Dear Oak Hill Families,

Mid-Term Feedback Forms: We are at the mid-point of the final trimester. Mid-term feedback forms will be sent home with your child this week; some went home last week. Please be sure to ask your child for these forms from most classes and return a signed copy to teachers.

Teacher Appreciation Week, May 6-10: Thank you to the PTO and parents who honored our talented and dedicated teachers with a scrumptious luncheon last Tuesday  during Teacher Appreciation Week.

I continue to be so grateful to be working with each of our teachers, assistant teachers and specialists.  I would like to extend my thanks to each one for their consistent efforts to support, instruct, and guide our students, making learning accessible and enjoyable. If you would like to recognize or thank your teachers a card, note, or email is suggested as an appropriate and much appreciated gesture. You may also want to make a contribution the Oak Middle School PTO to support our school community.

National School Nurse Day was May 8: This day of recognition has been set aside since 1972 to foster a better understanding of the role of school nurses in the educational setting. This specialized practice advances the wellbeing, academic success and life-long achievements of students. National School Nurse Day fell took place during National Nurses Week, May 7-11, ending on the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of nursing.  We are fortunate to have Sue Riley as our nurse! Proactive, supportive and so knowledgeable, Sue takes care of us in so many ways – thank you, Sue!

Warm Weather Clothing Expectations: As the warm weather approaches, we ask that you please support our expectations for appropriate dress at school. Spaghetti straps/tank tops, bare midriffs, low cut pants, short shorts and bare feet are not appropriate dress for school. If  your child is not dressed appropriately, s/he will be asked to visit the nurse’s office where available sports attire will be offered or Nurse Riley will contact you to bring in a change of clothing. We appreciate your support in reminding your child of these expectations.

***Important Dates:  Please make note of these dates!

Incoming Gr. 6 Parents:

Gr. 8:  NSHS Sports Night: There will be an “Eighth Grade Sports Night” held on Wednesday May 15 at 6:30p.m. in the Field House at Newton South High School. This will be the time for students to meet coaches and sign-up for sports. This is an important meeting, because many of the fall sports begin at the end of the August. Eighth grade students and their families are encouraged to attend this event.

Gr. 6-8:  No School: on Monday, May 27 in observance of Memorial Day.

Gr. 5-8:  Step-up Day: Friday, June 7, 5^th graders will be visiting Oak Hill, 11:30-2:20.

• Our current 6th grade students will “Step Up” to 7th grade to learn about the 7th grade experience with the usual 2:30 dismissal.
• 7th grade students will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m.; school buses will be available.
  
• 8^th grade students will visit Newton North or Newton South with the usual 2:30 dismissal.

If you have any questions about next year’s program, please contact your child’s school guidance counselor at 617-559-9210.

Gr. 6-8:  Field Day: Friday, June 14, rain date, Monday, June 17. Parent assistance will be needed. If you can assist with set up, clean up or manning water stations for an hour or two, please contact Kevin Drinan: kevin_drinan@newton.k12.ma.us           

Gr. 8:

• ‘Decorate-Your-8^th Grade-Tile’ Day: Friday, June 14, Periods 5 & 6, immediately following Field Day and lunch. Parent assistance will be needed. Please contact Amy Less, PTO Co-Chair: http://oakhillpto.org/
• Our “Celebrating Success” Ceremony for 8th grade students (and their families) will be held on Friday, June 21 at 8:30 a.m. in the gym followed by refreshments in the cafeteria. Eighth graders will remain in school for the duration of the day participating in end-of-the-year activities with their teachers and peers.
• Gr. 8 Canobie Lake trip: Monday, June 24, all day; cost and permission slips are coming.

 Last Day of School:  The Newton School Committee voted to establish the last day of school for students as Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Dismissal will be at 11:30 a.m. There will not be lunch in school on the last day.

As we approach these last weeks, know that teachers use every minute of this time to maximize the teaching and learning for your children; teachers want to ensure that students are well-prepared for next year. To that end, we ask that you continue to maintain school routines including age-appropriate bedtimes, a good breakfast, timely arrival to school, and time set aside for homework completion. Working in partnership with you, we can continue to help students reach their academic goals by the end of the year.

With warm regards,

Eva Thompson

Dear Oak Hill Families,

Once again this year, the statewide Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) will be administered to all students at grades six, seven, and eight.  We ask that you ensure that your child is well rested, eats a good breakfast and arrives to school on time throughout the year. These recommendations are particularly important for students during the MCAS window. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s Guidance Counselor at 617-559-9210.

