We are delighted to share the great news that the accreditation team who visited OCS last week is reporting that we meet the required standards, and they will recommend renewal to the commission of our accreditation with ACSI and Cognia. The report of the team provides both commendations for excellence and suggestions for improvement. Several commendations are related to our outstanding faculty, staff, and students. This comes as no surprise to me because we all know that our people make OCS the special community we all love. Accreditation affirms the value of the education we provide and ensures that college credits earned in high school will be honored at any university. It also assures you that your tuition dollars are going to a school of excellence, working diligently for continuous improvement.
Safety is one piece of our Continuous School Improvement Plan on everyone's minds. The news that came out from Nashville last week poignantly grieves us, yet our security improvements that are underway are not a knee-jerk reaction to this latest tragedy. The OCS administration and select faculty members work together on an ongoing security plan. We place a priority on the expenditure of funds to improve the physical security of the campus. We are in close cooperation with Ovilla and Ellis County emergency officials and have attended seminars that will be used to improve our security posture and the training of our faculty and staff in emergency response. The timeline for implementing some elements of our plan has been moved up in response to recent events.
One of the biggest changes we made last fall was having all traffic flow out of one entrance and exit point at the front lobby. We staggered the schedules for LS, MS, and US to accommodate this plan, causing minor inconveniences for families whose students span these grade levels. Next fall, student drivers will be required to have a parking permit visible on their vehicle and we will have a more robust, thorough system for accounting for visitors on campus during the school day. The security camera network continues to expand as we install more "eyes" in both external and internal locations. We are listening to and acting upon expert advice on providing a secure learning environment for OCS students, and we ask for the trust of our families that we cannot divulge more details.
In a Christian community, it is common to throw out Bible verses to provide comfort in hard times. There is nothing wrong with encouraging each other with Scripture, but let's be sure to use the Spirit-inspired words to remind ourselves of who God says He is—for an accurate view of God will rightly inform us of who we are. Look at Psalm 56:8–11 and marvel that we do not have to be afraid because God sovereignly reigns, and he also intimately cares about our grief and fears.
You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
(Psalm 56:8–11 ESV)
May we be people who stand firm in faith, knowing that the powerful God we serve is aware of every moment of our lives. Pray for the administration and faculty to have clear vision and calm hearts in the days ahead as we strive to care for students with excellence here at OCS.
Penny Hayes M.Ed.
Head of School