OGMS News

At last weekend's First Lego League Regional Tournament, the middle school team comprised of students from OGMS and ECMS won the Robot Design Award and will advance to the state tournament in January.  Members of The Varmint Vigilantes team are: Ben Seckeller, Gianluca Tenino, Devin Armstrong, Jake Jump, & Violette Donnelly from OGMS and Madison Bonomolo, Delaney Endean, Jaxon Goddard-Westland and Lily Wood from ECMS. Receiving the Gracious Professionals Award was the team of Homeland Snakecurity comprised of Lily Bhola, Danil Clayton, Emily Gruber, Mateo Malo-Molina, Kenzo Pretzinger from OGMS, Bhargav Ghosh and Geronimo Barela from ECMS and Danilo Malo-Molina from CFHS. Congratulations to all the students who participated in this First Lego League Tournament!

On Monday, this week, the Student Action Committee wrapped up its Food Drive to benefit the Community Food Bank of Arizona.  They collected and sorted over 2,100 items collected by each of the classrooms.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to this community project!

Arizona Tax Credit in the Foothills The Catalina Foothills School District is a wonderful school community! It is impressive to see a community with such a commitment to educational excellence and support of the schools here in the Foothills.   CFSD would not be the district it is today without the community that surrounds and supports it! The success of our schools' extracurricular programs is tied to the generous contributions of community members who divert some of their state tax funds to the CFSD programs of their choice! How does it Work? Any Arizona taxpayer has the opportunity to give to Catalina Foothills School District instead of paying it in taxes. The donation must be earmarked for support of one of our many qualifying fee-based, extracurricular activities. We'll send the donor a receipt for their records. Then, when the taxpayer fills out their 2015 Arizona state taxes, they can subtract the amount of the donation, up to $400 (joint filers) and $200 (in

Dear Orange Grove Families: On behalf of the teachers and staff members at Orange Grove Middle School, we hope that everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving.   Our service project has begun and it is in full swing.  We will wrap up the food drive on December 5th.  We thank all of you for the many contributions thus far.  Kindness is our theme this month and we are beginning the theme by helping our students focus on service and kindness outside our school community.    We thank Amy Bhola and Amy Hernandez as well as the other adult and student volunteers who have organized this project through our Student Action Committee (SAC).  SAC meets throughout the year to provide different opportunities for students and parents to come together and make a difference for others right here in our Tucson Community. " Studies show children who do community  service are less likely to take health risks, and are more  likely to have academic success."    So this month especially,

On November 17th, Amy Hernandez, attorney with Dwyer Hernandez PC, and Pima County Deputies Caudillo and Cole talked about Cell Phone Safety and various laws, rights, and situations that students are finding themselves in without thinking before acting.       A special thank you to the law firm of  Dwyer Hernandez PC  for providing breakfast for the attendees.   Below is a list of the resources cited in the presentation to support understanding the laws and policies governing various technology.        Catalina Foothills School District Policies: Found at: http://policy.azsba.org/asba/Z2Browser2.html?showset=catalina 1)    K-6400 Use of Technology Resources in Instruction 2)    I-6411 Use of Technology Resources in Instruction 3)    JIC Student Conduct 4)    JICK Student Violence/Harassment/Intimidation/Bullying 5)    JICK-R Student Violence/Harassment/Intimidation/Bullying 6)    JK-E Student Discipline Matrix Community Information: Found at:

Mark your calendar for these upcoming events: December 5 th                         2:30 p.m.             Student Action Committee meets in Commons to                                                                         pack up food donations for the Community Food                                                                         Bank December 6 th                         7:00 p.m.             6 th /7 th Grade Band Concert MPR December 7 th                         6:00 p.m.             Honor Band Concert at CFHS                                                7:00 p.m.             Choir Concert MPR December 13 th                        7:00 p.m.             8 th Grade Band Concert MPR December 24 th – January 8 th                             Winter Break January 9 th                             7:30 a.m.               School Resumes January 26 th                         Both  Lunches        Cultural Luncheon – Watch for your inv

Counselor's Corner December Edition The theme of the month is “Kindness”, which blends well with the Holiday Season upon us.  In the hustle and bustle of all December brings, it’s important to step back, take a breath, and reflect on the season’s true meaning. Celebrating family traditions of kindness and giving, or starting new ones, is a great way to reconnect with your middle school child. Need some ideas? Here are a few: Volunteer at an animal shelter.  Donate towels or your time, both would be greatly appreciated. Also, consider sponsoring an adoption which will allow a cat or dog a better chance of finding a forever home. Visit a nursing home and spend time talking with the residents.   Volunteer at a homeless shelter preparing and serving meals. Go to the grocery store together to buy food for a charity. Donate money to your favorite charity. As always, your counselors are here to support you during this time of the year. Please do not

As the semester draws to a close our Lost and Found is brimming with coats, lunch boxes and more. Please have your student come by the front office before Winter Break to pick up any belonging that are theirs.  Any items left behind will be donated to a local children's charity in early January.  Here's what our Lost and Found rack looks like today:

Do you VUE? If you are looking to stay connected with  your student's assignments , attendance, and grades, ParentVUE is the best resource.  During the month of December, we are holding a "Do you VUE?" contest. Each  student  is entered to win. If their name is drawn and they  and  their parent/guardian have both used their StudentVUE/ParentVUE account within the past 2-weeks, they will win a small prize and have their name announced on morning announcements as "Viewing the VUE winner!" of the day.  Make sure to login and view the VUE!

The semester is coming to a close very quickly for the World Languages classes.   Students have the opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency at this point in the year in reading and listening comprehension, writing for presentation and interpersonal speaking.   The students have displayed excellent growth throughout the semester in the various skills.   As we move forward into second semester we will continue the level of proficiency expectations for all language learners and maintain our focus on oral communication skills supported by reading, writing and listening. These are some specific thematic units that will be addressed at the beginning of the third quarter:             Spanish 1A – Family             Spanish 1B – Technology             Spanish 2A – Clothing and Fashion             Spanish 2B – School issues and opinions             Spanish for Heritage Learners (6 th ) – Mystery and Fantasy             Spanish for Heritage Learners (7 th ) – Myths and

Keeping you in the loop at Orange Grove www.orangegroveffo.com The Season of Giving The holiday season offers us an opportunity to give thanks and lend a hand to those in need.   This year the Orange Grove Student Action Committee (SAC) is collecting donations for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.   Monday, all the donations will be sorted by student and parent volunteers and then picked up by the Community Food Bank.   Monday is the last day to donate food items. The homeroom with the most canned food will be rewarded with a hot chocolate party. Thank you for your support of this wonderful project, and special thanks to Amy Bhola and others for their work in organizing the event.   To sign up you or your student to help organize food on Monday after school see the link… http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e084ba5aa2aa75-sacholiday1 Another way to give during this season is through our Direct Donation Campaign:   Donate before Dec 31 st to earn a charitable