Thursday, January 14, 2021
Hey Raccoons!
We will start the second semester on Wednesday, January 20, in our traditional face-to-face instructional model! I am excited to welcome everyone back to campus, united as one Raccoon community on Wednesday, January 20! As a reminder, Monday, January 18, and Tuesday, January 19, are staff PD days and non-school days for students.
Safety Mitigation Plans and Reminders
I know the changes in instructional models have been challenging this year. We are all craving consistency and normalcy, trust me I am with you! We share a responsibility in ensuring we follow all our mitigation practices so that we minimize the transmission of the virus, limit the number of staff and students who are quarantined, and avoid switching instructional models once again. So, please:
Sanitize your hands when you enter and leave each classroom.
Limit physical contact with each other.
While it may not be possible to spread 6-feet apart, please continue to mask up (that includes covering your nose!)
When you are sick, STAY HOME!
You still have the option to move from OHS into our online learning environment, the Ocon Virtual Learning Community (OVLC) for the second semester. The deadline for these requests was extended to this Friday, January 15, at noon. To make this request, fill out this form, and a member of our Student Services Team will be in touch.
Transitioning to Second Semester
Regardless of the instructional model, the start of the second semester is an important transition point in our year. We are beginning new classes, getting into new routines, and finalizing our class requests for next year. To help facilitate this transition, we will use Pride time (8:55-9:30 a.m.) to review our community commitments and to talk through our course request process. We will report to our Pride Homerooms (3rd hour/Block B classes) each morning through Tuesday, January 26. Below is an overview of what we will discuss during Pride period after RCC each morning.
Wednesday, January 20: Review of our community commitments, lunch routines, safety mitigation practices, and the course request process.
Thursday, January 21: All school review of our safety procedures and evacuation plans.
Friday, January 22: Reviewing Pride expectations and how to use OconPride.org. This includes a review of ACP Seminar and Raccoon Prep expectations.
Monday, January 25: Begin entering course requests for the 2021-2022 school year.
Tuesday, January 26: Finalize and submit course requests for the 2021-2022 school year.
Wednesday, January 27-Friday, January 29: Attend self-selected pride sessions using OconPride.org.
Monday, February 1: Return to our regular schedule of Pride homeroom and ACP Seminar.
Heads up, remember to double-check your second-semester schedule as some teachers, room assignments, and classes may have changed since you last checked your Skyward account.
Finally, we plan to publish report cards for Term 2 on the morning of Friday, January 22. You will receive a notice once grades have been finalized and posted.
Stay Focused, Stay Flexible!
As I mentioned earlier, we are all craving a sense of normalcy. However, the reality is that we still need to approach some of our long-standing traditions differently. We must continue to make sacrifices, such as wearing masks and limiting crowd sizes to control the spread of the virus and keep school open.
We are used to many traditions that define the winter and spring months in our community. We are continually assessing these traditions to ensure we can balance tradition with safety. For example:
Our annual musical will now be a musical revue showcase because of our State and County crowd size limits. It will occur at the Oconomowoc Arts Center, with limited capacity, in February. Watch for details on ticket sales soon!
Again, because of crowd size limits, venues are not booking large scale events. Therefore, Prom, originally scheduled for Saturday, April 18 at the Harley Davidson Museum will need to be postponed. If we can host a Prom this year, it will occur in late May.
We are still planning to have a traditional Graduation ceremony at Rux Stadium on Saturday, June 12. In early April, I will be in touch with seniors and their families about your final plans and details.
Maybe it’s my optimism, but I think we are turning a corner. Let’s stay focused, stay healthy, and seize every opportunity we can to make the best of this situation! I am proud of our Raccoons, our staff, and thankful for our families and the community's continued support!
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at CurtisJ@oasd.org.
Go Raccoons!
Jason
