One School is finally back, and they have kicked it off in true OS style as they held their annual BooHoo Breakfast for parents of incoming Kindergarten scholars. The cafe team was ready with treats, celebratory clappers, and tissues. The upcoming freshmen participated in their annual bioluminescence kayak trip. The 6th graders had their Rising to Success event which gave the 6th graders a look at the middle school as they bonded with their new classmates. One of the other traditions for middle and high school is to be inducted into a Character House, which is a house system where middle and high schoolers are placed in a house for team building and character development.
As the new seniors rolled in with bittersweet last-first-day feelings, a few showed their enthusiasm by wearing fun backpacks. “I saw the trend on Instagram and I texted our group chat with my friends and asked if anyone else wanted to do it; now it seems to be trending around school,” said Chloe Romaniello, 12th grade. This is a trend that first started on social media and has now spread to thousands of schools across America. The senior class adopted this trend with many wearing fun backpacks for their first day.
Although the campus may look much the same, there were some changes for scholars. One of the biggest changes was with the phones; after much research about phone addiction, this year OS introduced phone pouches that were put into scholar’s lockers at the beginning of the year. The new policy requires scholars to put their phones into the pouch at the beginning of the day, and they are only allowed to take them out with a teacher’s permission. These pouches block signals to help scholars focus on learning while on campus.
“I know some people who are pretty upset about it, but I don’t think it’s too bad honestly,” said Marcus Munro, 11th Grade. This has been a conversation among One School teachers and admins throughout the last couple of years, and with the recent studies showing the brain damage caused by phone usage, One School has agreed on a change to benefit the scholars.
Another change is the switch from Schoology to MyOS, which is a BlackBaud operating system, that has combined the previously used Alma and Schoology used to do as two separate websites into one singular website. On MyOS you can access your classes, grades, and assignments like you could do with Schoology. You can also access your schedule, medical information, and contact information, etc, like you could do with Alma. Carline has also got an update to an online app called PikMyKid. This app is used as a way to contact parents for emergency messages and to track scholars leaving via carline and other afterschool activities.
So, although there are changes across campus, it is still the OS family and the excitement was clear as teachers and staff welcomed back families for the 2024-25 school year.
