Owls Nest Newsletter

We are doing a tax credit drive for Agua Fria High School. Our goal is 30 donations and we’d be so happy if you showed the Owls some love. We all know education is so valuable and supporting opportunities for students makes their experiences special. This will also help with clubs, sports, field trips, projects, celebrations for students and staff and so much more. Thanks so much! Please share with your family and friends.

Tax Credit Donations Drive

Last week we attended the State DECA competition at the Arizona Grand Resort. We took 16 kids from Agua Fria amongst 1,700 students in attendance to compete in various categories related to Marketing. We did come away with 4 students that earned awards and/or spots to the National competition in Orlando, Florida. The students are as follows:

4th Place - Marisa Vasquez and Rebekah Frost, Hospitality Services Team event

Top 10 placement in competition - Mariama Camara, Retail Merchandising

Diego Gonzalez Navarro, Entrepreneurship

Top medal winners for the exam - Diego Gonzalez Navarro

Rebekah Frost

The City of Avondale Municipal Art Committee is seeking participants in the ‘Achieving Artists Scholarship Art Contest’, open to all high school age graduating seniors in Avondale who are planning on enrolling into college.

Artwork in the media of paintings, drawings, mix media, photography and sculptures will be accepted. Scholarship prizes will be awarded ranging in the amounts of $1,000 - $2,000 to help further their college education. Deadline to submit is April 4, 2023 entries need to have a copy of the online registration form attached to the piece and must be submitted to the reception desk of Avondale Visitor & Conference, 11490 West Civic Center Drive.

Submitted artworks will be showcased at a special art show on April 12, 2023. Artwork will be featured on display at the Estrella Mountain Community, Performance Arts Center from April 6 -April 16, 2023.

https://www.avondaleaz.gov/ArtContest

Agua Fria's Student Council attended the yearly Unity Day with all the other student councils in the AFUHSD this week, meeting at Verrado. Students participated in team building, leadership skills, and competitive games. Agua Fria took home the Most Punctual Award.

Agua Fria students attended the district arts showcase at Verrado on Saturday March 4th. There were galleries of 2D, 3D and Photography artwork, as well as performances from Band, Theatre, and Winter Guard Percussion.

Student Council is excited to present to you ...

A Night in Rome

When: April 15th from 7 pm - 10 pm

Where: The Phoenix Art Museum

1625 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Parking: There is a large parking lot at the venue. You are responsible for your own ride. Consider carpooling!

Desserts and Photo Booth included!

Dress Attire: Please see the prom dress code attached below - this WILL be enforced. There will be a bag/pocket check. Small purses only, no large bags or backpacks will be permitted.

TICKET SALES:

3/6 - 3/10 $65

3/20 - 3/24 $70

3/27 - 3/31 $75

4/3 - 4/12 $80

*You must pay all fees on your account before buying a ticket. Please see directions below on how to pay online.

*Sold before school, at both lunches, and after school @ the bookstore.

*Only 500 tickets being sold.

*Guest passes will be available in the bookstore. Only high school students that have the pass filled out by their administration will be admitted.

FOR ONLINE PAYMENTS (Bookstore fees):

1. https://az-aguafria.intouchreceipting.com/

2. User name: Student ID #

3. Password: students last name just how you have it in the system

4. Select- students name

5. Select -Items at student's school

6. Select- Chromebook device protection, Tax Credit for Athletics, or other payments

7. Select- Buy and proceed to check out

Here’s an easy guide to pay your fees online.

Please save the date for an upcoming Safety Forum for parents, staff, students and the community on Thursday, March 9, 2023. We will be starting to use weapons detectors after we return from spring break and we want to address any questions and concerns the people may have. Hope to see you there.

Recently we conducted two safety drills. On Tuesday, we had our bus evacuation drill for all students. It was quick and smooth. We then conducted our lockdown drill just as the bus evacuation drill was ending which allowed for the practice of clearing hallways of students and getting everyone to safety. Teachers and students did a tremendous job looking out for each other and ensuring everyone was safe. We will continue to hone our safety practices but it is encouraging to see the efforts everyone will go to in order to protect each other.

