Falcon Flyer

Tuesday, January 15

5-5:30 PM Boys Basketball Parent Meeting

Wednesday, January 16

7:00-7:30 AM STUCO Meeting room 1

Thursday, January 17

8:00 AM OTMS Geography Bee in the library classroom

5:15-6:00 PM BVN Athletic Fair for current 8th grade students at BV North Commons

6:00-8:00 PM BVN Enrollment Night Class of 2023 (current 8th grade students) at BV North

Monday, January 21 NO SCHOOL- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Tuesday, January 22

5:00-9:00 PM Band Feeder Festival at BV North

Wednesday, January 23

3-4:00 PM Chinese Extension Class room 30

Tuesday, January 29

Smoothie King available for purchase at lunch

Wednesday, January 30

7:00-7:30 AM STUCO meeting in room 1

3:00 Boys Basketball Game

Thursday, January 31

8:45-10:45 AM North Area Choral Festival in OTMS Commons

Thursday, March 7

1:Learner Chromebook deployment for grades 6 & 7

Second quarter and end of semester grades are now visible in ParentVue.

End of term grades (end of quarter/semester) will remain visible in ParentVue (look in the Report Card section) - please remember the daily grading for each course will continue to live in Canvas as each new quarter begins.

8th Grade Parents

Save the Date!

Although 2nd semester has only just begun, high school is around the corner. BVN Enrollment Night - Class of 2023 - is Thursday, January 17, 2019 (for current 8th grade students and their parents). Attendance at this event is STRONGLY encouraged for students and parents. Students will receive their enrollment packets and parents and students will learn more about high school and the enrollment process. This will be an exciting and informative evening so please be sure to mark your calendars and attend.

What is AmazonSmile? AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support Overland Trail Middle School PTO every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you'll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization. You can choose from nearly one million organizations to support.

How do I shop at AmazonSmile? To shop at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.com from the web browser on your computer or mobile device. You may also want to add a bookmark to smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile. Which products on AmazonSmile are eligible for charitable donations? Tens of millions of products on AmazonSmile are eligible for donations. You will see eligible products marked "Eligible for AmazonSmile donation" on their product detail pages. Recurring Subscribe-and-Save purchases and subscription renewals are not currently eligible.

Can I use my existing account on AmazonSmile? Yes, you use the same account on Amazon.com and AmazonSmile. Your shopping cart, Wish List, wedding or baby registry, and other account settings are also the same.

How do I select a charitable organization to support when shopping on AmazonSmile? On your first visit to AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), select "Overland Trail Middle School PTO" to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. We will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation.

Families, I need your help. Over the course of the first semester, an increasing number of cars are not utilizing the designated drop off/pick up traffic loop. Blue Valley has carefully studied and created a traffic pattern to ensure that students and drivers are safe. While it may be convenient to drop off in the back of the school, along 133rd street, or in the subdivision across the street this actually slows down traffic and puts individuals at greater risk. Please DO NOT drop off, pick up, or park in the rear of the school which is specifically designated for busses, along 133rd street, or in the subdivision across the street from OTMS.

There has also been a significant increase in the number of families dropping off students in the school parking lot rather than curbside using the designated traffic loop. This has created unnecessary safety issues with cars trying to maneuver and turn around in tight spaces in areas where there is heavy pedestrian foot traffic. For morning drop off, you will notice a larger area of the parking lot will now be blocked off to restrict traffic and minimize these safety issues. Should you choose to drop off your student in our parking lot, we ask that you park your vehicle and escort your child through the parking lot and to the crosswalk area. However, I strongly urge you to use the traffic loop if possible.

Finally, when using the traffic loop, please make sure to pull forward as far as possible before merging and make sure that students exit the passenger side of the vehicle only!

Safety of your children is our number one priority. Thank you for helping to improve the traffic flow form drop off and pick up.

While we recognize that students will occasionally be tardy for a variety of reasons, it is important for students to arrive on time and be seated in class when the bell rings. Student tardies disrupt learning and can cause undue stress on the individual.

Also, school dismisses at 2:50. Students not involved in a school activity need to be picked up promptly. Supervision is not available after 3:15, and students should not be at school unsupervised.

