Happy New Year!

I just wanted to take a brief moment to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! The next few weeks will be filled with many exciting things here at OCS.

We will be hosting the Child Assault Prevention program on January 13-15. There will be an informational meeting about the program on Tuesday, January 6th at 7:00 in the school cafeteria. This meeting will allow parents to hear more about the program;

We are excited to be having nationally-acclaimed poet and author, Ms. Sara Holbrook, here at the school to host writing workshops with the students on January 12th and again on January 16th. Ms. Holbrook has written a number of books that offer many insights about young people and their lives;

We will be taking our 8th grade students who are interested in attending the Warren County technical School for a school visit on January 9th;

School will be closed on Monday, January 19th for a teacher In-Service;

Tuesday, January 20th will bring the Spelling Bee back to OCS!

The second marking period ends on January 23rd.

Till next time...

Safe Routes to School Grant

I am very happy to report that the school district, working with a committee from the township was awarded an $8,000 grant to help us promote students walking and riding their bikes to school. It would have been nice to get the full amount we were looking for, $103,000, but this grant is a start in helping us promote more students walking to school. Governor Jon Corzine issued a press release that describes the idea behind the SRTS program:

NJDOT’s 2008 Safe Routes to School initiative will provide grants for projects in 33 municipalities in amounts ranging from $8,000 to $300,000. The grants will be used for local projects designed to encourage children to walk and bike to school, including the creation of safer walkways, bikeways and street crossings near schools.

New Jersey's Safe Routes to School Program helps communities develop and implement projects that encourage walking and bicycling to school while enhancing the safety of these trips. The program increases pedestrian safety awareness among motorists and schoolchildren. Safe Routes to School also improves environmental health and quality of life by reducing traffic jams and air pollution. In addition, Safe Routes to School improves pediatric health by providing regular physical activity.

We are very happy to be receiving this grant and we will continue to work to bring more money to the school district and township to further promote the Safe Route to School initiatives.

Till next time...

snow days

Well if you are like me, you are sitting at home thinking...man I wish I could get out to shop for Christmas. Enjoy the extra time with the kids! There are plenty of terrible Christmas movies on television. See everyone on Monday!

till next time...

Blogging

As another way to provide parents with information about their child's progress, I have asked the staff here at OCS to begin investigating the features and benefits of blogging. The web-log, or Blog, is a great way to provide information and another avenue for parents to use when trying to decipher what a student might have for homework, or may have as upcoming assignments. Let's face it. There are many nights when we as parents experience a great deal of frustration because our little cherub did not bring home the necessary list of homework assignments, or lost it, or your dog ate it! (There have been many of these nights in the Magnuson household over the year's.) These blog sites will allow you to access our web page, click through to the teacher page and then see the blog site for every staff member.

I have been doing this since the start of the school year and I have found the process to be very accessible. Staff have the next few weeks to decide how to best do this and I expect them all to be up an running by the start of the fourth marking period. As teacher's get their pages up and running they will let you know how to find the blog.

Till next time...

Nine days

There are only nine more days until the holiday vacation. This vacation, one of our longest, will see the school closed from the afternoon on Tuesday, December 23rd all the way through to Sunday, January 4, 2009.

It is always good to remind people so that they are well-prepared! Tuesday 12/23 will be a half day with dismissal at 12:30 pm. School will reopen on Monday, January 5, 2009!

The office at the school will be open on Monday, December 29 and Tuesday, December 30. Office hours are 8:00 am-4:00 pm.

There will be a Friday Bulletin this Friday and then again on January 9th.

Till next time...

Psychic?

Thanks to the parent who pointed out to me that the blog time was off. Apparently it was set to the Pacific Time Zone and appeared to be three hours ahead of our local EST. This did happen, but I can assure you that I, nor anyone on our staff--are psychic. We are thorough and do our homework, so that we may give the appearance of being psychic, but alas... we are not!

I hope everyone enjoyed the show last night. The students worked very hard and it was good to see the instruments as part of the show. The 6th and 7th grade students who assisted were a big help to Mrs. Firling and to the staff who were here to monitor the children!

I wanted to take this time to send out a special thank you to Mrs. Nixon's Mom, who DONATED ALL of the treats that were provided after the concert. What a wonderful holiday gesture and we will never be able to thank her enough.

Remember the PTO Clothing drive is this weekend. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Please check the PTO website, http://www.ocspto.org/ for further information.

Till next time...

A special heartfelt thank you!

Thank you to everyone who came out and cast a ballot on Tuesday, December 9th. The referendum did pass and for that I am grateful. Now the real work continues... we will be working hard to ensure that the costs are contained and that we can put a project together that we can all be proud of and that will benefit the children of our school. We will be exploring the solar options we know are out there to further reduce the costs of this referendum to the taxpayers.

If you can't stand the heat...

What was the saying? I have been the subject of some negative comments on the Oxford Forum of the NJ.com website. Let me assure anyone who reads this blog... the heat doesn't bother me! In fact, it is the cold that gets to me.

What does that mean? It means that I have spent 24 years educating students in NJ and during that time I have always worked to do what is best for kids. When you do things that are best for students and always keep that goal in mind, sometimes it does get "hot" because there are always going to be people who do not agree with this idea. This project is best for kids! It is designed with the needs of the students in mind... not just those in the school right now, but those who will attend in the future. It does get hot around here, but if you call the school or stop by, I am still here! When I see criticism about me personally, it only strengthens my resolve--especially when I know I am doing the right things-- the right things for kids.

Some of the bloggers feel that I do not care or have a clue about the economy. Well, opinions are easy to come by, and we teach students to make their opinions known. But we also teach them to gather the facts, analyze their options and think before they speak. I have done this with this project proposal. I DO KNOW THAT TIMES ARE TOUGH. I also know that the State of NJ has found a way for our school to combat the tough times and STILL get the school finished.

What I don't like is the cold. The cold thoughts, the cold reactions and the coldness that some people bring to their words when they express their opinions. That is what irks me.

I took this job knowing that it would not be easy. It is not easy. The challenges are here each week. I am here each week.

This is a great school. The staff works hard to meet the needs of their students, the kids are great and the community support has been fantastic. For those members of the community who support what we do here every day--Thanks.
For those out there who might not support what we do, stop by. Voice your thoughts to me. I would love to talk to you!

till next time...