Our high school Spanish classes took their learning into the kitchen as students made elotes — Mexican-style street corn!
Students got to experience a taste of Mexican culture while practicing their Spanish and working together to prepare a delicious snack. Experiences like this help bring language and culture to life beyond the classroom!
Students in grades 5-12 are invited to join Ski and Snowboard Club this winter at Labrador Mountain. Lessons are included for the first four weeks, transportation is provided, and helmets are required for all student participants.
• Club meets on Thursdays starting January 7th, 2027
• Location: Labrador Mountain
• Sign-up Deadline: November 15th, 2026 (late sign-ups add 15%)
|| Parents and younger siblings in grades 3-4 may also participate through the school group program (please see information and expectation sheet).
For pricing, expectations, and the permission slip, please visit: https://www.ovcs.org/page/ski-club
For any questions, please contact Mrs. Meade at lmeade@ovcs.org
|| FAFSA & Financial Aid Night
FAFSA & Financial Aid Night will be held at SUNY Morrisville on October 21st! This is a great opportunity for families to receive assistance with FAFSA and learn more about the financial aid process. Please let Ms. Macrino know if you are interested!
Our first Morning Program of the school year was a great success! Our students enjoyed the opportunity to come together, and our faculty members did an excellent job modeling the expectations and providing examples for students to follow. By seeing the program in action, students now have a better understanding of what to do when they have the opportunity to take on a leadership role and lead the Morning Program themselves.
We also kicked off a fun new attendance challenge introduced by Mrs. Richards—featuring none other than Mr. Potato Head! Our goal is simple: celebrate great attendance while reminding our students that every day at school matters. Each elementary classroom has its own Mr. Potato Head to track weekly attendance. When a class meets its attendance goal, they will earn a new piece to add to their potato. Once their Mr. Potato Head is complete, the students will enjoy a special reward that they helped choose together!
But that’s not all—we’re working toward a whole-school goal, too! Our elementary goal is to have 10 or fewer total student absences each week. Each week we reach that goal, we’ll add another piece to our schoolwide Mr. Potato Head. Once our whole-school potato is complete, the adults will plan a special surprise celebration for the entire elementary school!
Remember our first Morning Program with parents and families in attendance will be October 16th. We can’t wait to see you then!
The OV Modified Boys and Girls Soccer teams took the field this week for their first games of the season! We’re excited to see our student-athletes back in action and representing OV with pride.
Lunch isn’t just about great food — it’s also a chance to get together, have some fun, and enjoy time with friends!
|| First Grade Picnic Reward
First grade has been working hard on small behavior goals to earn a picnic lunch. Yesterday they met the final goal needed for their class picnic. Students voted and selected a class picnic for their reward back at the start of the school year. I have attached a few photos from the event.
Our Morning Program will run most Fridays from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. in the MPR, and the community is invited to join us starting Friday, Oct. 16.
During Morning Program, students receive OV Stars awards for modeling character traits and OV GRIT awards for great effort. We also host our OV's Got Talent (OVGT) portion gives our elementary students the stage to share whatever they've been working on.
#OVPRIDE
Our eighth grade cooking class is off to a great start. Our young chefs made stuffed peppers, and Thursday they whipped up a pasta dish with homemade tomato sauce!
Great job Vikings!
#OVPRIDE
|| Reminder: Picture Day Tomorrow!!!
Photos will be taken in the MPR first thing in the morning.
7:45 a.m. — BOCES students
8:00 a.m. — Senior class photo
After those two, classes will be called down to the MPR one at a time.
Boys and girls modified soccer photos will also be taken that morning — athletes, be ready.
Order forms and payment are due that day. Please send them in with your student — we can't process orders after photos are finished.
This year, OV is excited to transition to the DCMO BOCES Food Service Program, a program utilized by many component districts throughout our region.
Our students and staff have been all smiles while enjoying the new breakfast and lunch menu options. A big thank you to our food service staff for working through the transition and helping make this new program a success!
|| September Newsletter
A few things coming up at OV this fall.
Mark your calendars:
Thursday, Oct. 8 — Early dismissal drill
Friday, Oct. 9 — No school, staff development day
Monday, Oct. 12 — No school, Columbus Day
Friday, Oct. 30 — PK-5 Halloween parade and parties
Our elementary school is using a superhero theme for PBIS this year, built around those three expectations. You'll hear the same language in every classroom and hallway — that consistency is what makes it stick. Families can help by using the same three words at home and encouraging independence and self-control.