Remind communication will be used as primary communication, following any drill or emergency as well as school updates and messages. Please check to see that you are enrolled and are able to receive our messages.

Here is a doc with all the information on how to join AFHS remind.

AFHS Remind Info

Here is a video to help you get started using Remind.

Steps of how to change your Remind notifications.

The week after spring break we are kicking it into high gear and starting off our state testing with the Arizona Science test that ALL JUNIORS will be taking. On this day, only juniors will be on campus, 9th, 10th, and 12th graders WILL NOT be on campus on March 22nd.

RTI has now has clubs and enrichment opportunities. We have international trip meetings, club meetings, guest speakers, and AP recruitment sessions all taking place. If your student’s grades are good, encourage them to get involved in some of these activities.

What choice sessions would you like to see during Owl Opportunity? Club or sport meeting? Apply for scholarships? Find out about CTE programs and internships? Yoga or dodgeball? Talk to your teachers about choice session you would like to see happen and be on the look out for these to sign up soon!

Owl Opportunity Time is time that helps our students stay on track and enjoy academic success. Three days a week (Monday, Thursday and Friday) students have 40 minutes where they are assigned to classes in which they are struggling in class and students can also select which classes they would like more support in. Owl opprtunity is used for tutoring, assignment support, reassessment, etc.

• Use the drop down menu on your chromebook

• Or visit https://rti.aguafria.org

Hit the star to bookmark the site!

Attendance is expected and mandatory.

Please see this Owl Opportunity presentation for an overview of Intervention Time

Counseling Department Information

Counselors will be visiting all 12th graders through their government classes during the week of March 6th. We will host individual, brief meetings with each student. This is a great time to check in, ask questions, discuss progress toward graduation and determine what type of support is needed during the last two months of school.

The March AFHS Counselor Newsletter has information for all students, including summer school opportunities. The time to apply for summer programs is now.

Summer school will be hosted at AFHS. All incoming freshmen will attend summer programs at their home school. Summer school is FREE for all AFHS students. Here are the dates and times.

Here is the website with more information. The application can be found on the site as well.

Seniors - Are you on track to graduate this May? If you aren’t sure, please make time to communicate with your counselor. The counselors will be hosting individual meetings with seniors through their government classes. The meetings will take place the week of March 6th.

The Google Classroom code for each cohort is:

Seniors-Class of 2023: hkyb745

Juniors-Class of 2024: mv2dsq7

Sophmores-Class of 2025: p5b7ryr

Freshman-Class of 2026: 4dtmmsh

Most seniors had a meeting with admin/counselors during Advisory this week. Please check in with them about all the important events/dates coming up. Also, you can check your email for the 2 documents that were sent home with them.

Also, Jostens will be on campus Friday, March 10 to hand out cap/gown to students who purchased them already. Make sure to order yours by March 7 to receive it on March 10. Order online Jostens.com

If you have any questions contact Ms. Tiffany ktiffany@aguafria.org

Senior Families please contact jostens.com to purchase your student’s cap and gown, graduation announcements, class ring and/or letter jacket. The only items AFHS requires is the cap, gown and tassel in the appropriate color listed for AFHS–all other items/packages are optional. If you have any questions, please contact Kristen Tiffany ktiffany@aguafria.org

Graduation will be May 20th at 7:00 p.m. at State Farm Stadium. Please refer to the graduation email Ms Tiffany sent out with all the details. Graduates and their supporters will be subject to security screening and an inspection of all bags prior to entering State Farm Stadium. Magnetometers will be used to screen for dense metals for all those entering stadium Access Control Points. If a guest does not feel comfortable with the metal detector screening due to medical reasons, a physical pat-down will be conducted instead.

