Good morning Spartan Families!
Today marks the first day of our second quarter, and I wanted to share out a few mid-semester reminders for all students and families. It’s hard to believe that we’re already halfway through the Fall Semester; I hope all students are fully adjusted to the new routines and expectations. One area that is going well for us is our increased emphasis on phone-free learning. As you have heard from me many times, cell phone usage in schools has become a major concern for schools across the country. At OLCHS, we are focused on limiting access to phones and headphones/earbuds during instructional time so that students can learn. As always, I appreciate your partnership here.
Please review the following other important topics with your student.
“See Something - Say Something” and “Report - Don’t Repost”
School safety is a priority and relies on everyone to participate and take preventive measures. We remind staff and students that simple things such as not propping open outside doors, not opening outside doors for others, and reporting suspicious activity to a staff member are safety measures everyone can take. The OLCHS school community will hear this often, if you see something, say something. Please take an active role and keep our school safe.
This is also a time to remind families to discuss social media safety with your students. Threats made on social media will be investigated by law enforcement and recent news has shown us that students as young as 12 have been put in juvenile detention due to social media threats. If you or your student ever see a threat on social media, please take a photo of the post capturing the threat and the social media user ID and send it to school officials and/or the Oak Lawn Police immediately. We want to remind everyone to report, don’t repost. Reposting a school threat will open that person to a series of legal actions as well.
If you need additional support, we have several resources available in the Student Services Department. You can schedule an appointment with your school counselor at any time through our Calendly app, which is available HERE on our Student Services website. Remember, if you see something that does not seem right, you should immediately say something.
Attendance Matters - Every Day
As I’ve shared with you previously, I cannot stress enough the importance of being in school every day. Regular school attendance has a huge impact on a student’s academic success and social development. Coming to school every day and being on time matters. A few missed days can add up quickly and result in significant lost learning time. Please prioritize your student’s attendance when scheduling appointments or planning travel. Additionally, if a student is healthy, they should be in school. Equally important, being on time to class matters. Students who accumulate multiple tardies to school or during the school day are subject to disciplinary consequences as outlined in our Student-Parent Handbook. I value your partnership in improving student attendance and making sure that students are present and ready to learn.
Involved Students are Connected Students
Extracurricular involvement in clubs, sports, activities is an essential part of the high school experience. Students who participate in extracurriculars tend to have higher GPAs, better attendance, and fewer discipline issues than students generally. We have 28 sports programs and over 40 clubs and activities. Please encourage your student to get involved by checking out our clubs and activities here or by trying out for a Winter sport. Please take note of the tryout dates/times/locations and procedures for your specific sport, and be sure to have a current physical on file with the Athletic Office. Students need to be registered online prior to the day of the tryout. See our Spartan Athletics Page for all the details.
On behalf of our faculty, and staff, we appreciate your partnership and support of our school-community. It was wonderful to see so many parents at last week’s Parent-Teacher Conferences, and I look forward to seeing you on campus soon for a parent event, athletic contest, or community event. You can always find upcoming dates on our Events Calendar.
Sharing high hopes for a productive Second Quarter,
Dr. Lauren May, Principal