September at Oxford High School

What makes Oxford High School an outstanding school is both the number and quality of opportunities that we provide our students.  You will find few high schools in the state of Michigan that can match what we can.  We are able to sustain the quality and success of our programs because of the amazing staff, students and parents who are engaged in our learning community.  The purpose of this monthly blog is to better highlight and share the amazing things that take place at Oxford High School.  Our mission is to provide an education that challenges all students to achieve their maximum potential.  We strive to help our students become the best version of themselves.  Our amazing students inspire our staff and give us purpose to work hard to help them succeed.  Our students also give us pride and joy when they excel at everything they do.  This is why we aim to better celebrate our success and highlight our accomplishments each month.  It helps us stay connected with our community and provides the enthusiasm our school feeds off as we continue to grow.

“Together we can rise!”  We can’t think of a better analogy for our community than this picture of our Varsity Cheer Leading Team performing at Troy Athens.  There are so many themes that can be taken in from this photo. #teamwork  #support  #riseabove We take pride in building meaningful relationships and making strong connections within our school.  It is the glue that holds together all of the opportunities for our students. Check out our Twitter page @oxford_hs to see day-to-day highlights like this of our wonderful learning community!

Welcome back Staff! Some of our High School staff pose below for a group photo on August 21st before viewing the solar eclipse.  This was a great moment for our staff to share together on our first day back for the 2017-2018 school year.

Relationships First.  We understand that learning is mutual and deeply social.  So this year, our staff began our time together focusing on our relationships. We spent time connecting with one another through activities and structured dialog.  We also understand that building strong relationships with our students helps shape their personal and social development. It's no surprise that strong teacher to student relationships positively correlate with student motivation, student engagement and academic outcomes.  So we also began the school year focused on building strong relationships with our students.  Many teachers, like Mrs. Karen Facca, took time to get to know her students through autobiographical activities and class conversations.     

One Family: Our Link Leaders connected with Freshman the morning of student registration this August.  When new students are supported from others, especially our upperclassmen, they feel a sense of value, purpose and trust. Link Leaders spend several days planning for this event and put more than just time in to support our new students.  Our student leaders bring so much enthusiasm to deliver an exciting day filled with team building activities and opportunities for new students to connect with one another. Throughout the school year, Link Leaders act as mentors for our Freshmen.  

Curriculum Night was held on September 11th.  During this evening, parents walk through their students schedule and meet with our teachers.  This gives our parents an opportunity to better understand each of the courses their child is taking at OHS.  It also allows our parents to make a connection with our teachers to receive helpful insight to the curriculum and course expectations.  Pictured here, Mr. John Hill explains how his guitar class operates by demonstrating a student activity. 

Our Boy's Varsity Football Team competed against Romeo High School for our season opener on August 25th.  It was an amazing opportunity for both teams to compete at the Big House - Michigan Stadium, in Ann Arbor.  Our student section was large and so many of our parents and community came out to support our school.  This was a day that our athletes, coaches and parents are always going to remember!

Pictured here, our student Orchestra Chamber, led by Mrs. Natalie Frakes, performed for our parents at our Academic Awards Night on September 27th.  This evening honored over 500 students who have earned a GPA over 3.3 or/and received teacher selected department awards.  Students received a certificate and various pins and letters based on their level of achievement. 

Our Biomedical students took a field trip to Crittenton's Emergency Center.  These senior students are in the capstone course of the Biomedical Sciences program, taught by Mrs. Janelle Lie. In Emergency Medicine, students look at the challenge of addressing patient needs in both a timely and quality manner.  Students are tasked with creating and designing innovations to improve Emergency Medicine after analyzing and evaluating the current inefficiencies that often require sacrificing quality patient care for time. Students were able to see Emergency Medicine in an hospital setting, interact with healthcare professionals, and engage in higher order thinking.  

Meet the Team Night!  Coach Gretchen Gabler introduces our Girls Golf team to a large attendance of parents at our first Fall Meet the Team Night.  She took time to share the additional academic and extra-curricular involvement of her athletes and how dedicated and well-rounded they are.  This event gave coaches the opportunity to introduce each of our athletes to our parents and community.  Athletic Director Jordan Ackerman also spoke to parents about school expectations for athletes as well as MHSAA rules and OHS eligibility.

Secondary Administrators attend a mini in-house workshop on Concept-Based teaching and learning provided by IB coordinators Christine Vince and Molly Darnell. While teachers receive Professional Development on a weekly basis, administrators within Oxford Community Schools also participate in their own professional development and growth. Deputy Superintendent Ken Weaver works with all administrators and curriculum coordinators in the district to ensure OCS continues to grow.  

Our News Broadcasting class has made some additions to their class and video announcements.  Working with some new equipment, our students have begun to incorporate additional graphics and professional level quality to their News.  This form of communication is how OHS keeps both our staff and students informed for everything happening in our very active community.  While this course is led by CTE teacher Chaz Millard, the entire News is designed, written and filmed by our students.  We upload our daily News Broadcast to our YouTube page and share out with staff to be viewed during 2nd period.  You can find the link to our channel at the bottom of this Month's Newsletter.

