Astronaut General Joe Engle and OHS Science Teacher Heidi Edwards, who received the

A Note from the Principal

I wanted to remind everyone we have our PTO sponsored Curriculum Night coming up on February 7th.

Please see the schedule below in our newsletter. This evening is a great time for parents and students to look at all the options available through courses offered in grades nine through twelve.

Believe it or not, scheduling for next year begins in February. During Curriculum night, you and your children can look at a variety of course offering and then ask our teachers, who will be in attendance, any questions.

We also have several meetings scheduled on this same night for parents, such as an 8th grade meeting discussing high school classes beginning at 5:30 in the auditorium and a College Credit Plus meeting, which begins at 7:00 in the auditorium. Curriculum Night will be one stop shopping for those that will be attending a meeting or two.

This event is usually very well attended, and the PTO will provide cookies and water. I hope to see you all there!

Go Jacks!

Paul Waller
Principal
Oakwood High School

Other Items in This Edition

Sports Shorts with Mrs. Connor

OHS Athletics in the Week Ahead

What's Happening in the Guidance Department

News from the nurse

OHS Curriculum Night

From the Prevention/Intervention Counselor

Class of 2019 Information

Outstanding Fees on Grade Cards

Gifted Identification Referrals Now Being Accepted

Next Week at OHS

Sports Shorts with Mrs. Connor

Will return soon.

Your source for information regarding our athletic teams and their schedules is http://oakwoodschools.net; select Athletics. Here you are able to access contact information for coaches, directions to events, schedules and necessary forms for participation.

OHS Athletics in the Week Ahead

Friday, January 11, Boys' Fr/JV/Varsity Basketball vs. Monroe, 4:30 p.m., HOME (East Gym, The "Pit")
Friday, January 11, Varsity Swim & Dive vs. Alter, 5:00 p.m. HOME (WSU, Senior Night)
Saturday, January 12, Girls' JV/Varsity Basketball vs. Brookville, 12:00 p.m. AWAY
Saturday, January 12, Varsity Swimming vs. Carroll, 2:00 p.m. AWAY
Monday, January 14, Girls' JV/Varsity Basketball vs. Butler, 6:00 AWAY
Tuesday, January 15, Boys' Fr/JV/Varsity vs. Valley View, 4:30 p.m. AWAY
Tuesday, January 15, Varsity Wrestling vs. Tri-Meet (Bellbrook, Monroe, Oakwood), Time TBA HOME (East Gym, The "Pit")

You can find more information at the OJH/OHS Athletics Page.

What's Happening in the Guidance Department

One of our most popular need-based scholarships, the Dayton-Montgomery County Scholarship (DMCS), requires a completed FAFSA as part of the application. The DMCS application site will open in December, and the deadline is March 8, 2019, 4pm. It is imperative that you submit your FAFSA in order to be eligible for the DMCS. More information about the DMCS and the Oakwood Foundation Scholarships will be shared with all seniors prior to Holiday Break.

Attention Sophomores: OHS will be administering the Pre-ACT during the school day March 12, 2019. This is a practice test in preparation for junior year's ACT. The Pre-ACT will be optional, and will cost $22. This was an optional fee to be paid at the beginning of the year. Joni Sherk will post a list of students who have paid in February. Please have your student look for their name on the bookroom door at that time. You may also email Joni Sherk directly at sherk.joni@oakwoodschools.org. Payment should be made by Thursday, February 14, 2019.

11th Grade Students and Parents: The school counselors will be calling juniors to the guidance office for an individual conference this month.

Parents, if you would like to schedule a junior parent conference, please call 297-5326 starting in February. We will discuss your student's plans for life after their high school graduation.

10th Grade Students and Parents: All sophomore students heard a Career Education presentation by representatives of Kettering Fairmont and Centerville High Schools.

All students had the opportunity to take permission slips for visits to the high schools to tour the programs they might be interested in.

The visit to Centerville High School will be January 16 and to Kettering Fairmont on January 25.

Permission slips are due to the Oakwood Guidance office by January 15.

If, after touring the program, your student is interested enough to apply to a program, they must do so by January 26.

Please contact the high school office at 297-5325 if you have any other questions.

News from the nurse

Tips for starting the New Year on a Positive Note

· Make a list of goals for the year along with the steps you need to take to achieve them. Resetting your focus is important to making it a successful year.

· Place a priority on maintaining health by scheduling routine checkups with your physician.

· Commit to being more physically fit even if it is to start walking every day. Focus on healthy nutrition for energy to stay active.

· Make quality sleep a priority. The body needs the proper amount of rest to remain healthy.

· Develop an attitude of gratitude. Commit to writing down something you are thankful for every day as you look at your daily planner. It will change your outlook from negative to positive.

· Make lifelong learning a habit. The brain will start to deteriorate if it is not stimulated on a regular basis. This is essential as we age.

· Strengthen social relationships. The power of support from family and friends is essential for maintaining good emotional health.

· Stay POSITIVE! The power of positive thinking cannot be stressed enough. With faith and a positive attitude all things are truly possible! Have a wonderful New Year!

OHS Curriculum Night

February 7, 2019 - 5:00 - 8:00 - WEST GYM

Parents and students are invited to our Curriculum Night held in the west gym on Thursday, February 7.

