Owensboro Catholic Middle School
September 2008 Newsletter
Dear OCMS Families:
We are all experiencing a wonderful start to the 2008-2009 school year. Enrollment is up! We have 123 eighth graders and 97 seventh graders. We celebrated by having an ice cream party the first day of school.
Faculty and staff are working as a team to insure that your child is learning all she/he possibly can while at OCMS. We’ve adopted a “bell-to-bell” philosophy in the classroom. Students have adjusted well to moving quickly and quietly through the hallways. Most importantly, our Masses have been beautiful thanks to the reverence our students have displayed and the hard work put in by the Religion teachers in planning and preparing the liturgies.
We hope that all of our parents will be able to attend our first PTO meeting which is also our Open House and Book Fair on Tuesday, September 9, at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria. Please remember to bring your child’s schedule for the Open House.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
With prayers for God’s blessing upon you
and your families,
Ann Flaherty, Principal
The National Catholic Educational Association has adopted this theme for Catholic Schools in the United States during the 2008-2009 school year. This ties in well with our OCMS goal to serve our community, Catholic Church and families in order to prepare for Confirmation and become adult members of the Church.
So many of the adults in our community modeled this concept for the OCMS family this summer by volunteering their time, talent and treasure. Many of our faculty and staff worked many days in the summer to help prepare for the start of school. Friends and family members of the Catholic school system donated money to buy mulch and ground cloth, pull weeds and prune bushes so that our ‘front yard’ looked manicured. A retired employee came and fixed the PA system. The Immaculate parish Pastor and staff helped problem solve issues such as traffic patterns, Religious Education and sharing the property and resources. Other OCS and diocesan school principals shared storage space, resources and offered advice. The OCS Education Council, Director, and Maintenance Director focused resources on the OCMS site in im-proving the building.
Everyone working together brought about not only physical changes to the plant, but strengthened bonds among these varied groups in our Catholic community. The renewed focus on OCMS has triggered an energy and excitement among faculty and staff which has spilled over into the classroom and has positively affected our students. I personally have been overwhelmed by the generous spirit of all those that have given to help our Catholic Middle School grow.
We, the OCMS faculty and staff, are deeply grateful for each and every one of the people responsible for sharing their tal-ent, time and treasure with our school community. Our prayer is that our Catholic community will continue to “Celebrate Ser-vice” with OCMS!
SCHOOL WEBSITE
The school website has many great features, such as, a list of all faculty members with their e-mail addresses. This is an excellent way to stay in touch with your child’s teachers. Look for the section called Homework Helper. This page provides links to the textbooks used at the middle school. Students can find practice quizzes, crossword puzzles, etc. that follow the textbooks. The website also has a complete list of our Accelerated reader quizzes. The AR List is located under students.
LIBRARY NEWS
Mark your calendars now, so you won’t miss our Scholastic Book Fair! The Grand Opening is after the PTO meeting on Sep-tember 9. There will be a special drawing for parents that visit the fair. During the rest of the week, students will have the op-portunity to view and purchase books dur-ing class time. Students can also shop before and after school. The fair will be open daily from 7:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Parents and family members are welcome to stop by anytime to purchase books, software, posters, school supplies and gift certificates.
Besides bringing affordable, appropriate books to our school, a goal of our Book Fair is to increase classroom libraries. The Classroom Wish List will enable you to do-nate books to your child’s classroom in your family’s name. This year we will also par-ticipate in the “One for Books” program. We ask that you donate $1.00 or loose change to buy books for the OCMS library. With a donation, a book slip with your child’s name will be displayed at the Book Fair. Scholastic will match monetary dona-tions raised with a donation of up to one million books to three national non-profit organizations. They include: Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc., National Center for Family Literacy, and the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.
Purchases can be made with cash, credit cards, or checks made to OCMS. There is no sales tax. Thank you for supporting OCMS and helping us to promote reading.
COMPUTER LAB/LIBRARY
Judy Patton,Tech Coordinator
The main computer lab has a brand new look: new computers and chairs! The Library also received new computers for the students to use. The computer lab and library are open Tuesday through Friday starting at 7:45a.m. Students needing to check out a book, take AR tests, or work on a school assignment in the library or computer lab first report to study hall. The staff member will then send students to the library or computer lab starting at 7:45a.m. Students are required to inform the Study Hall monitor of their needs as soon as they arrive.