Listed below is the schedule for the spring:

2013 English Language Arts MCAS Schedule

Additional information regarding MCAS assessments, schedule and test items are available at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education web site: http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/

Sincerely,

Eva M. Thompson 

Dear Oak Hill Families,

Buzzer System and a Camera

As you may be aware, Newton is  moving as quickly as possible to install a security system at our school. It will include a buzzer system and a camera. The contractors for the security system visited our building last week. They also examined our doors to ensure that they are appropriate for a security system. Formal quotes for the project are due to the superintendent’s office on Feb 13. Once those are evaluated, the city willl give the direction to proceed immediately. We expect these systems to be installed by the April vacation. We will continue to keep you informed.

Traffic Flow, Parking and Crosswalk: Reminders

For safety reasons and to avoid being ticketed:

1. Please do not go up and around Brown Middle School to drop off or pick up your child.
2. Please do not park along yellow curbs – this is a no stopping, no parking area to ensure space for buses to pass.
3. Please remain in your car when stopped in the blue curbed areas.
4. The parking lots are for faculty and staff only – please meet your child for pick-up a block or two away from the school to avoid congestion.
5. Please share this information with relatives, friends and other caregivers. Thank you!

Finally, we ask that all students use the crosswalks when crossing Wheeler Road.  It is dangerous for students to cross at places other than the crosswalks, especially during the congestion at dismissal.

Thank you for helping to keep our students safe!

Sincerely,

Eva M. Thompson

This year, Newton, as a ‘Race to the Top’ district, is implementing a new Supervision and Evaluation process. This fall, all teachers and principals spent Tuesday afternoons learning about this new process and its implications for teaching and learning.

As part of the new process, all teachers and administrators, including the Superintendent, created one student learning goal that is specific, measurable and serves to improve student learning in some way.  We also created one goal that improves our professional practice (e.g designing effective lesson or unit plans,  creating more engaging student learning experiences, communicating more effectively with the community, etc.).

Throughout the year on Tuesday and Early Release afternoons,  teachers have been working in grade level content specific teams to create common lessons and learning activities designed to increase student learning. As examples:

• When an English team analyzed student writing, teachers discovered a need for helping students improve their ability to write using a thesis statement backed up by evidence and reasoning.
• A math team found that students’ grasp of fractions warranted reteaching using a variety of methods.
• One world language team is focusing on improving interpersonal communication skills using a rubric for self-assessment to reflect on skill development.

In each team, teachers designed a student learning goal based on current student needs. After instruction, teachers analyze the resulting student work to determine if and to what degree learning occurred. These results determine the next instructional steps – maybe reteaching in a different way is needed, maybe more emphasis is needed with a certain skill or maybe one teacher has more success with an instructional strategy and then shares that with grade level teammates. We are learning so much from and with our colleagues!!

This week, on the Early Release Wednesday, Oak Hill teachers will repeat a successful professional development experience we had last year: ten teachers have volunteered to share a successful teaching strategy. Teachers have signed up to rotate through three of these offerings, then will meet in content teams to share and apply what they learned.

Coincidentally, February is ‘Digital Learning Month’ – four of the offerings involve using technology in some way: iMovies, ELMO document & video cameras, an online tool for interactive communication and more!

The purpose of this afternoon: to add to our collective instructional toolkits by learning from our colleagues. Such job-embedded learning is so rewarding; the time is well spent and so necessary for ongoing professional growth!

Looking forward, I hope you are able to join me at a morning coffee on Tuesday , February 12, 7:45AM-8:45AM in the library, to learn more about the teaching and learning at Oak Hill, ‘So, What’s Really Going On at Oak Hill?!’

Warm regards,

Eva M. Thompson

End of First Semester (half-year):  Our grade 6 & 7 Fine and Applied Arts (FAA=Art, Music, Gr. 6 Drama) and Technology & Engineering classes,  and grade 6-8 Health and PE Elective classes rotate on a half-year basis. The end of the first semester was Friday, January 25, 2013. The second semester began on January 28, 2013, when students received their new schedules.

Report card grades for these classes will be available on-line beginning on Monday, February 4. Please go to the Oak Hill website at: http://oakhill.newton.k12.ma.us/

• Click on the ParentConnect Portal link with your log-in information to access grades.
• Once you have logged onto ParentConnect, please follow these steps to access your child(ren)’s report card:

1. Go to Grade on the left.
2. Select the Report Card/Progress Report tab at the top.
3. The report will take a few moments to generate.
4. Click on Click here to see Report Card for Oak Hill Middle School once the link is visible.

For assistance, you may email parentconnect@newton.k12.ma.us.  You may also call your child(ren)’s school: 617-559-9200.  We hope you find this portal a convenient way to access your child(ren)’s report card information. 

Note: It has just come to our attention that the attendance information is inaccurate  on the parent portal. Consequently, you will not be able to access your child’s attendance information until our district technology department has repaired this glitch. We will notify you when the link has been reactivated.

