• December 7-PEP Panera Saddle Creek location 4-8p
• December 11-PEP Meeting 7pm library
  
• December 19-20-Final Exams
• December 22-Winter Break Begins
• January 8, 2024 School Resumes
  

Activities and Athletic Schedules

During their Freshman year, Central High School students will select a pathway. Students in pathways take their core classes (English, math, social studies and science) along with career-focused classes and electives. Student choices are what determine the differences in the high school experience. At Central High School , Pathways are a series of four or more classes focused on a group of related careers, or cluster. Students in a pathway take classes with a wide range of other students across career interests. All freshmen will select their Pathway in their Freshman Seminar course before Winter Break. Registration for the 2024-25 school year will occur in late January and early February 2024.

First quarter we celebrated students who met the strive for 95 benchmark. Students who miss less than 1.8 days per quarter meet the criteria.

Here is the data of students who met:

53% Freshman

47% Sophomores

41% Juniors

37% Seniors

From your CHS School Social Worker, Ms. Dawnna Hill--

The NEST

Central is proud to house the NEST, which is a basic necessity closet for students, here on campus. If students need to access the NEST at no charge, they can reach out to their assigned Counselor, Administrator, or Social Worker to do so, during a non-instructional time.

SPECIAL THANKS to our ongoing generous community partners that help show up and provide the resources that are needed and accessed daily. From our Central staff, to current and alumni parents and families, surrounding churches, for profit organizations, and grant funded supports, we are just so blessed and grateful. Not only during this time of November, but all year round. Your partnerships and collaboration are truly serving so many children and families each week. Thank you all for your actionable spirit, hearts of generosity, and kindness. It has brought me particular joy to have received AMAZING donations this week from not one, but two young people in middle school using their own birthday celebrations as a way to collect donations and support the NEST. The future is bright, and I certainly am downtown PROUD. Special LOUD shout outs to Isabelle and Avalyn!

PLANNING-- As we look to prepare quickly for December and additional winter recess times, Ms. Hill will be actively recruiting for additional student supports. If you'd like to donate a cash tax-deductible donation to the NEST for future expenses, you can mail in a check to Ms. Hill at Central High School and let me know you'd like the tax form mailed back out to you. If you, your workplace, your small group, place of worship, or place of community service want to provide blessing boxes for students (holiday meals, gift cards, food supports for break), reach out to Ms. Hill to coordinate details. If we can recruit more supports, we can connect those resources with families, which will bring relief and comfort during the weeks away from school. Thanks for your consideration.

External Community Resources

Looking for extra supports for your family? Wish you knew about community resources in our greater Omaha area? Ms. Hill looks to compile known community resources in her padlet, that is available for your access. Check it out and see if there is a community resource that looks to serve you and your family! Know about resources that aren't listed? Send them in! 2023-2024 Community Resources (padlet.org)

Apply for the Central High Foundation Scholarships. Complete the online application found in the Senior Teams and emailed to Central seniors!

ACT: Seniors-do you need to retake your ACT? Juniors—want to take the ACT? The next ACT is Saturday, December 9th . Registration deadline has passed. Standby registration is available for a fee.

Another ACT is Saturday, Feb. 10th, register by January 5th at www.act.org.

Students who qualify for educational benefits (free/reduced lunch) can receive up to 4 fee waivers to take the ACT for free. The fee waiver will cover the late fee. Email angela.meyer@ops.org for a fee waiver.

Get ready for the new revised Better FAFSA when it becomes available. Right now, seniors and parents can create their username and password, called the FSA ID (Federal Student Aid ID) at www.studentaid.gov

Help for students and families to complete the FAFSA form will be available January - March at Central High. Contact Mrs. Angie Meyer with questions. (angela.meyer@ops.org)

Sophomores received their PreACT results during one-on-one meetings with their counselors this week. Your student should be able to show you the score report and give a basic explanation of what the scores mean. If you would like more information about PreACT results, you may access these guides from ACT:

• Using Your PreACT Results (pdf)
• Using Your PreACT Results - Spanish (pdf)

All Central students have access to online ACT test prep resources through ACT Online Prep! AOP includes lessons, practice problems, flashcards, games, and a study plan.

http://onlineprep.act.org

Username: OPS email address

Password: OPS student number

Want to see a quick demo of AOP? Click here!

