Oskaloosa Middle School

Providing Safety

Room Number Adjustments: In an effort to provide greater clarity to students, families, and emergency management, and based upon feedback from representatives from Mahaska Emergency Management, the middle school has updated its classroom assignments in the building based upon the level o the building the rooms are located in. All 2nd floor classrooms will begin with the letter “U” to represent that the classroom is an “Upper Level” classroom. All classrooms on the lower level of the building will begin the designation “L” for “Lower Level”. All classrooms located on the main floor of the building will maintain their current destination as “100” level classrooms. 

Work with 10Fold Architecture: Recently Dr. Fisher and Mr. Scholes released the architectural firm we were working with due to continued poor performance. We are now working with an architectural firm named 10Fold. We have been transparent in our expectations with this new group based upon our previous situation. We also asked them to pick up the current work the previous firm started and keep moving forward, which they agreed they can do. Mr. Scholes met individually with Kerry Weig from 10Fold on July 24 to lay out expectations moving forward, which was followed by a meeting with Kerry and the OMS Facilities Visionary Committee on July 26. Feedback from participating committee members was very positive. We are optimistic this could be the firm we use for the long term based on the referencing and research we are doing. Kerry Weig joined the District Facilities Committee for its meeting on August 1 to introduce herself and provide a summary of her meeting with the visionary committee on July 25. Our first big task is to have a comprehensive timeline created including different phases throughout the next 5-10 years; a major emphasis being on secure new entryway.

Embracing Health: 

New Aesthetics Provide Healthy Look at OMS: Throughout the summer months, the middle school has undergone a number of changes to promote the mental health and learning environment for our students and staff. Rusty Raymond and his paint crew have worked very hard and used their creative spirit and talents to provide us with a fresh look. We thank Rusty and his team for all of their efforts. Our custodial staff has worked diligently to prepare classrooms and the building for the upcoming year as well. A special thank you goes out to our custodial crew (Matt Montavon, Mark Mateer, Steve Paulsen, and Allen Nelson) for all of their hard work. New parking lot lights have been installed over the course of the summer as well, provided by Musco. Concrete work along the sidewalk on the west side of our campus leading up to the George Daily Auditorium has also occurred.

Connecting with Kindness: 

Continued Focus on Quality Communication: Quality communication will continue to be stressed as a vital component to the middle school’s success in order to promote and maintain a positive culture of learning in alignment with our district’s Vision Culture. This is an expectation that exists at all levels of our district at each respective campus. Principal Scholes will continue to keep middle school staff informed, seen through his weekly staff newsletter entitled The OMS Point. 

Summer Presence for Families: Our building secretaries each worked here over the course of the summer, being present for new families interested in sending their child(ren) to the middle school to provide a positive first impression. We are very grateful to our building secretaries (D’Arcy, Patty, and DeAnna) for making the time to be present at the middle school this summer. 

Continued Opportunities for Voice and Engagement: As the 2023-24 school year gets underway, the middle school campus will continue to offer opportunities for students, staff, and parents to have a voice in the happenings at the middle school as it carries out its goals. This will be seen through the continued use of Student and Staff Focus Groups and through the Parent Advisory Team (PAT), which will meet regularly throughout the school year.

Inspiring through Learning: 

Setting Up For Success: An emphasis and investment this summer has been placed in our new leadership personnel. A variety of leadership retreats were held to discuss both strategic and tactical agenda items to help make the start to the 2023-24 school year successful. Principal Scholes led tactical and strategic retreats with the instructional coaches and members of the School Leadership Team (SLT) on July 31 and August 7, continuing the quality work and training provided earlier in the summer in order to live our Vision Culture.

Extended Learning Opportunities and Partnership “Just a Bridge Away”: Earlier in the summer, academic leaders from William Penn University met with Mr. Scholes and Dr. Fisher to discuss ways for both institutions to mutually benefit from our people, resources, and programs offered. This manifested specifically with respect to the after school clubs Mr. Scholes continues to infuse at the middle school. In this case, Mr. Scholes is working with William Penn to see if students and staff from Penn can support existing and potentially new club offerings at the middle school by providing physical leadership at the meetings. Follow up meetings with William Penn University will be happening in the ensuing weeks as the new school year gets underway for both institutions. With so many valuable resources between both organizations, we developed the mantra moving forward that we are simply “Just a Bridge Away” from mutual gain.

Operating with Efficiency: 

Student/Parent Orientation and Back to School Night: The middle school plans to host its 2023-24 6th Grade Student/Parent Orientation and 7th/8th Grade Back to School Night on Wednesday, August 16 from 4:30-6:00pm. In an effort to make an enjoyable and efficient event for parents and students, the event’s entirety will be held in the middle school, with no segment of the event taking place at the George Daily Auditorium. A video overview will be provided by administration to parents in the middle school media center, which will replay itself on a rotation approximately every 20 minutes. This way, parents and students can focus on obtaining their schedule, meeting teachers, and navigating their lockers. The video overview will also be available for parents to view on the middle school’s page on the district website and will be promoted through our social media outlets.

Thanks again for taking the time to read my newsletter this month! I would like to wish everyone a happy remainder of the summer and a wonderful start to the 2023-24 School Year! We appreciate all you do to support us here at OMS!

Yours in Education,

Mark T. Scholes, Principal 

Oskaloosa Middle School