Weekly Update: February 14, 2024

Each year our programming gets stronger, and this morning our Performing Arts Showcase was an example of just that!  We enjoyed an hour-long beautifully orchestrated showcase that highlighted digital music, yoga, dance, guitar, vocal, violin, uke, musical theatre, woodwinds, and percussion.  Students were so brave, cooperative, talented, and - most of all- supportive of one another.  It was a joy to experience and behold.

This was Spirit Week, and each day had a theme. Perhaps you saw our post on Instagram documenting “Anything but a Tote day.” We also celebrated colors, being fancy, being “you”, and being “frozen!” At lunch today, as a small part of our Black History month recognition, we screened this 7 minute Oscar Winning short called Hair Love.

Our Family Engagement Committee is looking for contributions to a calendar raffle fundraiser which we’ll play this spring.  Perhaps you have a small business and you’d like to let our community know about what you do -y ou could donate an item or a gift card as part of the fun!  Please email jhachem@oursistersschool.org and we’ll make sure your business is included! 

If you didn’t respond to our family survey last week, please take a moment to share with us now.  We really do value your feedback and communication.

Summer Programs

Tashianna Pires, OSS Admissions & Outreach Coordinator Graduate Support Associate greets a student with a fist bump at the start of school.

Summer programming guidance is always available. If you have questions about specific programs or financial aid, please email Ms. Sanders directly: asanders@oursistersschool.org.  Also, Monday Feb 24th, 4:30-5:45pm we’ll host a drop-in summer program support session to help with applications and financial aid forms for both day and sleep away programs.

Interested in b-ball?  Want to hone your dribbling, passing, and shooting skills? These sessions are a fantastic opportunity for young athletes to improve their basketball skills and coaches will provide personalized instruction to help each player reach their full potential. To register, call 508-961-3015/email info.prb@newbedford-ma.gov with your child's name:

February 18th, 2025 from 12p-1p at Dennison Memorial 

February 20th, 2025 from 12p-1p at AMRC

Ciera Green delivers a presentation on her experience as a student at Harvard University during Tuesday’s Meeting.

AHA! New Bedford: The Power of Youth in Art Student Exhibition

A huge congratulations to our incredible student artists: Syd, Maia, Caira, Yuki, Nat, and Tianna, for sharing their inspiring work and creativity at last night’s AHA! New Bedford The Power of Youth in Art Student Exhibition at Groundwork ! Every OSS student has a piece included in the show!

From vibrant animal drawings to thought provoking changemaker portraits, their artwork is a powerful reflection of their voices and the stories they have to tell.

We believe in the transformative power of art to inspire, express, and foster creativity, and tonight's event showcased that beautifully. This is just the beginning; our community is in for even more excitement at the Festival of Arts and Achievements this May!

Calendar

This link to the calendar on our OSS website is a valuable reference tool.  Below are some key dates:

• Feb Break week of Feb 17th-21st

• Back to school Monday Feb 24th

• March 17 PD day for staff; No School

We hope you have a rejuvenating break,

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team

Updated Family Service Forms

Updated Family Service Forms are going home in Friday Folders this week. They need to be signed and returned after vacation. Contact Ms. McSweeny with questions or concerns. 

Service Day

Ms. McSweeny is hosting a service day at GiftsToGive on 2/21. Please email her if you would like your student to join and sign up here if you want to chaperone (A CORI is required to chaperone. 4 spaces are available as of now.) 

Spirit Week

Fifth graders had a wonderful time during their first Spirit week at OSS!

Know your Rights

This information is in multiple languages so that we can easily share with colleagues, friends, students and families:

Family Preparedness document which can be downloaded in multiple languages.

Recorded materials in many languages.

Weekly Update: February 7, 2025

Thank you for attending our Wednesday night required family meeting. We’ve already had some summer camp follow-up activity, and anticipate more! Please do complete our brief and important surveys below:

Family Survey using this link.

Summer Survey using this link.

