Dear Families and Students,

I hope everyone had a wonderful start to December! In this week's edition we are proud to showcase so many of our OSHS students and teachers working hard and demonstrating what it means to set goals to earn academic and athletic SUCCESS. Read on to learn about these amazing Orcas!

I'd like to offer our congratulations to the OSS High School Science Olympiad team on last Saturday's OSS Science Olympiad Invitational competition. Thank you to all of the many students, families and teachers who organized this event and made it happen.

Congratulations also to our November Student's of the Month, these students were nominated by their teachers for always going above and beyond and showing ORCAS character.

In the spirit of giving this holiday season, OSHS is proud to partner with our RobotSakers robotics team for both OPERATION GRATITUDE & TOYS FOR TOYS. Operation Gratitude allows us to give back to our military service members by donating supplies for care packages. Toys for Tots is a great way to give gifts to those less fortunate children in our community. Please consider supporting these causes this holiday season and see the flyers below for details.

Our annual holiday donations links are still open. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to help us show our teachers and staff members how much we appreciate them by donating gift cards or by making monetary donations so that we can purchase gift cards for them. We are also accepting donations for the PVO sponsored Holiday Staff Breakfast, all information may be found below.

We are pleased to announce that Middle School Basketball Tryouts are tentatively scheduled for January 8th and 9th 2019. Be sure to review the information below on what is needed in order to try out!

One final note, please see the traffic pattern change in this week's newsletter at the Lynx Lane Campus. Due to construction Lynx Lane will have a traffic pattern change at the intersection with John Young Pkwy beginning Monday, December 10th.

I wish you a safe and wonderful weekend!

Respectfully,

Abdulaziz Yalcin, M.Ed

Principal

Orlando Science Schools-Middle/High

Congratulations to Orlando Science High School’s Kevin R. getting accepted DUKE UNIVERSITY with a full ride scholarship. Here is a video of the moment that we learned his acceptance. It was a great start to the college admissions season. More to come! This acceptance was a fruit of a hard work of the whole Orca Family for so many years! Thank you all who was involved in his education so far! Go Orcas!

Congratulations to our November Students of the Month!

These students have proven to have O.R.C.A.S. character!

O (Outreach towards Community)

R (Respect and Compassion for All)

C (Celebrate Diversity)

A (Advocate for a Safe Learning Environment)

S (Strive for excellence)

8th grade: Andrew F.

9th grade: Jose C.

10th grade: David V.

11th grade: Haydn H.

12th grade: Tiffany P.

Congratulations to our High School Science Olympiad Team for another outstanding performance. They received first-place at the invitational tournament held at the OSS Lynx campus on December 1st. We hosted the event and seven high schools from the state of Florida attended. There were 17 teams competing as most schools brought multiple teams. Local teams were Cypress Creek High School, Deland High School and Olympia High School. Rounding out the rest of the state were Cardinal Gibbons High School from Miami, FAU High School from Boca Raton, River City Science Academy from Jacksonville and Tampa Prep from you guessed it…Tampa. OSS had 3 teams who received 1st place in 13 events, 2nd place in 11 events and 3rd place in 6 events.

Special Thanks to all coaches – Mr and Mrs. Demir, Mr. Abakay and Mr. Ulgut.

Several of our students, teachers and parents supported the event as well. We could not have done it without them. Good Luck to our Science Olympiad teams in their quest for the State Championship.

These student athletes have shown the ability to balance their school studies with their athletic responsibilities. Congratulations to all of you in your success on and off the field!

This past weekend OSHS 8th grader Kaitlyn O. and her softball teammates, the Gold Coast Hurricanes Dakota team, competed in the Florida USA Softball State 14U Championship in Naples against 20 of the top teams in Florida. They went undefeated in 7 games to win the State Championship! Not only are they now Florida USA Softball State Champs, but their win also qualifies them to play in the USA Softball National Championships against some of the best teams from all over the country next summer in Sacramento California! Well done Kaitlyn! Congratulations to your team for your hard work and ultimate win!

Orlando Science High School Fencing team members, Kristian O. and Alex Y., participated at ACN Atlanta Foil : RYC & RJCC in Atlanta last weekend. It was the second regional event for OSHS.

Alex Yim recorded 2 pool wins and 1 elimination win to advance to round of 16 getting 14th place in Cadet Men's competition and 3 pool wins and 1 elimination win to advance to round of 16 getting 12th place in Junior Men's competition. With this result he will be qualified to compete at the Summer National Championship in Columbus, OH next year in both Cadet and Junior division.

It was the first time for Kristian to participate in this tough regional tournament. He didn't record any wins but he fenced well in his elimination round.

Congratulations to these students on their hard work!

