Olympus Junior High School - Back to School Information 2023-24

Back to School Information 2023-24

2023-2024 School Year

Please visit our website for the most up-to-date information: olympus.eurekausd.org . You can also subscribe to our Olympus Events Calendar by clicking this link.

Office Opens	Wednesday, August 7, 7:45 am – 3:45 pm
First Day of School	Wednesday, August 16 - The first bell rings at 8:20 am!
2023-24 School Calendar	The latest Board-Approved calendar for 2023-24 is found here
New Start Time for Grades 7-8	Due to the passage of Senate Bill 328 - which requires the school day for middle schools to begin no earlier than 8:00 a.m. - the first bell at Olympus will ring at 8:20 am with instruction starting at 8:25 am. Students are expected to be in classrooms by 8:25 am. Entrance gates will be locked at that time and all late arrivals must check in at the office front desk.
Annual Student Information Update	The Annual Student Information Update online form is now available to you within your PowerSchool Parent Portal. This process ensures we have the most up-to-date information for your student - including emergency contacts and updated medical information. Completion of this form is required every year and is mandatory. Your student(s) 2023/24 schedules or teacher assignments may be withheld if not submitted. If you haven’t done so already, please complete it as soon as possible!
Immunizations	All students will only be allowed to start school in August if they have provided the appropriate documentation for Tdap, Varicella (chicken pox), and/or any additional required school immunizations. This is in compliance with California state law. Please refer to ShotsforSchool’s website for additional information: https://www.shotsforschool.org/ The office will be open beginning August 7th, and the office staff will be prepared to receive your child’s paperwork.
Orientation Events	We're looking forward to seeing everyone for our Orientation events. We have different programs for our Parents, 7th-grade students, and new 8th-grade students.
7th Grade Student WEB Orientation Tuesday, August 15, 8 am – 12 pm.	Orientation for all 7th Graders (students only!) will take place on Tuesday, August 15th in the Gym from 8:00 am – 12:00 pm. The orientation is a way to help make the transition from elementary school to junior high school a positive one. A select group of 8th graders - our WEB Leaders - will be serving as mentors to the 7th graders. Large and small group activities are designed to address students’ needs and concerns in a fun, engaging way. Students should wear comfortable clothes and leave backpacks and/or purses at home. You can expect a phone call from a WEB Leader a few days before Orientation reminding you about this awesome event.
New 8th Grade Student Orientation Tuesday, August 15, 12 pm	While our WEB Orientation is geared to incoming 7th-grade students, we recognize there will be many new 8th-grade students joining our family this year! We welcome all new 8th grade students to meet our WEB Leaders on the outdoor stage on Tuesday, August 15 at 12 pm so we can help you feel at home on campus. Plan to be at Olympus at noon on August 15 with your schedule so we can help welcome you to the Spartan Family!
Parent Orientation Tuesday, August 15, 8 am – 12 pm.	All Parents, you are welcome to stop by the Multi-Purpose Room on Tuesday, August 15 to handle the “business stuff” to get ready for the school year. PE clothes will be available to pick up. Please pre-order your PE clothes for a quick visit. Our student store can be found at https://olympus.myschoolcentral.com/(S(rfefwklnkrol0eyzbaw1gvhg))/Index.aspx You will need to create an account to purchase. Please complete these steps before coming to orientation. We are selling our retired design Spirit Shirts for $5! You can pre-order these on the school store and pick them up at orientation. New spirit shirts will be coming soon. Schedules will be available here as well! Stop by anytime between 8am and 12pm. We are generally the busiest right at 8am and it slows down as the day goes on. This event relies heavily on parent volunteers to welcome parents to the Spartan Family. Please consider volunteering to help! Here is our Sign-Up Genius Link!