Central recognized 31 students this week who excelled on the ACT exam. While a test score is only a small part of what makes these students special, we want to commend them on their most recent academic achievement. Congrats!

Front row: Alex Krasnoslobodosev, Chance Gaillard, Joanna Sandquist

Middle row: Natalie Tse, Sam Morris, Claire Nipper, Hadley Forsen-Yepes, Maria Biesanz, Shruti Garaputi, Delaney Reiss, Claire Shafer

Back row: Brielle Wilson, Jonah Koesters, Brayden Simpson, Charlie Yale, Christian Steinbaugh, Jaden Cheloha, Brody Losole, Lucy Rawlinson, Joshua Shapiro, Amy Fischer, Lachlan O'Keefe, Samuel Joyce, Peter Jensen, Orion Schoell-Shafer, James Weber, Mason Pierce.

Not pictured: Marasia Harris, Ella Jaksha, Michael Lathrop, Renita Livingston.

Congratulations to Senior Lucy Rawlinson for her Perfect ACT score!

It is rare across the U.S. for a student to earn a perfect score on the ACT, according to ACT Senior Director John Clark. Nationally, Clark said about 0.25% of students make such an accomplishment. Nebraska had 31 graduates with perfect scores in 2023.

Lucy Rawlinson-- Continuing the Tradition of Excellence at Omaha Central!

The National Safety Council, Nebraska Driver Education Scholarship Program sponsored by
AAA Bank has been established to provide teens in our community the much-needed classes
and valuable behind the wheel safe driving instruction.
The scholarships make it possible for students to take advantage of a formal driver education
program. Studies have shown that driver education reduces the incidence of teen driving crashes
and citations.
Scholarships will cover either the full or partial cost of the program and will be awarded based
on the Nebraska WIC Income Guidelines or other eligibility guidelines.

We spent the month of November celebrating our Central Freshman Class! Celebrations with donuts for freshmen that are on track to earn all of their credits this semester! Celebrations for freshmen that are always on time and ready to work on skills every day! Celebrations for freshmen with no missing assignments! Celebrations for freshmen with excellent attendance! There are so many reasons to celebrate our Central Freshman Class and we are taking every opportunity to do just that!

We invite all parents to sign up to be a member of PEP which is Central's parent organization. Central High School prides itself on having a very supportive group of parent volunteers, and we always welcome more! Your membership dollars are our principal source of income and allows us to support the Central community. Additionally, if you plan to volunteer in any capacity at Central High, you must be a member of PEP so that you are covered under our personal liability umbrella.
Thank you for helping support Central! We encourage everyone to SIGN UP HERE for a PEP membership for only $15.

If you would be interested in any volunteer or donations, SignUpGenius will be posted soon.

Our next PEP meeting is on December 11, 2023 at 7:00pm in the Central High School Library

Merchandise can be purchased at http://omaha-central-hs-pep.square.site

Please contact us at omahacentralhspep@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Central High School and the Omaha Public Schools offer academic support outside of the school day to our students. Students are welcome to take advantage of the following supports:

• This is an open-door program available to all students. No reservation is required to receive tutoring: "No sign up; just show up!". It is staffed by Central teachers in the core subjects and funded by the Central High School Foundation.

• Tutoring is available in the library from 3:15 to 4:15 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
• The program also funds essay help on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings in rooms 229 and 235.
  

• Through online tutoring with Paper, students in grades 3-12 have access to:

  • 1:1 live chat tutoring sessions with experts
    • Support in 200 subjects
    • Available in English, Spanish, French and Mandarin
  • Expert review of written work (essays, creative writing, poetry, lab reports)
  • Hundreds of resources and activities for families support students at home
  • Interactive shows and activities to expand learning beyond the classroom
  • Students can access online tutoring seven days a week via the Clever dashboard on their iPad until 11 p.m.

