Principal's Message

Dear Families,

We hope everyone has a wonderful Spring Break.  We now have a few weeks of the new quarter behind us, and we would like to remind everyone that attendance is key in helping your child succeed, finishing his/her last quarter strong.  We ask you to partner with us to get your child to school on time, make sure your child isn’t pulled out for appointments, and help remind your child to check his/her StudentVUE for missing work as well as checking his/her teachers’ websites to know exactly what is going on if a day of school is missed.  

We also want to take the time to thank you for attending your child’s student led conference a few weeks ago.  We recognize you are busy, and your feedback and rating of your child’s skills acquired through the conference process were note and exciting to read.  According to Richard Stiggins (1999) the student led conference process…

‘Is the biggest breakthrough in communicating about student achievement

in the last century.  When students are well prepared, over an extended period, to tell the story of their own success (or lack thereof), they seem to experience a fundamental shift in their internal sense of responsibility for that success.  The pride in accomplishment that students feel when they have a positive story to tell and tell it well can be immensely motivational.  The sense of personal responsibility that they feel when anticipating what it will be like to face the music of having to tell their story of poor achievement can also drive them to productive work. ‘(1996) 

While this quote is old current bloggers, articles about the SLC process and educators note the power of students taking ownership for their learning to deepen their understanding of who they are as learners.  We know you saw what we saw, students walking taller, feeling more confident, and acquiring skills that support our student, your child understanding one’s self as a learner and having a better understanding of one’s own strengths and weaknesses.  

We look forward to our continued journey and helping our students develop the knowledge and skills that we know will transfer to high school, college, and eventually their careers and civic life.  Helping our students apply deep learning proficiencies to become literate 21^st Century citizens is evident in the SLC process as your child learns the power of self-evaluation, goal setting, positive communication skills, and thinking more critically about his/her work. Thank you for being part of this partnership and supporting your child to be engaged in relevant and meaningful work that helped your child to have voice and choice in their portfolio pieces.

Finally, as we finish our last quarter, I am looking forward to the many end of year activities we have ahead: Celebrating our volunteers at our next FFO parent breakfast, attending our last dine-out at MOD Pizza, hearing our students perform in their Spring Concerts, finalizing the 8^th grade legacy project, and commemorating our 8^th graders at promotion.  April and May will be busy, as we begin our final countdown to summer.  As we head to summer, our school begins a renovation project.  Get set to hear more information about classroom renovations in May.


Finally, we will be sending a survey out in May to check in on how we are meeting your needs and what we can do to further support the work at OGMS.  A very special thank you to our FFO and executive FFO for their continued support in our programming, our events and our staff appreciation treats!  We couldn’t do the many things we do without their support. Happy April.

Have a wonderful Spring Break!

Susan Rosenthal