We are so excited to celebrate Mrs. Compton, who has been nominated for the 2026 KSTA Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award!
Mrs. Compton brings science, innovation, creativity, and hands-on learning to life for our Koalas every single day. She creates opportunities for students to wonder, explore, problem-solve, and see themselves as scientists and innovators.
This nomination is such a wonderful recognition of the passion and heart she pours into our students and our school. We are incredibly proud to have Mrs. Compton representing Old Mill!
Congratulations, Mrs. Compton! Our Koala family is cheering you on! 💙💛🐨
This week's student spotlight goes out to Kaylynn and Gigi. When a kindergartener was feeling unsure during dismissal, Gigi and Kaylynn immediately stepped in to help her feel safe and comfortable. By working together to look out for a younger student, they showed what it truly means to be Productive Collaborators and Community Contributors. Awesome job, girls!
Koala families, help us keep Old Mill a place where every child feels safe, welcomed, and ready to learn! 💛💙
The Kentucky Center for School Safety invites students, families, and staff to take the Safe Schools Week Pledge. Take a moment to complete it together and talk with your child about how kindness, respect, and speaking up when something feels wrong help keep our school safe.
Take the pledge here: https://kycss.org/safe-schools-week/safety-week-pledge/
Thank you for being part of a school community that looks out for one another!
The Kentucky Center for School Safety invites students, families, and staff to take the Safe Schools Week Pledge. Take a moment to complete it together and talk with your child about how kindness, respect, and speaking up when something feels wrong help keep our school safe.
Take the pledge here: https://kycss.org/safe-schools-week/safety-week-pledge/
Thank you for being part of a school community that looks out for one another!
Our littlest Koalas are doing BIG things! 🐨
Preschool students have been busy learning through purposeful play! During small groups, students practiced their names using play-doh, dot markers, and watercolor painting while building early literacy, fine motor skills, creativity, and independence.
🍿 Friendly reminder: Our 5th graders’ Popcorn Fundraiser is happening on September 25! Bags are just $1, and every purchase helps support their Walk Through History event. Fresh, tasty, and for a great cause! ❤️💛
A huge thank you to Crystal Roberts with Knob & Key Realty for spending time with our 5th graders!
As part of our Colonial Relocation Agency project, Crystal taught students how a real realtor learns about a client’s needs and wants, asks the right questions, compares different options, considers challenges and trade-offs, and uses information to make the best recommendation.
Students then got to connect her real-world advice to their own work as Colonial Relocation Agents. They will use what they learned from Crystal to help a fictional family decide which colonial region would be the best fit for them, using historical evidence to support their recommendation.
We are so thankful for community members like Crystal who are willing to share their time and expertise and help make learning meaningful and connected to the real world!
As part of our Colonial Relocation Agency project, Crystal taught students how a real realtor learns about a client’s needs and wants, asks the right questions, compares different options, considers challenges and trade-offs, and uses information to make the best recommendation.
Students then got to connect her real-world advice to their own work as Colonial Relocation Agents. They will use what they learned from Crystal to help a fictional family decide which colonial region would be the best fit for them, using historical evidence to support their recommendation.
We are so thankful for community members like Crystal who are willing to share their time and expertise and help make learning meaningful and connected to the real world!
✨🧞 Aladdin Watch Party is TODAY! 🧞✨
Students interested in auditioning for Aladdin are invited to stay after school today for our optional Watch Party until 6:30 PM! 🎬🍿 Popcorn will be available for $2.
🎭 Interested in auditioning for Aladdin? Please complete the Aladdin Interest Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfI4M_Ul_r_wQbUNTIJYpWVbZlKr79ZQrMQ3p0_rzfkSHt_HA/viewform
🚗 IMPORTANT: If your child is staying for the Watch Party, please complete the Transportation Change Form so we know they will not be following their normal dismissal routine:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeAxzWAn-p1WLxX6KOJQJFRIwIjbigwQuGYXA9FhT5JXRKxg/viewform
We can’t wait to kick off our Aladdin adventure! ✨
This week's Staff Spotlight goes out to Ms. Maddi. She has done an amazing job adapting to the needs of our K/1 students! She constantly goes above and beyond for both students and staff, all while remaining flexible whenever schedules change. She is a wonderful model of "Service Before Self," and our school is so lucky to have her!
💧 STEAM in Action: Bringing Holes to Life! 💧
As part of our recent learning excursion, our 5th graders took their Holes novel study to the next level with a special visit from the Louisville Water Company!
In Holes, Stanley Yelnats faces extreme heat and harsh, dirty water conditions at Camp Green Lake. We used his story as inspiration to explore our driving question: "How can stories inspire us to use our Graduate Profile competencies to solve problems, work with others, and make a positive impact?"
After learning directly from Louisville Water experts about real-world water treatment, our students stepped into the shoes of environmental engineers. Putting their knowledge to the test, teams designed, built, and tested their own filtration systems. By acting as productive collaborators, each student took on a specific group role to engineer a real-world solution for clean water.
Check out our young scientists and engineers hard at work in the photos below! 🛠️🧪✨
As part of our recent learning excursion, our 5th graders took their Holes novel study to the next level with a special visit from the Louisville Water Company!
