Family Update: October 26, 2025

Last Monday the whole school visited Bridgewater State University, where each grade engaged in a different STEAM-focused lab experience. 5th graders learned about the power of wind and the importance of renewable energy, and were able to test the stability of their own LEGO structures in a wind tunnel. 6th graders continued learning about sustainability as they discovered how water runoff in a parking lot can carry harmful pollutants, and ways to design a more sustainable parking lot. 7th graders took on the role of medical lab scientists to solve the "Mystery of the Crooked Cell" by recording patient symptoms, studying their family history, and testing "blood" samples for genetic markers to lead to a diagnosis. Finally, 8th graders participated in a cybersecurity lab and learned about internet safety and ways to protect their online data from scams, viruses, and phishing. A helpful takeaway from this lab is the difference between a passcode (usually 4 or 6 digits) and a passphrase (like a password), where a well-constructed passphrase is much more secure to keep hackers out.

If you want more of this fantastic programming, consider joining Open Lab Night on Nov. 5th at BSU 5-8pm! It is a free community event open to all ages, featuring hands-on STEM activities led by BSU faculty, staff and students. All children must be accompanied by an adult at all times and advance registration is required. Walk-ins will not be permitted. Visit their website to learn more and to register, and see the flier below in this Family Update.

This week 6th graders visited Round the Bend - a working farm in action. They explored a Wampanoag wigwam, learned about the farm’s produce and animal husbandry practices, had a chance to do service by helping plant garlic, and in their study of sustainable practices they explored tiny homes and learned how compostable toilets work.

Grades 6–8 collaborated with the Women’s Foundation of Massachusetts to design the inaugural Economic Empowerment Award honoring Ami Kuan Danoff, a leader in philanthropy, finance, and advocacy for women and girls. Each student created an original design that represented empowerment, confidence, and leadership. The Women’s Foundation team reviewed all submissions and selected a collaboration between two students as the final design. Working closely with Ms. Pupillo, the students brought their vision to life through 3D printing, creating a modern, meaningful award. The project culminated at the Make Her Mark event—a celebration of education and the power of all-girls learning environments—where the students proudly presented the award to Ami in front of more than 400 guests.

Thank you to the 25+ parents, guardians, and staff who joined us for an evening of connection, collaboration, and learning at the Last Tuesday’s Family Workshop — Boosting Your Child’s Awesomeness! Together, we explored strategies to strengthen students’ executive functioning skills and support their growth both at school and at home. We’re excited to continue building our partnership through upcoming family learning opportunities:

 Required Family Meeting: Collaborative Strategies for Student Success
Wednesday, November 12 | 5:30–6:30 PM | OSS

 Helping Your Student Soar Academically
Tuesday, December 2 | 6:00–7:30 PM | OSS

Also, here is a link to a positive NYT article about Instagram planning to increase content restrictions to help keep teens safer in this digital age.

Follow our regularly updated CALENDAR to see all events.

Calendar Highlights:

Spirit Day on Wednesday. Theme: 1 solid color

Friday Oct 31, End of 1st Quarter

Summer Program Planning Event Nov 3, 5:15-6:15pm

We hope your weekend was beautiful,

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team

Family Update: October 19, 2025

Our Fall Festival felt like a true Family Festival! It was a joyful celebration at the height of autumn’s color—filled with games, apple snacks, cotton candy, crafts, and time spent with friends, parents, grandparents, and younger siblings.

On Wednesday, OSS staff traveled to Gillette Stadium and joined 2,000 educators at MassCUE, the Massachusetts Computer-Using-Educators Conference. Our day was packed full of learning. We continued our exploration of instructional technology and further explored AI tools and considerations. It was valuable professional development and memorable staff bonding!

7th & 8th Graders in Community Partnerships

Our 7th and 8th graders have been hard at work in their community partnerships—providing valuable service, building workforce skills, and exploring a variety of career paths alongside their community mentors. These experiences help students connect classroom learning to the real world while making a positive impact in New Bedford. We’re proud of their dedication and growth.

Follow our regularly updated CALENDAR to see all events.

