Blue Demon Bulletin

September 15 marked the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. The celebration will continue through October 15. Americans celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by appreciating the community's history, heritage, and contributions of the ancestors of American citizens who came from Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean, and South and Central America.

September 15 is set as the starting date for the month as it is important for many reasons. It is the independence anniversary for Latin American countries El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras.

From there onwards, the independence days of Mexico and Chile fall on September 16 and September 18 respectively. Dia de la Raza also falls within this month on October 12.

September 16 - Kevin Hines School Wide Assembly - Suicide Prevention

September 17 - Senior Family Meeting in Cafeteria (6:00 - 7:00 pm)

September 19 - 10th Grade Hearing and Vision Screenings (Throughout the school day)

September 20 - Underclassman Pictures in Gymnasium (Throughout the school day)

September 23 - September 28 - HOMECOMING WEEK

September 25 - Homecoming Parade in Downtown Christiansburg (7:00 pm)

September 27 - Homecoming Football Game vs. Pulaski (7:00 pm)

September 28 - Homecoming Dance in CHS Gymnasium (7:00 pm - 10:00 pm)

September 30 - October 4 - College Application Week

October 8 - PSAT's in Auditorium

October 9 - CHS Club Day

October 9 - Driver's Education Night for Students & Families in Auditorium (6:30 pm)

October 11 - End of Q1 Grading Period

Some of our students are still in need of their meningitis ACWY vaccine prior to November 11, 2024. If your student is a part of this group, you will be receiving a mailed letter, caller, and email reminding you of this requirement.

Virginia state law allows schools to conditionally enroll students with vaccine deficiencies if they have written proof of at least one dose of each required vaccine and a schedule for completing the required doses within 90 days of the first day of school. However, this law requires that students who do not complete the required vaccines within the first 90 days must be excluded from school until vaccines are resumed.

The 90 day conditional enrollment will end on November 11. If you have additional questions , please feel free to contact the CHS Counseling Office or Nurse Karen Bowman at 540-382-5186.

It is extremely important that your student be present each day at school. If your child is not able to attend school, it is required that a parent or guardian contact the school to document the reason for the absence.

Any absence will count towards your student’s compulsory attendance. If your student should miss five days of school, please expect contact from your student’s grade level administrator. Should your student miss additional days of school, please expect contact from your child’s administrator and a meeting request to develop an attendance plan for your child.

It is also important to remember the impact of tardies on your student's success at CHS! If your student checks-in or is late to class, this will count as a tardy. The accumulation of four tardies will result in your child being assigned lunch detention. Your child will also receive lunch detention upon their 5th, 6th, and 7th tardy to a single class. Upon their 8th tardy, the student will be assigned one full day of ISS.

MCPS Attendance Flier (link)

At CHS, we are placing an increased emphasis on daily attendance and are working with local businesses to honor those students who are H.E.R.O.'s (Here Everyday Ready On-Time)!!!

Take a look at our most recent winners and the local businesses that are supporting our cause!

H.E.R.O. Award Winners (link)

The CHS Mentor Program is looking for 9th and 10th graders to join as mentees! We have a lot of 11th and 12th graders that would love to help out our younger students at CHS! The CHS mentor program pairs mentees (9th-10th graders) with mentors (10th-12th graders) in order to help support students and create a welcoming environment at CHS. Mentors and mentees communicate with each other throughout the year and can also attend mentor program events at CHS. Anyone is welcome to join!

CHS Mentor Program Flier (link)

For the week of September 23 - 27, CHS will be celebrating "Homecoming Week" by having spirit themes for each day of the week. A friendly reminder that all outfits will still need to meet dress expectations. Students may not wear masks or cover their face.

Spirit Week Theme - "Welcome to the Jungle"

Monday - Hoco Safari Tour (Dress as a Safari Tour Guide or Favorite Jungle Animal)

Tuesday - Jungle Color Craziness (9th - White, 10th - Red, 11th - Pink, 12th - Black)

Wednesday - Wild Wednesday (Animal Print)

Thursday - Jungle Camo Day

Friday - Welcome to the Demon Den (Wear your BLUE & GOLD)

HOCO Themes (link)

The CHS Homecoming Dance will be held on Saturday, September 28. Please refer to the attached flier for more details!

Tickets sales will take place every Wednesday during lunch until September 25. Tickets will also be sold on Friday, September 27 during lunches. If your student is planning to bring a guest, those forms will be available at the ticket sales table and/or the CHS Main Office.

Hearing and vision screenings will take place for our 10th grade students on Thursday, September 19. Students will be called down throughout the day to complete these screenings. If you have any questions, please contact Nurse Karen Bowman at (540) 382-5178.

Even though our 2024-25 school year has just started, we are already preparing for some very important items and dates for our Class of 2025! Please take an opportunity to review those items below:

Scholarship Information (link)

Class of 2025 Class Meeting - Scroll to Slide 31 (link)

Class of 2025 Senior Information (link)

Class of 2025 Newsletter (link)

IMPORTANT DATES:

October 14 - Jostens Senior Graduation Meeting (Graduation Orders discussed)

October 31 - Jostens Graduation Orders Due

November 6 - Senior Picture Retakes

April 16 - Jostens Graduation Order Delivery to CHS

If you would like to attend any of our Fall sporting events (Cheer, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Volleyball), please click on the following link to view all the schedules for the 2024 Fall season.

River Ridge District Schedules - Christiansburg (link)

If you have any questions regarding the CHS Athletic Department, please contact Mike Hunter at mikehunter@mcps.org.

Christiansburg High School offers opportunities for students, families, and community members to follow us on various social media outlets. Please take an opportunity to review the attached flier and start following us to receive important updates about our school and students.

FOLLOW US Flier (link)

If your student is enrolled in Driver's Education for the 2024-25 school year (Semester 1, Semester 2, or Full Year), there is a driver's education course requirement that every student and family must complete. All students enrolled in Classroom Driver's Education must attend a 90 minute Parent/Teen Driver Education meeting outside of class time. Parents are highly encouraged to attend with their teen. However, parents may opt out of attending this meeting. If parents choose to opt out, they must complete the parent opt out for PRIOR to their child attending a meeting. Students are required to attend and meeting with a parent or with their parent's completed opt out form.

Each family will be receiving a more detailed hard copy letter in the mail regarding the Parent/Teen Driver Education Night, but there is also a copy linked below. Please note that if you are unable to attend the meeting at Christiansburg High School on October 9, the letter specifies the dates at each of the other high schools (Blacksburg, Auburn, and Eastern Montgomery) that you can attend if needed.

If you have any questions, please contact Kelley Sutphin @ ksutphin@mcps.org

2024-25 Driver's Education Parent/Teen Letter (link)

2024-25 Driver's Education Parent OPT OUT Form (link)

2024-25 MCPS Driver's Education Info Flier (link)