Newsletter

Hello Pella High School Students and Families,

Our students are absolutely crushing it this Fall! We have had a great first quarter of school with much success in activities, athletics, and most importantly, in the classrooms. We will host a Fall celebration assembly on Friday to recognize the hard work and dedication that our students and staff continue to put forth in all aspects at Pella High School. On Thursday and Saturday this week, come see our students perform in the Fall musical, Freaky Friday!

Thank you!

Josh Manning, Principal

Derek Schulte, Assistant Principal

Matt Fouch, Activities Director

WHEN: 6:30-7:30 on November 4

WHERE: High School Commons

Wondering about the Apprenticeship Program? Do you want to learn how students can get paid to learn on-the-job skills while earning high school credit? Come find out more at the Work-Based Learning Information night in the Pella High Commons on November 4, 2024, from 6:30 - 7:30 pm. You will learn about the programs offered and hear personal experiences from employers and participating students. Interested students and parents are encouraged to attend.

Programs offered:

• Construction Trades (apprenticeship)

• Hospitality/Culinary Arts (apprenticeship)

• Manufacturing Experience (apprenticeship)

• Manufacturing Technologies (apprenticeship)

• Patient Care (apprenticeship)

• Welding (apprenticeship)

• Early Childhood Education (job placement)

• Information Technology (certificate)

Click HERE to learn more about our work-based learning programs.

We will be celebrating our fall activities with an assembly on Friday, November 8th at 9:33 am. Our modified schedule for the day:

We are excited to invite our families once again to our Future Ready Conferences in November. Your students will have the opportunity to show their families how they are leading their learning and blazing their paths during this conference. You should have received an email this week from your student’s iLead Teacher with details about the conference evenings on November 12 nad 19 and an opportunity to sign up for a time slot with your student and iLead teacher. Please check your email for that letter!

Please encourage your students to complete the preparation work for their Future Ready Conferences (FRCs). The more thought and intention they put into their iLead assignments, the more fruitful their FRC will be! We want students to own their career exploration and future academic planning, but they might need a little nudging!

WHAT are Future Ready Conferences? Students, parents, and iLead teachers will meet in small groups to discuss:

• Class selections for the following school year and four-year plans

• Navigator interest, career, and skill survey results

• Future Ready iLead tasks

• Specific tasks for seniors

WHEN? November 12 or 19, 2024

WHERE? Pella High School

WHY? The Department of Education asks that schools include parents in their students' ICAP (Individual Career and Academic Plan). We are aiming for 100 percent attendance. If you are unable to attend on the 12th or 19th, you will be contacted to attend at a later date. These two nights will also allow time for parents to check in with all teachers about their students’ grades, like typical conferences in the past. Please see the nights’ schedules below.

To sign up for your student's FRC, look for an email and link from your student's iLead teacher!

Our senior release policy states that any senior who has an F at midterm will lose senior release privileges and will be assigned to iStudy during free periods for the next three weeks to allow those students the opportunity to work on improving their grades. If during those three weeks a student provides his or her iStudy instructor with a grade report signed by the teacher showing a passing grade, senior release privileges will be restored. If you have questions about senior release, please contact Mr. Manning or Mr. Schulte.

Will students still get to opt out of a final first semester? Yes, students that are proficient and/or show growth on the spring ISASP tests will be able to opt-out from a semester final of their choice. This is not a class-wide opt-out like it was in the past; it is based on the individual student’s score.

Finals will take place the week before winter break on December 18, 19, and 20. The schedule for the exams may be found below:

Suzi Jones, current teacher and theatre director at Pella High School is the newest member of the Iowa Thespian Hall of Fame! Jones will be inducted during the annual Iowa Thespian Festival in November, on the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) campus. She will be honored for her significant contributions of time, talents, and service to Iowa Thespians and for advancing the mission of theatre education, joining an esteemed group of individuals. Including Jones, only 35 individuals have been inducted into the Iowa Thespian Hall of Fame, beginning in⁠
1995. Congratulations, Suzi!

The 2024 Duchess won Yearbook of the Year in their class from the Iowa High School Association. Members of the yearbook staff also won 31 individual awards. Congratulations to our students and Mrs. Blanton!

Five students represented Pella High School at the West Central Regional Special Olympics Bowling Event in Pleasant Hill. Christine Rozendaal, Sarah Diers, Cayla Garland and Teah Hugen placed first in their respective age categories and now have the opportunity to compete in the Iowa Special Olympic State Bowling event in November. Micah Nunnikhoven also scored a second place finish. Congratulations to our athletes!

Pella High School students collaborated with Pella Regional Hospital and Pella Christian High School to raise money and awareness for the Pella in Pink campaign. Students from both schools sold t-shirts and made cash donations that totaled $2,481.75!

Ag 1 students at the high school have the opportunity to work on a one acre sheep farm that is rented by our FFA program. Students visit the farm three times a week for 8-10 weeks to participate in vet assistant labs.

A few students share their thoughts about the sheep farm:

"The sheep farm project allows students to learn all sorts of things ranging from parts of the animal and how to treat them to handling them and catching them. The bus ride out is very short, about six minutes and we get back about five minutes before the bell rings allowing plenty of time for students to get their stuff and reach their next class. Every time we go out to the farm we learn something new or practice something we have learned already in class, keeping most students who haven’t done this kind of thing on their toes. The sheep can be a bit temperamental and not listen but getting them under control isn’t hard seeing as they're only about ninety pounds and easy to move." ~ Aaron Fisher

"The FFA sheep farm is a very hands-on experience that helps you gain more experience with livestock. And you learn lots of vital things to take care of livestock. Learning to rump and dretch was very easy and quick and helped us get more comfortable with the sheep. Learning to take care of sheep was different than cattle but fun. And having time to feed helps alot with time management and responsibility." ~ Garret Terborg

"When I was Beginning Ag I didn’t know what to expect, and I didn't know If I would like it until I heard we had a sheep unit during class. During my time taking care of the sheep I learned how to Rump, dretch, and other things about sheep I never knew before. My favorite part of this unit was "Rumping" the sheep. I thought it was pretty cool to know that I can do this trick to take down a sheep. This hands on experience changed my point of view because now I know the things a farmer has to do to their animals, and if the have diseases how to take care of and nurture the animals. What surprised me during this experience was how high they jumped when my class and I were trying to capture the sheep, so we could work on them. They jumped over our arms, and they can jump high!" ~ Riker Branderhorst

Annually Mahaska Bottling gives back to our schools, and this year the amount was $7500. We are grateful for their partnership and generosity.

November

4 - Work-Based Learning Night @ 6:30 in the High School Cafeteria

6 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

12 - HS FRC and Parent/Teacher Conferences 4:30-8:00

13 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

19 - 12 week grade check

19 - HS FRC and Parent/Teacher Conferences 4:30-8:00

20 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

27 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

28 & 29 - No School -- Thanksgiving Break

December

4 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

10 - 15 week grade check

11 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

20 - 90-Minute Early Dismissal

20 - End 2nd Quarter - Start of Winter Break

January

3 - Teacher Work Day - Semester Grades DUE @ Noon

6 - Classes Resume - Begin 2nd Semester

8 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

15 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

20 - No School -MLK Day

29 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

Please continue to check the Senior Bulletin for important dates for seniors and for local scholarship opportunities; the bulletin can be found on our school’s web page under the ‘Counseling’ link.

If you need an official transcript sent to an educational institution, you must submit a request. Transcript Request Form

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Website

www.pellaschools.org