Oglethorpe County Middle School
“Excellence for every student, every day!”
Announced Intruder Drill Scheduled for September 17th
Dear Oglethorpe County Schools Families,
The safety and security of our students and staff remain our highest priority. As part of our commitment to maintaining safe learning environments, Oglethorpe County Schools will conduct an announced Intruder Drill on Thursday, September 17, 2026. This drill is required by Georgia law and allows students and staff to practice the procedures that would be used in the event of a school security emergency.
The drills will occur at the following times:
• OCHS: 8:10 a.m.
• OCMS: 9:00 a.m.
• OCES: 9:50 a.m.
Prior to the drill, school staff will review procedures with students in an age-appropriate manner. During the drill, students may hear either an announcement over the intercom or the Centegix alert system indicating that an intruder drill is in progress. Students and staff will then follow established safety procedures, including securing classrooms and remaining in designated safe areas until the drill concludes.
The Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office and local EMS personnel will be present to assist and observe as we conduct the drills. Their partnership helps ensure that our schools continue to follow best practices in school safety and emergency preparedness.
The drills are expected to last approximately 10 to 15 minutes. During this time, visitors will not be permitted to enter school buildings, and student checkouts will be temporarily suspended. Normal school operations will resume immediately following the completion of each drill.
We recognize that safety drills can create anxiety for some students, particularly younger children. We encourage families to talk with their children beforehand and remind them that these drills are like fire drills or severe weather drills. Practicing safety procedures helps ensure that students and staff know how to respond calmly and appropriately if an emergency ever occurs.
Thank you for your continued support as we work together to provide safe and secure learning environments for all students and staff. If you have questions about the intruder drill procedures, please contact your child's school principal.
Sincerely,
Dr. Phillip Powell
Superintendent
Oglethorpe County Schools
Mrs. Higginbotham’s classes sampled a variety of short stories as they explored the elements that make a story come to life! They’ve been taking a closer look at characters, setting, conflict, theme, and especially the plot map.
After “tasting” several stories, students will choose the one they connect with most and use it to show what they know about plot and story elements.
Students in Mrs. Wilburn's Social Studies classes learned about Patriot Day through children's books, small groups activities, and class discussions. They made connections between the significance of 9/11 and how we can use kindness in our daily lives to recognize courage, unity, service, and remembrance.
Congratulations to our 8th Grade Math Team, whose dedication resulted in fewer than 10% of their students scoring at the Beginning Level on the Georgia Milestones Math assessment. This outstanding team also achieved second place in our RESA district for High Growth. We are incredibly proud of our students' accomplishments and grateful for the hard work of the teachers who guided them.
Look what they cooked up! 👏 Our 8th Grade Food, Nutrition & Wellness students started with a fun Career Tasting — and it turned into full-blown career research projects! Each student researched a career in food, nutrition, or wellness and then presented it to their classmates. We are SO proud of their creativity, hard work, and confidence! Check out our amazing presenters and their projects in action! 🍎🥗👩🍳
Congratulations to our first three #caughtbeingpresent winners!
These students were selected in a drawing for having perfect attendance so far this school year and earned a sweet treat to celebrate their commitment to showing up everyday.
We are proud of these Patriots for making attendance a priority.
Be Present. Be Proud. Be a Patriot Every Day.
As we kick off Attendance Awareness Month, we're celebrating the power of showing up!
Every day a student is present at school is an opportunity to learn, grow, build relationships, and create memories. Regular attendance helps students stay connected, confident, and on track for success—both now and in the future.
This month, we'll be sharing attendance tips, facts, student spotlights, and ways families can support strong attendance habits at home, as well as celebrating and encouraging good attendance at school.
Together, let's make every day count!
Be Present. Be Proud. Be a Patriot every day.
This week, students in Mrs. Blackwell’s Science class explored the effect that mass and height have on kinetic and potential energy.
Exciting news for our Oglethorpe County Middle & High School students! 🎉
Frazil Slushies are available during lunch for only $2! 💙
💵 Payment requirements: Students must have money available on their account OR have cash/check in hand at the time of purchase.