PLEASE JOIN US
The faculty and students of Owensboro Catholic Middle School invite all parents and friends of our community to join us for the celebration of the Liturgy at 9:00 a.m. every Thursday morning at Immaculate Church.
STUDENT SAFETY
Great job parents, on learning the new transportation routes so quickly! The morning drop off went off without a hitch. Just a reminder, that due to no direct adult supervision, we do not open the building doors until 7:30am.
We experienced a few glitches in the afternoon car rider dismissal procedures but with Mrs. Clark’s brilliant brainchild of four lines of cars parked parallel to the baseball field and Mrs. Ebelhar’s help in organization, we are now clearing the parking lot behind Immaculate Church of the majority of cars by 3:05 pm.
Bike riders are allowed to leave immediately unless they exit the building after we’ve begun to dismiss cars. Then they must wait until the walkers leave the park-ing lot. The bike riders must follow the flow of traffic. Because walkers leave after the cars/busses have cleared the parking lot they may take a direct route to their homes.
Everyone is doing a good job of allowing an open lane for the busses to get around the parking lot. Please remember to drive slowly and carefully when you come around the corner of the back of the church after 3:05 pm as there are students still waiting to be picked up standing in the lot. Student safety continues to be our #1 concern.
Thanks to Fr. Tony Jones and Immaculate parishioners for allowing OCMS to change the flow of traffic for the purpose of student safety!
HOMEWORK TIP
Working successfully with our students on homework requires communication and un-derstanding. If your child struggles with and/or resists homework, try to discover why. Students struggle with homework for a variety of reasons. These may range from simple fatigue to actually lacking a neces-sary skill to complete the task. Talk to your child, ask questions, have them explain the assignment (this will verify understanding or lack of). A more complex assignment sometimes involves breaking a task into sub-steps, approaching the task one step at a time rather than tackling the whole task at once.
Many students express the idea that homework is a “waste of time.” Even if you wonder about the value of an assignment, it is critical to communicate an optimistic be-lief that homework positively affects achievement and teaches many valuable life skills:
• Following directions
• Independent work habits
• Time management
• Follow-through
• Use of strategies/sub-steps
• Responsibility
If your child struggles with an assignment, encourage him/her to take notes, explaining why he/she had difficulty. At what step or phase did he/she encounter difficulty? Is there a specific question he/she wanted to ask the teacher at that time? Have the stu-dent complete as much of the assignment as possible. This attempt, in addition to the notes, will be of great value to the teacher in identifying the problem, reteaching, and helping the student get back on track. Es-tablishing a positive approach to homework lays a valuable foundation for academic growth.
“Every student can learn, just not on the same day, or the same way.”…Professor George Evans
STUDENT PLANNERS
OCMS students were given student plan-ners (agendas) when they registered. The student planners provide the students with the tools to become more successful. They will provide the students with the opportunity to become better organized, a way to set short and long term goals, a documentation of their progress, and a way of communication between home and school. We encourage parents to take a look at the student planner on a regular basis so that you can be more involved in your child’s education process and progress.
NON-UNIFORM DAYS
At those times during the year when stu-dents have non-uniform days jeans, t-shirts, and sweats are permitted. T-shirts with anything relating to drugs, alcohol, music groups, or anything else not in good taste (as determined by the principal) are not appropriate and therefore, not allowed. If students choose to wear shorts, they must be their uniform shorts. No sandals, flip-flops, open toe or open heeled shoes will be al-lowed.
Recently piercings and haircuts have become an issue. The handbook states in general that students may wear no inap-propriate or gaudy jewelry. Specifically this means that girls may wear earrings in their ears but may have no other piercings. Boys may have NO piercings at all. As far as hair, the handbook states that hair must be off the collar, neat and clean. Specifically, this means that a student’s eyes must be visible, no mohawks and that hair color must be natural. We are trying to train our students to be prepared for what the world of work expects in appearance.
Introducing the 2008-2009 - Faculty and Staff
Students at OCMS have many opportuni-ties to participate in clubs and organizations outside the school day. We encourage students to get involved in one or more ex-tracurricular activities in order to get the most out of their middle school experience.
