Olympia South

Third grade got ready for St. Patrick's Day by creating the longest 🌈 possible using pipe cleaners, straws and Froot Loops. Unfortunately, no pots of gold were found!

Join National Honor Society on Sunday from 1-3 PM for the Bunny Bop at Olympia Middle School!

How much time does your student spend on screens? Join us for this hot topic on screen time next Tuesday, March 19th.

This is a tax swap, which means the tax rate will remain the same at $5.50 if the referendum passes or fails. If the questions fail, the district won’t be able to use funds in the most efficient way. The tax rate will be the same because the district will need to take out new working cash bonds and continue to use variable rate funds to cover operating expenses. Learn more about the March 19 referendum at www.olympia.org/referendum #MaintainRetainInnovate #TaxSwap #VoteMarch19

We practiced kindness throughout February and today we celebrated those students who go above and beyond in the kindness department. Keep it up Spartans! We are proud of you. Click the link to watch our parade of champions: https://bit.ly/4c6lZyq

Spartan Nation is so thankful for our School Social Workers - this week and every other week during the school year. The support they provide to our students and staff is amazing!

For those who could not attend our Virtual Information Session on February 29, you can view the meeting in full by visiting: https://www.youtube.com/live/w3a-92joeFY?si=g3qC8BcHQ2SaAMKb #MaintainRetainInnovate #TaxSwap #VoteMarch19

Both IEPs and 504 plans support students with learning challenges, but how are they different? What plan is right for my student? Join us for a 30-minute message and learn how these plans might support your student. Register today! https://t.e2ma.net/click/mjrzli/6iwimkp/6u1eg3

National Honor Society is hosting an Easter Egg hunt for district children on Sunday, March 17 from 1-3 pm. There will be games, crafts, face painting and a bouncy house. Take photos and dance with the Easter bunny!! There are two egg hunts. Ages 2-4 will take place at 1:30 pm. Ages 5-8 will take place at 2:15 pm. Come celebrate spring with us! $5 per child You can reserve a spot with this link: https://payments.efundsforscho... Tickets will also be sold at the door.

We hope you had as much fun as we did at Camp Read A-Lot! From camp crafts to fishing to s'mores and reading around a "campfire", we loved seeing you all. Enjoy your books and don't forget to keep reading, campers!

Our brains are great at using past experiences to make quick decisions on the fly, but these shortcuts can also lead to bias. "Confirmation bias" is our brain's tendency to seek out information that confirms things we already think we know. Help your students learn to recognize this when they encounter news online, as a way to examine competing opinions and ideas and to avoid drawing questionable conclusions.

Mrs. Jennings (OWE 4th Grade) and Mr. Keith (Bus Driver) were the recipients of the last Fresh Cookie Friday celebration. Congratulations to these two staff members!

Family Tip Sheet: bit.ly/OlyNMFR2 Wikipedia.org is where millions of people stop first for information. Tools like it are what make the internet so valuable. But they also teach an important lesson, one you can start teaching your kids now: don’t believe everything you read.

Check out this list of trustworthy resources to help you learn what's true (and what is not!) on the web. You can even use one of them to look back in time and what was on a website in the past!

Show your children how you get news and information from different places, and explain how you make your choices. Use words like "credible," "trustworthy," "respected," and "fair." Ask them where they get their information, and if they think about those same words when choosing. As kids get older, introduce the ideas of bias, satire, and clickbait. Is generative AI, like ChatGPT, a trustworthy site for news and information?

If a picture's worth a thousand words, do the words always tell a true story? One way to find out is through a reverse image search. Search with an image instead of a keyword and see what you discover!

Play around with ideas, deciding which are facts and which are opinions. Ask: How tall are you? What's the best food in the world? Do you like dogs? Point out that both facts and opinions show up in the news, but opinion is usually labeled.

Be A Deceptive Detective! If you want to know if someone is trying to trick you with a headline, think through a few of these five questions each time you read a shocking story. Don't let them pull the wool over your eyes Spartans!

Video: bit.ly/OlyNMV1 Family Activity: Decoding Images. bit.ly/OlyNMFR1 Kids find and read news in lots of different ways. But studies show they're not very good at interpreting what they see. How can we help them get better? Teaching your children about the structure of online news articles is an important place to start.

The Olympia Board of Education approved naming the OHMS baseball field the 'Ron Smith Field'. The District is working with OPBA to plan a dedication on OPBA Day - April 6th. Thank you Coach for the positive impact you have had on so many student athletes!