Attention OSS families: Please note that the Lynx campus will be under a traffic pattern change due to construction beginning Monday, December 10th. The changes will occur in 3 stages and construction is expected to last for no more than 7 days. During this time, EAST and WEST bound Lynx Lane roads will change when entering and exiting onto John Young Parkway. Please follow all traffic signs and traffic cones.

You can also consider entering and exiting Lynx Lane from Princeton Street during this time. See the maps below for details. Drive safely!

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As the holidays are approaching, it is time to prepare our annual gift bags for our Orlando Science Middle High teachers and staff members!

Help us show our teachers and staff members how much we appreciate them by donating gift cards or by making a monetary donation so that we can purchase gift cards for them. Popular gift cards are Target, Barnes & Noble, Publix and Amazon.

Gift card donations may be dropped off at the front desk and monetary donations may be provided using the SCHOOLPAY link below. Donations of $5, $10, $15 and $20 are best.

As always, we are thankful for your support and wish you a Happy Holiday Season!

Dear OSS High School PVO Members,

As the holidays approach we would like to host a 7:00 am holiday breakfast for our teachers and staff! Below you will find a list of items we will need to make our breakfast a great success; we are also in need of a couple of volunteers to organize set up and breakdown. Items can be dropped off to the front desk and nonfood items dropped off before. We encourage bringing your baked items in disposable containers. Please make sure you label any container to be returned to you (including serving utensils) and pick up at the end of the day. If you have any questions please contact our PVO at OSS.PVO@orlandoscience.org . Thank you for all that you do!

The Orlando Science Schools will be holding their Annual Holiday Concerts on Tuesday, December 11th, 2018 at the Orlando Repertory Theatre.

The Elementary/Beginning Band Concert will be at 6:00 PM and the Middle/High Concert Band will be at 7:15 PM. Tickets are $3.00 per person, either through the SCHOOLPAY link below until December 9th or at the door. All proceed will benefit the OSES music program. Come out and join us for a night of Yuletide merriment!

Students in 6-8th grades at OSS (Lynx and Tech campuses), middle school basketball tryouts are coming up! We will be offering a co-ed basketball team for the 2018-2019 season.

Students who wish to try out must have a completed sports physical packet. The sports packets are new this year and must be signed off by: 1. parent/guardian 2. your Dr. 3. the AD (Mrs. Mulligan) and 4. Admin prior to tryouts.

Packets are now available at the Lynx and Technology Buildings(B2 and B3) as well as below.

Tryouts will be held tentatively January 8th and 9th at the Lynx campus. Students are responsible for transportation to Lynx campus and attending BOTH days of tryouts.

Please note- OSS will not offer transportation at any point during the season for practices and/or games.

For any questions, email Mrs. Mulligan.

Our School System has recently updated our accounts on LinkedIn would love for you to join our network! Please see below for links to the official LinkedIn Company Pages for each of our campuses and feel free to share with current families and alumni.

• Orlando Science Schools (K-12): https://www.linkedin.com/company/orlando-science-schools/
  
• Osceola Science Charter School (K-8): https://www.linkedin.com/company/osceola-science-charter-school/
  
• Seminole Science Charter School (K-8): https://www.linkedin.com/company/seminole-science-charter-school/

FAFSA is the Federal Student Aid program. Every single college applicant needs to complete FAFSA regardless of their income. This application is free and completed through only one website. Do not pay to anyone or any website for completion of FAFSA. This should take no more than 45 minutes to complete if you have everything ready to go. FAFSA is time sensitive. The funds are distributed as first come first serve.

State of Florida has its own scholarship program called Bright Futures and it is managed through OSFA (Office of Student Financial Assistance). When you complete the application, you are also being evaluated for other scholarships through State of Florida. It is a very short application and should not take more than 15 minutes. Most important thing to know is that, you only complete the form and your transcript and SAT/ACT scores will be submitted automatically through OSS and the State of Florida University System. You are not required to satisfy all the application requirements until the end of the school year to apply to this scholarship. On the other hand, being qualified currently does not guarantee that you will receive this scholarship. If your end of year GPA falls under the requirement, then you will not be receiving the scholarship. Here are the current requirements:

Senior yearbook ads are now available!

Purchase an advertisement for your senior today. Include pictures and a short message for your student before they graduate. After payment is made be sure to email your pictures and your message to Ms. Lizarazo to make sure the correct information is placed in the yearbook.

