Keep your eye on the ball

Keep your eye on the ball

Don’t lose sight of what’s really important.  In our business, that is our students.  We all have curriculums to follow, laws, policies, rules and directives to live by.  These things must be done and done well, but what makes our school special and unique is you.  There is something unique about each of you and something you offer our student population that the person next door does not.  It takes all of us working together using our unique talents and abilities to provide an educational experience second to none.  Don’t let someone else define who you are and don’t lose sight of what matters most.  I had a friend that had experienced some recent hardship give me some advice that’s worth sharing with each of you.  “Don’t sweat the small stuff, but do notice and enjoy the small wonderful things about life.”  Keep your eye on the ball.  Go Hillbillies!

Sportsmanship, Athletics and Our Mission

How to help your player and your team

The essential elements of character-building and ethics in sports are embodied in the concept of sportsmanship and six core principles:

• Trustworthiness

• Respect

• Responsibility

• Fairness

• Caring

• Good Citizenship

Please don’t shout advice or “coach” your child during a game or official practice.  This oftentimes produces confusion and frustration for the student-athlete.

Please don’t harass the referees.  Sometimes a call is hard to take for whatever reason.  This will continue to be a lesson for our students as they develop into successful adults. 

Please don’t criticize the coach in front of your child.  It is OK and even natural to disagree with decisions the coach makes, but it does nothing positive for your child or the particular program to criticize publicly.  Coaches make mistakes sometimes and are learning every day as well.  Do your best to be supportive and please question/criticize outside the company of the student athlete. 

Please don’t razz the other team’s players.  We are teaching Sportsmanship to our students and this is an area that should be off limits.

Most importantly, tell your child you are proud of them and that you enjoy watching them compete or contribute.  Attend the events and Be Positive!  Cheer for your child and the team!  Tell them they did a good job when they do well.  Please help them learn how to lead, be led, sacrifice, overcome adversity, commit to a task/team, set goals, work together as a team and the many other valuable life lessons through their participation in athletics.  You are the biggest influence on your child’s life and future.  They need your love, influence and leadership greatly.  Thank you for the level of commitment and care you provide daily.  Hillbilly Parents are an awesome group of student supporters!  They’re counting on you!

Ozark School District is committed to our Athletic Programs supporting our mission.  Students win in an environment where everyone is working together for a common cause.  Thank you for your support!

Go Hillbillies!

RIDE OF YOUR LIFE

Life and all that entails for each of us often times can be quite the ride.  School, family, friends, kids, work and play all work together to entail much of our time and our days.  The old saying of:  “Look at your calendar and you’ll see your priorities” has some truth to it.  We make many decisions daily that will impact others.  We wake up fresh in the mornings with the opportunity to impact others for the good or to be a drag to others.  Personally, I want to be a positive, energetic person that is focused on living each day to the full.  Professionally, I desire school to be a place that is energizing, student focused and led by bright, caring and energetic staff.  There are many things we have no control over.  We do have control over our attitude and approach.  This realization is very important when it comes to leading students as they grow and develop.  Our approach is a major factor in determining a successful or unsuccessful outcome.  This is empowering to me and I hope it is for you.  Thanks students, teachers, staff, parents and community for being a part of Ozark School District.  Thank you for your positive daily contribution and for remaining steadfastly student-centered!  Ten Rules below worth pondering from Jon Gordon’s, “Energy Bus.”   Enjoy the RIDE!  Go Hillbillies! 

School Bus Safety Week

I hope all of our kids and families have established good routines and schedules at this point in the school year.  One of the routines that many of us have is getting to the bus stop on time in the mornings and waiting on our kids in the evening to get off of the bus.  Ozark students are an amazing group and our parents are great partners in safe transportation.  This week is school bus safety week, please take the opportunity to visit with your child about their role in making OSD busses a safe place.  Students can help our highly trained drivers keep our busses safe by doing three simple things:  1.  Listening and obeying the driver.  2.  Being respectful to others.  3.  Choosing to do the right thing.  There are other rules that must be followed on the school bus, but I would expect they would all fall under this umbrella.  Thank you staff, students, parents and community for all of your support, help and cooperation.  Together, we are STRONG!  Have a great Monday!

Hillbilly Summer

Hillbilly Summer

Ozark School District is having an amazing summer and hope you are as well.  There are many things going on to improve and maintain things as we anticipate our students’ return shortly.  Among other things:

·         We have installed sidewalk covers at the Ozark Elementary student drop off zone, they look really nice and will be very functional for our many students that are transported by private vehicle to school.  I love it when we get to do this type of thing that directly affects students immediately.  We do have a truly awesome student population!

·         OSD has installed a new track surface around the football field in Hillbilly Stadium.  It is really nice and is now complete.  We hope this provides several years of use for our students and community use.