Community Opportunities:

In addition to the free NB Parks and Recreation February break programming, The Mayor's Youth Council has a few openings for its 2025 Leadership Academy for 5th to 8th graders on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during February vacation February 18 - 20. Morning sessions will be filled with skill building activities including leadership qualities, public speaking, time management, decision making and team building. Afternoons will be competitive games, the MYC Amazing Race and more. The program is free and lunch/snack is included daily.

To register:  https://bit.ly/4jLpoGT

Whaling Museum Visits Continue:

Students continue their hard work gathering information, digging through primary sources and interviewing people on topics of personal interest. This spring it will all come together in a festive display of learning hosted at the Whaling Museum.

Capstone Project:

The 8th Grade Creative Suite Capstone Project at OSS is a multifaceted academic experience that serves as a culmination of students' middle school journey. This comprehensive and interdisciplinary project empowers students to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to solve real-world problems, fostering a deeper connection between their learning experiences and the world around them.

Through this capstone, students select Creative Suite skills to advance, focusing on areas they are passionate about or wish to develop further. This intentional choice encourages personalized learning and creative exploration, equipping students with practical skills and the confidence to be changemakers!

Math Extension Sets:

At the beginning of the week, all students were introduced to Extension Sets.  Students are given 10 challenging problems, and are required to try 5. Students will receive a new Extension Set every two weeks. 

Why Extension Sets?

The extension problems aim to help students think deeply about key concepts in middle school mathematics. The problems are intended to be challenging because productive struggle is part of learning.

HerStory:

In late January, 7th graders completed their HerStory presentations.  Each student researched an artist they were inspired by, wrote a biography they then memorized, created an original piece of art inspired by their artist of interest and performed their monologue for peers and family.  It was an impressive display of interdisciplinary work weaving arts, humanities and public speaking.  We are so proud of our students!

Calendar:

This link to the calendar on our OSS website is a valuable reference tool.  Listed below are events you definitely want to keep in mind:

• Feb. 10-14 ~ Spirit Week

• Feb 13 ~ All School Art Show at Groundworks, 5:00 - 6:30pm

• Feb 14 ~Valentines Day; we play it down, not up 

• Feb 17-21 ~ February Break

• Feb 24 ~ Back to school

May we enjoy some snow this weekend,

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team

Weekly Update: January 31, 2025

Thursday evening our 8th graders performed an original play titled Who we were, Who we are, Who we are waiting for. It is about the history of the women’s suffrage movement, and is a truly inspired work centering the experiences of Black women. Our capable and hard working students were brave, bold, collaborative, creative and showed off their smarts! It will be performed one more time, in the OSS gym, this Tuesday February 4th at 12:30pm, and we invite you to join us.

At staff meeting this morning when we reviewed our “pillars of instruction”, we noticed that the performance is an example of how we can meet all of our instructional goals: collaborate as a community, develop the whole learner, cultivate critical consciousness, teach for understanding, foster an academic mindset, assess for learning and design for engagement - in one cohesive unit!

Below you can see more examples of how we focus our time on other, equally meaningful learning experiences including presentations of student learning, field trips, hands on experiences like learning how to do medical stiches. Today we even hosted an event we call a Dendrites Conference - where we consider the art of learning. We explored learning strategies and considered the power of having a “growth mindset”. Thanks to Zoe’s dad, we even hosted a guest speaker who is a brain scientist and many students bravely held a human brain in their (gloved) hands. Awesome.

Veterinarian Visit

Margot Penney returns to 7th grade science!  This week, Veterinarian Margot Penney brought in suture kits and taught us how to suture up a “wounded” banana!

