Weekly Update #8
September 8, 2024
Mission and Vision
Our Declarations:
- ALL STUDENTS WILL FEEL SAFE AT SCHOOL
- ALL STUDENTS WILL BE TREATED WITH RESPECT
- ALL STUDENTS WILL LEARN AT HIGH LEVELS
- WE WILL EDUCATE STUDENT BY STUDENT, SKILL BY SKILL
- ALL STUDENTS WILL ENHANCE THEIR SPARK TO THRIVE AS LIFELONG LEARNERS
- WE ALL WILL IMPROVE EACH DAY
- WELL-BEING MATTERS FOR EVERYBODY IN OUR COMMUNITY
MISSION
All CGUHSD students will graduate College or Career Ready.
For a more detailed accounting of our commitments to our community and students, please click here.
Hello Cougars...It appears the weather may be cooling down just a bit, finally. I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend. Students do not need to come to school on Friday, Sept 13 as it is a Staff Inservice Day. On Tuesday evening we will hold a community forum with law enforcement, students, staff, and community members to discuss our collective values and acceptable behaviors on our campus. The forum will be on Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024 at 6pm. Additionally, we will be starting Tutoring on Sept 9. The schedule is pictured to the Right. Please, check out our kindness wall......students, staff, and parents can give shoutouts of positivity to one another here and it will be displayed for all to see! This will go through a filter / approval process. You never know how a positive word can positively impact another person. Please click here to participate.
Some of the information below is new, however, there is also new information included weekly, so PLEASE take the time to read through the newsletter every week; I send them out on Sundays.
- Student parking and Parent Drop Off / Pick-up - STUDENTS AND PARENTS PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE. STUDENTS, YOU MAY BE FINED FOR A FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH OUR PROCESS.
Please check out my podcast interview with JROTC Leader Savanah Halbert here. Great job Savanah! There are 2 issues we are working to address that have been ongoing at our campus: 1. Tardiness 2. Dress Code.
Tardniness UPDATE: This past week we started to send students who are late to first period to SWEEP. SWEEP means that students go to a separate classroom from their assigned class and are assigned an Y in the attendance portion of PowerSchool. Some parents and students have asked, "Why are you guys doing this?". The answer is simple, last semester alone we had 30,000 (yes, 30,000) tardies. 30,000 in 90 days, an average of over 330 a day! Students and parents, the good news is that our Cougars are responding and responding well. Every day fewer and fewer students are being sent to sweep. It is important that students are on time and ready to learn when class starts. We open the gates out front and at the buses at 7:15, if you need to be early to avoid being late, there is plenty of opportunity for that.
Additionally, we will do random SWEEPS throughout the week and school day, meaning that if students are tardy to class, they will go to SWEEP instead of class. We have got to get students to class on time. As we roll out our Renaissance Rewards program right before Fall Break we will be putting rewards into place to thank those students who are doing what must be done. Don't be late, you'll miss something great!
Dress Code: We are still having a number of students come to school out of dress code. Please familiarize yourself with the criteria required by our governing board for students to be in compliance with the dress code. You can find information on student expectations here. The process is as follows:
1. Students will receive an email from Mr Raymond's office, Ms. Mendoza, notifying them that they have been dress coded and the number of strikes they have.
- Once a student reaches strike three, they will be given IFS (intervention for success) the following day.
- Consequences will increase with each violation up OSS.
- Dress code violations will reset at the end of the semester.
- I humbly ask for the opportunity to earn your trust. You will always receive accurate, honest, timely, and concise information from me. I have created a "Back To School"website where you can get a lot of important information. Parking, schedule changes, etc can all be found here. Additionally, you can listen to past episodes of our Podcast, "The Consummate Cat" here. We will be doing student interviews at least once per month. If you are a student and are interested in being featured on our podcast and being interviewed, please click here to complete the Interest Form.
- Our administrative team met with all students on campus. We have reviewed our behavioral expectations; however, below is a summary of what we will / have reviewed and a link to the presentation is here:
- Personal Electronic Devices
- Off and away during class time, including if leaving the classroom to use the restroom or go to the office.
- Hall passes. Security has been directed to inquire with students who are out of class and ask to view their pass. Please help us with this by ensuring you are in compliance with having a pass.
- Restroom
- Office/Counselor/Teacher/etc.
- Nurse
- Be the Three
- Respectful, Responsible, Reliable
- Fighting / Vaping - Please see district policy, violations may result in short-term suspension (1-10 days out of school), Long-term suspension (a hearing with up to 365 day suspension), and applicable criminal charges as they may apply.
As this semester continues to move forward, there are a number of important items that I want to share. Please remember that , Mr. Raymond ( Student Discipline), Mrs. Telles (Climate / Culture), Mr. Robbins (Athletics / Activities), and Dr. Gardner (Academics) and I remain available to assist you in any way that we can.
Protect the Den!
Dr. Chris Lineberry
Principal
Casa Grande Union High School
CHALLENGES
We face and a few challenges as we begin the school year. I still see two major challenges as we approach the beginning of our second week of school: incoming metal detectors and student drop off / pick-up.
Magnetometers (Metal Detectors)
We have purchased 4 metal detectors that are being utilized on our campus. We began using these on Wednesday, Aug 8. Thus far, we have had a very smooth and successful experience and I would like to say thank you to ALL of our students and parents for arriving a bit earlier and for your cooperation with this new process. It is going to take some time to work through the process of getting everyone through in a timely fashion. STUDENTS AND PARENTS WE NEED YOUR CONTINUED HELP WITH THIS. Students, you will need to pass your laptops to security as you walk through the detectors. Nothing else needs to come out of your bags. We will have much more in depth discussion and training for our students once school begins. This process will be starting next week......STUDENTS WHO DRIVE, and who are DROPPED OFF, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU ARRIVE EARLY, OTHERWISE WE WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT BACK UP AT THE GATE.
Moving Forward:
1. Counselors are very busy meeting with students right now. All counselors will begin to meet with all students in order to discuss the creation of their "4 year Plan", a plan designed to help them know what needs to be done in order to graduate and how they intend to achieve this goal.
