Dear Oxford Middle School Families,
Welcome Back to Oxford Middle School for the 2023-2024 School Year! We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our middle school students for their first day of school on Thursday, August 24th.
Prior to August 24th, please complete the online registration update using the link, username and password below. All communication from the building will go through your email addresses listed in this registration.
Go to the website address: https://updateregistration.oxfordschools.org
1. Log in using the unique username/password
2. Once logged in the system, the program will take you through the registration update process.
3. Please make sure all information is current.
Our middle school staff is honored for the opportunity to serve such an amazing community of students and their families. We thank you in advance for the trust you have placed in both myself and the Oxford Middle School staff to work with your children every single day. It is our intent to make decisions that will put students first, promoting a culture where students will achieve at the highest of levels in the safest learning environment possible.
The safety and social/emotional well-being of our school community remains a primary focus for our administration as the school year approaches. The list below includes some of the safety measures for the 2023-2024 school year.
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Deputy Justin Barnes, armed Student Resource Officer; Mr. Bob Backlund, armed OMS Security Specialist; and Mr. Carl Barnes, armed Security Guard, will be present on a daily basis to help monitor our building and students.
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Safe Student Arrival Procedures:
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Additional Video Cameras have been installed throughout building
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All students will be required to wear their school issued ID badge during the school day (more info. to come)
We are often asked how you, as parents/guardians, can support us here at school, which we greatly appreciate. One area we are asking for your unwavering support is with student cell phone/electronic device usage. Please know it is never our intent to take a personal device away from a student. We understand the important role it plays in communicating with your student and how helpful of a tool it can be within each family. However, my staff has the administration’s full support in holding students accountable regarding appropriate personal technology usage. This includes not having their devices out in class unless otherwise instructed. There will be times where a student can check his/her personal device, however, during class is not one of those times. Should a student’s device be taken for inappropriate use, you may be contacted to come to school to collect the device. Should you need to contact your student, we politely ask that you call the main office and we will be sure to communicate the message as quickly as possible. Personal devices have become a disruption to the learning environment and your support in helping hold your student accountable to school expectations is much appreciated.
In addition to the safety and well-being of our learning community, Oxford Community Schools is focusing heavily on student attendance through our campaign, You Matter. The purpose is to keep our students engaged in school so that they are connected with education, support, and services. Chronic absenteeism has both a short and long term negative effect on students and in our school community. Like many districts throughout the state and nation, we have experienced a dip in student attendance. We know the foundation to increasing student engagement and positive experience at school is building meaningful relationships with our students. When students feel connected to the school their engagement increases and their attendance will reflect this. We will also be closely monitoring student attendance and will be increasing our communication home. Our counseling and administrative teams will meet weekly to review student data, and this will include absences. Our intent is to be proactive and provide interventions and support with students throughout the year who are accumulating absences.
We are looking forward to some new scheduling changes that will be implemented this year. Highlights include:
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Academic Break Time (ABT): Students will have an academic break incorporated into their lunch block every day with the exception of “A” days.”
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During the 36 minute block, students will eat lunch and have the opportunity to go outside for exercise and social interaction with their peers. In addition, depending on the season of the year and weather, both the gym and media center will be accessible to our students during “ABT” as well.
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Advisory: Our students will begin and end their school day with Advisory. This will enable our students to begin the day with their Advisory teacher focusing on topics such as team/relationship building, SEL, and Olweus Bully Prevention lessons and concluding their school day by doing activities that will help them prepare themselves for success in the classroom the following day.
We encourage you to take a few minutes to read through the first Edition of the OMS Newsletter that is linked below where you will find additional information regarding the OMS daily schedule in addition to the following:
https://www.smore.com/gpb89
In addition, each grade level parent/guardian can expect to receive a letter detailing specific class schedule release date information and registration dates/times to visit OMS. An overview of these key dates and times are listed below. Please note that students/family members who visit OMS during the student events on August 17th and 18th will be required to go through our EVOLV System.
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August 16th: 7th & 8th Grade Schedule Release via Powerschool
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August 17th: 6th Grade WEB Day
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August 18th: 7th & 8th Grade Optional Family Walk Thru
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August 30th: Curriculum Night
We are looking forward to a great school year and connecting with your student in the coming weeks!
Sincerely,
Bradley D. Bigelow, Principal
Oxford Middle School