Calendar

This link to the calendar on our OSS website is a valuable reference tool.  Listed below are events you definitely want to keep in mind:

Sat. Feb 1st, Community meeting at Lawler Library “Protecting Our Students: Safety and Support for Immigrant Families.” 11-12:30pm

Wed Feb 5th, Required Family Meeting ~ Zoom, 5:30-6:30pm

Fri. Feb 7th, Boulder Union with Nativity. RSVP required. 5-7 pm

Spirit Week Feb 10-14

Thurs. Feb 13, All School Art Show at Groundworks, 5:00-6:30pm

Feb 17-21 February Break; No School

Have a lovely weekend,

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team

Whaling Museum and Fishing Heritage Center Field Trip

6th graders, immersed in their place-based study of the history of New Bedford and the whaling industry have enjoyed their recent visits to the Whaling Museum. Highlights included getting to see the jellies they created on display, as well as trying on safety gear at the Fishing Heritage Center! The photos are fabulous…

Weekly Update: January 24

This week was full of activity, and our new blog format allows us to share photos more easily. It includes content we are prepared to share, but certainly not even close to everything interesting that happened! Next week, for example, we will showcase the 7th grade HerStory presentations; it’ll be something to look forward to. And, before you dig into the learning, remember that the upcoming required family meeting is Wednesday Feb 5th at 5:30, via Zoom. It will include a presentation on summer camps, and you can prepare by exploring the link below and browsing.

Community

The news these days compels us to ensure our community is informed should someone be struggling with citizenship status and need to Know their Rights or plan Family Preparedness. We have Know Your Rights materials available in the front office and The Immigrants Assistance Center can provide additional support. We know that learning happens best when students feel safe, and we are committed to supporting all families living in our community, and all students attending our schools. We hope you feel encouraged by the learning moments illustrated below. Notice the hard to see arrows and click through the brief photo galleries:

5th grade Lit circles

5th graders are practicing reading and discussing a text together. Reading a book in a small lit-circle allows students to practice being self-directed learners as well as using the Community Core tools Value Identity, Let Go of the Familiar, Communicate Clearly, and Take Space Make Space.

Art Court

In Creative Suite classes, 6th graders were challenged to craft and present a persuasive, evidence-based argument in OSS Superior Art Court. Their purpose was to engage and persuade the judge and jury that a particular professional does -or does not- practice like artists.

Suffrage Play

8th graders are engaged in an in-depth study of the women’s suffrage movement, including reading selections from Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Fight for the Ballot Box. They analyzed the movement through an intersectional lens, centering the experiences of Black women. As a culmination of their studies, students are working with Judith Kalaora, a theatre educator and owner of History at Play, which is funded by the Mass Cultural Council to showcase what they have learned. The performance is set to showcase next Thursday, January 31st, 4:30-6pm. We hope you will be in the audience!

Science + Creative Suite Grade 6 visits the New Bedford Art Museum

In science, 6th grade is learning about Earth’s changing climate, and one of the places changing the most is the Arctic. At the Art Museum, students explored sculptures, video footage, and photographs of icebergs floating in the ocean around Greenland and Canada. It is not every day that one looks at huge pieces of freshwater ice. Icebergs form when they break off of glaciers. We were inspired to study our own “icebergs” in a science experiment!

Veterinarian Margot Penney 

Margot has been joining 7th grade science for Wednesdays in January for our Cells & Body Systems unit. Margot has been bringing slides of blood samples, bacteria swabs, and more for us to investigate under the microscopes. This week we had a special guest - Margot’s dog Marzipan! Students got to give Marzipan a physical exam by checking her teeth, looking in her ears, and listening to her heart.

Calendar

This link to the calendar on our OSS website is a valuable reference tool.  Listed below are events you definitely want to keep in mind:

• Jan 25th OSS Admissions Presentation 10am

• Jan 25th NB National Park event, 1-3pm

• Jan 27th PD for staff; No School 

• Jan 30 Whaling Museum trip for 6th grade 8:45am-2:30pm

• Jan 30 Suffrage Play by 8th grade, 4:30-6pm

Have a lovely long weekend. See you Tuesday!

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team

Weekly Update: January 17

Dear OSS Families,

Today we end the second quarter of our school year. Teachers will be busy grading and writing comments for report cards, which will be sent home in 2 weeks. We are energized by all that has been accomplished, and excited for what lies ahead!  In this update we often highlight learning moments from the week, just to offer a taste of what we were up to:

Eighth graders who applied to independent schools for high school completed their applications due on January 15. This is a  considerable process — students write and revise numerous essays and complete interviews. Teachers have an opportunity to share students’ strengths and community involvement through recommendations. We recognize this important milestone and the learning and self-reflection that happens through the process.