In Holes, Stanley Yelnats faces extreme heat and harsh, dirty water conditions at Camp Green Lake. We used his story as inspiration to explore our driving question: "How can stories inspire us to use our Graduate Profile competencies to solve problems, work with others, and make a positive impact?"
After learning directly from Louisville Water experts about real-world water treatment, our students stepped into the shoes of environmental engineers. Putting their knowledge to the test, teams designed, built, and tested their own filtration systems. By acting as productive collaborators, each student took on a specific group role to engineer a real-world solution for clean water.
Check out our young scientists and engineers hard at work in the photos below! 🛠️🧪✨
🏹 Last Call for Archery Forms!
Interested in joining the Old Mill Archery Team? All archery forms are due by the end of the school day on Friday!
📋 Please remember: Students must also have an updated sports physical on file in order to participate.
Interested in joining the Old Mill Archery Team? All archery forms are due by the end of the school day on Friday!
📋 Please remember: Students must also have an updated sports physical on file in order to participate.
🏆⭐ GOLDIE HAS A NEW HOME! ⭐🏆
Congratulations to Ms. Miller’s class for earning the Goldie Award for “Gold Star” attendance this past month!
Ms. Miller’s class had the highest class attendance average in the entire school at an AMAZING 98.1%!
Way to go, Ms. Miller’s class!
Calling All Student Artists and Writers!
In celebration of Safe Schools Week next week, students are invited to participate in our “Strong Roots. Safe Schools.” contest. Students may choose to create a poster or write an essay showing how we can make our school safer, kinder, and more welcoming. Word count is not a requirement for elementary students. We want students to focus on sharing their ideas and creativity! One winner from each grade level will be selected to move on to the BCPS district competition. We can’t wait to see our Koalas’ creativity shine!
Posters and Essays are due to your child's teacher Friday!
Ideas may include:
Ways to include others and help everyone feel like they belong
How to stand up for someone who is being treated unkindly
Safe and responsible ways to use technology
What students can do during an emergency
How kindness and respect help our school feel safe
Trusted adults students can turn to for help
What “Strong Roots. Safe Schools.” means to them
Energy team is off to a great start! 🍃
We had such a great start to Energy Club! Students jumped right in by planting cucumbers, spinach, carrots, pumpkins, and radishes. We also spent time tending to our garden, pulling weeds, and getting everything ready for a new season of growing. It was so exciting to see students working together and taking ownership of our garden space. We already cannot wait for our next meeting! - Mrs. Grady
🏴☠️ Ahoy, mateys! Mrs. Myers’ class had a swashbuckling good time celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day! ☠️⚓️
From our littlest buccaneers to lots of pirate fun, these Koalas were all in for the adventure! Arrrghhh you glad learning can be this much fun?!
CHILL OUT… YOU’VE EARNED IT! 🥤❄️
Today we surprised our staff with Slushie Friday because, well… they deserve it! 💙💛
They pour so much into our students every single day, their time, energy, patience, creativity, and heart, so today we got to pour a little something back into them!
We hope you all have a great weekend!
https://youtube.com/shorts/2kKqSTlMiuM?feature=shared
A huge THANK YOU to former University of Louisville football player and current coaching staff member CJ Avery and current football player Micah Rice for joining the third graders at Old Mill to help launch our NFL Project-Based Learning experience! 🏈🎙️
Our students are stepping into the role of podcast producers, working in teams to uncover the stories behind an NFL team, not just the scores and statistics! They’ll research, analyze team data, use graphs as evidence, develop a story worth telling, share it with real listeners, and revise their work based on feedback.
Throughout this PBL, students will have a special focus on becoming Effective Communicators, one of our BCPS Graduate Profile competencies. They’ll learn how to organize their ideas, use evidence to support what they want to say, communicate clearly for an authentic audience, listen to and collaborate with others, and use feedback to make their message even stronger. 🎙️
Having CJ and Micah here was the perfect way to get our students thinking about the game from a player’s and coach’s perspective. Their experiences and insights helped students see that every team has a story and there’s so much more to football than what shows up on the scoreboard!
Thank you, CJ and Micah, for taking the time to connect with our students, answer their questions, and help us kick off an exciting PBL! We can’t wait to hear the stories our students uncover and watch them grow as Effective Communicators along the way! 💙💛
This week's Koala Shout Out goes to Keaton. Keaton finished his social studies assignment and felt proficient, and helped his neighbor without being asked! He saw a friend in need, recognized he could help, and went out of his way to do so. Way to be a Productive Collaborator, Keaton!
We’re celebrating Dolly Day at OMES on September 25! In honor of Dolly Parton’s love of books, learning, and lifting others up, we’re bringing a little extra sparkle to Old Mill!
Come dressed in your best pink, denim, sparkle, or country-inspired look, and get ready for music, reading, photo ops, and plenty of Dolly fun throughout the day!
Most importantly, we’ll celebrate what it means to be a Community Contributor: using our gifts to encourage others and make a difference.
Workin’ 9 to 5 and makin’ learning shine! ✨📚
Come dressed in your best pink, denim, sparkle, or country-inspired look, and get ready for music, reading, photo ops, and plenty of Dolly fun throughout the day!
Most importantly, we’ll celebrate what it means to be a Community Contributor: using our gifts to encourage others and make a difference.
Workin’ 9 to 5 and makin’ learning shine! ✨📚