Our Leadership Students embarked on a busy month of August and September.  Pictured here, students work on cleaning N. Oxford Rd as part of their commitment following the road adoption in 2013.  It’s hard to summarize all of the involvement and activities our Leadership students engage themselves in each WEEK.  This class course and group of students is led by Mrs. Goetz and Mrs. King, but the program is entirely student driven.

Check out our latest Schooling Around with John Oetjens and our our Oxford Community Television.  In this week's episode (60), John speaks with some of our Performing Arts teachers about their programs - including our Band director, Mr. Jim Gibbons, our Music Theory teacher, Mr. John Hill, our Orchestra Director, Mrs. Natalie Frakes and our Chorus Director, Mr. Christopher Card.  This month, Mr. Card also took 73 Chorus students to his 6th annual Oxford Choirs Boot Camp.  Military Drills (Games), such as Naval War, Defcon 1, The Gauntlet and Operation Outpost were held at all hours of the day and night which challenged students to work together in rigorous physical and mental activities.  In addition to the activities the students were challenged through discussions on developing personal discipline and strong character.  Students returned home worn out physically but renewed in their commitment for personal growth and to make a positive impact on those around them.  

Congratulations to our Equestrian Team who won our 17th straight district meet on September 16!  We competed against Clarkston and won with a school record of over 1,000 points.  What an outstanding accomplishment!  Our athletes compete in Mason on September 30^th, so look for additional highlights as we head to States in mid-October.  

Oxford's Tennis program has grown from 14 athletes to 22 athletes this year and we have also added a JV team!  The future looks bright with 7 sophomores and 3 freshmen on our Varsity team - which continues to improve on last year’s record.  You may have noticed improvements to the tennis courts this season with the addition of new tennis sheds and the beautiful “Oxford Wildcats" tennis screens along our fences.  Oxford is considered to have one of, if not, the best tennis center in the OAA Conference according to opposing coaches.  This year, our team has donated 25 new shirts and 10 pairs of shoes to the Houston Community and their Hurricane Relief program. Please wish our athletes and Coach Ryan Ruzziconi luck for the remainder of the season.

Get involved!  There are so many clubs to choose from at Oxford High School.  Check out the Activities Page on our website to view what we have to offer for our students.  This month, students interested in Archery came together to start our first Archery Club.  This is another great club for students to meet new people and connect over a common interest.  For more information about our Archery Club, please contact Matt Johnson at matt.johnson@oxfordschools.org

Student representatives from various clubs meet once a month before school with Mr. Wolf as part of our Breakfast Club.  The purpose of this group is to give our students purpose. No pun intended 😊 During these meetings, student leaders discuss school climate, culture and ways to improve our environment.  It's important that our students have a strong voice and help our school become an environment they feel comfortable and confident in.  Students will plan, organize and execute various projects throughout the school year. (Not all students pictured)

Our OCS Board of Education has approved placing a bond proposal on the ballot along with a sinking fun.  Local residents will have the opportunity to vote on Tuesday, November 7, 2017.  Please take some time to review our Bond and Sinking Fund Proposal Information

ASAP (After School Assistance Program) 

Does your student need help with homework?  Does your student not fully understand a concept or a particular assignment?  If so, please encourage your student to get some help after school.  From 3:05–4:05pm, 9^th and 10^th grade students can receive free academic support from content area teachers in Math, Science, Social Studies and English Language Arts.  We are holding academic support for:

• 10^th graders on Tuesday in Rm. 303 & 401

• 9^th graders on Wednesday in Rm. 303 & 401

Communication & Information

Parents who are better informed are more likely to be engaged and supportive of their child and our learning community.  Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the following pages within and in addition to our OHS Homepage.

Mr. Wolf’s Top 6

1. If you don’t already receive our weekly emails from OHS Administration, please click on SchoolMessenger and subscribe to receive helpful weekly info and updates.
2. Our Parents & Students webpage is a great resource for parents to access student grades & attendance (PowerSchool), teacher websites (Haiku) and other school resources.
3. Please visit our OHS School Calendar to view upcoming events.
4. OHS News Broadcasting YouTube Channel is where you can find all daily announcements.  Subscribing and/or viewing on a regular basis will help keep you informed and updated.
5. Our Counseling webpage has a number of resources for you and your student, including our curriculum, career resources, transcripts and services.
6. Make sure you are also visiting our Athletic Website for athletic event dates, games and information.  We are currently working on a redesigned website that we hope you will love using.

• Check out our Twitter page @oxford_hs to see day-to-day highlights of our wonderful learning community!
• OCS Facebook is another way to see day-to-day highlights district-wide.
• Wildcat Review Newsletters are created each quarter to highlight all of the outstanding work and accomplishments throughout Oxford Community Schools.
• Please also check out Oxford Community Television’s latest Schooling Around from mid-September (episode 59)

Thanks for your support and help in keeping Oxford an amazing Community!

Steve Wolf 

Principal – Oxford High School
@stevenwolfedu