Calendar Highlights:

Monday Oct 20: all day - all school field trip to Bridgewater State. Pizza lunch provided for all students, but everyone should bring a water bottle and a warm layer!

Tuesday Oct 21: Family Workshop: Boosting Your Child’s Awesomeness, 6-7:30pm. Explore simple, effective tips for helping your student grow in both academics and personal independence.  

Wednesday Oct 22: 6th grade field trip to Round the Bend. Pack a lunch!

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Did you say summer?!!! Oh YES WE DID! Monday November 3rd, 5:15-6:15pm we are offering a Summer Program ‘26 Event. Mark your calendars now and stay tuned for details.

See you Monday morning,

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team

Family Update: October 10, 2025

We’re so grateful for our generous families! Thanks to you, we had enough cookies, donuts, brownies, and treats this week for not one but two lunchtime parties—it felt like Halloween came early! The fun continued as more than 50 students and family members gathered to carve pumpkins at the Rotch-Jones-Duff House, and we’re looking forward to keeping the celebration going this Thursday during our Fall Festival in our Outdoor Classroom. And, as the temperatures drop, please be sure students come to school dressed for the season.

Our new Habits of a Learner Tool has launched, and families even did homework, reading and reviewing the new document with their OSS students! We truly appreciate the reflections, comments, and even creative questions—from parents, grandparents, and yes, even family pets! The main goal of this assignment was to share this important tool, and continue strengthening our home–school partnership.

This Habits of a Learner document will now be used consistently across all classes each quarter. It gives students regular opportunities to reflect on their learning, advocate for themselves, and hone their learning habits. As in past years, this work will contribute to their class Habits grade—but now, every teacher is using the same tool to increase clarity, consistency, and impact.

We’re so grateful for your support as we work together to help students “learn how to learn” and grow their independence and confidence. Questions? Please reach out to Mrs. Eugenio.

Above, you can see the invitation (which is also in your Friday Folder) - to join hands-on workshops to strengthen our partnership, gain practical tools to support your child’s learning and independence, and help every student thrive both academically and personally.

Boosting Your Child’s Awesomeness: Tuesday, Oct. 21, 6-7:30PM

Explore simple, effective tips for helping your student grow in both academics and personal independence. This workshop will provide families with practical ways to encourage confidence, responsibility, and success. Families that attend earn 2 service credits. 

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Collaborative Strategies for Student Success: Mandatory Family Meeting

Students thrive when families and schools work together, and this workshop will include introductions to platform basics (Gradelink and Google Classroom), and include practical strategies and hands-on ways we can partner to support every student’s growth. Families who attend earn 1 service credit.

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Helping Your Student Soar Academically: Tuesday, Dec. 2, 6-7:30PM

Gain tools and strategies to support your child’s learning journey. This workshop will give families helpful tips to boost academic success and help students thrive in school. Families that attend earn 2 service credits.

Follow our regularly updated CALENDAR to see all events.

Every day at OSS we get to enjoy a good book! Reading daily helps us strive for excellence. When we read, we practice stamina and persevere through challenging text. We can also experience how an author communicates clearly. We can have empathy for characters in our stories, learn to value our own identities or even all ideas. As we know, reading allows us to explore so many different worlds, and as we do, we can exercise so many of our Community Core Tools.

Calendar Highlights:

No school Monday in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day

No school Wednesday ~ Staff Professional Development Day

Fall Festival is Thursday October 16th, 4:15-5:30pm and we look forward to fun with everyone. We’ve already received more than 100 RSVPs!

Admissions Presentation Saturday October 18th at 10am

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Did you say summer?!!! Oh YES WE DID! Monday November 3rd, 5:15-6:15pm we are offering a Summer Program ‘26 Event. Mark your calendars now and stay tuned for details.

We hope you will consider the OSS Core Values and Community Core Tools illustrated above. We work hard to embrace them while at school, and know that when they are also reinforced at home, it helps us all grow more powerfully together.

Have a peaceful three day weekend. See you Tuesday.

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team

Family Update: October 3, 2025

This week, 5th grade started Austin's Butterfly projects. This is a classic and widely referenced educational example developed by Ron Berger of EL Education (formerly Expeditionary Learning). It’s not just a drawing project, but a powerful lesson in the importance of models, critique, and descriptive feedback (kind, specific, helpful) to drive student work toward excellence. Stay tuned for the student work currently in progress!