The pinning ceremony for Omaha Central High School’s International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme class of 2024 was held at Central's auditorium on November 29, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. The ceremony and celebration, planned and executed by the IB juniors. recognized 14 seniors for completing a 4,000-word Extended Essay, one of the core expectations of the IB Diploma Programme. Family members, IB staff members, and the students' mentors attended. The Extended Essay is an independently written research paper focusing on a topic reflective of the passions or personal interests of the student. All the recognized students have earned their pins through their perseverance, self-management and critical thinking skills. Congratulations, seniors!

We have exciting news to share about Omaha Central’s very own eSports team! We have made it to the Central Regional Championship Playoffs! The Central division includes North America in the central time zone so approximately 14 States and a few regions in Canada. This is HUGE for several reasons, one being that this will be only the second season that our team has participated in eSports in conjunction with PlayVs. Though we are fairly new to the PlayVs arena, we are fierce and ready to represent! The teams that will be competing and the subsequent dates are listed below:

11/29

Super Smash Bros: Soaring Eagles, Eagle Nest

Two of our Super Smash Bros teams managed to swoop into Playoffs: Soaring Eagles and Eagle Nest. Westside was the only other school in Nebraska to make Playoffs for Super Smash Bros.

11/29:

OverWatch 2: Aquilas, Purple

Two of our teams qualified for playoffs: Aquilas and Purple. Only five other Omaha schools managed to hop on board the OverWatch playoff train. Westside, Omaha South, Omaha North, Bryan, and Buena Vista will be joining us in the competition.

12/1

Rocket League: The Soaring Eagles Too

The Soaring Eagles Too managed to score a one way ticket to playoffs! Westside High School was the only other school in Nebraska to qualify in Rocket League.

12/4

League of Legends: The Hoppers

The Hoppers managed a huge feat. They are the only League team in Nebraska to qualify for Playoffs!

12/4

Mario Kart - The WaluiEagles

The WaluiEagles must have had some luck of their own! They are the only MarioKart Team in Nebraska to qualify for Playoffs!

We are so extremely proud of all our athletes in the eSports program, and even more pleased with how quickly we are growing. Central’s eSports team is quickly making a name for itself and has garnered attention from several college and universities. Last year, two of our athletes managed to secure scholarships, and we are confident that our athletes this year will only gain more positive attention from those institutions. Big things are coming all around for our program, particularly in the upcoming year.

As eSports is on track to be part of the NSAA starting in 2024, this opens up new opportunities to participate as dual athletes. We are so grateful for the chance to continuously prove ourselves, as we have not missed the mark yet.

We have a huge appreciation of the Central administration and faculty who have supported us on our journey, and all of you. Your continued support and encouragement is the reason why we are able to do what we do. We absolutely could not do it without you. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

We are beyond excited for Playoffs, and can’t wait to see what our athletes are made of!

LET’S GO EAGLES!

• Our district works proactively to make the best decision possible when winter weather or emergencies require us to adjust our regular learning routines.

  Our toolkit of alternatives includes the following options:

  • Remote Learning Day
  • School Closure (no remote learning, schools are closed and district offices remain open)
  • District Closure (no remote learning, schools and district offices are closed)
  • Late Start (two-hour delay)
  • Early Release (two-hour early dismissal)
    
    

  On a Remote Learning Day, teachers will contact students through email, Seesaw, Teams or Canvas with independent learning activities by 8:30 a.m. Teachers will have virtual office hours from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. if students and families have questions or wish to visit with the teacher about their academic progress. Attendance will not be taken on Inclement Weather Remote Learning Days.

  Whenever possible, our district will announce changes to a daily routine the night before. However, we know weather conditions and other emergencies can develop rapidly and a decision the morning of a school day may be necessary. When that happens, we will communicate as early as possible in the morning.

  We will follow our communication routines. If weather, power outages or other circumstances force a change to our normal day, we will communicate directly with all staff and families. That communication will be through email, text message and phone call. Families should ensure their contact information is current in Infinite Campus. We will also share the information on our website and through local media.

Completing this form online or on paper can give you access to many student and family opportunities. See the links below.