The day and time of club meetings are an-nounced during morning and afternoon an-nouncements. Students should make arrangements for transportation home be-fore coming to the meeting.
KENTUCKY UNITED NATIONS ASSEMBLY
KUNA members participate in a mock United Nations Assembly. Students pre-pare UN proposals to be debated and voted on and learn the cultural and political as-pects of the chosen country they represent.
KUNA members attend the Kentucky United Nations Assembly held in Louisville during early March. Students are chosen based upon their behavior, grades, and KUNA Quiz score. The cost is approxi-mately $225.00 which includes lodging, transportation, and 2 meals. Members pro-vide the cost of 2 additional meals. Finan-cial aid is available. Members meet once a week from January to March.
KENTUCKY YOUTH ASSOCIATION
KYA members learn the structure and op-eration of the government of the Common-wealth of Kentucky. Students are introduced to local, state, and national problems and participate in a forum to cre-ate bills aimed at the correction of these undesirable situations.
Citizenship skills are developed through debate and the encouragement of freedom of expression within the guidelines of the Parliamentary Procedure used by actual state government.
The club travels to Louisville and Frankfort in early November to participate. Club members use the actual House and Senate changes to debate bills they have written. A forum is also provided for those inter-ested in the workings of the Supreme Court. These students argue a case before student justices in order to convince them either to uphold or overturn the decision of a lower court. Actual court cases from Ken-tucky are used.
Thirty (30) students are chosen based upon grades, behavior, and their KYA Quiz score. Members meet in the mornings, once a week, between mid-September and November.
The cost to participate is approximately $225.00. Financial aid is available. This includes two nights lodging in Louisville, 3 meals, transportation to and from Louisville and Frankfort. The hotel provides a bill book with itinerary, and convention rooms.
ACADEMIC TEAM
The Academic Team represents Owens-boro Catholic Middle School at the Gov-ernor’s Cup Competition. The event is managed by the Kentucky Association for Academic Competition. Students partici-pate in written assessment tests, quick re-call, and future problem solving. During the first semester, quick recall meets are held with regional middle schools.
Students are expected to maintain a “B” average. During the fall, students attend one or two practices per week. As the aca-demic season progresses towards the Feb-ruary Governor’s Cup Competition, the number of practices per week increases. Quick recall practice has started and is open to all students.
STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Students use the computer lab to write, edit, and print out articles about topics of interest to middle school students. There is a meeting every Monday, which lasts from 3:00 to 3:45. Meetings will begin on Mon-day, September 8. The newspaper is pub-lished quarterly and distributed to the students.
YEARBOOK
The Yearbook staff is responsible for complet-ing a 40-page Yearbook that reflects the school year. The staff takes the pictures, designs the pages, writes the captions, and types the pages before mailing it to be published. Students will meet from September to February starting Sep-tember 8th. The first meeting will be Monday September 8th from 3:00 to 4:00.
STUDENT COUNCIL
The Student Council represents the student body and serves the student body by example and service. The council helps host school visi-tors and spearheads special school events.
The council meets as needed and consists of two representatives from each homeroom.
DRAMA
Drama Club invites, encourages, and allows students to express themselves in a theatrical format. Students may participate as ac-tors/actresses, musicians, or behind the scenes artisans, with props, scenery, and wardrobe.
Practice times are two to three times per week from October to Christmas for the Christmas play.
CHOIR
Thanks to the 100 students who signed up to join Choir this year at OCMS. We have 4 Sacrament Choirs based on the 4 sacra-ments that most students will have received by the time they leave OCMS. The choirs are the Baptism Choir, the Reconciliation Choir, the Eucharist Choir, and the Confir-mation Choir. Students will sing with their choir once a month and will be called out of 1st period for 10 minutes before mass to run through the music. Thanks for lifting up praise to God through song!
BAND
Information about the Owensboro Catholic Band Program can be found on their webpage. Marching Band students and parents should check this website on a regular basis for up-to-date information.
SAFE ENVIRONMENT
All volunteers must have attended a “Safe Environment” program or performed the online version and have a background check performed. If you have, please see that Ms. Lily gets a copy of the Safe Environment Certificate and a copy of the back-ground check card you should have received from the Pastoral Center.