An ode is a lyrical poem in the form of an address to a particular subject, and each year our 6th graders write and recite a personal ode. The event was as energizing as ever, and this year was quite metropolitan - with topics including Brazil, Boston and Newbury Street! Thank you to all the families who attended, and to those who donated snacks. The students all did a super job, were loud and proud, and extremely supportive of one another. 

Also on a literary theme, Bingo with a Twist brought the fun— this month focused on “Book Bingo.” It was a celebration of cool book facts, and there were bookmarks for everyone in celebration of National Book Month. What will our “Bingo with a Twist” theme be next month?!

The Secondary School Fair was so well attended, with 26 of our 7th and 8th graders participating. More than 30 schools were present, and we gathered essential information about high school options as we kicked off the annual process of secondary school placement. It is a super exciting topic and we are truly grateful to Ms. Sanders for doing a spectacular job of keeping us supported and on track through the many steps along the way!

Karlee '26 and T’Asia ‘24 at the school fair. T’Asia was representing Providence Country Day, her high school.

Follow our regularly updated CALENDAR to see all events.

Calendar Highlights:

Our Family Service Saturday is tomorrow from 10-12. Sign up here. Tasks will include garden work, cleaning the building, moving furniture, prepping materials for staff, and more!

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Thursday October 9th is our all school birthday party to celebrate September and October babies. Reminders are in Friday Folders.

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Fall Festival is Thursday October 16th, 4:15-5:30pm and we hope you’ll join. Sign up slips are also in Friday Folders this week.

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Did you say summer?!!! Oh YES WE DID! Monday November 3rd, 5:15-6:15pm we are offering a Summer Program ‘26 Event. Mark your calendars now and stay tuned for details.

This week our resources section is dedicated to Digital Literacy and Well Being. What is that?!…

Common Sense Education offers free resources that “ready students for the possibilities—and pitfalls—of today's always-on world, from AI literacy to cyberbullying, screen time, and more.” We will touch on the topic in upcoming family workshops; this is a valuable preview and a resource to get us going!

Please check out the digital literacy and well being resources, and enjoy this gorgeous fall weekend.

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team

Family Update: September 28, 2025

This past Saturday, more than half of our OSS students spent their Saturday showing what happens when young women step up, step in, and support one another. From 9AM–2PM, 35 OSS students participated in the STEM4Girls Conference, with 22 of our 7th and 8th graders presenting on stage! They educated local girls about the blue economy, sharing powerful facts about the ocean and its future. Even our very own robot, Sparks, made a special appearance.

But our students didn’t stop there—they also led a hands-on workshop where they helped participants design public service announcements about the blue economy. Together, they modeled collaboration, leadership, and the confidence that comes from “taking space and making waves.”

We are so proud of our students for shining as leaders and for lifting up other young women in our community!

Community Partnerships began last week and 7th and 8th grade students were enthusiastic to get into the community and lend a helping hand. All 7th and 8th graders are signed up for a partnership for Cycle 1, which is really exciting! We hope you asked your student how their 1st day went.

Regarding Back to School Night, we had 56 families in attendance, and heard from 20 with really useful feedback. In addition to hearing that it was time really well spent, we also learned that we might have kept the students on campus rather than having them go back and forth after dismissal. We agree, and will try to make that change for next year. Your insight really helps us a lot, so thank you for taking the time to join us, and to offer your thoughts.

And below you can enjoy photos of a 5th grade task party …

Follow our regularly updated CALENDAR to see all events.

Calendar Highlights:

Our first Family Service Day is on October 4th from 10am to 12pm. Sign up here if you want to get some service credits completed. Tasks will include garden work, cleaning the building, moving furniture, prepping materials for staff, and more!

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Secondary School Fair: Sep. 30th, 5:30-7:30 pm

*OSS is co-hosting the Secondary School Fair this fall in partnership with Alma del Mar and Nativity Prep. This year’s fair will take place at Alma del Mar’s Frederick Douglass Campus. All 7th and 8th-grade students and their families are encouraged to attend. You will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from both public and independent schools.

