Privileges List (LOP):

Students can be placed on the LOP list for a number of reasons. The first, described above for academics and failure to perform. The second reason is based on violations of school rules and policies outlined in our student, district handbook, and california education code. This non-exhaustive list of violations may include:

• attendance
• any disciplinary action (Suspensions, In School Suspensions)
• poor attendance (includes tardies/absences)
• poor behaviors (any disciplinary actions)
• failure to serve consequences (i.e. detentions, community service, study halls, progress reports)
• failure to adhere to dress code
• failure to adhere to cell phone policy
• failure to maintain grades (less than two Fs)

Students appearing on this list will not be able to participate in any school related activities.

Families, this doesn't mean students can't make mistakes, we expect them to, however as we move toward the end of the school year, we do not expect to have to reiterate expectations, especially when there may have been an obvious disregard for the school and district policies. We are here to work in partnership with you and want ALL-100% of our students to participate through year end. Please have a proactive conversation with your children so that they fully understand this process.

Our meetings this year are:

SSC Meets as follows: (*the team will decide meeting times/medium)

10/17/2024- Hybrid Mtg, 5:30PM

10/22/2024- SSC District Training (mandatory), 5:30-7PM @ The HUB

12/5/2024

1/16/2025

3/20/2025

4/17/2025

5/22/2025- if needed to finalize the SPSA for 25-26

Board Policy 6020: Parent Involvement & Family Engagement

🔻🔻All students must be picked up within 15 minutes of school events end.🔻🔻

Student athletes must maintain a 2.0 GPA with no more than one "F: Grades will be monitored regularly and students will be advised by the athletic director. School games and evening events must follow school expectations.

• dress code is enforced
• students must attend school; If absent and or on suspension during the day may not attend events/sports etc
• school appropriate language required
• school appropriate behaviors required

ELAC

1. Next ELAC meeting is January 9th. ~ Flier

Topic: Preparing for the ELPAC including new test prep tool Summit K-12

Data Talks

1. Meeting with each EL to review current ELPAC scores, reclassification criteria, and create specific individual progress goal based on data. Each student has an ELL folder with this data.

They are due back to me with a guardian's signature by Jan. 16 (Please feel free to ask EL students to share out their goal or scores from this folder; they should be the expert on their data!

2. Thank you to the PE & electives Departments for collaborating to make this possible!!

__________Additional Resources:_____________

Click here to: Visit our Multilingual Learner Department's Webpage

Resources for Families of Multilingual Learners

Parents: Get Involved

District English Language Advisory Committee (DELAC)

Site Level: English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC)

Board Policy 6020: Parent Involvement & Family Engagement

My Schedule: I am at Ochoa the 2nd and 4th Wednesday/every Thursday and Friday.

*Agenda is posted 72 hrs in advance.

Next Meeting: December 3 2024

Meeting Agenda_December 3, 2024

Join Here: Google Meets Link or In person

Site Based Decision Making (SBDM) was introduced to Hayward USD in 1996 as a strategy for ensuring that staff, parents, and students at individual school sites had a vehicle for engaging in the decision-making that most affected their own sites. Over the years, HUSD board and district leadership have affirmed the importance of SBDM as a means of exchanging ideas, data, and other information necessary to improving educational opportunities for HUSD students.

These are public meetings any member of the Ochoa community is welcome to join meetings, submit agenda items, voice concerns, support process improvements and spending (MAA funds), and offer input to the School Site Council (SSC) team at Ochoa Middle School regarding suggestions for spending that supports student academic achievement.

Board Policy 6020: Parent Involvement & Family Engagement

Monday, January 6, 2025

• Return from winter break!

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

• Ochoa Counselors- Elem Sites to Recruit
• SBDM Mtg, 3:30PM

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

• District-wide Articulation Mtg, (Zoom) Agenda
• Goal of meeting: To foster collaboration among middle school and high school department leads as we discuss placement, course selection procedures, and timeline for future freshmen programming.
• College Day, wear college gear
• Students dismiss at 1:30PM
• Department Collaboration/Articulation, 1:45PM
• Basketball (see schedule above)

Thursday, January 9, 2025

• Lockdown Drill
• ELAC Meeting, Library 9AM
• Principal's Network Mtg, Andrews off site AM

• School Spirit Day, wear Black & Gold
• Ochoa COST Mtg, 8:30AM*

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January 13 & 24, 2025

• 8th Grade Programming (English Dpt 1/13 and PE 1/24)

January 15, 2025

• 6th Grade Elective Night, Flier

January 17, 2025

• Teacher workday (No School for Students)

• MLK Day observed (No School)

January 24, 2025

• Winter Dance, 5-7PM, MPR

January 29, 2025

• Parent Day Qtr 2

January 30, 2025

• Minimum Day (Students dismiss at 1:30PM*)

Ochoa has a nice sized garden and we are looking for families who might be willing and able to help us plan to revitalize it. Currently, we are growing grapes, apricots, pomegranates, and apples. Our Site Based Decision Making Team has been discussing the possibility of creating a garden to table home economics program for our students. If you or someone you know might be able to offer some expertise in this area, please reach out to Principal Rowe-Andrews or Ms. Hiester, Family Engagement Specialist.

We would love to hear from you.

Does your student require public transportation? If you would like to apply for a free AC transit card for your student please click the link below. This is not transportation specific to students with IEPs, but is available for ALL students.

SCHOOL SUCCESS IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO GOOD ATTENDANCE.

Ochoa strives for a 98+% attendance rate for our students each month/year.

December attendance to date= 91.21%

November attendance = 91.99%

October attendance = 93.49%

September Attendance = 93.3%

August Attendance = 94.19%

Poor performance in the classroom is often the result of poor attendance. If students are to achieve maximum value from their middle school education, 100% attendance is the goal. Did you know that the state of California only allows students to be absent, with *valid excuse for less than 10% of the year?

*valid excuses for absences from school are:

• Illness or quarantine
• Medical, dental, or optometry appointments

• Religious Requests, upto one per quarter with prior written notice and approval
• Attendance at funeral services for a member of the immediate family

California law requires all students 6 to 18 years old are required to attend school on time and regularly. Cal. Ed. Code § 48200.

A child is habitually truant if, without valid excuse, they are:

• Absent for three days in a single school year,
• Absent or tardy more than 30 minutes three times in a year,
• Any combination of the above. Cal. Ed. Code § 48260(a).

A child is chronically truant if they have missed 10% of the school year. Cal. Ed. Code § 48263.6. A student is truant when they have three or more tardies of 30 minutes or more and with absences three or more. Help us to improve our rate of attendance this year and ensure your student reports to school on time each day. We want all students to participate in end of year activities, however attendance can get students added to the loss of privileges list.

Parents must Report Absences-Please call us!: All absences must be cleared by a phone call or a note within 72 hours of the absence from a parent/guardian to the attendance office (510 723-3130 extension 43111). When absences are not cleared in this manner the family can expect to receive a call from our office or automated phone system.

Students should plan to arrive to school each day between 8 and 8:15AM, unless they have a zero period class. Students with a zero period PE class must arrive at school daily no later than 7:15AM. The first bell rings at 8:20AM and students must be in their seats or on their PE numbers by that time. Even if a student arrives "just 1 minute late," they legally must be marked tardy according to the law. Help us to achieve our daily and annual attendance goals this year and help us to get to 98% or better.

Website: https://ochoa.husd.us
Location: 2121 Depot Road, Hayward, CA
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