Wednesday, August 5, 2020

The Raccoons are Ready to Reunite! Welcome to the 2020-2021 School Year!


Wednesday, August 5, 2020

The Raccoons are ready to reunite!


It has been just under five months since our community has been together and while I do not want to wish away the warm weather, long summer days, and time with friends and family, I am so excited to begin the new school year with each of you! The last five months have taught us all so many lessons, especially the fact that we cannot take for granted the opportunities that exist in the 704 days that make up the high school journey. So, while we might not be able to predict the challenges we may face this year, let’s seize this opportunity to recognize that each class period, practice, rehearsal, game, concert, competition and, most importantly, relationship, contributes to making OHS a special place!

We have an incredible team of teachers, support staff, administrators, and coaches who are ready to guide our students as they set new goals and follow through on their commitments this year. Our upperclassmen are ready to welcome 445 new Raccoons to the family who will join us from many different schools from across the area, and our dozens of community partners stand ready to support each Raccoon’s career exploration. Together, we are united in our goal to ensure this is truly the best school year of your life!

Outlined below are several important announcements and reminders as we work toward the reopening of school in September. While we are committed to continuing many traditions, we will have to adapt and change many events and practices to ensure school stays open and we prevent an outbreak of Coronavirus at OHS. Please check out the information below, and as always, feel free to contact me at CurtisJ@oasd.org

I can’t wait to see everyone soon! Go Raccoons!
Jason

School Scheduled to Reopen in a Hybrid Face-to-Face Instructional Model
Last night, the School Board voted to start our 2020-2021 school year in a hybrid model, in which students report to campus on alternating days. This model prioritizes social distancing by reducing class sizes to 15. Students will be assigned to a Purple (Last name starting: A-K) or Gold (Last name starting: L-Z) cohort based on last name and report to school for face-to-face instruction on specific days and engage in online learning the other days. 

You can click here to view a summary of our Hybrid model. A complete calendar will be shared later this month.

Last week, we held face-to-face and virtual meetings discussing all three of our reopening instructional models. A recorded video outlining our mitigation strategies, hybrid model, and online programming options is available below:




Grounded, Committed, and Accountable
We are entering this year with many unknowns and uncertainties. However, regardless of our instructional model, role, grade level, or connection to OHS, we have to stand united in our vision to ensure every Raccoon is career, college, and life ready! Whether you are just starting your high school journey or graduation is only 9 months away, it is important that we immerse ourselves in our core values of being grounded, committed, and accountable.

First and foremost, Raccoons are grounded in our personal values and purpose. To do this we will:
  • Continue our Raccoon Prep program in which freshmen work with upperclassmen and staff advisors to discover their interests, beliefs, and passions. In addition, we will launch our sophomore program, in which we will work in teams to self-reflect on our identity and values and how we represent ourselves and interact with others who have different backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, and identities other than our own.
Once a Raccoon sets a plan, they commit to it! This year, we will continue supporting students in the development of their academic and career plans by:
  • Finding unique ways to conduct job shadows and career exploration experiences when many organizations and partners are forced to limit the number of visitors and events they host for students. 
  • Setting up a more streamlined and more thoroughly developed web-based learning management system and learning expectations just in case someone becomes ill or needs to work remotely for a period of time. While we recognize online learning is not ideal for most of us, we are better prepared for an individual or large-scale switch to online learning than we were in March. 

In order to achieve our goals, we need to remain accountable to ourselves and each other! This year, we will:
  • Recommit to our Community Commitments to ensure we limit distractions and stay engaged in class. I will share these commitments with everyone on the first day of school.
  • Develop new procedures and routines to slow the spread of Coronavirus, or any illness, and maximize student attendance and face-to-face learning. If we stay safe, we can stay open! We are still working out the details, and I will share the list of our mitigation measures in late August. We will have new procedures around:
    • Lunch period routines
    • Sanitation practices
    • Hallway expectations
    • The limiting of large-scale gatherings and assemblies
  • You can click here to review all our mitigation strategies we plan to have in place to start the year.
Welcome to Our New Staff
We have a couple of new teammates joining our staff this year! Please click here to learn more about the newest members of our community.

Material Pick-Up & Picture Day
Thursday, August 6 (9:00am-7:00pm)
On August 6, students should sign up for a time to come to the Field House to receive their 2020-2021 student ID, drop off any medications, retrieve any supplies they ordered through the Webstore, and pick up their parking permits. We are allowing 85 students to sign up for each half-hour window. Click here to sign up.

Traditionally, students could pick up yearbooks and walk around school. However, this year, yearbooks will be available in December. We delayed the publication so we could include the August graduation ceremony in the book. 

Schedules Posted on Wednesday, August 19
Your final schedule will be visible on Family Access by 12pm on Wednesday, August 19. If you have any questions, you should contact your counselor.

The release of schedules is about two weeks later than normal. In June, we had to restart the scheduling process in order to build student schedules that aligned and balanced class sizes to support a possible implementation of the hybrid Purple/Gold model outlined above. In addition, there are some scheduling and staffing impacts that come from students opting to enroll in the Oconomowoc Virtual Learning Community. Those numbers will not be finalized until August 11. Therefore, we will not be able to finalize schedules until next week.

Impact of COVID-19 on Extracurricular and Athletic Events
Student activities and school traditions may be modified because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some initial specific details are outlined below:

Extracurricular Activities
You can click here to view the meeting structure and expectations of each extracurricular activity. Please contact Jose Frias at FriasJ@oasd.org if you have any questions.

Athletics
The Soccer, Football, and Volleyball seasons will now start on Monday, September 7. While the Cross County, Girls Tennis, Girls Golf, and Swim will start on August 17. Coaches will be in touch with specific details. Contact Kevin Flegner at FlegnerK@oasd.org if you have any questions.

Open House, Freshmen Orientation, and Homecoming!
Typically we include information about Open House and other beginning of the year traditions like Freshmen Orientation and Homecoming. However, we are still working on final details given the need to change some of our routines and structures. Watch for another update in mid-August!

Upcoming Schedule Adjustments (Exams, Spring Break, April 16 Career, College, and Life Readiness Day)

  Thursday, March 14, 2024   Hello Raccoon Families and Students!   Outlined below are several key upcoming schedule adjustments and imp...