·         OSD has had a lot of painting done around campus, but notably at OJHS.  The whole top of the building has been deep cleaned and painted.  It looks great and really makes me want to get the rest of the building done.  Maybe next summer…

·         OSD District Wide phone system is being installed as I type and we are hopeful this will be complete before students show up on August 20…  We’re excited about this for many reasons.  Campus security is very important and this improves security greatly.  We will have the ability to communicate with the whole district at one time as well as zone it off to different buildings.  Eventually, each teacher will have their own voicemail to communicate better with parents and we will use this for our bell systems.  Lots of options and technology when we get it all set up and customized.

·         We have a lot of teacher, administrator and staff training going on and it is really going to ramp up as we get closer to the first of school.  It is really nice to see our wonderful staff starting to filter in and prepare for their students and the upcoming school year. 

·         We’re looking forward to implementing the Bring Your Own Device this year.  This will begin in the High School for this year and we are going to ease into it, but this has great educational implications for our students. 

·         Test data has been filtering in all summer and we have a lot to be proud of and some areas that need attention.  Standardized test scores are one measurement of student success.  The big pieces of the puzzle are in place for growing student success, talented students, talented teachers and a great school/community.  The areas we need to improve most are really just utilizing all of the tools we have available to ensure student success.  OSD staff are always going to be committed to learning and growing to meet ever-changing diverse needs of our student population.  It’s our mission, it’s what we do! 

·         Pre-K is coming to OSD for the 2012-2013 school year.  Ozark SD was awarded an ABC Grant to fund this program.  We are really excited about this opportunity for 20 four year olds.  It will be housed in the Ozark Kindergarten Center and we are working hard to pull this together in a short amount of time. 

·         Technology guys have been very busy this summer.  We’re replacing labs at OMS, OJHS and Ozark Primary.  We have been notified that we are going to receive some funding for improving the OHS Business Lab (with Apple Macs and some awesome software!) as well as trying to get more computers into each classroom.  Technology is great and changing the world of education, but it definitely has its challenges. Thank a Tech Guy when you get a chance!   

·         Transportation, Athletics, Food Service and the rest of the Ozark SD staff have worked hard much of the summer to get things ready for students on August 20. 

This list is not comprehensive, just an idea of some of the things going on around here that involve your kids and community.  We want to build a culture of learning second to none where all students are healthy, safe, engaged, supported and challenged.  OSD thanks you for all of your support last year; I look forward to another great school year full of student learning, academic success and celebration.  Stay cool and enjoy what's left of Summer 2012!

Springtime!

Springtime!  It is a little early this year here in Ozark, AR.  Ozark School District is very excited about Spring and looking forward to the many challenges it contains. 

Benchmark testing and norm referenced testing season is upon us and we are looking forward to showcasing our students’ talents as another successful year is quickly coming to a close.  I encourage all of our students to try their best and leave no regrets in this regard. 

Parents, often just a word of encouragement means a lot to your child as they prepare for a tough week of testing.  Please encourage your child to do their best work and be proud of what they submit for their best effort.  Whether we like it or not, there will be many more “tests” in their life and this is a time we can teach some life lessons.  Taking pride in a job well done is a life lesson as well as giving your best effort and not stressing too much about the results. 

Teachers, it is very important to administer according to protocol and remember to take it seriously, but not too seriously.  Your students’ stress levels will soar if yours does.  We have all spent a great deal of time and energy toward completing a rigorous curriculum.  Testing season is a time that it all comes together and we show where our students and school district is academically.  It is one measure, albeit a very important one. 

We are also busy interviewing applicants for open positions.  OSD is looking for prospective employees that are passionate about positively impacting lives through K-12 Education.  We take this responsibility very seriously, as we know the life changing impact that great teachers and staff have on our students and their future. 

There are many other projects we are planning in order to improve for next year.  Among other things, we are looking at building covered sidewalks for the student drop-off zone in front of Upper Elementary, pricing a track re-surface for our students and communities use, improved telecommunications between buildings of the District, transportation improvements, food service improvements, technology improvements and many other routine maintenance/improvement projects.  OSD is excited about the future!

Ozark School District takes great pride in the care and level of education that is provided to our students.  We look for ways to build partnerships between school and home because we know that TOGETHER, WE ARE STRONG!  Students win in this environment; let’s have a strong finish OSD!  HPRD!

Welcome to the Future!

Ozark School District is looking into several ways to grow with our students.  The Board of Directors recently approved an E-Reader Acceptable Use Policy for our students.  The students of OSD enjoy using Kindles, Nooks, I-Pads and various other devices to devour text.  We like to see our students use new technology and are trying to stay current with them and challenge our students in new ways. 

School Administrators are studying things like a student “bring your own device” policy for the foreseeable future.  This would enable students to bring laptops, I-pads and other portable devices to be used for research, study and project based learning.  Ozark School District is a leader in technology services to our students and we intend to remain so.  A sensible plan to enable many students that have these types of devices to bring them to school and use them would get us a lot closer to having a machine for each student.  At the least, it only makes sense that it would put more technology in our students’ hands. 

There are issues to be ironed out and more studies to conduct, but these are exciting challenges as we look into the future.  Ozark School District students are amazing and while we strive to challenge them, in turn we are challenged by them. 

Together We Are Strong!  Go Hillbillies!