Monday, February 22, 2021

Highland Newsletter 2/22-2/26/2021

                                    HIGHLAND HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL'S NEWSLETTER


Image result for School District 25 logo images
Highland High School Upcoming Events
Highland Academic Calendar
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=wallacbr%40sd25.us&ctz=America/Denver
Highland Activities Calendar
https://highlandrams.org/main/calendar

==============================
Dear Highland Parent, Student, and Ram Supporter,



Reminder to vote regarding the Supplemental Levy on Tuesday March 9, 2021. Click on the link to see the fact sheet regarding the levy....

=========================================================================
Congratulations to our Highland Cheer Team for winning Winter Athletics and Activities 5A Academic State Champions! As a team they had an average GPA of 3.821. Great job Highland High School Cheer, we are so proud of your diligent work. You exemplify what we are striving to be as Highland Rams!

Winter athletics and activities are winding down. Basketball finished out their seasons. We are proud of all the hard work the athletes and coaches put in. District dance is taking place today, district debate is this Friday 2/26/21, and state wrestling this Friday 2/26/21 at the Idaho Center in Nampa, ID. For brackets and other information on state wrestling follow this link= https://idhsaa.org/wrestling  

With winter athletics and activities winding down, spring athletics and activities are gearing up for their seasons. If a student is interested in participating in Tennis, Track and Field, Golf, Softball, or Baseball please have them come get more information from the front office ASAP as some of the tryouts start this Friday 2/26/21. 

========================================================================= 

Reminder that this is the last week of 2nd trimester. Finals for A Day students are on Wednesday 2/24/21 and finals for B Day students are on Thursday 2/25/21. We will be following the normal bell schedule for finals this trimester. If you are unable to take your final due to COVID-19 or other restrictions, please contact your teacher and they will work with you to resolve this issue. Students do not have school on Friday 2/26/21 as it is a record day. With questions or concerns please contact school administration.

Please contact your school counselor for any questions regarding 3rd trimester class schedules. Seniors interested in the Dental Assisting Program being offered at Highland 3rd trimester, there are only 3 spots left open. Students interested must already have completed Health Professions and Medical Terminology as a pre-requisite. This is a 2 hour class with clinicals taught by ISU and at the end of the course students can opt to test for certification as a dental assistant. Please contact your school counselor if interested.  

On Monday, March 1, 2021 all students will be back at school attending Monday - Friday. Students have done a great job wearing masks while on school grounds. It is essential that students continue to wear masks in all locations while on campus unless special permission has been granted. Teachers have been asked by administration to report students to the office who refuse to wear a mask or who continually wear a mask in an improper manner. This will be viewed as a discipline issue. We want to make sure and keep our school as safe as possible so we can continue to move forward limiting the best we can exposure and spread of COVID-19. Bringing all students back is exciting and we are looking forward to third trimester.

Here is the schedule for Early Release Monday's we will be using for March 1st=
Monday Bell Schedule: Early Release for Professional Development/Department Meetings
1st Hour8:329:30
Advisory9:359:55
2nd Hour10:0010:58
3rd Hour11:0312:01
LUNCH12:0112:36
4th Hour12:411:39
5th Hour1:442:42

 Here is schedule for Tuesday-Friday=
Regular Tuesday-Friday Bell Schedule
1st Hour8:329:47
2nd Hour9:5211:07
3rd Hour11:1212:27
LUNCH12:271:02
4th Hour1:072:22
5th Hour2:273:42

=========================================================================

Reminders from the Registrar's Office:

·         Seniors do you qualify to be a STEM graduate?  To qualify you must earn a minimum of 8 credits in math, 8 credits in science, and 5 additional credits of your choice in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics.  All STEM graduates will receive recognition on their diploma, transcript, and in the 2021 graduation program. In addition, for the first time ever, you will receive cords to wear with your cap and gown to recognize this achievement. Juniors and Sophomores start thinking now what classes you need to plan for now to earn this honor!

·         Seniors if you have not already ordered your graduation cap and gown and plan to walk at graduation on May 27, 2021 you need to do so ASAP by ordering at www.hjgrads.com. You can contact Highland’s Herff Jones representative Lane Larsen if you have any questions - llarsen@herffjones.com

·         Parents, if you are not familiar with Infinite Campus and the Parent Portal or do not have your own account please contact our registrar, Elaine Whitehead, whitehel@sd25.us to get it set up. The Pocatello/Chubbuck School District is committed to providing parents with the information that they need to help their students be successful. Procedures are in place to give parents access to attendance, grades and assignments, schedules and calendars, and other school and district wide information.  The Infinite Campus Student Data System provides a comprehensive Parent Portal.  Parents may establish an account in the Parent Portal and will be able to access up-to-date, key information about all the students in their family beginning the first day of the school year.  Attendance and grades will be available as soon as possible after the opening of school.  Other information will be added to the portal during the school year and there may be some delay in information being posted/updated as it will depend on each individual teacher.

