Update ~ August 29-September 2, 2016

Celebrating Success
Collaboration Teams are alive and well at CHS. Thank you to all of you for sharing the greatness within you. Thank you for your commitment to work together to focus collective time and energy on our number one purpose, Student Learning. I look forward to hearing about your journey and accomplishments in the weeks and months ahead.
Oh, and thank you for your patience and persistence as we worked through the unfortunate Synergy issues last week.  I am hoping they are all behind us.

Tie Tuesday
It's been great to see so many teachers in ties on Tuesdays.  In addition to Tie Tuesdays and to help promote our college and career ready attitude at CHS,  our counselors have started the tradition of wearing college related attire on Thursdays. They have invited and encourage us all to join them.

Committees
Some standing committees have already started to meet, while others are waiting to choose to serve from the list of committees needed for this year. The list and sign ups for this year will take place the week after Labor Day.

Reminders 
Our hallways are closed during the lunch periods.  Please remember to issue a pass if you are expecting a student during lunch, only students with passes will be permitted to go to your room during the lunch period.

United Way
The United Way fundraising campaign begins September 13.  Once again, Becky Gonzales has graciously agreed to be the CHS coordinator. Becky would love a co-coordinator. If you have interest in helping with this important campaign, please see Becky.

Dates to Remember

August 31 ~ Open House 5:30-7:00pm
                     9th grade and new parent orientation 5:00-5:30pm
September  5 ~ Labor day- School Holiday

September 9~ New School Year Kick Off Spirit Assembly (Schedule below)

Period	Time	Duration
1	7:50-8:45	50 + 5(Pulse)
2	8:50-9:40	50
3	9:45-10:35	50
4/5	10:40-11:30	50
Lunch	11:30-12:00	50
6	12:05-12:55	50
7	1:00-1:50	50
Assembly	1:55-2:20	25

• Fall Sports and activities are in full swing.  For details,  date and time information, get to Schedule Star.  by going to the CHS Website-On the left side of the page (Short cuts)  scroll down to schedule star-The User Name is CHS@fusd1.org and the Password is Panthers. GO PANTHERS!

Worthy Quote

"Remember our students need us to love them, listen to them and never give up on them."

Hope you have a great week!

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Update ~ August 22-26, 2016

Celebrating Success
It was an emotionally exhausting but exhilarating week.  Thank you for all your work to make the first full week of school positive for our students. I even had one student, new to CHS,  tell me he liked Coconino so much, he wished he could bring his sleeping bag so he could sleep here too.

What to say when your old neighbors keep dropping by because they miss the 'ol neighborhood? 
It's great to be loved...but we are a little busy. As is typical this time of year, we have a number of former students dropping by to say hei during the school day.  We are asking them to make arrangements with their former teachers in advance or come back after dismissal time.  If you are expecting student visitors or any visitors,  please let Sabrena know and we will issue a visitor's pass when they arrive. Thank you!

Break it down..
Our CHS vision statement reads To create and sustain a vibrant school community that exemplifies academic excellence and model citizenship. When we talk about bringing our vision to life, it is important to know what it really means and how, together, we can make it happen. I would like to start this year by focusing on what the academic excellence piece means.  One component of achieving academic excellence is ensuring we have a common understanding of what "excellence" looks like. It is hard to argue that "rigor" would play a part in achieving academic excellence for all. Last year our CHS department chairs participated in a book study using the book Rigor is not a Four Letter Word  By Barbara Blackwell.  I consider Blackwell's definition of Rigor as a jumping off point as we plan instruction and continue to build school systems to support academic excellence for all.
Blackwell's definition of Rigor:  "Rigor is creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels, each student is supported so he or she can learn at high levels, and each student demonstrates learning at high levels."
We will continue to discuss this definition and break it down even further by defining and describing what "high levels" means and looks like at CHS.  I look forward to the continued discussion.
P.S. If you would like a copy of Blackwell's book,  please let me know.

August 31, Open House
What is the format for Open House?
5:00-5:30pm- 9th grade parents and New Families Orientation in the mini-theater.
Following the orientation parents will follow their student's schedule during open house. Each period will be ten minutes with a two minute passing period.
Period 1 ~ 5:40-5:50
2 min passing period
Period 2 ~ 5:52-6:02
2 min passing period
Period 3 ~ 6:04-6:14
2 min passing period
Period4/5 ~ 6:16-6:26
2 mon passing period
Period 6 ~ 6:28-6:38
2 min passing period
Period 7 ~ 6:40-6:50

CHS Student Council
One of the goals of our student council this year is to build school spirit and pride. They have planned a number of school activities to help promote Panther Pride.  On September 9, The second annual senior sunrise  will take place at 5:45am.  That same day, September 9 we will have a back to school Spirit Assembly.  The assembly will begin at 1:55pm (Each class period will be minutes less that day).

