Good afternoon Owen families! This message should be reaching all rising 9th, 10th, 11th, and
12th graders at Owen High and also to all staff, both licensed and non-licensed. If you are
receiving this message in error, please call 686-3852 and provide your number to have it
removed from the system. Again, 686-3852 if you are receiving these messages by mistake. If
you miss part of the recording, these messages are posted each week to our Facebook page
and to our website under the Parent tab.
This is a big week for Owen High. Teachers and staff will be gathering tomorrow morning for
our kick-off meeting in the Media Center at 8am. All students report to school on
Wednesday morning, August 19, 2013. School begins at 8am - please be on time. We will
have newly printed schedules for all students that morning.
We have updated and posted our student handbook to the website. You can find it on the
main page under shortcuts or under the Parent tab. We will have some printed copies
available in the front office for those who would like one. I ask that all families take time to
review the handbook together. It has important information about student responsibilities.
All new students and ninth graders, along with at least one parent, are reminded of your
orientation from 10:00-12 noon on Tuesday this week. Our student government officers have
planned a very informative session so we encourage you to attend.
I want everyone to be aware of two areas we will need to exercise patience and
understanding.
First, every school in the State of NC is in the process of converting from NC Wise to
PowerSchool. Student schedules, grades, transcripts, attendance, and much more is stored in
this student information management system. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that all
information transferred without error. Please be aware this could cause delays in producing
certain student records and could create scheduling glitches. We have worked very hard to
minimize these issues but wanted to call this to your attention. Also as a result of the
conversion to PowerSchool, we will no longer be using Engrade. All teachers will be posting
student grades and attendance in PowerSchool. We will provide log in information to students
and parents soon.
Potential aggravation issue number 2 is the new Smart Lunch schedule. Please check out the
information posted on our website about Smart Lunch. I anticipate it will take a few weeks to
work out the unanticipated issues with this new schedule. The biggest change will be
between 11 and 12 o'clock each day. Students will need to be patient while we all sort out the
new flow in the cafeteria. Don't worry, you will not all be in the cafeteria at the same time but
students will be allowed to come anytime during that hour. When not in the cafeteria, students
will be allowed to be in a number of specific locations based on their interests and academic
progress. Smart Lunch will create some delays in locating students for dismissal. Families are
encouraged to plan ahead when they anticipate needing to sign a student out between 11 and
12. The most helpful thing you can do is write a note for your child regarding dismissal for
doctor’s appointments, etc. We will no longer offer second chance breakfast as a part of this
change. Students should bring their own snacks or purchase them in the cafeteria before
school.
There is good news for students on cell phone usage. Because of good results at the end of
last year, all students will be allowed to use phones during the Smart Lunch hour for the first
six weeks. Hopefully, this will aid families in communicating during that hour, particularly if
there are changes in a student’s afternoon pickup/activity plan.
We are seeking to increase parent involvement again at Owen this year. There are many
ways parents can be involved: volunteering in an office; assisting in the media center; helping
with tutoring; assisting teachers; joining our PTSO, Advisory Council or School Improvement
Team. If you are interested in volunteering, please call our office.
That is all for today. I am looking forward to seeing you all very soon.