The Weekly SharkBeat!

SJHS Weekly Parent Newsletter - March 31, 2024

Happy Easter and Happy Spring Break. The administration and entire staff wish you a safe and memorable holiday.

We have had an exciting week. The SJM 8th grade class came over on Thursday, toured the facilities, met students and staff, and was introduced to programs offered here at SJH. We look forward to them being our freshmen class next year. And to end the week, we had our annual staff/student basketball game. Both sides were bragging and smack talking before the game, but the staff ended up with the win.

Below is some important information shared by our District Office. Please review the eclipse information and talk with your student before April 8th. Also, 3rd quarter report cards are available on PowerSchool.

Thank you for taking the time to review the Weekly Sharkbeat Newsletter. Please check the school website and Facebook page for additional updates and information. Thank you for choosing to be a part of the Shark family. Have a great evening, keep swimming forward, and as always, Go SHARKS!

Ryan Poston
Principal

SJHS

SJH Faculty Gets the Win!

THe Chorale is Superior

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The SJHS Concert Chorus and Chorale attended the SCMEA Concert Performance Assessment on Friday. The Chorale received a Superior on their concert performance and an overall Excellent rating when combined with sight-singing. The Concert Choir received a Superior on their concert performance and an overall Superior rating when combined with sight-singing. Judges made comments like “impressive tone and blend,” “lovely singing,” and “top-notch choir.” Even better yet, the manners and behavior of the choir were consistently complimented, as they lived up to their motto: “Be nice, work hard, and show up."

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Paige Beatty competed at the SC State Meet last Friday. She is the Level 8 SC state champ on bars. She tied for first on beam (but all around score put her in 2nd place) and she placed 3rd All Around!

Paige placed 26th in the state and earned a spot at Regionals!

Regionals will be held in Alabama on April 27. Where she will compete against gymnasts from SC, NC, FL, AL, TN, GA, LA, and MS

Sharks At The Tech Fair

Congratulations to all of our students who represented SJH at the HCS Tech Fair. The students had a good time and presented some amazing work. A shout out to our teachers for encouraging students to share their talents.

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2024 Total Solar Eclipse

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As you know, Monday, April 8, 2024, is the first day back to school after the HCS spring break. On this day, most of the U.S. will experience a solar eclipse. While the total eclipse will not be visible from Horry County, depending upon the weather, the partial eclipse may be visible from 1:52 pm to 4:25 pm, with the eclipse’s maximum magnitude of .802 occurring at 3:10 pm. For more information about the eclipse, check out NASA’s website: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/

Persons who choose to view the solar eclipse should take appropriate safety measures. It will not be safe at any point to look directly at the eclipse without proper eye protection. NASA’s eclipse safety page gives the following safety tips:

When watching a partial or annular solar eclipse directly with your eyes, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times. Eclipse glasses are NOT regular sunglasses; regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun.

Do NOT look at the Sun through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will burn through the filter and cause serious eye injury.

For additional safety information provided by NASA, please see the second page of this letter.

Horry County Schools will not provide solar eclipse glasses for employees or students. Persons who want to view the eclipse safely must make sure they have the appropriate equipment and follow the safety advice provided by NASA.

We ask that you discuss this information with your children.

Sincerely,

Horry County Schools

2024 Total Solar Eclipse

Eclipse Safety

Source: NASA - Eclipses

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

An eclipse is a celestial event that drastically changes the appearance of the two biggest objects we see in our sky: the Sun and Moon. On Earth, people can experience solar and lunar eclipses when Earth, the Moon, and the Sun line up. Safety is the number one priority when viewing a solar eclipse. Be sure to follow these safety guidelines when viewing the solar eclipse.

Eye Safety During a Total Solar Eclipse

Except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely blocks the Sun’s bright face, it is not safe to look directly at the Sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing.
Viewing any part of the bright Sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury.
When watching the partial phases of the solar eclipse directly with your eyes, which happens before and after totality, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times.
Eclipse glasses are NOT regular sunglasses; regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun. Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and ought to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. NASA does not approve any particular brand of solar viewers.
Always inspect your eclipse glasses or handheld viewer before use; if torn, scratched, or otherwise damaged, discard the device. Always supervise children using solar viewers.
Do NOT look at the Sun through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will burn through the filter and cause serious eye injury.
Do NOT use eclipse glasses or handheld viewers with cameras, binoculars, or telescopes. Those require different types of solar filters. When viewing the partial phases of the eclipse through cameras, binoculars, or telescopes equipped with proper solar filters, you do not need to wear eclipse glasses. (The solar filters do the same job as the eclipse glasses to protect your eyes.)

Skin Safety

Even during a partial or annular eclipse, or during the partial phases of a total eclipse, the Sun will be very bright. If you are watching an entire eclipse, you may be in direct sunlight for hours. Remember to wear sunscreen, a hat, and protective clothing to prevent skin damage.

SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING

HCS is committed to providing our students and staff members with a safe and secure learning environment. Click here to access the Reporting Form

Parent Survey

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Parent and guardians,

The South Carolina Department of Education is asking parents/guardians of students in grades 3-12 to participate in a School Climate Survey for their child/children’s school.

