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Orange Grove Middle School

Catalina Foothills School District

OGMS Picks of the Week Newsletter - August 15, 2025

Posted Date: 8/16/25 (7:00 PM)

Sunlit orange and leaves on tree

OGMS Picks of the Week

Our newsletter for families and our community

Sunlit orange and leaves hanging on tree
 
If you are visually impaired, and you are using these captions to understand our newsletter, please email me (Mark Rubin-Toles) at mrubintoles@cfsd16.org, so we will know someone actually benefits from them. We want to make them useful.

Screenshot of a calendar, and the text:

Aug 18 - Aug 22
Aug 25 - Aug 29
18
25




19
26




20
27
7:25 AM DROP OFF STUDENTS FOR BEFORE-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
7:30 AM Zeroes Are Preventable (ZAP) - by invitation
7:30 Study Hall
9:00 - 9:25 Teacher Office Hours
9:30 - 2:30 Late Start Wednesday
7:25 AM DROP OFF STUDENTS FOR BEFORE-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
7:30 AM Zeroes Are Preventable (ZAP) - by invitation
7:30 Study Hall
9:00 - 9:25 Teacher Office Hours
9:30 - 2:30 Late Start Wednesday
21
28
7:45 AM 6th-Grade Parent / Guardian Breakfast
8:30 FFO Meeting in the Library and on ZOOM - SPECIAL TOPIC: School Safety at OGMS
6:30 - 8:00 PM National Junior Honor Society Induction (MPR)


22
29


Band Beginning Band Camp - CFHS 
Saturday, Aug 23 11:30 - 4:00PM 
↓
Main Phone Number: 520-209-8200 / Attendance Line: 520-209-8290
Anonymous Tip Line: 520-209-8299 / Fax Number: 520-209-8275

To Plan For

  • Mon, Sept. 1 Labor Day - NO SCHOOL
  • Wed, Sept. 3 Full Day - NO Late Start 
  • Thur, Sept. 18 - FFO Meeting 8:30 AM/ 7th-Grade Family Breakfast
  • Fri, Sept. 19 - Picture Day - Retakes Inter-State Studio
  • Sat, Sept. 20 - Choir 8th-Grade Diamondback Field Trip
Donate Items
 
Color photo of continental breakfast

6th-Grade Families, Join us for the 6th-Grade Family Breakfast, Thursday 7:45 AM

When: 7:45 AM, Thurs, Aug 21
Where: OGMS Library
Who: 6th-Grade Parents & Guardians
What: Meet our administrators, school counselors, and other families, learn tricks and tips of the care and feeding of your new middle schooler.

EVERYONE, Come to Our First FFO meeting, Thursday 8:30 AM

When: 8:30 AM, Thurs, Aug 21
Where: OGMS Library - and Zoom
Who: All families and staff are invited
What: Get a principal's update, help make decisions about grants and other funding for our teachers and students, learn about ways you can be involved

Special Topic: School Safety
Learn about the measures we take as a district, a school, and a community to make Orange Grove as safe as possible.
Yellow school / caution sign with the text "Keeping Schools Safe"
 
Bright red dial-up phone

Parent Messages To Students Needed Before 1:30 PM

Messages to students end at 1:30 PM.

Please plan with your student in the morning. For emergencies, we will assist.

  • Contact options: Students can always visit the front office to call or text. Lunch is a great time for that.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Teacher Office Hours are Wed 9:00 - 9:25 AM

All of our teachers are available every late-start Wednesday from 9:00 to 9:25 AM.

Students can walk in without an appointment to meet with a teacher. They can:
  • get feedback on a project
  • ask teachers to explain scores or test results
  • get help on a tricky concept
  • clarify misunderstandings
 

Leave Early to Avoid Construction Delays

Please see this alert from the Pima County Department of Transportation:

Pima County, Ariz. (Aug 8) – On Monday, August 11, through Friday, August 22, from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., Pima County Department of Transportation and its contractor, Sunland Asphalt & Construction, LLC, will be performing road work as part of Pima County’s Road Pavement Repair and Preservation Program at the following locations:

  • Ina Road from Pima Canyon Drive to Oracle Road
  • Orange Grove Road from Skyline Drive to Oracle Road
  • River Road from approximately 1000 feet east and west of Hillcrest Drive
  • Snyder Road from Valle to Kolb Road
  • Catalina Highway from Houghton Road to Mount Lemmon Short Road
  • Territory Drive from Kolb Road to Grey Mountain Trail

The work will consist of setting traffic control and crack sealing. Additional surface treatments to follow after the curing period.

Due to the work area limitations, turn movements within the project limits may be restricted. Delays and lane closures may also occur. Please approach the area with caution, obey all traffic control devices and allow for extra travel time.
In the event of mechanical failure or inclement weather, the construction schedule is subject to change.

If you need additional information or language assistance, please contact Pima County at 520-724-6410. Para información en español, comuníquese con Melissa Cancio al 520-724-6410.

For more information, please contact:
Community Engagement Division
Pima County Department of Transportation
Office: (520) 724-6410
 

CFSD Notice of Core and Supplemental Materials/ Resources for Preview.

