From the Desk of Katrina Baughman, Otsego Elementary School Principal:

Otsego Elementary School is a great place to be! I can not express enough how thankful I am for our dedicated staff, caring students, and active parents.   Otsego is truly a family, and I am grateful to be a part of it!  We have a lot of new and exciting things going on this year to build on our already amazing school!

We are excited to be using a new English Language Arts Curriculum in grades K-5 .  We have adopted Open Court as our new curriculum.  It is aligned with Science of Reading practices and approved through the State of Ohio.  Here is a quick summary of the program:  "Grounded in decades of literacy research and a proven history of efficacy in the classroom, SRA Open Court Reading has been building strong readers, writers, and thinkers for more than 60 years.  Underpinned by findings from learning theory and cognitive science—also known as the Science of Reading—and proven to achieve reading gains in a diverse range of readers from beginning to fluent, Open Court Reading is research-validated as well as research-based. A carefully crafted instructional plan and a purposeful progression of skills empower teachers and help make research actionable. By recognizing foundational skills as critical building blocks, Open Court Reading prepares students for a lifetime of literacy and learning.

This year we will continue the new math program, Bridges, that we implemented last year.  We are excited to continue using the hands-on, inquiry-based exploration of math in all domains.  This program focuses on problem-solving and skill building and is composed of three distinct but integrated components:  Problems & Investigations, Work Places, and Number Corner.

OES is also excited to continue PBIS. As a district, we officially rolled PBIS out during the 2017-2018 school year.  PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, and it is a framework for schools to provide consistent expectations across the building, common language the students understand, and instruction on how students are expected to behave. We are looking forward to continue improving our policies, procedures and routines to fully align with PBIS.

Our continued success is dependent upon communication. I welcome your input. Feel free to email [email protected] or call 419-823-4381 option 4 at any time you think I can be of assistance. I send a weekly update during the school year. Please contact me if you do not receive the elementary update on Fridays throughout the school year and would like to be added to the distribution list.

I am looking forward to another great year at OES!

Katrina Baughman

Principal