Each parent/guardian will have an opportunity to fill out a survey per student. Please take a couple of minutes to answer a few questions about how your child’s school is doing. You may use the Parent Portal (PowerSchool) app on your mobile device or a computer to complete the survey. The deadline to complete the survey is Friday, April 12, 2024.

Directions for parents to access the School Climate Parent Survey are attached.

Your time and effort in completing this survey are greatly appreciated!

Prom Is Coming Soon

Juniors and Seniors, you’ve got a few days left to purchase prom tickets! Prom will be held at Marina Inn Grande Dunes on Friday, April 12, and the deadline to purchase tickets is Friday, April 5. Don’t miss your opportunity to be a part of this special evening. Buy your prom tickets now!

Upcoming Calendar Dates

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3/29/2024- 3rd Quarter Report Cards Issued

3/29/2024- Good Friday (Schools Closed for Spring Break) through 4/5/2024

Attendance Make-up Days for 1st Semester

New Makeup Days for 1st Semester Attendance

Students who received FA's on your report card, admin has added additional days for makeup time. If you have questions, be sure to see Mrs. Zirkelbach.

Attendance Recovery Add-On Dates—Room E204

*One Hour= One Class Period.

April 9 (3:30-5:30pm) April 20 (8:00 am- 11:00 am)
April 10 (3:30-5:30pm)
April 11 (3:30-5:30pm)
April 16 (3:30-5:30pm)
April 17 (3:30-5:30pm)
April 18 (3:30-5:30pm)
April 23 (3:30-5:30pm)

April 24 (3:30-5:30pm)
April 25 (3:30-5:30pm)
April 30 (3:30-5:30pm)

A Note From Guidance

Seniors and parents:

Mrs. Tubbs has sent out an updated scholarship list to students. The link is included below also.

Scholarship Link

As we are preparing for the end of the year, we need to compile a list of all seniors who have been awarded scholarships and/or money from the colleges or organizations. We do this to calculate grand total of scholarship earnings from SJH graduating class.

Please use the following google form: https://forms.gle/BXZ2T3QdYmZu2fC87

You will need to complete this form MULTIPLE TIMES for each scholarship that you have been awarded.

Please report EVERY SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED OR MONEY OFFERED FROM COLLEGES (even if you do not plan on attending that college).

DO NOT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

Money received from FAFSA: Pell Grant, SC Grant, Financial Aid, Life, Hope or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship

Underclassmen and parents:

We are still scheduling underclassmen IGP conferences. If you have not scheduled your meeting you are not too late. In these meetings we will discuss plans after high school and course selections for next school year. We would love for you to come in and meet with us. Please contact your child’s counselor to get this scheduled.

Third year students and a select group of seniors who will be taking the South Carolina Career Readiness Assessments – WIN – will be bringing home a flyer that provides additional details about the upcoming Assessments. Testing will begin Monday, March 25th. Specific details regarding test date and location for students will be emailed shortly. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Wood or Ms. Pezzuti in Guidance.

Testing look ahead:

WIN March 25

This is for all 3rd year students and some selected seniors.

EOC April 24 English 2 Field Test

May 16 English 2 Writing

May 23 US History

May 24 Biology

May 28 English 2 Reading

May 29 Algebra 1

Career Fair for Juniors & Seniors

Senator Lindsey Graham requests your help inviting South Carolina students to attend the 2024 Academy Day. Academy Day is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn more about academy nominations, talk with representatives from various military academies, form new connections, and speak to current cadets and midshipmen.

Graduation 2024

Students graduating are guaranteed 6 tickets. Extra tickets may be requested starting April 8th.

Additional tickets are not guaranteed but simply a request. We try to accommodate everyone the best as possible. We will not know how many extra tickets we will have until senior grades are finalized. Students will get tickets the day of graduation practice at the HTC center. We try to accommodate their needs but we need to be fair to everyone. Simply call the school, 843-650-5600, and speak to the receptionist to request extra tickets. Tickets should be requested under the students' name.

For questions or information concerning seniors:

Yearbooks and Senior Ads- Jerry Moore

Graduation Supplies- Caps, Gowns, Class Rings- Ms. Best

Graduation Ceremony, Practice, Honors Cords, General Graduation Questions - Mr. Wortley/Mrs. McCune

Prom 2024- Important Information

Prom Policy 2024

Prom Guest Form

Early Pick Up

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If you plan to pick your student up early or your student will drive off campus early, please send a note with your student to be turned in before school starts at the Welcome Desk. We will verify the note and give your student a pass to meet you or leave at the appropriate time. Sending a note cuts down on class interruptions. Unfortunately, we cannot accept phone calls or emails to dismiss students. We appreciate your help.

Driving On Campus

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Parents should always use the front entrance to pick students up for early dismissal. Additionally, we ask that you follow the traffic pattern set forth by SJH. Please do not move cones, go around cones or make unsafe decisions to shorten your time on campus. Please help us keep our students safe by following our traffic patterns.