Hello Diamond Oaks Students, Families, and Staff Members:
 
What an incredible start to the school year it has been! It’s truly amazing to see how much our students have accomplished in such a short time. From passing credentialing exams to diving into CTSO activities, their drive and dedication are inspiring. Creativity is flourishing as students launch exciting new programs like Podcasts, and our Student Council has been hard at work planning spirited theme days and festive Halloween celebrations.
 
Meanwhile, students are fully engaged in our NextReady curriculum, thoughtfully preparing for their futures—whether that means heading to college or starting a career. As the Dean of Instruction, I couldn’t be prouder of the energy, enthusiasm, and excellence our Diamond Oaks students bring to everything they do.
 
Thank you to all our families and homeschool partners for your continued support. Together, we’re building a vibrant, future-ready community!  
 
Below are the latest updates from Diamond Oaks:
 
Report Cards: first quarter grades will be posted in ProgressBook tomorrow. If you need assistance accessing grades, please reach out to Ms. Ricketts, ricketts.stephanie@greatoaks.com.
 
No School for Diamond Students on 10/30 and 10/31: on Thursday, 10/30, staff will attend a PD/Workday, and students will not report to Diamond.  On Friday, 10/31, Diamond will be on Fall Break, students and staff will not report.  Enjoy your time off!
 
Picture Ordering: the deadline to purchase pictures from Ritchie’s Photography is Friday, October 24, at 9:00 PM.  To order online, visit executivestudio.org. Use Job Code: DIAMOND.
 
Online and/or CCP Classes: students who are enrolled either in an online credit recovery class or a CCP course need to be sure to stay on top of their classes.  The expectation is that students will finish a semester of online credit recovery by the last day of the second quarter (December 18th).  For CCP students, December 14th is the last day of Sinclair’s semester.   Please see your counselor if you have any questions.
 
ASVAB Testing: students, if you are interested in taking the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), here is the link to signup. The ASVAB Career Exploration Program (CEP) is a complete career planning program. Students are given the opportunity to take the ASVAB at no cost and no commitment to military service. The ASVAB CEP also provides an interest assessment and planning tools to help young adults explore career field entry requirements and various career paths, both military and civilian.  Please know, you are not required to pursue enlistment if you decide to test.  The test will be offered on Wednesday, November 5 at 7:55 in the Community Room.  Please bring your fully charged laptop with you. Additionally, initial results will be ready on Monday, November 17.  The best place to start your preparation: https://www.officialasvab.com/. 
 
IT Academy Lab Focus: Matt White, the IT Academy instructor, wrote the following for this week’s lab focus: IT Academy juniors have been learning fundamental information technology and web design skills. Information technology skills have included basic problem-solving skills, computer hardware and software components, file management, binary basics of computing, and system versus application software. Web design skills have included HTML basics, web accessibility, basic concepts of visual design, creating two basic webpages, and starting a case study project that will expand over the course of the year. In addition to these entry-level skills, juniors are also studying for the CompTIA Tech+ certification, one of the available industry-recognized credentials for IT Academy students. Overall, the juniors are working hard and looking forward to expanding their skills in a vast career field. For the junior class, I would like to spotlight Fardowsa Abdulqadir and Erin Emini. Both of these juniors have excelled in the 1st quarter with As and/or Bs in both lab courses and are excelling in preparing for the Tech+ certification exam in the next few weeks.
 
IT Academy Seniors have been learning fundamentals of operating systems, focusing on the Linux operating system, to understand files and directories, users, groups, and permissions, software management, and processes and services. Like the juniors, many seniors are also focusing on their CompTIA Tech+ certification with several seniors ready to test before the end of October. There are also seniors working on their CompTIA A+ or Microsoft Office Specialist Associate certifications as well. Senior IT Academy students are also equipping themselves with knowledge by participating in a three-week simulated work environment at the Diamond Oaks IT Help Desk, learning basic device management and troubleshooting skills and assisting our IT Technician with other IT-related tasks as needed. So far, four seniors have completed this simulated work experience, and remaining seniors will be working through this in rotations the remainder of the school year. For the senior class, I would like to spotlight Elijah Snyder and Aaron Sagers. Both of these young men have done an outstanding job in the IT Academy program to date, having earned their Tech+ (formerly IT Fundamentals+) certifications in their junior year and actively working to ensure they earn 12 or more points of industry-recognized credentials prior to graduation. They have both been great role models in the simulated work experience at the Diamond Oaks IT Help Desk this year as well.
 
 
Thanks,

Scott Colliflower

Dean of Instruction

Diamond Oaks Career Campus

6375 Harrison Ave., Cincinnati, OH

Desk: 513-612-7014  
Web: www.greatoaks.com 
Email: colliflowers@greatoaks.com