Excellence in Education

At the bottom of my business card, it says "Excellence in Education." This is something we strive for here at Ozark Schools. I dug in a bit to this idea of "excellence" and my thoughts are as follows...

Excellence is a choice we all have the opportunity to make. It is a commitment to something that is of utmost importance to the person making the commitment. We have to decide what is important enough to us to make a commitment this challenging. We must realize we can’t be excellent at everything. If your desire is to be excellent in every area of your life, you’ll end up being spread too thin and probably good in a lot of areas, but truly excellent in nothing.

SO, What areas of your life do you want to be excellent in? It is my hope that school is an area you would be willing to commit. It is an area in my life that I’ve committed to being excellent in.

Excellence is often times very challenging and can be scary!!

When my daughter was very young and working on sleeping in her own bed she told me the following: “Daddy, sometimes you’re scared and then you just get used to it and get over it.” When you are committed to doing something, we all have this to face. New Ground is exciting for all of us, but also scary and out of our comfort zone.

When I think about excellence it means that something far exceeds expectations. Getting more than you paid for!! Classroom that is clean, organized, decorated and the teacher is brilliant, friendly, engaging and excited to have you in class. Excellence is being better today than you were yesterday. Better tomorrow than you are today. (Day to Day commitment) You are never finished with Excellence… You never arrive.

"We are what we constantly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." Aristotle

Go Hillbillies!!

Welcome Back

The Ozark School District is very excited about the upcoming school year. There is so much energy in our buildings and on our campuses currently. We can't wait to see our students roll in on Monday! It is always great to see familiar faces on that first day and exciting to meet new students, friends and colleagues. Every child has a perfect record when they come through the doors on the first day. We are all undefeated champions to start the year. It's an Exciting Time! We take the business of educating your child very seriously and want to form strong partnerships between school and home. I ask and thank you in advance for your grace, help and cooperation as we begin this endeavor together. Ozark School District is blessed with wonderful parent and community support. It is an amazing thing to see our schools operate as they do through strong partnerships with each of you. We believe that students win BIG in this environment. Thank You! Together, We Are Strong! Let's continue to pull together, cultivate relationships, get better every day and make this the best school year ever. Kids First, Full Steam Ahead! Go Hillbillies!

Teacher Appreciation Week

It's Teacher Appreciation Week!

I've had the great fortune of being raised in a home of professional educators.  I was a student in many classrooms led by wonderful teachers , had the honor of being a teacher and worked with many teachers.   A vast majority of the school teachers I've crossed paths with are wonderful people that work hard every day investing into and impacting the lives of their students.  I am continually inspired by the level of care teachers provide their students.  Teachers are highly trained in providing educational services to students, masters in curriculum and more importantly specialists in students.  They care for and fight for kids' futures every day, oftentimes against great odds.  Teachers are professionals, optimists, visionaries, team builders and they share a great deal of hope and enthusiasm daily.  They are tired at the end of the day, but attend many after school functions to see "their kids" perform.  Then, they grade papers and prepare for the next day.  Teachers spend a lot of time after school hours researching and gaining counsel.  They are trying to solve problems that oftentimes have no clear solutions.  Nevertheless, teachers choose to do these things because they care about their students. Our community and ultimately society is made better every day because of the services teachers provide.  Join me in focusing on the good today, think of the teachers that impacted your life in a positive way.  Thank the teachers you know for what they do every day.  Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

College and Career Ready

College and Career Ready

I hear the College and Career Ready catchphrase used a lot in terms of what kind of “product” public schools are trying to produce.  It is important because our mission involves our students being ready to take on the future as leaders, innovators and contributors.  Ozark School District is striving to provide opportunities for our students to accomplish this mission.  We are also always striving to increase the opportunities for our students, while operating responsibly within our budget. 

Some examples of this are the Concurrent Credit offerings available at Ozark High School.  Concurrent Credit is simply a class that can count for a High School Graduation Credit and a College Course.  Next year, through our partnership with ATU Ozark, we are planning to have the following list of Concurrent Credit options available on OHS campus, at no charge for Ozark High School students:

English Comp 1

English Comp 2

College Algebra

Database Management (Business)

Spreadsheets (Business)

Allied Health:  Medical Terminology, Certified Nursing Assistant

Paramedic:  Medical First Responder, Certified Emergency Response Training

Law Enforcement:  Introduction to Law Enforcement, Criminal Civil and Juvenile Law

Striving to answer the call to “College and Career Ready” is driven by student need and interest.  Students have the opportunity to obtain some “College” credit while still in High School.  This puts them on the path to making better informed decisions about their future.  Parents and students, please take full advantage of the offerings that fit your needs and plans.  We have to have a significant amount of student interest to fund these classes, so get signed up and allow us to partner with you in making your dreams a reality. 

Watch for future blogs on other unique programs available right here.  Thank you for your continued partnership in educating our PreK-12 Grade Students.  You are a very special, supportive group to partner with on this important task.  Together, We Are Strong!  Go Hillbillies!

School Safety and Security

School Safety and Security

Ozark School District recognizes school safety and security as job #1.  Public Education exists for one main purpose and that is to provide an education to ALL school age students.  At Ozark School District, we strive for that educational experience to be second to none.  We realize that meaningful learning takes place when students are safe and their basic needs are being met. 

We plan very well as a team and our focus is on prevention.  OSD has a comprehensive crisis management plan and we conduct drills regularly to test our plan.  Our daily goal is to always be more prepared and better at keeping our students safe. 

Other than great planning and prevention measures, our very best prevention tools are our staff, students, parents and community members.  Open lines of communication and a safe place to share information are vital to tight school security.  Partnerships between the School District and Federal, State, City and County entities are important so resources can be shared and the benefit passed to our students.  Ozark School District enjoys great leadership from our School Resource Officer and support from our local law enforcement. 

We strive to have a balance between staff/student awareness and letting our kids be kids.  This isn’t something that I want to be in our students’ daily lives, sadly it is at times.  I want them to be able to focus on the business at hand for each of them.  I assure you that is a full plate for our students.  I don’t like the fact that we have to conduct such drills and preparations at school.  I do believe preparation and prevention is very important and needed in today’s world.   I am very proud of the effort that Ozark School District pours into this initiative. 

There is a line here between student innocence, education and preparedness.  If we could hit it perfectly; OSD students would be fully prepared, but not worried and distracted.  As mentioned earlier, students have a great deal of curriculum and accountability in their daily lives.  We strive to push their academic limits daily. 

Ozark School District is a happy place; a place where children smile, grow and become.  Our school is a place where we celebrate freedom and opportunity.  Ozark Public School District is a place where ALL school age children are accepted, assessed, led, cared for, fed, challenged and presented with opportunities.  We feel each student deserves to be Healthy, Safe, Engaged, Supported and Challenged.  OSD is full of highly talented and caring staff.  They carry out this mission daily.  I can assure you that we take the business of taking care of our kids very seriously.  OSD students are and will continue to be fiercely protected. 

I know our school isn’t perfect.  I know we have a lot of work ahead of us in order to continue to carry out our mission of educating all students that come through the door with a world class education.  It is however, a bright and shining star.  Thank you students, staff, parents, board of ed, community and alumni for helping make it that way---Together We Are Strong!  Go Hillbillies!