In case you want to visit, next weekend some 5th grade Humanities classwork will be included in an exhibit at the New Bedford National Park. Saturday, January 25th, from 1-3pm. You can visit with the artist and see their work! 

Editing HerStory presentations.

7th graders are preparing their HerStory presentations for Jan 23, 4:30-5:15pm.  8th graders are working with guest artist Judith Kalaora to tell the story of the Suffrage movement, Jan 30, 4:30-6pm.

The editing process.

Please check your inbox for an email sent by Ms. Sanders, who shared information and a link to our summer programs website. It’s time to start planning for Summer 2025, so we hope you’ll explore both sleepaway and day camp options with your student. Please be in touch with Ms. Sanders (asanders@oursistersschool.org) with any questions.

Community

Friday Folders include a 1 page reminder of drop off and pick up traffic patterns.  The point we are most concerned with is encouraging morning drop off to be 1 line, so that students are safe when they cross to the building.  If there are two lanes at drop off, an accident is more likely to occur.

We encourage families to take part in MLK Day events in our community. “Bridging Divides: The Legacy of Hope” is the theme of the city’s annual commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to be held on Sunday, Jan. 19. The event honoring the slain civil rights leader is organized by the city’s Human Rights Commission. It will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 136 Rivet St. Find out more here. 

Calendar

This link to the calendar on our OSS website is a valuable reference tool.  Listed below are events you definitely want to keep in mind:

• TODAY Jan 17 end of 2nd quarter

• MONDAY Jan 20 MLK Day; No School  - Service day event from 9:30am to noon at GiftsToGive for those who signed up with Ms. McSweeny

• Jan 23 7th grade HerStory Exhibit 4:30-5:15pm

• Jan 24th End current Clubs session

• Jan 25th NB National Park event, 1-3pm

• Jan 27th PD for staff; No School 

• Jan 30 Whaling Museum trip for 6th grade 8:45am-2:30pm

• Jan 30 Suffrage Play by 8th grade, 4:30-6pm

In the spirit of MLK, have a meaningful weekend,

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team

Weekly Update: January, 10

Who Am I non fiction historical figure book reports.

Dear OSS Families,

Welcome back from winter break; it feels like winter has truly arrived!  

We kicked off 2025 energetically, and encourage you to join us! 

This week, among other things, 5th graders made movies using green screens in Creative Suite class, and in Humanities they wrote book reports about historical figures. Enjoy these fun photos.

Video creation using green screens.

Community

Family Service Hours

If you are looking to fulfill your Family Service Hours please see the SignUp form and/or reach out to Ms. McSweeny to see what you can do. We especially need support to transport students to Community Partnerships and swim class on Friday, 1/17 (at 1:15pm and 2pm).

Know your Rights

In the spirit of safety and allyship, we share this “Know your Rights” article for immigrant families.  Let’s be informed on this topic.

Free

Marquee Theatre Academy is generously offering tickets to see Annie March 7th, 8th (7pm shows) or 9th (2pm show).  All shows are at BCC in Fall River; it is a beautiful theatre.  If you are interested, please email Ms. Cinnamond (gcinnamond@oursistersschool.org) and let her know which day you wish to attend, and how many tickets you will want. Our updated deadline for reserving tickets  is Jan 31st.

Scholarships

Alford Lake Camp has a January 31st deadline for their financial aid application. Our Sisters’ School has carefully curated a collection of sleep-away camps and programs we recommend, and we can help you get scholarships to attend.  We strongly encourage you to start looking now. If you have any questions please email Ms. Sanders or Ms. Herman; we are eager to support your exploration of summer opportunities!

Calendar

This link to the calendar on our OSS website is a valuable reference tool.  Listed below are events you definitely want to have in mind:

• Jan 17 ~ End of 2nd Quarter; report cards distributed Jan 31

• Jan 23 ~ Community Showcase of Grade 7HerStory, 4:30-5:25

• Jan 27 ~ No School (Professional Day)

Stay warm this weekend!

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team