The governing board considers the adoption of core and supplemental materials/resources at a board meeting following a 60-day preview. The materials are available for public review from August 13 to October 12, 2025.
View Materials Online
 

Flyers for Our Community

Open Flyers
Screenshot of a flyer.
Screenshot of OGMS calendar for the year.
Open Flyers
Screenshot of a flyer.
Screenshot of a flyer
 
Open Flyers
Screnshot of Roadrunners Cross Country Track / Field Team flyer
Screenshot of flyer.
Open Flyers
 
The CFSD Core and Supplemental Resource Preview List can be viewed at this link:


Governing Board Members
Amy Krauss, President

Eileen Jackson, Vice President
 
Jacquelyn Davoli, Board Member

Tom Logue, Board Member

Gina Mehmert, Board Member
 
Dr. Denise Bartlett, Superintendent


State of Arizona Legislative Representatives for CFSD
(please check www.azleg.gov for contact information)
 
Legislative District 18
Representative Nancy Gutierrez
Representative Chris Mathis
Senator Priya Sundareshan
 

"Pics" of the Week

Snapshots of life and learning at OGMS

Learning How to Speak Math

Students confronted with math problems may know how to do the work, but falter when expressing concepts verbally. Working in groups at whiteboards, with each group member required to take a turn with the marker, students are asked how to tell if two trapezoids are congruent. Research indicates this method helps students engage in math, even if it isn't their best, or favorite, subject. Students in Ms. Wilson's class were engaged in rigorous, lively discussions about reflections, translations, dilations, and congruency.
Math teacher Ms. Wilson observes as students write on a white board, comparing two trapezoids.
Instructions for math students are projected on an electronic board.
Students write on a white board while learning about congruent figures.
Students at a white board learn how to talk about math.
Students at a white board learn how to tell the relationship between figures, including congruent trapezoids.
 

The Tools of Chemistry

Measuring is a skill many people use in their everyday lives, and is critical for young scientists. Ms. Helen Snow's students were challenged to learn how to use graduated cylinders to precisely measure the volume of liquids. They proudly showed off their finished product, in perfect ROYGBIV order with alternating volumes.
Girls work on measuring and recording data in science class.
Two students show off the results of measurement activities involving graduated cylinders.
Ms. Snow consults with students as they work.
Two students learn to carefully measure using graduated cylinders in Ms. Helen Snow's class.
Students work on  a science activity in science class.
A boy in Ms. Helen Snow's science class learns how to use graduated cylinders to make accurate measurements.
 

Investigations In Mama Snow's Room

Students experimented with a variety of materials in Mama Snow's class.
Three girls learn about safety procedures and saving data in science class.
Students in Ms. Helen Snow's room .....
Students learn about safety procedures and recording data in Ms. Snow's class.
Two boys kneel as they record data in science class. A girl sits at a table recording data.
Boys learn about safety and recording data in Ms. Snow's science class.
Students in science class learn about safety procedures and recording data.
Girls learn about safety procedures and record data in Ms. Snow's science class.
 

The Art of the Chart

How best to express data? Various formats are available, and choosing which is best is an important part of communications. Science teacher Mr. Merrill gave students sample data tables and instructions on how to make various chart with Google Sheets. Line, bar and pie charts were among the options.
Students creates charts on laptops, using various formats to express data.
Girls learn how best to express data using various formats available in Google Sheets.
Science teacher Mr. Merrill offers guidance to students learning how to make various types of charts on computers.
 

Getting the Most out of Colored Pencils

Students in Ms. Mosley's art class practice various colored-pencil techniques for their portfolio drawings. Layering, stippling and hatching are among the ways to add depth, enhance a mood or indicate shadows. Each new skill builds on the last as artworks become more sophisticated.
Students learn in Ms. Mosley's art class.
Students sketch in art teacher Ms. Mosely's room.
Students sketch in art teacher Ms. Mosely's class.
 

Learning in Another Key

Capturing music in written form becomes a brain-building exercise as students learn to read and write musical notation. How long should this note last? What are the different types of notes? How do you indicate the key of a piece of music? Students in Ms. Antista's choir class sketch on whiteboards to show their newfound prowess reading music.
Chorus teacher Ms. Antista instructs students as they use white boards to learn how a written score relates to a passage of music.
Students sketch musical notation on whiteboards in a classroom.
 

Community Circle in the MPR

Ample indoor spaces give PE teachers options when the heat is on. Here, Mr. Schrimpf leads his Advisory class in a Community Circle, exploring questions to build class belonging: "Who is the most honest person you know?" (Most common answers: mom/dad/sibling) "What would you do if you found $20 in the laundry?" (Most common answer: give it to my parents - unless it was my sibling's)
Students sit in a circle as PE teacher Mr. Shrimpf instructs.
 

The FFO Comes Through Again!

Spanish teacher Mr. Tomkins clearly appreciates the sweet and savory delights of eegee's, provided by our wonderful FFO. Sublime subs pair well with the frosty, fruity slush that has been freezing Tucson brains for decades. Thank you, FFO!
Mr. Tomkins looks like he can't wait to dig in.