Press On!  50 Years Panther Strong!

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August 15-19, 2016

What to say when week #1 of the school year is in the rearview mirror?...
Looks like we made it. Congratulations everyone, it was a great week.  We definitely have lots of reasons to celebrate success.
Thank you for going with the flow and contributing to our vision of creating and sustaining a vibrant school community that exemplifies academic excellence and model citizenship. 
The vibrant part of that vision was alive and well at CHS last week...
Consider this to be a giant group hug.

Text Book Humor 
A bewildered freshmen was in line to receive his text books for the year.  When he asked the teacher about a book for one of his classes, the teacher responded, "This book will do half the job for you."
"Good, " the freshman replied. "I'll take two."
LOL...just some comic relief from the book A Tribute to Teachers

Q & A

Q: Do I need to complete a Professional Growth Plan (PGL) this year?
A: Only new teachers to CHS are required to complete the PGL, however in order for your evaluator to complete the professional section of the TPEC you will need to have something to give your evaluator that describes your individual professional growth.  You are welcome to use the template provided in the blog or create your own.

Q: Since the halls are closed during lunch is it still alright for students come to my room during lunch period?
A: YES, Absolutely. Because the halls are closed during lunch and will be monitored, students must have a pass from their teacher in order to be permitted to go to a classroom during lunch. Follow up Question: Where do I get a hall pass?
Answer: Dean Shaddy has a template you can copy to create your own lunch passes, or you can use the standard hall passes available from Becky. The passes must be completed and signed by the teacher prior to the lunch period.

Q: Are students permitted to eat and drink during class?
A: Only twist top beverages are permitted in the classroom. As a general rule, students are asked to eat in the designated eating areas only; Cafeteria & Outside. Follow up questions: What if I want to have an event in my room and include snacks?
Answer: If you plan to have an event where students will be eating, or students will be in your room during the lunch hour, it is important that you make sure the trash is not overflowing with food containers and you might ask a student to bring the trash bag out to the outside dumpster following the event.  This is to help prevent rodents from sneaking in the building. If you are using candy or some other treat as an award or incentive, that's fine too, just follow the same procedure.

Q: Will we be getting more Minor Infraction Forms (MIFs) soon?
A: The official triplicate forms are on order and will hopefully be here soon. In the meantime if you need temporary MIFs, see Greg Reiff.

Other notes:  Please remind students of the CHS dress code.  A high school dress code is important to help promote unity, respect and a positive image throughout our community.  In order for the dress code to be upheld it is critical that we all take notice and recognize when students are in violation of the school dress code. Please refer to the dress code handout provided in your back to school folder for more details. 

Thank you all for your patience with class sizes, and student schedules.  Cris Holmes and our counselors are working to help balance the class loads and ensure students are placed in the proper classes.

This week...
Monday, August 15,  2:30-3:00, room 200 ~ Brief Synergy Assessment Training. If you are unable to attend, please stop by room 200 to pick up detailed instructions for administering pre-tests using Synergy. 
Wednesday, August 17, 1:15-2:30pm ~ Professional Learning Community (PLC) Faculty Meeting in the Mini-Theater.
Please bring your lap tops, highlighter, pen or pencil and your smiles.
(I promise it won't be a 3 hour marathon meeting).

Looking ahead
CHS Fall Open House, Wednesday, August 31, 5:30-7:00pm. More details in next week's blog.  Please mark your calendars and let me know ASAP if you have a conflict and will not be able to be there for open house.

Have a great week!

Press on! 50 Years Panther Strong!