Booths will be set up and our teachers will be available to answer your questions about our course offerings for the 2019-2020 school year.

For our students, the weeks following Curriculum Night will include class meetings with the guidance department, acquiring teacher recommendations for classes and the selection of courses for next school year.

If you are the parent of a current 8th grade student, please plan to meet in the auditorium at 5:30 to learn more details about scheduling high school classes. If your child is considering College Credit Plus (formerly PSEO and/or Dual Enrollment), plan to break for a mandatory meeting for both the student and one parent.

The College Credit Plus meeting will be from 7:00 to 8:00 in the auditorium.

From the Prevention/Intervention Counselor

Have you talked to your child about avoiding the electronic cigarette? The Food and Drug Administration is calling teen vaping an epidemic, stating that more than 2 million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in 2017.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fda-juul-ecigarettes_us_5b991a12e4b0511db3e802d3

For more information and other events, check out the BOLD page on our website.

Class of 2019 Information

For planning purposes, the location of the Class of 2019 commencement will be the Dayton Convention Center. This ceremony takes places on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, at 7:00 p.m.

Seniors who have not ordered their cap and gown should call Jostens at 1-800-JOSTENS (567-8367) to order or go to their website at www.jostens.com. Jostens has designed a custom rental gown for Oakwood. The cost to rent this gown is $40 plus 7.25% sales tax ($42.90). The rental gown will be returned after the commencement ceremony; however, the cap and tassel are yours to keep. Please make sure to order the cap/gown/tassel unit through Jostens.

Seniors are reminded to schedule a sitting appointment with Easterling Studios for their senior portraits.

If pictures are taken at Easterling, the senior will automatically be included in the class composite and yearbook. If photos are taken by another studio, seniors MUST schedule a sitting with Easterling to be included in the composite photo. Pictures from a studio other than Easterling will not be included in the composite picture as this is a gift to the school from Easterling Studios. Easterling's phone number is 222-8410. You may also visit their website at www.easterlingstudios.com.

The Senior Slide Show Committee is collecting high-quality pictures for the commencement slide show, and we need your help! We need elementary, junior high, and underclass pictures AND pictures of seniors in action from Oakwood Schools events. If you take pictures, you can submit them to seniorslideshow@oakwoodschools.org, or bring them to the collection box outside the senior high office. Please indicate whether they are from senior year or earlier years. If you are leaving hard copies, please make sure to put your name on the back so that they can be returned to you. Names of those pictured would also be much appreciated.

Seniors: Please send in a baby/toddler picture to Mrs. Baker in the high school office. You may bring in a picture or scan and email a picture to Mrs. Baker at baker.beth@oakwoodschools.org.

Outstanding Fees on Grade Cards

Grade cards were mailed on Thursday, January 10. If your student owes school fees, a notation is on the grade card and a detailed attachment was included with our mailing. Please not that these fees can be paid in the bookroom by cash or check (payable to Oakwood High School) or by mailing a check to the school. School fees can also be paid online by going to ohs.oakwoodschools.org and clicking on the EZPay icon on the front page.

Reminder: The deadline to pay for an AP Exam is Thursday,

February 14.

The last day to order a 2018-2019 yearbook is March 21. The optional $65 yearbook fee will be removed from each student's account after this date.

Gifted Identification Referrals Now Being Accepted

According to Ohio House Bill 282, all public school districts in Ohio are required to identify students for giftedness. This law, however, does not mandate any services for identified gifted and talented students. Areas of gifted identification include: superior cognitive ability and achievement, specific academic (math, reading, science, and social studies), creative thinking, and visual/performing arts (visual art, dance, drama, music).
Assessment procedures vary for each area of identification Visual/performing arts assessments are offered throughout the school year on an annual basis. All teachers, counselors, and administrators receive notification of students who have been identified as gifted in any of the domains. If you would like your child to be assessed for gifted identification, referral forms are
available in the school offices and through the building gifted intervention specialist (GIS).
The referral form can be completed by parents/guardians, teachers, or peers of children who perform, or show the potential for performing, at remarkably high levelsof accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment (state definition). If your child has been identified as gifted in one or more of the above domains, additional referral/assessment for that domain is not necessary. Once a student has been identified as gifted in a domain, the student maintains the gifted identification throughout his/her schooling in Ohio. To maintain the eligibility for services, scores attained within the previous 24 months are used. Matrices for gifted services are available online on the Gifted Intervention Specialists' websites or at your child's school. Whole-grade gifted assessment is regularly completed throughout a child's school career. In grades, 2, 4, and 6, students take the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Cognitive Abilities Test. These tests can be used to help identify students as gifted in the domains of Superior Cognitive Ability and Specific Academic Ability. The SAT and ACT can also be used to identify giftedness. Additionally, our Gifted Intervention Specialists coordinate assessments based on parent/teacher referrals.

Next Week at OHS - Special Events

Friday, January 18 - 1/2 Day, Early Dismissal at 11:43 a.m.
Monday, January 21 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday - NO SCHOOL

Looking ahead:

Wednesday, January 23 - OHS Winter Band Concert, aud., 7:00

Friday, January 25 - Principal/Superintendent Advisory Council meeting, room 204, 11:45 a.m.

For a full calendar of OHS activities, go to the OHS Webpage and view the calendar.

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OHS Website