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Did you say summer?!!! Oh YES WE DID!

Of all the summer programs we partner with, Chimney Corners has the earliest timing for scholarship applications and sign ups.  Crazy but true, now is when camps begin enrollment for summer ‘26, and now is when you can most reliably score full scholarships so, now is the right time to get planning.  This is why on Monday November 3rd, 5:15-6:15pm we are offering a Summer Program ‘26 Event. Mark your calendars now and stay tuned for details.

THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES described below. We hope you will consider them heartily, and sign up! We are calling special attention to the 2nd Annual SouthCoast Youth Climate Summit, hosted on Saturday, November 15 from 10am-4pm at Buttonwood Park Zoo.

Youth ages 13-18 from across the SouthCoast are invited to join and engage in climate change workshops, hear from guest speakers, and gain advocacy skills. Register here: Youth Climate Summit Registration

See you bright and early in the morning,

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team

Family Update: September 19th, 2025

Fall season clubs began today and include gardening, sewing, photography, swimming at the YMCA, and biking at Youth Opportunities Unlimited. Community Partnerships (internships for 7th and 8th graders) begin next Friday, 9/26. Keep a look out for the Community Partnership permission slip in Friday Folders; these slips cover the entire year. Please follow up with Mrs. Eugenio or Mrs. McSweeny with questions or concerns. We are excited to share that all 7th and 8th graders are in a partnership this quarter!

Follow our regularly updated CALENDAR to see all events.

IMPORTANT HEADS UP:

We would like to remind families again to be mindful of the messaging app Discord. Commonsense Media gives the following summary for Discord:

Discord requires users to be at least 13 years old, though many countries require users to be older (e.g., Germany requires users to be 16+), and parents should also consider their child's maturity for a safe experience. Some app stores may also assign higher age ratings, such as the Apple App Store's 17+ rating for Discord, which reflects the platform's potential for mature content and the importance of age-appropriate settings.  

Age-restricted content: Be aware that some servers are marked as Not Safe For Work (NSFW) and require users to be over 18 to access.

Key Calendar Details

This Saturday we are busy hosting an OSS Admissions Presentation at10am. Please spread the word!

Also this Saturday, 8th graders can come to school for SSAT practice testing, 9-noon. Later in the afternoon we welcome 9th graders for a reunion luncheon. Yum!

If pizza is on you mind tomorrow, you could join World Cleanup Day beach cleanup at Ft. Phoenix in Fairhaven. Saturday 9/20, 9am- 12pm. Pizza & giveaway at noon!

Back to School Night: Sep. 24th, 5:30-6:30pm

Our next Required Family Meeting is also our Back-to-School Night. This is a great opportunity to meet your student’s teachers and other staff members who support their learning experiences. We encourage students to attend as well! 

Ms. Sanders will meet with all 8th-grade families to discuss high school plans from 5:45-6:15pm in the Outdoor Classroom. She will then meet with all 7th-grade families from 6:15-6:30pm in the Outdoor Classroom.

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Secondary School Fair: Sep. 30th, 5:30-7:30 pm

*OSS is co-hosting the Secondary School Fair this fall in partnership with Alma del Mar and Nativity Prep. This year’s fair will take place at Alma del Mar’s Frederick Douglass Campus. All 7th and 8th-grade students and their families are encouraged to attend. You will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from both public and independent schools.

THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES described below. We hope you will consider them heartily, and sign up!

Join us for pumpkin carving if you can! Fliers in Friday Folders to sign up.

Dream Out Loud is a wonderful community program currently recruiting students for their FREE Fall Creative Careers Program for middle and high school youth who are interested in songwriting, digital music production, creative writing, digital art and graphic design. Classes start on October 7, 2025 and are held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3:00pm - 5:00pm, and 6:00pm - 8:00pm through December 4th.  Dream Out Loud is located at the Kilburn Mill, 127 West Rodney French Blvd in New Bedford.

Every Tuesday this fall and winter. FREE, fun, and hosted by the Zeiterion. All you have to do is sign up!

Enjoy this glorious weekend,

Ms. Herman and the OSS Team