Orlando Science Schools Lynx Campus

Greetings Orcas,

As you may know, Orlando Science Schools have a set of Core Values to help our students and staff focus on building character and thus creating a positive and accepting community on our campuses. A large part of those values revolve around making sure our students are respected and able to learn in a safe environment. Students and staff wanting to support the belief that no child should ever experience bullying are invited to wear orange this coming Wednesday, October 20th as part of a Unity Dress Down Day. See the details below for more information.

I hope you all have a nice weekend and look forward to updating you on our students’ continued success next week.

Dr. Yalcin Akin

Executive Director/Principal

Orlando Science School – Middle/High

Here at OSS we’re thrilled to announce that we have been recognized as a 2022 Best School by Niche! This year, we ranked #1 Best Charter High School in Florida AND achieved an Overall Grade of “A+”.

We've earned this ranking by scoring highly in many factors that aim to capture what it’s really like to attend OSS. While we’ve always known that OSS is a wonderful place to learn and grow, we’re so proud of our students and staff for earning this national distinction.

You can check out OSS’s profile and see the full list of 2021 rankings, methodologies, and data sources over at https://www.niche.com/. Thanks again to our community for working hard every day to make OSS worthy of national attention.

Student will be invited to shop the Scholastic Book Fair during the day and after school! We have a wide selection of middle level books and school supplies on site. Students will need to have money to spend to obtain a pass to visit the Book Fair.

Be sure to check out the eWallet digital payment option! This makes Book Fair transactions easy, cashless, and contactless. And now parents, grandparents, family, and friends can contribute to a child's fund. Accounts are easy to set up and can be done directly from your school's homepage.

The OSHS UNICEF Club is holding a Trunk or Treat for all OSS students grades K through 12. The event will take place on Thursday, October 28th, 2021 from 5pm to 7pm in the Building 1 & 2 parking lot. There will be decorated cars for trick or treating, a raffle, games, food, and so much more. Proceeds will go to UNICEF’s WASH efforts in Haiti.

Tickets are $5 for participating students and includes all of the games and trick-or-treating. Food, raffle tickets and snacks will be available for additional purchase. Supervising adults and children under 5 are FREE.

We are so excited for you all to join us for a whole lot of SPOOK-tacular fun!

Any form of Halloween donations are highly appreciated by the club. If you would like to donate any items for the event, please use the sign-up genius link below. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D45ABAC2EA7FCC43-unicef

We are so excited for you all to join us for a whole lot of SPOOK-tacular fun!

Parents and Guardians,

I wanted to take a moment to go over the new COVID policy sent from the DOE and the new Surgeon General. Effective immediately upon being notified of a positive case at our school, we will continue to do contact tracing and notifying parents that their student was exposed to COVID. Instead of having 3 options you will only have 2. If your student has no symptoms, they can return to school the next day, monitor them for the next 14 days and report if any symptoms appear. Your next option is to keep them home for up to 7 days in quarantine, while in quarantine they will be required to do live lessons on teams following the same schedule as the students in school. They may return if they have no symptoms.

Positive students will follow the same protocol as before, they will quarantine for 10 days, do live lessons on teams, and can return on their designated date or earlier with a doctors note or clearance from the department of health. We ask that you report any positive results as soon as possible, including those in your household. If your student is exposed to someone at home, we will keep record in case symptoms start with them as well.

We encourage every parent to keep their student home if they are having COVID like symptoms, runny nose, congestion, cough, headaches with nausea, high fever, or sore throat and let the school know right away if this happens.

The OSS face mask policy has not changed. Masks are required and parents may opt out with a signed note or email.

We thank you all for working with us during this time when things are changing and adapting. If you have any questions, please reach out to me by email or phone.

Sincerely,

Jenna Foley

COVID Coordinator – Lynx and High School Campuses

Facilities and Assistant Admin Coordinator

407-299-6595 ext 3207

Do you have a suggestion for improving our school? We'd love to hear about it. Your suggestion counts! Tell us about it using the link below.

We love to recognize our teachers and staff that go the extra-mile to engage and motivate our students every day in and out of the classroom. If there's a staff member or teacher you'd like to recognize, we'd love to hear about it. Please take a moment to fill out the survey linked below. We will be sure to share the responses with our staff.