Early Release Day:  On Wednesday, February 6, all middle school students will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. for system-wide professional development workshops for teachers and staff.  Lunch will be served at school before dismissal. There will be no after school activities on this day.

FYI: This is a citywide PreK-12 Early Release Day with dismissals as follows: elementary @ 12:30, middle schools @ 11:30, and high schools @ 11:00.

Dear Oak Hill Families,

Happy New Year to all! I hope the winter break offered you time to gather with family and friends. We have had a smooth reopening – students arrived back at school ready to reconnect with friends, classmates and teachers. Here are a few updates for the next few weeks:

Conferences:       Our conferencing window began in December and continues through January. If you have not signed up for a conference, please do. In November, we sent home a letter with your 7^th or 8^th grade child and it is posted on the website describing how to sign up using our on-line Virtual Paragon system. 6^th grade teams communicated directly with families for conference dates and times. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s teacher(s) or guidance counselor at 617-559-9210. We do encourage you to meet with your child’s teachers to learn more about your child’s performance and to have any questions answered.

Upcoming Events

• Parent Coffee, Gr. 6-8: Wednesday, January 16, 2013, 7:45-8:45AM, Library: The Organized Middle School Student: An Oxymoron?!  The Oak Hill mental health staff and I invite you to join us for a brief overview of what executive functioning is and the typical middle schooler’s challenges with organization. Sound familiar? We will share some tools and strategies for use at home and school.

• Parent Coffee, Gr. 6-8: Tuesday, January 29 rescheduled for Tuesday, February 12, 7:45-8:45. Topic: School Goals – What’s Really Happening at Oak Hill?

• Martin Luther King Celebration:  Newton’s 45th Annual Community Celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be held on Monday, January 21, 9:30 a.m. at Temple Beth Avodah, 45 Puddingstone Lane, Newton.  Among the featured speakers will be Newton Public Schools Superintendent Dr. David Fleishman, and students from Brown, Oak Hill and Newton South.  There will be musical selections performed by the Newton All City Chorus Treble Singers and Newton North’s Jubilee Singers.  School will not be in session on January 21.

• Early Release Day:  On Wednesday, February 6, all middle students will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. for system-wide professional development workshops for teachers and staff.  Lunch will be served at school before dismissal. There will be no after school activities on this day.

• Winter Vacation:  School will close at the end of the day on Friday, February 15 and will reopen the morning of Monday, February 25.

We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming coffees and during conferences.

Warm wishes,

Eva M. Thompson

“Schools are like towns, a group of people, often diverse, that spends a lot of time together working, talking, eating, and playing. Both need to create a climate that supports the productivity and well-being of the people who live there. If they don’t have a healthy, safe climate, nothing of real quality can be sustained.” (Crawford, L. The Advisory Book. Minneapolis: Developmental Designs, 2008)

Dear Oak Hill Families,

At Oak Hill, we create structures that support nurturing a positive welcoming climate, that help students and teachers know one another, get along, work together effectively and grow. In our ‘Community’ structure, each teacher meets each Friday morning with a small group of students. They talk, learn about one another’s interests, strengths, challenges; game formats are a vehicle for these interactions. As relationships form and trust grows, ‘Community’ offers a safe place to learn and practice a variety of personal and social skills while having fun.

We strive to be an inclusive school where differences are embraced and valued. In order to embrace differences in race, religion, cultural heritage, gender, sexual orientation, learning styles, ethnicity, language, and physical differences, we must ensure that students understand the nature of these differences and how we can enact this value using positive language and actions.

Yesterday, our ‘Community’ groups participated in a series of lessons that focused on name-calling and provided students with some concrete tools for responding to verbal teasing and bullying at school. We hope that this will enable students to move from being bystanders to being true allies for their peers.

Please click here to learn more.

Protocol for Parents:
All materials should be given to the guidance counselor in room 214 at least one month prior to the application deadline:
1) An 8 ½ x 11 manila envelope addressed to the private school to which your child is applying along with 5 first class stamps. If your child is applying to more than one private school there needs to be an envelope for each school.
2) Be sure to complete all paperwork (i.e. student names, release of information forms and include parent signature where needed)
3) All application materials including teacher recommendation forms

Upon receiving the application materials your child’s counselor will meet with your child to discuss the application process and to assist in writing a recommendation. She will then distribute and collect the recommendation forms from classroom teachers and compile all materials and send a complete application packet to each school. If you have any questions please contact your child’s guidance counselor at 617-559-9210.

December 3 – 7, 2012 marks the 12th anniversary of Inclusive Schools Week. This week is celebrated in classrooms, schools, and communities throughout the world.

The Week:

• Highlights and celebrates the progress that schools have made implementing inclusive practices to ensure a quality education for an increasingly diverse student population.
• Provides an important opportunity for educators, students, and parents to discuss what else needs to be done in order to ensure Continue reading →