Olympus PTC Pledge Drive- Donate NOW!	Our PTC provides both financial and volunteer support to help provide enriching activities and events to our students: W.E.B., Academic Awards, Student of the Week/Month, Rallies, and Promotion Celebrations. Join the team of caregivers and parents who put in the work behind-the-scenes to ensure a thriving and caring community at Olympus. The Olympus PTC is dedicated to students! We support their academic and personal success through collaborating with teachers, students, administrators and the Olympus community in order to create meaningful experiences for Spartans. We also believe in supporting the educators who teach our students every day. Our “1st RAITT” Olympus PTC embodies: Respect, Admiration, Inclusivity, Transparency, and supporting Teachers and staff. Use the link to go directly to the Olympus PTC Square site to donate today. Any families that donate at least $100 will receive a free ticket for their student to attend the NEON Dance - our first dance of the school year! It is both the financial support and volunteer efforts of our families that help ensure we can do all of the “extras” that we have come to expect from Olympus. Our PTC is committed to ensuring that every dollar donated is used to support students this school year! If your company participates in any matching donation program, be sure to let them know you’ve donated to the Olympus PTC. A list of known company matching programs can be found on the Olympus PTC Website. A simple way to donate to Olympus PTC with your everyday shopping on smile.Amazon.com. Just add the Olympus Junior High Parent Teacher Club as you log in and it will stay in your profile automatically donating 0.5% of all eligible purchases back to our PTC. It's THAT easy! Shop NOW
Possible Costs for Orientation	The following are some of the costs for items at Orientation: PE Clothes - $25 Spirit Shirt (retired design)- $5 PTC Donation - $75 or more Being a Spartan – PRICELESS!
P.E. Clothes	P.E. clothes will be for sale at Orientation. Shirts and shorts are $12.50 each or both for $25.00. If you cannot attend Orientation, PE clothes can be purchased in the office after school starts. If you wish to provide your own PE clothes, the uniform MUST BE a grey shirt with green shorts (no pockets please!).
Schedules	During orientation, student schedules will be distributed. Parents and students must go through the orientation stations before picking up a schedule. If you are unable to attend orientation, schedules will be available on PowerSchool after 4 PM on Tuesday, August 15, and hard copies in the MP room starting at 8:00 a.m. on the first day of school. The schedules will have the room numbers along with the Google Classroom codes.
Bell Schedules	Bell Schedules for the 2023-24 School Year are posted to the Olympus Website
School Supplies	We know that shopping for school supplies can be an exciting time to prepare for the school year. We are not expecting our students to have all of their supplies by the first day of school. Since students in Jr. High will have different schedules with different classes and teachers, there is no “standard” grade-level supply list. We recommend you wait until after the first few days of school to know specifically what your teachers require for their classes. You can have some of the basics (pencils, pens, and paper) for the first day of school.
Lockers	One skill that ALL of our students will need to master is the use of a combination lock. Students will have 3 lockers assigned to them - a book locker, a small PE locker, and a large PE locker - all with different combinations! We want to encourage you to find and practice opening a combination lock over the summer. Book locker combinations will be assigned on printed schedules handed out at Orientation and the first day of school. PE locker assignments will be made during PE classes before students start dressing for PE.
District-Issued Chromebooks	All students that attended a EUSD school last year should still be in possession of a district-owned Chromebook and charger for their use at school and at home for academic work. New students will have a Chromebook checked out to them in the first few days of school. More information about EUSD’s Chromebook program can be found here.
Back to School Night, Wednesday, August 23	Back to School Night for Jr. High is scheduled for Wednesday, August 23. Presentation by Mrs. Sutton and Mr. Thompson 5:30 – 6:00 PM. Class Rotations 6:00 – 7:30 PM
Events/ Information	Every week our office will send out a weekly message called The Olympus Update!. This will provide school information such as athletic events, special activities, minimum days, holidays, and meetings, as well as provide critical information about what is happening at school. These are brief, but packed with information and serve in lieu of paper copies of information being sent home! We encourage parents to go to our new website olympus.eurekausd.org click on “Olympus Updates” under the Parents tab. You can also subscribe to our Olympus Events Calendar by clicking this link.
Fall Sports Tryouts	Tryouts and practice for Flag Football, Cross Country, and Girl’s Volleyball will be held at the start of the school year. Please visit the “Sports Zone” section of the Olympus website for more detailed information: http://olympus.eurekausd.org/Sports-Zone/ A completed Athletic Packet must be completed before a student may attend practice or tryouts. Please know that we request a Voluntary Athletic Contribution of $150 for each sport.