OTMS provides great food offerings for lunch. However, some families elect to drop off lunches for their student(s). If you choose to do this, please remember the following:

• A parent must drop off the lunch in person. Be prepared to show ID as part of our buzz-in security system. We will turn away services such Uber Eats or other delivery drivers.
• You may drop off food for your child only. Please do not drop off food items with the intent to share with other students. This can be a safety issue due to food allergies and often leads to hurt feelings if or when students are excluded.
• Please communicate in advance with your child that you are dropping off lunch so that we can avoid having to call students to the office and disrupt the educational process.
• Lunch times are as follows:
• 11:32-11:57: 8th Grade
• 12:01-12:26: 7th Grade
• 12:34-12:59: 6th Grade

Buzz-in Security System Reminder

For the safety of our students and staff, all exterior school doors are locked during the school day. If you need to enter the building, you are required to show a driver’s license or other form of government-issued identification. Exceptions cannot be made for individuals. Please note, if you are simply dropping off a student who is tardy or returning from an appointment, the student can enter the building without you.

It's Play Season Already! :) Please See the Theatre Site to for all information regarding the show

Theatre Calendar Link

Check out the link below to view our new student broadcast group's daily announcements.

Falcon NOW ​

STUCO will meet in room 1 at 7:00 on the following dates:

January 16th

January 30th

February 6th

February 20th

March 27th

April 10th

May 8th

Please welcome Officer Dan Reedy to our OTMS family. Dan was recently hired by the district as our newest campus police officer. Dan and Shayna Palmgren (school resource officer) will alternate between Lakewood Middle and OTMS so that we will now have an SRO/CPO at OTMS on a daily basis.

Dan came to Blue Valley as a Campus Police Officer after 10 years with the Leawood Police Department. He spent 8 years as a patrol officer and 2 years as a warrants and court services officer. He has experience in evidence processing, crisis intervention (CIT), and as a field training officer. Dan looks forward to positively impacting the OTMS community and building positive relationships with students, staff, and families.

Please consider the long-term value of a yearbook! If you haven’t ordered your yearbook yet, there is still time. Don’t miss out on the memories and the fun of yearbook distribution. Order a yearbook today by logging into Parent Vue and completing the purchase online, or you can send a check/cash in the amount of $25.00 to our Bookkeeper, located in the office. Checks need to be made out to Otms.

Make sure your student doesn’t miss out on this opportunity! We are not ordering extra yearbooks and selling them like we have in past years.

Don’t miss out on BVEF’s 8th Annual Battle of the Bands on Jan. 19th, 2019, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Kanza Hall, 7300 W. 119th St. This is a community-wide event for those over 21, featuring four bands made up of Blue Valley parents, teachers, and staff. Attendees enjoy a great night out with music, food and auction items. The audience chooses the winning band and they receive a $250 grant to the Blue Valley school of their choice!

Tickets are ONLY $20 if purchased before the event and include:

• Admission to Kanza Hall
  
• Live performances by four BV parent and staff bands
  
• Appetizers and dessert
  
• An after-party right next door at Local Tap with live band, Perpetual Change
  

KC Chiefs’ Trent and Julie Green are honorary chairs and KC Royals’ Joel Goldberg will emcee. There will be a Kendra Scott Jewelry pull and a silent auction during the event with AMC, concert tickets, Helzberg shopping spree, Royals, Chiefs, Maverick’s packages and more, including gift baskets provided from many BV schools! In addition, you have a chance to win a 2-year lease on a BMW 320iX when you enter to win the raffle!

Funds from this event will be given to support music programs district-wide. Stay tuned to our social media feed for fun and exciting news and updates. Don’t wait! Reservations are $20 per person online, and $25 at the door. Help support our schools and have a great night out!

The link to buy BMW raffle tickets AND to secure BOB reservations is: https://one.bidpal.net/bvbob19/welcome

Hope to see you there!

On Monday, Jan. 7, Blue Valley Schools began conducting a community survey to learn how the community views potential future facility projects. The first phase of the survey will be conducted via phone to randomly selected participants. The second phase will be an online survey. Watch for more information in the coming weeks on how to participate in the online survey.