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Welcome Back ~ August 8-12, 2016

What to say when you wake up and poof summer is over...
Ready or not, here they come :)
In all seriousness WELCOME AND WELCOME BACK! 
Even though we have to give up the carefree feeling that summer brings, there is alway something special about the first day of a new school year.  The start of the school year brings with it the excitement of meeting our new students and a chance to reconnect with one another and meet the new members of our faculty and staff. It is with sincere pleasure that I introduce and welcome the new members to the CHS Panther Family:

Bradley Linder ~ Social Studies
Mike Thompson ~Social Studies
Katie Scholler ~ Social Studies
Bryce Brothers ~ English
Dan Richards ~ Math
Violet Kelly ~ Math
Lacey Chavez ~ Spanish
Reyna Cardenas  ~ Spanish
Lizett Castruita ~ Spanish
Sabrena Stewart-Oviatt ~ CHS Receptionist
Danny Chavez ~ Counseling Secretary

Small Changes
Chelsea Lohr ~ Testing Coordinator and part time teacher
Barrett Tritle ~ Alpha Counselor (Job sharing with Meg Hughart)
Greg Reiff ~ RTR Teacher full time
Les Hauer ~ Administrative Intern (Along with teaching full time)

Celebrating Succes
If this year's registration week was any indication of what the school year is going to be like, it's going to be fantastic. A special thank you to our office staff, our counselors, Patty Harper,  Lisa Haan, Debbie McDonald, Julia and handful of Links students for their hard work and many hours devoted to helping make registration the best ever.
Also a shout out to the school structures sub committee for the brain power and man power it took to organize and put together the plan for this year's Student First Days.  Thank you to Gaby Garcia, Theresa Freas, Karlyn Heilman, Donald Morris, Jennifer Parker, Krista Dobosh, Janet Chavez and Brian Locke.

What to expect this week...

301 Day
Monday, August 8: Building Your Super Powers kicks off at 8:00am at Sinagua Middle School.  For detailed information see see blog post from July 18.

Superintendent's Kick Off  and Opening Address
The annual FUSD New School Year Welcome Back and Opening Address will be held in the CHS Auditorium on Tuesday, August 9 at 8:00am. Hope to see you all there! Our front office will be closed until 10:30 am so the office staff can participate in the opening day address. 

Schedule for Teacher Work Days...
AUGUST 9 

• 8:30 - 10:00am FUSD Welcome Back and Opening Address at CHS
• 10:30am-12:00am Work in Classrooms 
• 10:30-12:00pm - CHS New Teacher Orientation *Please not the time for this meeting has changed
• 11:00am - Lunch for CHS Faculty & Staff Provided in the Cafeteria
• 12:00pm- Work in classrooms
• 2:30pm -Afternoon Treats in the new and improved Outdoor Classroom ( OKA the marsh between the stadium and the school building)

AUGUST 10

• 7:30am - Welcome Back Breakfast Hosted by CHS Student Council
• 8:30-10:45am - Faculty Meeting in the Mini Theater
• 10:45am-3:00- Work in Classrooms & Lunch on your own
• 2:30pm - Snacks Provided Outdoor Classroom

F.U.S.D. Opening Address

The annual FUSD New School Year Welcome Back and Opening Address will be held in the CHS Auditorium on Tuesday, August 9 at 8:30am. Hope to see you all there! Our front office will be closed until 10:30 am so the office staff can participate in the opening day address. 

Student First Days ~ Taking Care of Business
We will continue the tradition of using the first two days back with students to take care of as much of the necessary student business as possible.  Thursday and Friday afternoons will be used for business such as; Text book distribution, internet safety training, learning about the clubs and activities available this year, ID photos, PBIS and Policy refreshers etc.
Details about the afternoon schedule will be shared during our faculty meeting on Wednesday, but for your planning purposes, please note we will have 25 minute periods (All six periods) both days in the morning with one combined lunch each day at 10:45am.

The Power of Your Presence
Included in the Frequently Used Documents section of the Panther Report is this year's teacher duty schedule (If you do not see your name, notify Steve Bonderud). Please review and mark your calendars.  Also, on the first two days of schools we will welcome our students by being outside, shaking hands, giving high fives and smiles and CHS Pencils.  Please plan to be outside for a few minutes before school begins on August 11 and 12. You can go to your duty station or anywhere outside to help give a warm welcome back message to our CHS Panthers, and if you feel so inclined you can join us at the end of the day outside to help ensure out students depart safely.  Official duty will begin Monday, August 15.

Department Chairs
August 9 and 10 the afternoons are open for work in classrooms and a little time to plan and prepare for the arrival of our students.  Also sometime in the afternoon on one of the two days, departments should plan to meet to select Department Chairs for the 2016-17 School year.

The Captain has turned on the fasten seat belt signs and asks that you prepare for take off...
Oh wait, one last thing.  I just want to say I am so proud to be your principal and I always look forward to the amazing possibilities that comes with a new school year and fresh start.  I look forward to seeing your smiles and coming together again to make a difference in the lives of our students.
OK we're taking off now...

50 Years, Panther Strong!

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