Full page ad:

https://www.schoolpay.com/pay/for/FULL-PAGE-Senior-Yearbook--Advertisement-/IdDLy

1/2 page ad:

https://www.schoolpay.com/pay/for/HALF-PAGE-Senior-Yearbook--Advertisement-/IdDLx

Due date is March 29, 2019

Congratulations to Osceola Science Charter School on their move to a new campus! The K-8 school is relocating to a brand-new facility on the border of Osceola and Orange counties for the 2019-2020 school year. The new, 70,000-square-foot campus features STEM and science labs, a media center, music classroom, performing arts lab, regular classrooms, a playground, basketball court, and football field.

Parents, please help spread the word among your community that Osceola Science Charter School (OSCS) is now accepting applications for Grades K-6 for the 2019-2020 school year. Details, including the Online Application and Open House dates, can be found on the school’s website: www.osceolascience.org.

Congratulations again to OSCS and the growth of our Orlando Science School family!

The Orlando Science High School on Technology Drive opened its doors to a newly renovated campus in August 2018. One of the great features of the High School campus is the brand new Media Center. It serves as a space where all students can read, research and study. Please consider making a donation directly to the Media Center to help Mrs. Singleton stock the shelves and create a welcoming environment for our students.

As always the Amazon Wishlist link below contains the most current requests from our staff and students. Thank you to the Akin and Mallonee families for your generous contribution!

This is an easy way to help raise money for Orlando Science Schools. Use the link below when shopping from Amazon. AmazonSmile donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Orlando Science Schools via Discovery Education Services, Inc. whenever you shop on AmazonSmile.

Office Depot provides the school with 5% back in credits for FREE supplies when you make a purchase of qualifying school supplies. Simply provide the school ID at checkout.

OSES School Code: 70228302

OSS School Code: 70218341

Hello OSS Families! Please remember that BOX TOPS are a wonderful FREE way to raise funds for our school. Each Box Top is worth $.10 and they really add up. Please make sure to continuously send these in so that I can mail them before their expiration dates. The monies received go to supporting our academic and sport teams, the PLTW (Project Lead the Way) along with many other OSS programs and classroom needs. If you would like to learn more about the Box Tops program go to www.btfe.com. Please register or login today. Make sure that you designate Orlando Science Schools as your school support.

To see a complete list of products go to: https://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/participating-products

Also, it is very important to check those expiration dates. We do not receive any credit for expired Box Tops.

Thank you so much for your support of Orlando Science Middle High School. For questions or thoughts please email me at jmallonee@cfl.rr.com.

Happy Clipping!

Denise Mallonee

Dear Orlando Science Lynx Lane and Technology High School Families,

It is time to join the Parent Volunteer Organization (PVO). Membership is $25 per family for returning families and $30 for new families, your membership dues go directly back into the school to provide items and supplies for our teachers. We are also asking that PVO members work with specific committees (School Improvement, Fundraising, Volunteer Work, Teacher Appreciation, Events, Etc.) Please utilize the SCHOOL PAY link below to pay your dues.

If you have questions, comments, or requests, you may email OSS.PVO@orlandoscience.org . A formal PVO committee, including president and vice-president, will be announced at the end of the first quarter of the 2018-2019 School Year. PVO will hold bi-monthly meetings that will inform parents of progress, agendas, and upcoming events.

Thank you for all of your help and support as we look forward to a great year.

OSS Connect is your one stop for student grades, assignments and resources. Students use their credentials to log in and there you can access a wealth of information.

If you are an ADDitions approved volunteer, OSHS can use your help! We are looking for parents or responsible adults over the age of 18 to help during lunch times (approximately 11am-1pm) and during car line before and after school. Please contact Ms. Foley to schedule the exact time slots. All volunteers must complete the ADDitions application is here: https://ocps.samaritan.com/custom/503/ beforehand. Thank you for all you do to help make OSHS great!

If you have a student with any medical conditions such as asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetes or any other serious medical conditions, please contact Mrs. Foley via email ASAP for the paperwork that is needed for the 2018-2019 school year.

Orcas who walk or take the LYNX Transportation bus service must have a "Walker/Bus Rider" form on file. Return completed forms to Ms. Foley.

Orcas interested in dressing down for their birthday MUST submit a "Dress Down Day" form(found below) to Mrs. Foley at least two business days prior to the requested dress down date.

Technology Drive High School Orcas Families please make sure to review the Dress Code with your students. Dress Code may be found on page 29 in the OSS Handbook HS 2018-2019 below.

Families whose Free/Reduced lunch applications have expired, please take a moment and fill out the OCPS Free/Reduced Meal Application today! It must be completed each year to qualify for this federally funded program. To fill out the application click the link below.

Email: info@orlandoscience.org
Website: www.orlandoscience.org
Location: 2600 Technology Drive, Orlando, FL, USA
Phone: (407)299-6595
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orlandoscience/
Twitter: @OrlandoSciMH