Principal’s Message
October 11, 2022
Open Enrollment:
The state has changed the deadlines for School Open Enrollment for this year. School Open
Enrollment is the process you need to complete in order for your student to attend a school other
than their designated home school. This process has traditionally started on the first Monday of
December. This year, however, we will begin accepting applications on NOVEMBER 15 at
7:15am.
A few things to remember about School Open Enrollment Applications:
- The application needs to be completed with the most recent report card (first quarter
of this school year) attached to the application, and then it needs to be turned in at the
school you would like to attend (So, current 5th graders will submit their applications
to Olympus Jr, and current 8th graders will submit applications to Olympus High). - Applications need to be submitted each time a student transitions schools. So, our
current 8th graders who live outside the boundaries for Olympus High School will
need to submit an application to the high school. Current 5th graders in our feeder
elementary schools will need to submit an application here. Once an application is
accepted, it is accepted for the duration of years that student has left in the age group
for the school they will be attending. However, the school can deny a previously
accepted permit for cause (attendance, behavior, grades, a change in program needs
that are not available at the school). - Students are admitted on a first come, first served basis based on the availability of
space in the requested program. So, getting an application turned in early is better
than getting one turned in later. The Early Open Enrollment window will run from
November 15-February 3. It is important to get applications turned in during this
window as that is the time frame schools use to determine staffing for the next year.
Applications received after February 3 have no guarantee of being accepted. There is
also no guarantee that having an application turned in during the window will grant
admittance. The school will determine the amount of space available, and, therefore,
the number of applications that can be accepted. It is always better to get an
application turned in early. - While you may submit an application on November 15, the school cannot notify you
of acceptance or denial until the window closes on February 3, so please have
patience with that piece of the process.
I have attached a letter from the district regarding Open Enrollment to this email.
Canvas Messaging:
We have had a few issues with student use of Canvas Messaging this year, so I am passing along
information to you of how you can check-in and monitor what your students are doing with the
tool. Messenger is a tool in Canvas that has the educational purpose of providing students the
ability to collaborate and discuss topics that relate to the Canvas course they are enrolled in. It is
an instant messenger tool that allows students to send and receive messages immediately. In
what should not be a surprise, some students choose to abuse this tool to harass other students or
have inappropriate conversations within their friend groups.
I am talking to teachers about how to make sure we are doing what we can in school to supervise
student use of Chromebooks. The most basic of these steps is to make sure students don’t have
access to Chromebooks unless they are necessary to the day’s instruction; not every class needs
to use Chromebooks/Canvas every day. Teachers also need to be using LanSchool, which is the
tool that allows teachers to see the screens of all the Chromebooks in the class while students are
working. Teachers should also be using proximity (moving around the room) and looking over
student shoulders at what they are working on during class. These are steps that can help monitor
student usage of the Chromebooks, but students are quick with their typing and crafty in how
they go about using the messenger tool, so not all activity can be 100% monitored. When issues
arise, we do, however, have the ability to pull messenger conversations out of Canvas to be
reviewed. Misuse of messenger does constitute a violation of the Computer use Agreement that
all students sign each year, and any abusive behavior like harassment or bullying fall under the
discipline processes established by district policies.
What parents can be aware of to help you check-in with your student’s use of messenger is to
log-in with your student’s Canvas log-in information and read what they’re doing in messenger.
You can see everything they have sent and received in messenger, but you do need to log-in
using your student’s credentials, so it puts you into their Canvas and not your parent Canvas,
which has restrictions as it is a “view only” type of access to Canvas. Currently, there is a delete
button available to students in messenger, so they do have the ability to type, send, then delete a
message. The district is reaching out to Canvas to see if that button can be turned off. That would
put students in a position where what they type and send is viewable down the line by parents or
the school if we have cause to look into the student’s usage of messenger.
When messenger has been used to harass or bully, we don’t worry too much about the delete
button because the receiver of the inappropriate messages screen shots them and shares them
with us. Where the delete button could currently make things difficult is in inappropriate
conversations within friend groups because those kids could delete those messages as needed.