🚫 No charges are allowed.
Come grab a cold, refreshing Frazil for just $2! 🥤❄️
Frazil Slushies are available during lunch for only $2! 💙
💵 Payment requirements: Students must have money available on their account OR have cash/check in hand at the time of purchase.
🚫 No charges are allowed.
Come grab a cold, refreshing Frazil for just $2! 🥤❄️
🍕🍔🍱It's never too early to start thinking about lunch!
September menus are here! Take a look and see what's being served in our cafeterias next week.
And don't forget- ALL students eat FREE!
💙 Patriot of the Month: Tim Hayes! 🚌⭐
Help us congratulate Tim Hayes, one of our amazing bus drivers and our August Patriot of the Month!
Tim was nominated for the incredible care, patience, and kindness he shows one of our self-contained students. He goes far beyond simply getting students safely to and from school—he makes sure she is ready for the day, greets her with a smile, helps her when she needs extra support, and even fixes her hair when needed. ❤️
This year brought a big transition as she moved from elementary school to middle school. Having Mr. Tim there each morning to welcome her, encourage her, and help her feel safe and comfortable made that transition a little easier.
One nominator shared that “his caring presence helped make what could have been a difficult transition feel much more comfortable.”
That is what Patriot Pride is all about.
Mr. Tim, thank you for showing up every day with compassion, patience, and a genuine heart for our students. Your job may be getting students from Point A to Point B, but the impact you have along the way is so much greater.
Congratulations, Tim! We are proud to celebrate you! 💙🚌
📸🥤 Food Photography Challenge!
Our 1st period FNW (Food, Nutrition & Wellness) students put their creativity to work with a food photography challenge! Their task was simple: take an ordinary glass of water or another drink and transform it into a magazine-, advertisement-, or social-media-worthy photo using location, props, lighting, and styling.
Food photography and styling are real careers and an important part of food marketing, so students practiced teamwork, attention to detail, critical thinking, creativity, and technical photography skills along the way.
And WOW! 🤩 This may be one of the best overall batches we've seen yet. These students took an ordinary glass and made it look anything but ordinary. Check out their amazing finished shots! 📸✨
CONGRATULATIONS to our OCMS Football players, cheerleaders, & coaches on the first win of the season at Banks County Wednesday night! They won 30-8!
Our Volleyball B Team also won all of their sets at Russell Middle School!
Today, students in Food, Nutrition, and Wellness participated in a Career Tasting to prepare for their upcoming Food, Nutrition, and Wellness career research project. They explored five real-world careers—nutritionist, event planner, food stylist, recipe developer, and food sensory scientist—by reviewing career information and completing hands-on challenges at each station. Using career passports, students practiced communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork while experiencing what professionals in these fields do each day.
This week in Mrs. Bridges’ Earth Science class, students learned how scientists use the Scientific Method to conduct experiments. During the
“Bug-O-Copter” lab experiment they learned how to take measurements, gather, record, and analyze data. They used these results to draw conclusions about their predictions. Students really enjoyed conducting these experiments.
This week, Mr. King's 6th grade science students used their knowledge of the scientific method to conduct an experiment while 7th grade science students identified samples as living or non-living and used critical thinking skills to create an argument for samples such as yogurt and apples picked off of a tree.
OCMS is celebrating excellent attendance for the first two weeks of School! We love that our students show up every day! We also appreciate communication from parents letting us know why a student was absent - we miss you when you're not here and want to know you're okay! Keep sending those notes! Attendance matters and so do you!
Congratulations to our OCMS Lady Pats Softball Team on their first big win Thursday over Cedar Shoals!
And thanks to Dirt Road Dollies for donating this year's uniforms!
Students assisted the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2872 in retiring American flags unfit for flying this week. Faded and torn flags were cut into quarters rather than burning due to their synthetic fabrics. Students retired 82 flags.
Mrs. Blackwell’s Science class learned about different types of science lab equipment and what they are used for this week.