All science fair forms are due! If you have not turned in the forms, you need to do so ASAP. You cannot start your experiment until your science teacher gives you the okay! If you have any questions, please ask your science teacher or see Ms. Cramp in room 151 after school.

Hello Orca Families!

First, we would like to say thank you to parents and students for their flexibility and commitment during these unprecedented times. There have been challenges for us all, and we hope you’re in good spirits and health! Right now, we’re doing everything possible to sustain daily operations and provide a safe learning environment for students and staff.

We would like to request donations of air purifiers for Lynx and the High School, which can be purchased and brought directly to the campus locations. Air purifiers are a great addition to our school and will provide additional protection for classrooms and walkways.

Preferred Choice for maintenance purposes:

Medify MA-25 Air Purifier with H13 True HEPA Filter

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086T3RJV6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_DRHXDE2ACV1GSBC1BCW7

High School Air Purifier:

https://schoolpay.com/pay/for/High-School-Campus-Air-Purifier-/SbmTiSd

Lynx Air Purifier:

https://schoolpay.com/pay/for/Lynx-Campus-Air-Purifier-/SbyDqQvvvv

We also would like to purchase outdoor picnic tables to help distance our students, and we will be accepting monetary donations to go toward the cost. Please make donations through our SchoolPay links:

Lynx:

https://schoolpay.com/pay/for/Lynx-Campus-Outside-Lunch-Tables/SbP029Q

High School:

https://schoolpay.com/pay/for/High-School-Campus-Outside-Lunch-Tables/Sc132LP

We want to extend our gratitude to all of the parents for helping in any way that you can, and any donations are appreciated!

Orlando Science Schools

Diya is an extraordinarly respectful and well-behaved student. She is able to communicate, participate, and preform at the top of her class on a daily basis. Her overall positive attitude and consistency help her classmates to achieve a higher level of success.

Faith always shows kindness and respect to all her classmates and staff. Thank you for being compassionate.

Nicky is very attentive and participates well. He treats his classmates and teachers with respect every day.

Sanjana is always working hard. She is always challenging herself to do better. She listens well to instructions and is always workin gon something to make herself better.

Bhanie is a very quiet student, but she demonstartes all of the ORCA Core Values. She is always respectful inside and outside of the classroom. She constantly will ask questions that can further her content knowledge, and she will sometimes take it a step further and help classmates around her unprompted.

Ria is always looking out for her peers. She is always respectful to staff members and her peers.

Dean goes out of his way and without being asked/prompted to see how he can make the lives of those around him easier. For example, Dean often volunteers to put away computers for other students at the end of the class period. Likewise, Dean anticipates when the screen needs to be frozen during class and freezes it for the instuctor if they forget to do so at the start of work time. Additionally, Dean works well with other students to make sure everyone feels included during group activities. Dean always makes sure everyone is ready for class and passes out bell work.

Mathew has helped many new students feel welcome when they started OSS late.

Ms. Castro spends time outside of her classroom to make sure that her students feel cared about and she takes the time to listen to her students.

Ms. Lugo spends time outside of her classroom to make sure that her students feel cared about and she takes the time to listen to her students.

Ms. Butler is amiable and does a great job helping new teachers feel adjusted to their new teaching environment. She is always ready to provide a helping hand.

Ms. Perez is always looking out for the students but she looks out for the teachers just as much.

Coach Leard is very helpful with all the staff, using PE as an incentive to do well in school and an extra study session for those who are not. Coach Leard does so much for our school community. She helps out with the car line at the end of most days, and helped staff with the quarter 1 missing work.

Mr. Bautista helped me figure out how to administer benchmark tests.

Ms. Lavoy is amazing! No matter how busy she might be, she is always willing to help others succeed. Thank you for showing compassion always!

Ms. Pantone is incredibly flexible, patient, and caring toward her students. She is always willing to have a conversation and make time for her students before, during, and after school hours. Her communication with colleagues is without equal and she consistently spreads positive vibes throughout the school environment.

Thank you Mr. Bautista for being a role model in our school and always helping the students, parents, and staff. We appreciate your dedication to our students each day.