Hopefully, the district will make some headway with getting that feature disabled.
Halloween Stomp:
PTA is hosting a Halloween Stomp after school on October 21. This is a litter earlier than what
would be ideal due to students not having school on October 28. In talking with the PTA, we
have decided that students can wear their costumes to school on October 21 so they can have
them on for the stomp after school. Costumes do need to fit withing the scope of the school’s
dress code, so please make sure that their costumes are appropriate in that regard. We also will
not allow masks to be worn at school, so if your student’s costume includes a mask, please have
them keep it at home so it doesn’t get lost or destroyed at school when they have to take it off.
We are looking forward to the stop and PTA will be providing a piece of pizza, photo stop area,
and a DJ for the kids to enjoy. The stomp will go from 12:40-1:40.
Because we are allowing the students to dress up for school on October 21, we will not be
allowing them to dress up in their costumes on Halloween, October 31. This was a trade-off we
discussed with PTA when planning the stomp, and we decided that being able to be in costume
for the stomp without having to worry about how to get their costumes to school and try to
change into them prior to the stomp was the better option for the kids.
I’d also like to send a pre-emptive thank you to PTA and all the parents who will be involved in
volunteering to make the stomp possible.
Lost and Found:
As we enter cooler weather, we are seeing that our lost and found is growing. A lot of jackets
and hoodies are getting left laying around when students get too warm and take them off. We
would love to get these items back to their owners, but often they go unclaimed and eventually
get donated. You can help us get things back to your students by making sure that jackets and
coats have names in them, and water bottles have names on them. Lunchboxes should all also
have names in them. We do check all items for names when they wind up in the lost and found.
I understand that it’s harder to label hoodies, so if you know your student has a hoodie and you
haven’t seen it in a while, please have them check the lost and found.
Upcoming days off/End of Quarter:
I have heard there is some confusion about the days off that are upcoming. Students have the
following days off from school: October 13, 14, 17, 28.
Please remember that the end of the quarter is October 27. Many teachers will have their
deadlines for late assessments and redoing assessments at least a week before the end of the
quarter. Check with your student to make sure they have planned out and are aware of those
deadlines so they can complete what needs to be taken care of.
Class Fees:
Class fees for electives and other classes will be added to accounts this week. So far, student
accounts have been charged the basic registration fee and the science fee, so please check your
student’s account at the end of this week or early next week for the fees so they can be paid in a
timely manner.
Fees can be paid via the webstore. If you need help resetting your account or accessing it, please
call Ms. Lisa Cannon at 385-646-5224.
Yearbooks:
Remember to pre-order yearbooks now. We will only order yearbooks for those who preorder, so
if you want one, you need to get it now. Pre-order sales will be open until January 31. Remember
that yearbooks are not automatically charged to student accounts, and they are not part of the
general registration fee that is paid at the beginning of the school year.
Facebook Page:
I do maintain a Facebook page for the school that has updates and information on it. Many times,
information will be posted there before I send it home in one of these messages, so I suggest to
everyone to follow our page. If you go to our school website and click on the Facebook link in
the upper right corner, it will take you to the correct page and then you can click “Follow.”
Upcoming Dates:
Oct. 13, 14 Fall Recess, No School
Oct. 17 No school for students
Oct. 19 Soccer vs. Evergreen
Oct. 21 Halloween Stomp (12:40-1:45)
Oct. 24 Soccer vs. Bennion
Oct. 26 Soccer vs. Bonneville
Oct. 26 Fall Concert (Music) (6pm)
Oct. 27 End of 1st Quarter
Oct. 28 Student Non-attendance Day (SNAD)
Oct. 31 Soccer Championship games
Oct. 31 Basketball start day
Nov. 2 Talent Show Try-outs
Nov. 8, 9 Talent Show Rehearsals
Nov. 15 Basketball team selection
Nov. 15 Open Enrollment begins for 2023-2024 School Year
Nov. 16 Steinway Concert (7pm)
Sincerely,
Josh LeRoy
Principal