Policies
Attendance	ATTENDANCE HOTLINE: 786-6006 or http://olympus.eurekausd.org/About/Attendance/ If your child is ill, please call and leave a message. PLEASE STATE YOUR STUDENT’S NAME, REASON FOR ABSENCE, DATE, YOUR NAME, AND YOUR PHONE NUMBER. The attendance secretary will listen to the messages each day. The District is only paid for students in their seats. We encourage parents to plan their trips and vacations around school hours. We do provide Independent Study Contracts for vacations (5 days or more from school) – please obtain these from the main office a minimum of 5 days in advance to leaving.
Dress Code	Olympus JHS’s Dress Code supports the school as a place of educational business and is intended to provide equitable educational access for all students. It has been thoughtfully written in a manner that does not reinforce stereotypes and does not reinforce or increase marginalization or oppression of any group. The student dress code supports our goal of inspiring students to learn while leaving primary decisions around student clothing and style to students and their parent(s)/guardian(s). Olympus’s expectation is that parents and guardians are responsible for ensuring student compliance with the school’s dress code, and students are responsible for knowing the student dress code and for complying during school hours and school activities. To ensure effective and equitable enforcement of this dress code, school staff shall enforce the dress code consistently and in a manner that does not reinforce or increase marginalization or oppression of any group. Staff (teachers and administration) used student feedback as well as researched options to support an updated Dress Code policy.
Cell Phones on Campus	Our policy is “away for the day”. During instructional time (8:20 am - 2:55 pm) no student is allowed to use their phone on campus. Phones should be turned off and put away until the end of the school day. If a student needs to contact home during the school day, they may make the call to their family from the office. Teachers require students to leave their turned off cell phone on the teacher’s desk as their “hall pass” to use the restroom during the school day. This ensures a safe environment where cameras are not allowed in the restrooms.
Homework	Homework assignments will be posted to Google Classroom sites by the teacher. Students will subscribe to the calendars in the first few days of school. Students can always check assignments by logging in to their school Google account and checking their calendar.
PowerSchool	Parents and students may check grades online through PowerSchool: https://eureka.powerschool.com/public/ We encourage parents to set up weekly automated emails to continuously monitor their student’s progress. We recommend you check the boxes for “Summary of Current Grades and Attendance” and “Detail Report Showing Assignment Scores for Each Class”. Teachers usually update scores weekly, so we recommend you set the emails to arrive either “weekly” or “every 2 weeks”.
Dropping Off Items for Students	Mornings can be hectic and it is not uncommon for students to forget items. To help our students learn responsibility, we must offer them opportunities to be responsible and learn from their choices, decisions, and actions. If you have to bring an item to school that your student forgot at home, please place the item on the table near the front office with their name on it. We make every effort to limit the number or classroom disruptions - we will not send call slips to students for items that have been forgotten. Please remind your student to check the front table near the office for items that you drop off for them.
Medication at School	By State Law, no child is allowed to take medication, including over the counter, at school without a form signed by the doctor and the parent. Please do not send any medication with your child in his/her backpack. This law is to protect all students and your cooperation is appreciated. Download and complete the Medication Authorization Form
Check Out Procedures	If students must leave school at any time for any reason, the parent or guardian must come into the office and request to have the student released from class. It is recommended that the parent or guardian arrive a little early to allow time for the student to finish any tests or assignments they are working on. When it is time to leave school, parents must complete the sign-out sheet in the office. We cannot call a student out of class until the parent is in the office. Upon return, the parent and student must sign in at the office. PLEASE TRY TO SCHEDULE APPOINTMENTS AFTER 2:55 P.M. If someone other than the parent is picking up the student, we must hear from the parent either by phone or by note.
Transportation	As a reminder, the Board has placed priority on providing the safest form of transportation for our students. If you would like to take advantage of district bus transportation, you must submit your completed application and payment to the Transportation Department. You may find all application information on our website at. https://www.eurekausd.org/Departments/Transportation/index.html If you have questions concerning bus passes or routes, please call 916-774-1231.