Thank you Ms. Lavoy for helping everyone you encounter and always wanting to learn and contribute. We appreciate your dedication to our students, parents, and staff.

Sense of Humor is to laugh and be playful without harming others.

"Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be." - William Hazlitt

Hello Friends and Welcome Back to Counseling Corner!

Caretakers of the young humans!! Are you having a hard time getting them motivated to do schoolwork, activities, or anything at home? You may even be inclined to think they’re… “lazy”… ? Well trust me, you’re not alone! Today we’ll be talking through a few quick solutions.

First, I’d like to give a quick perspective shift. If you’re currently wondering why your child is so lazy right now, I’d urge you to reconsider that word. Words are powerful things. The word “lazy” is a character trait, it labels the person as habitually unproductive, sloth-like, etc. When a kid hears lazy, sometimes they adopt the phrase as a truth about themselves, they begin to think, “I’m lazy, that’s why I don’t even bother.” Pretty soon, with repetition it becomes something they believe to be true about themselves on a fundamental level and they may not want to change that or even think they can.

When I hear “lazy,” I immediately think “unmotivated.” The student is unmotivated to do work or their usual activities. The student has some block (either mental, emotional, or physical) that is affecting their motivation to complete certain activities. Using this language, “unmotivated” transfers the situation from a character trait that is unchangeable to a problem that has a solution. This sets up both your mind and your child’s mind to think that this is something that can be worked on, shifted, understood, and improved upon. Your mind and words are powerful, and often they are the first step to making real change.

Second, make a mental note of what they seem to be interested in or distracted by. Is it their phone? Friends? TV shows and movies? Books? Youtube? Once you know what they would rather do with your time, you’ve got half the problem solved. Knowing what they are motivated by gives you the opportunity to build a reward system around that interest. For instance, if your child gets most excited by being on their tablet/iPad/phone, you then can make sure that they only have access to the tablet/iPad/phone after they’ve completed what you need them to do. This works best for homework and chores. If they learn, with consistency, that they will only receive the thing they want after they complete the things they have to do, then it becomes an external reward. Intrinsic motivation is best for problems like this, but getting there can be harder than working off the reward system in this way.

Third, once you’ve got the external reward in place, now we work on intrinsic motivation. When you notice your child doing the things on their to-do list, give them praise. Use phrases like, “I really appreciate you taking out the trash, thank you,” or “I noticed you finished your work early today, that’s awesome,” or even, “hey, I know it’s been hard for you to get focused and work so I’m really proud of you for pushing through and doing that work today.” Make sure you acknowledge that they are human, and that everyone has rough patches every now and again but that you are there for them. The more sincere and genuine, the better. We tend to forget that words are so powerful, especially negative ones, which is why its best to overload the people we love with enough positive messages to overpower the negative and unhelpful things they may hear elsewhere.

Finally, here are a few extra items that may be helpful when engaging in the 3 steps above! If the computer is a distraction, use some website blockers and trackers to block the distracting websites, such as StayFocused, Self-Control, or Forest. Another tip is to work on having open dialogue with your kids. Honest, genuine, real dialogue about things they care about, are interested in, and are passionate about! Building that rapport and connection outside of just the parent and child bond can help them feel more motivated to receive praise from you.

That is all I have for you this week, but I look forward to connecting with you again next week. And as always, if you need anything, I’m happy to help!

All the best,

Ms. Perez

Ms. Perez quote of the day: "Success is not final; failure is not final; it is the courage to continue that counts." -- Winston S. Churchill

In an effort to reduce length and better streamline new content in our weekly newsletter, we have created a separate page for Parent Resources. This page will be available here each week, and can be accessed with one easy click. Access the link below to view:

Parent Skyward/OSS Connect Access

Parent Teacher Conference & Report Card Dates

Bell Schedule

Orange County Public School Calendar

PVO Information

Weekly Tutoring Schedule

Public Library Resources

And much more!

Email: info@orlandoscience.org
Website: www.orlandoscience.org
Location: 2427 Lynx Lane, Orlando, FL, USA
Phone: (407)253-7304
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orlandoscience/
Twitter: @OrlandoSciMH