February News

Midterms are in the books and it’s crazy to think that we are more than halfway through the school year already. We have a lot going on in February with our Soup-er Bowl competition last week and Random Acts of Kindness Day coming up on Thursday before the break. Throw in our winter sports teams heading into sectionals and the debut of our Once Upon a Mattress musical getting closer, there are a lot of great things going on at the high school!

As we get into March, we'll also be having students make their preliminary course selections for the 2025-26 school year. For more information about that please be sure to read the Counseling Office Update section. Check out all that and more in our newsletter below.

Respectfully,

Dr. Whipple & Ms. Greibus

Check out the many things our students have done this past month that make us Gananda PROUD!

On Saturday, February 1st, students from grades 7-12 participated in the Wayne County Music Educators Association All-County Band auditions held at Newark High School. Each student was required to memorize scales, perform two prepared excerpts, and complete a short section of sight-reading. They performed in front of trained adjudicators who rated them across seven categories. Competing in this event demands significant courage, dedication, and hard work.

Congratulations to the following students who earned a spot in this year’s WCMEA All-County Band, which will take place March 14th-15th at Pal-Mac High School:

Sr. High All-County Band Members:

• Claire D. - Clarinet
• Joscelyn E. - Bari Sax
• Cadence S. - Trumpet
• Logan P. - Trombone

Please join us in congratulating these students for their outstanding achievements!

Students, staff, and parents help build the set for next month’s performances of “Once Upon a Mattress,” a musical retelling of “The Princess and the Pea” fairytale.

Check out Mrs. Swartout's Python Programming class using Minecraft to apply their coding skills.

Thank you to Mrs. Peterson and the Citizens of the World club for organizing the Soup-er Bowl activities throughout last week. We collected over 400 items for the Backpack Program, with Mr. Ward's Advisement class bringing in 150 items themselves! Students also had different competitions they could participate in during Advisement, one of which was the Spaghetti Tower challenge. See some of the impressive builds below!

Great job to Ian, Jesse, Nina and Angelina for earning the January Student of Month award! They have done a great job exhibiting our PROUD behaviors!

• Team 9 stated Jesse has been outstanding, proving to be a great friend and excellent in fulfilling his responsibilities.

• Team 10 has selected Nina as the student of the month. Nina is an incredibly driven student who works very hard in class. Outstanding effort, Nina!
• Team 11 has selected Angelina as our Student of the Month. Angelina's unity was recently recognized by a few staff members who witnessed her taking it upon herself to welcome a new student to the building. Beyond her kindness and authenticity, the respect and drive that Angelina shows in the classroom is equally notable.
• The 12th grade team would like to honor Ian as our student of the month. Ian is driven to stay on task and actively participates in keeping the learning environment moving forward during classes. Ian is also respectful and consistently engaged in pleasant, productive conversations. Congratulations Ian!

Course Selections for 2025-26

Hard to believe, but it's already time for students to make their course selections for next school year. Please see the updated Course Description Guide for the 2025-26 school year here. This has also been posted on the HS website. We'll be meeting with each grade level during Advisement the week of March 3rd so they can make their course selections for next year in SchoolTool. We encourage you to look at the the course guide with your student and have discussions on what courses and electives they should be considering. As a reminder, a full course load for 9-11th graders is at least 6.5 credits and 5.5 credits for 12th graders. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your student's counselor.

FLCC Gemini Program

Spring FLCC Gemini Registration is underway for students taking Health, Spanish 4 and 5, French 4 and 5, and Chemistry. Students will complete the online registration. Students will need to complete a payment form and return it to the Counseling Office by 2/14.

Students earn high school and college credit simultaneously. Qualified high school teachers are approved by FLCC to deliver the college course in their school. When registering and paying for courses, a $7 per credit hour student fee will be due. One three credit course costs a high school student $21.00 or no cost for students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

As a student in the Gemini program, you are considered an FLCC student. This gives you access to valuable services such as FLCC’s online library resources. The college credits you earn can be applied to an FLCC degree, or you can transfer the credits to another college or university.

Other News & Notes

Freshman will be working with Mrs. Marang in Xello Career Readiness Software to review and complete the following career lessons; About Me: Matchmaker, Learning Styles and Personality Styles. Students will begin creating a New York State Career Plan and will be following up with one-on-one meetings with their School Counselor.

10th graders attended a field trip to WTCC to explore various trade options.

Looking ahead, Juniors will have multiple opportunities to engage in career planning events. They will attend the National College Fair in Rochester on March 17th. In the spring, we’ll also group students based on their post-high school goals to provide targeted support tailored to each pathway. More details to come as we get closer to that date!

To qualify for scholarships through Gananda Dollars for Scholars, please remember a total of 20 volunteer hours is required, with at least 5 hours specifically dedicated to GDFS events. Volunteer logs are available in the Counseling Office.

MASH Camp: Registered 7-10th graders will be attending their second session of MASH Camp on February 14. It is a half day of school for students and they will be spending the afternoon learning more about skills and opportunities related to the healthcare profession. We are excited to be offering this opportunity through our partnership with the WNY Area Health Education Center.

On February 11, nine junior and senior athletes will attend the first of 6 sessions of SWAG Camp. SWAG Camp is designed to provide a series of health professions career exposure training opportunities to interested upperclassmen. We are excited to be offering this opportunity through our partnership with the WNY Area Health Education Center.

ACCES VR will be meeting with juniors who may be potentially eligible for their services on February 25.

Absences need to be reported to the school health office by the parent/guardian of the student. This may be done so online by completing this form.

Please continue to remind your child/children that they need to be in class by 7:30am. As we progress further into the school year, and now with the winter weather, we often see an increase in tardies to school. If your child is making a stop to Dunkin' or Starbucks on their way in to school, please remind them to build in enough time to make those stops so they are not late to school. We appreciate your support in helping to reinforce the importance of punctuality!

Please note that after 4 unexcused tardies in a marking period, contact home will be made, and students will be assigned consequences starting with lunch detention and/or after school detention.

The 2024-2025 District Calendar and Building Events Calendar are posted to the Gananda Central School District Website. In addition, the Instructional Color Day Calendar and Block Schedule for our building can be found on the RACHS website under Our School/HS Information HUB.

You can also click on the buttons below that will take you directly to the Instructional Calendar and Daily Schedules.

The district uses ParentSquare as its main communication tool for getting information to parents. District newsletters, emergency communication, and Gananda Central School District event news, as well as classroom news and updates will be communicated through ParentSquare. Families can download the ParentSquare app to their smartphone for ease of use.

If you have not received an invitation to join ParentSquare, please contact the HS main office.

Dr. Christopher J. Whipple, Principal

cwhipple@gananda.org

Ms. Mairi Greibus, Assistant Principal

mgreibus@gananda.org

(315) 986-3521, 8, 3154