The Navigator Newsletter

Hi Sycamore Family,

I want to take a moment to thank each and every student and staff member for the way they showed flexibility and patience as we worked through the gas main break. We had a successful dismissal because our students responded responsibly and followed all instructions provided by our staff. Students were responsible, respectful, and prepared. These are values that we promote daily and we are grateful for their contribution to the safety of our learning community. As family, please be very proud of your child and also help us to celebrate their response! On another note, Duke Energy did complete a full investigation in our building and while the odor was terrible, the gas readings were minimal. The line has been repaired and the site is safe. All evening and weekend athletics will resume as scheduled.

Which brings me to more news to share. As anticipated we have received final word about the Cooper Road bridge closure that will occur in March. We are planning for a 3/1 date, though it could be closer to mid-march when the bridge is actually removed. It will not be open to any walkers or riders, as it will be fully replaced. Below is information from our District office team regarding this closure and potential impacts. The biggest result of this will be Traffic, Traffic, and more Traffic. Therefore the easiest solution for ALL is to have your child ride the bus. It will reduce the number of cars on Kenwood & Cooper Roads and ease the traffic for our buses to get through. It will also reduce safety concerns with kids who may exit cars onto sidewalks or cross the road at unsafe points. All students have been assigned a bus and information on how to find that information is in the message below. While carpooling certainly helps, the biggest positive impact will be made if every child can ride the bus staring March 1st. We will be working with local law enforcement, district office, the PTO and our own staff to adjust our procedures as needed.

We acknowledge the events yesterday and the Bridge closure can be frustrating for some families. We appreciate your patience and look forward to our community being afforded a new building in which we can come together and celebrate all the goodness that is to come!

I hope you all have a safe weekend!

-Mrs. Schunk

• February 6 -10: Celebrate your school Counselor! National School Counseling Week
  
• February 8: Teacher Requested Parent Teacher Conferences (Virtual)
  

• February 10: 3rd quarter Interim

• February 18: Online Scheduling Window Opens for 23.24SY

• February 16: Teacher Requested Parent Teacher Conferences (Virtual or In-Person)

• February 20: No School President's Day Holiday

• March 1: Cooper Road Bridge Closure (See communication below)

Positive school climates are essential for creating the environment, resources, and relationships necessary for children to thrive. Measuring school climate data enables schools to create safe, supportive, and accepting learning environments. As part of our Strategic Plan, Sycamore Community Schools has partnered with the Impact Group to conduct a climate and culture survey for the district.

We value the opinions of our students, staff, and families. Please click here to begin the survey for families. The surveys will not collect personal information and will be anonymous. To uphold the integrity of the results, The Impact Group will be collecting the responses and will share their findings with the district. The deadline to complete is February 7, 2023, at 11:59 pm. To learn more about our Strategic Plan, click here. Thank you in advance for your participation!

Sycamore Community Schools is preparing for impacts to transportation services and increased traffic on Cooper Road due to upcoming bridge repair work.

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will completely close the Cooper Road bridge in both directions over I-71 beginning in mid-March. The project is expected to take approximately two months to complete, pending weather conditions. We anticipate the project, combined with ongoing construction at the new Sycamore Junior High, will cause a significant impact on traffic.

ODOT plans to detour traffic from Montgomery to the Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway and Kenwood Road. Drivers should expect delays along Cooper Road as well as increased traffic on Delray Drive and Cooper Lane during arrival and dismissal times at Sycamore Junior High. This could also cause some delays in bussing for our E.H. Greene Intermediate, Symmes Elementary, and Montgomery Elementary students.

To help alleviate some of the anticipated traffic, we are strongly encouraging students to ride the bus to and from school. If you need information about your student’s bus stop, please visit our Transportation website. You will need your student’s ID number to look up their bus route information.

We are working with local law enforcement to provide assistance with pick up and drop off at the junior high. Please look for more information in the coming weeks about potential changes to our procedures for junior high car riders.

To help ensure the safety of all students, motorists should remain alert, reduce their speed, and watch for stopped traffic and pedestrians. Car riders should plan to leave home earlier in order to arrive on time.

Thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation. We look forward to having better traffic patterns in place when the new junior high opens in the fall.

As we move along with the schedule planning timeline, we want to make sure students and families are aware of the resources available! The following items have been created to help make sense of our courses and options for rising 9th graders.

• Course Guide - includes all courses, descriptions, and prerequisites.
• List of 9th Grade Courses - this is a simplified list of the classes available in the 9th grade.
• Video Orientation - includes all the information we would like students to consider while planning their classes for next year. Students will review this same information through SchooLinks.

Current teachers will be talking with students about the specific courses they recommend in early February. So we suggest taking the next couple weeks to continue learning about our offerings.

High School Counselors - at the high school, we have grade level team that will work with a class for all four years. For the class of 2027, the counseling team is listed below.

• Mrs. Megan Brenner (A-K)
• Mrs. Chelsea Rose (L-Z)

Scheduling for the 2022-2023 school year is upon us! For current 7th grade students (Rising 8th), we incorporate an online scheduling component in which students will be entering their course requests into an online portal. Below are some upcoming dates regarding the scheduling process.

The Junior High 8th Grade Course Planner is now available online! You can find it on the website by going to: Junior High → Counseling → Course Planner & Scheduling or by clicking here.

February 10th: Teachers will let students know course recommendations for their core classes and world language. These recommendations will be uploaded and viewable by students when logging in during the online scheduling window.

February 16th: Students will be mailed Online Scheduling Instructions along with an electives course selector that includes students’ usernames and passwords. Students will also receive their username and passwords via email.

February 18th - Feb 26th: Online Scheduling. Students will have one week to enter courses they would like to take next year into the online scheduling portal. Core courses (Language Arts, History, Math, Science) and World Languages, if applicable, will be pre-loaded. Students will then select their music and any electives, schedule permitting.

Early March: Rising 8th grade students will receive verification slips via My eBackpack. This will be a list of courses that were selected for the next school year.

During online scheduling week, students can contact their counselor with any questions or if they need assistance with the online scheduling portal.

Mr. Brenner A-G brennerb@sycamoreschools.org

Mrs. Suter H-N suterk@sycamoreschools.org

Mrs. Morris O-Z, ESOL morrisra@sycamoreschools.org

We have a second round of Parent/Teacher Conferences in February, but the teacher schedules this round. The teachers will individually reach out to the families of students they feel that a meeting would help with student achievement. A link will not be sent out for families to schedule a meeting; however, if a family has specific questions or concerns, they are always encouraged to reach out to the teacher at any point in the school year.

The Sycamore Athletic Boosters - Kick Off to the Superbowl- online auction is now live until 2/11/23 @ 9pm. So many amazing baskets and items to bid on for all ages. Click on the link and start bidding. You don't need to be present at the event to win an auction item. Pick up time/location TBD.

Green & Gold - Kick Off to the Superbowl

https://www.32auctions.com/Kickofftothesuperbowl

Click HERE and find the “Submit Photos Here” button (you must be logged into a Sycamore account to upload)! We want to represent ALL students in this year's historic yearbook.

Check out this link to view our student created video announcements. Mrs. Jarvis does a fantastic job leading these students to take ownership of their learning while also providing a service to our school community!

By calling or testing the statewide hotline

844-SAFEROH

844-723-3764

you can report anything that is suspicious or endangering you, your friends or school.

Email: jhadmin@sycamoreschools.org
Website: www.sycamoreschools.org
Location: 5757 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, OH, United States
Phone: 5136861760