The calendar of senior events include:

Thursday, May 4 Senior Social 3pm-5pm

*Mandatory event for Seniors

Monday, May 8 Practice for Senior Honors Night 2:20pm-3:20pm

Tuesday, May 9 Senior Honors & Awards Night 6pm-7:30pm

*Seniors report at 5:15pm

May 9 thru May 11 Senior Exams Schedule TBD

Friday, May 12 No school for Seniors

Monday, May 15 Senior Checkout-Specific info to follow

Wednesday, May 17 Graduation Practice (New Gym) 7:30am-10am

*Mandatory event for seniors

Saturday, May 20 Graduation (State Farm Stadium) 7pm

*Seniors report 5:45pm

*Please take a look at the above dates and be sure to note all Mandatory dates for seniors.

Senior Speeches:

*Deadline to submit 3/9/23

*Email speech to Kristen Tiffany ktiffany@aguafria.org

Topics: Bien Venidos

Focus past 4 years

Focus on future

*Information regarding directions to the stadium, student and family parking, graduate and family entrance gates, and where to meet graduates during the ceremony will be provided at practice, will be emailed to seniors and family, and will be posted on the website.

*Diplomas may be picked up May 22-May 25 in the Counseling Office.

**Seniors who were awarded athletic and/or academic scholarships, academic awards and/or joining the military will be invited to the Honors and Awards Night on May 9. Invitations will go out beginning of April. Students must self-report their scholarships (documentation may be required). A survey will be sent out to all seniors the week of 3/6.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Assistant Principal, Kristen Tiffany ktiffany@aguafria.org

Students that have Early Release are being asked to show their ID or schedule before they leave for the day. We need to make sure that all students that leave at the end of the school day are Early Release students.

Student ID’s are required. You must be WEARING your student ID at all times on campus. Thank you parents for supporting us as we are working to keep your students safe!

School Hours:

• School starts at 7:15 and ends at 2:05

• Please note Wednesdays are Early Release at 12:20

• All students arriving after 7:15 am will be required to check-in at the welcome lobby at attendance. School dismissal is at 2:05 pm. Students not involved in after-school programs will be required to leave campus and gates will be closed and locked at the time.

• All visitors must check in and get a visitors pass at the front office, welcome lobby before proceeding onto campus.

Attendance:

• Regular student attendance is necessary to provide the greatest opportunity for student academic success.

• If you need to call in an absence for your student, please contact 623-932-7300 ext. 1007 or 1008 and leave your student’s name, ID number, date, and the reason for the absence, and it will be processed as soon as possible.

• You can also email at earaiza@aguafria.org or mmaldonado@aguafria.org

• Attendance Appeals will be held when a student misses 10 or more classes in a particular course. An Attendance Appeal could result in the loss of credit for the student. Please refer to the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook and review the district policy regarding attendance and tardiness.

Tardies:

• Students who are late to any class during the day may be marked tardy.

• 5 tardies= warning, 6=detention, 9=owl overtime ( Wednesday detention) and 12=Saturday school.

If you have a question or want to speak to an administrator at any time during the year, please reference the alphabetical breakdown below. A specific administrator is assigned to students based on their last name.

A-C-Mr. Jovanelly jjovanelly@aguafria.org

D-J-Ms. Tiffany ktiffany@aguafria.org

K-P-Mr. Gardner agardner@aguafria.org

Q-Z-Ms. Alickovic aalickovic@aguafria.org

Principal Autumn Daniels adaniels@aguafria.org

Regular Communication

Email and the Remind App will be our primary source of communication with parents and students this year. The email address used will be the primary email given at registration. Parents are also automatically added to Remind through the contact information provided in your enrollment paperwork. Students’ Remind accounts are automatically created for students using their student email account.

Social Media

Click the link for all of our social media accounts: Social Media

Website: www.aguafria.org/afhs

Facebook: Agua Fria High School @AguafriaHS

Twitter: @AguafriaOwls

Instagram: aguafriaowls

AFHS Broadcast Student Announcements