·         As we near the end of the second trimester we ask that you please log into your account and double check that your phone number, email, and address are current. If not please contact our registrar’s office for help on how to update this information in our system so we can ensure you stay informed. 

 

========================================================================

Dear Highland Students & Families,

Construction Combine

ISU’s College of Technology and local businesses will be holding its annual Construction Combine on March 31 and April 1st. Only 6 students from each high school will be accepted. Applications are required. Follow this URL:  constructioncombine.org  

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Apply Here.” The Construction Combine is a great opportunity for young women and men to try out entry-level construction work. Gives an inside look at the building trades, construction management, and human resource supervision. Could also lead to a great-paying summer job. Apply now.

ALEKS – For Dual Credit Math, Some Sciences

It is academic planning time and students who are considering taking dual-credit math or science (some, but not all, dual-credit science classes require an ALEKS score) will need to have achieved the required ALEKS score, which is a math assessment tool. We are offering two opportunities to test before the trimester is over:

Ø  Friday, February 26th, at both 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. in the Media Center

Sign up to take ALEKS in the college career area (C-36) and get a how-to sheet on establishing an ALEKS account.

After these times, ALEKS testing will have to be early in the third trimester, after school, which is a challenge for actors in the play, spring athletes, any of you who work.

Reading Your Financial Aid Award Letter

The federal government is scheduled to release their Pell charts early this month, and all colleges and universities are beginning the herculean task of downloading FAFSAs and publishing their formal financial aid award packages. If you have any questions about your financial aid, please stop by the college career area, and we will attempt to demystify and walk you through the process of accepting financial aid.

On a related matter, if you are going on a mission, or plan to take a year before you start college or training, please be sure you know what the deferral process is for the college of your choice.

Let Us Know if You Received ANY Scholarship Monies !

We are starting to maintain a spreadsheet of scholarships that have been offered to our seniors who have been accepted to college or career technical education programs. Please stop by with a list of scholarships you have been awarded (automatic scholarships, merit scholarships, program scholarships, local or state scholarships – any scholarship), and we will mark you down (for our reference only; information will not be shared). It’s not that we’re competitive or anything, but we will be happy to announce at the end of the school year the total amount of scholarship monies Highland students have be granted because of their hard work, focus, and goals.

Visit the college career advisors for answers to a variety of questions. You can find us in C-36.

Best Links from the New Next Steps Website

The state of Idaho has revamped its Next Steps website, which is a fabulous resource for students, families, teachers, staff, and community members. The URL to the main website is here: https://nextsteps.idaho.gov/ . At a training last week, we were encouraged to point families toward the webpages for each high school grade level. Here they are:

9th grade:  https://nextsteps.idaho.gov/high-school-students/grade-9

10th grade:  https://nextsteps.idaho.gov/high-school-students/grade-10

11th grade:  https://nextsteps.idaho.gov/high-school-students/grade-11

12th grade:  https://nextsteps.idaho.gov/high-school-students/grade-12

==========================================

The counseling center has started a google classroom in order to make accessing information and resources easier. The classroom code is C22SK7K

There is a specific counselor's google classroom for information for graduates. The classroom code for graduates is 3BWSNGP.

=========================================

Tutoring is available both through a google meet and/or in person. To set up your tutoring, please contact the following teachers:
Mary Johnston-Math Tutoring johnstma@sd25.us
Story Holsten-English Tutoring holstost@sd25.us
Pam Fleischman-General Tutoring fleiscpa@sd25.us

================================================

We can think, be, and learn more as we work together to continually improve.    

Go Highland Rams!

Highland High School Administration (208)237-1300
-Dr. Brad Wallace-Principal (wallacbr@sd25.us) phone ext.103
-Travis Bell-Assistant Principal/Athletic and Activities Director (belltr@sd25.us) phone ext.105
-Jena Wilcox-Assistant Principal (wilcoxje@sd25.us) phone ext.104
-Steve Morton-Assistant Principal (mortonst@sd25.us) phone ext.107

Bursar
-Shelley Huelsman (huelsms1@sd25.us) phone ext.106

Registrar
-Elaine Whitehead (whitehel@sd25.us) phone ext.114

Counseling Center (208)237-1300
-Tami Romriell=students with last name A-D (romrieta@sd25.us) phone ext.131
-Christa Santos-Smith=students with last name E-K (santosch@sd25.us) phone ext.109
-Cali Baker(Department Chair)=students with last name L-R (bakerc1@sd25.us) phone ext.110
-Tricia Harvala=students with last name S-Z (harvaltr@sd25.us) phone ext.116

School Psychologist
-Debra Erlandson-(erlandde@sd25.us)
=====================================================================