Our attendance goal is 95%. Each school day builds on the one before it, so a missed day isn't one missed lesson — it opens a gap that gets harder to close over time. Thank you for getting your Vikings here.
Watch for updates to Morning Program this year, and check out the newsletter for more information!
#OVPRIDE
Students and parents/guardians in Grades 6–12 — make sure you are connected to Schoology!
Schoology gives you an easy way to stay up to date with what is happening in each class, including:
✅ Current grades
📝 Assignments and due dates
Parents/guardians can use Schoology to help stay informed about their student’s progress, while students can use it to keep track of their assignments and grades.
If you haven't connected yet, now is a great time to get set up!
|| A Few Questions to Ask Your Fourth Grader
Our fourth graders spent this week exploring the world with maps and globes.
Here are a few questions your 4th grader should be able to answer:
What is the coldest ocean?
Which continent has the largest rainforest?
Where does a large population of penguins live?
What ocean is closest to us?
#OVPRIDE
Photos will be taken in the MPR first thing in the morning.
7:45 a.m. — BOCES students
8:00 a.m. — Senior class photo
After those two, classes will be called down to the MPR one at a time.
Boys and girls modified soccer photos will also be taken that morning — athletes, be ready.
Order forms and payment are due that day. Please send them in with your student — we can't process orders after photos are finished.
Our own Mrs. Catalina "Katy" Charles has been named School Librarian of the Year by the New York Library Association. This is a statewide honor, and one that recognizes something genuinely unusual about how our library works.
The Otselic Valley Public Library sits inside our school building. Mrs. Charles serves as library manager alongside library clerk Amy Guernsey, and the doors are open to students and the wider community alike: books, computers and internet access, technology help, programs for every age, and local history and genealogy resources.
"I have always believed that a library is so much more than a room filled with books," Mrs. Charles said in her acceptance remarks. "It is a place where students can discover who they are, explore new ideas, create, take risks, ask questions, and know that they belong. I'm especially proud that our library has grown beyond the walls of the school to serve our entire community."
Since district voters approved the public library in May 2023, Otselic Valley families have had access to nearly 500,000 volumes through the Four County Library System, plus ebooks and audiobooks on Libby.
Mrs. Charles will be celebrated at NYLA's Inaugural Reception during the Annual Conference in Saratoga Springs on Friday, Nov. 6.
Please join us as we congratulate Mrs. Charles!
#OVPRIDE
|| OV’s Isabella Neal named SFCU Student Ambassador
Otselic Valley Junior Isabella Neal has stepped into a new role this year as a student ambassador for Sidney Federal Credit Union, helping introduce the credit union to the OV community and connecting classmates with financial resources.
"I thought it would be fun to get involved with an outside thing that could help our community," she said. "Getting involved with SFCU allows us to get more involved with banking.”
She said SFCU attended OV CSD’s Open House, and plans to get more involved with the district to help with financial planning and education.
The partnership arrives as New York State begins phasing in new personal finance instruction for students in grades K–12 this school year.
When asked about the future of the SFCU partnership, Neal said she hopes the program keeps growing, and that it eventually reaches the district's youngest students. Neal plans to continue as ambassador next year, and will help select the student who takes over the role after she graduates.
CHENTAC, the Chenango Threat Advisory Committee, will be hosting two local presentations for parents, guardians, and community members. The presentations will be facilitated by the FBI and New York State Police and will focus on the hidden digital dangers facing youth today, including the potential risks and threats associated with their online activity.
The presentations will be held on October 6 at the Norwich High School Auditorium and October 15 at the Bainbridge-Guilford High School Auditorium. We encourage parents, guardians, and community members to attend and learn more about how we can help keep our students safe in an increasingly digital world.
Otselic Valley Central School is now looking to hire Winter and Spring Coaches. If you’re passionate about education, athletics, and students, we’d love to hear from you!
We currently have openings for:
- Girls Varsity Basketball
- Boys Varsity Baseball
- Girls Varsity Softball
- Boys Modified Baseball
- Girls Modified Softball
All interested can contact the District Office at 315-653-7218 or email Mrs. Burpee at GBurpee@ovcs.org
