Weekly Update December 6th

As we approach the final two weeks before winter break, I want to express my gratitude for the effort, energy, and spirit that our students, staff, and families bring to our school community every day. This is a time of year filled with both reflection and celebration, and I encourage everyone to finish strong while taking moments to appreciate the journey.

Let’s work together to ensure our students remain focused and engaged as we wrap up this semester. Your partnership is invaluable in helping us maintain a positive and productive environment for learning and growth.

Check the table of contents each week to make sure you are not missing any important information. Pay special attention to the Winter Intersession section if your student is looking to boost a grade or retrieve some credits this Winter Break.

Seniors, review the senior section below! You have deadlines approaching all the time and it is easy to get confused. Use the "Senior Section - Class of 2025 Info" section in this update to keep up to

Upcoming Dates and Deadlines

• December 12th - Winter Wonderland, Festival, and Tree Lighting (see below)
• December 23rd-January 10th - Winter Break

Have a wonderful weekend, Eagles!

Sincerely,

Your Principal, Zach Mercier

Lancaster High School invites you to our annual Winter Wonderland, Festival, and Tree Lighting. This event is for all our students, their siblings, and our community. Come join us at 5:45 for the tree lighting, which then rolls right into our Winter Wonderland and Festival. We kindly ask for a $5 donation to help support our program. There will be club rush events with plenty of snacks/food so bring the entire family!

Where: Lancaster High School (in front of school for tree lighting and by student entrance for Wonderland and Festival)

When: December 12th (Tree Lighting at 5:45pm and Winter Wonderland & Festival 6pm-8pm)

Entry: $5 Donation

Next week will be intersession sign ups. Intersession WILL FILL UP and will be first-come-first-serve. Make sure you have your eye out for the Winter Intersession Sign Up email so you do not miss out.

There are two types of Intersessions that students can participate in:

Credit Recovery Intersession

Credit recovery Intersession is for making up failed classes that have already been taken or to raise a D grade to a C grade of completed classes that you are no longer in. Sign-ups will be first-come-first-serve next week.

Grade Boost Winter Intersession

This intersession is held on a teacher-by-teacher case and individual teachers will set up the expectations and schedules to receive a grade boost of a 1st-semester class. If your student is interested, have your student ask their teachers if their teacher will be holding a grade boost winter intersession and have your student sign up with the teacher directly. As this is not a requirement and only a supplement, not all teachers will be hosting a Winter Intersession and availability is dependent on the teachers who are hosting. There may be a virtual component and a live comment, which will be at the discretion of the teacher.

• This intersession will require the ability to be available to work during the entire break or until the grades/credits are earned.
  
• Intersession will be virtual and hours will be at teacher's discretion determined by the course and curriculum.
• Students will be dropped if they do not contact or check in with the teacher on day 1.
• Independent Study and OSC students will continue to work with their teachers over the break and do not need to sign up.
• STUDENTS MUST CHECK THEIR SCHOOL EMAIL and contact the teacher throughout the Winter Intersession. All enrollments will be through the student email account. STUDENTS MUST CHECK THEIR EMAIL.

We have tutoring for most subjects daily, including Math, Bio, Chem, Spanish, ESS, English Language, and general tutoring. Each day there will be 8 tutors!

Tutoring will have a check in-check out system so parents, teachers, and coaches may monitor their student's attendance (some teacher's allow extra credit for tutoring). Space is limited each morning, so make sure your student is on time and goes directly to the library for tutoring.

Do you need writing assistance? Come to our after school writing lab! See info below.

Did you know that your student has LIVE 24 HOUR FREE tutoring available in your student's PowerSchool? Our district has partnered with Princeton Review to provide every student with this amazing service. Your student can be connected with a tutor in any subject any time of the day, for FREE. These are not videos, they are live, vetted, tutors. Think of Uber, but for tutoring! The tutors will even edit papers for your student with less than a 24 hour turn-a-round period.

The easiest way to access this free, live, virtual tutoring, is to:

• Have your student log into their Power School (it helps if you log into google first)
• Look on the left side of the screen and find the "Homework Help" button
• It will prompt you to log into Google with your student account if have not already
• Click on the button for tutoring
• Answer the questions and you will be directed to a liver tutor virtually

You can pick up your Saturday School form from the Activities office or download it below (bring the form, signed by parent, with you to receive Saturday School credit).

The 2025 yearbook is currently on sale for the lowest price of the year! For only $75+ tax, you can get your piece of LNHS history. We're one of the only Yearbooks around that is entirely student made and designed: We design the cover, the layouts, even our own clipart. Everything you see inside was created and conceptualized by the students!

To order, please contact Ms. Mendoza in accounting, go to the LNHS Student Store or order directly from Jostens. If you want to have your yearbook personalized, you need to order it from Jostens.

The price of the book is $75 and will be the ONE THING all students keep forever (and will show their future kids).

Please email Mr. Griffey at jgriffey@avhsd.org with questions!

Every Tuesday, our ASB produces its "EagleVision" broadcast. This is a great place to find out what is happening across our campus. These videos will be featured on our weekly update after being shown to our students each Tuesday.

Join our Social Media to follow Athletics and Activities!

Instagram - @lancaster.hs

Facebook - @lancasterhs

Also, weekly we provide a "Temperature Check" or "Temp Check," as we call it. These are weekly discussions and challenges for our students. Our goal is to create positive habits and positive attitudes... or as we call it, positive habitudes!

Check out the L28 News video at the 10:30 mark to see a report on Lancaster High School's new Talon Tech Arena (Advanced Manufacturing and eSports Lab).

As many of you are aware, we opened up the "LnHS Talon Tech Arena" recently. This complex next to the student entrance has been many things over the years; home ec lab, security, academy space, testing room, art room, etc. It is now home to three of the district's premier programs: Esports, Cyber Security, Advanced Manufacturing & Composites.

Composites World, an international industry publication, ran a story about it.

"AVUHSD has unveiled the Lancaster High School Advanced Manufacturing and Composites Lab, a state-of-the-art 2,600-square-foot facility completed in August 2024. Situated at Lancaster High School (LnHS), the new lab represents AVUHSD’s commitment to preparing students for advanced manufacturing and engineering careers, bolstering the district's reputation as a key player in nurturing local talent for Aerospace Valley’s dynamic workforce needs."

https://www.compositesworld.com/news/antelope-valley-school-district-launches-second-composites-lab-at-lancaster-high

Art is on display once again in the gallery upstairs. This week includes pieces from Art 2!

Students experimented with colorful mediums (oil pastels and watercolor) and included them in their still life drawings. The goal was to create highlights, shadows, and mix unique colors while displaying any three items of their choice.

Please enjoy this month's Eagle Robotics Team 399 newsletter.

Josten's is the home for all your Class of 2025 Senior Needs! CLICK HERE to purchase your senior items. DEADLINES ARE APPROACHING and will get here faster than you can imagine, so do not hesitate.

• Yearbook
• Cap/Gown
• Class of 2025 Swag
• Class Ring
• Letterman's Jacket
• Senior Graduation Packages

Hey Seniors and Parents of Seniors!

We just counted and we have around 22 full yearbook pages left for parent recognition ads. We know this costs some money, but don't miss out on this opportunity to honor your graduating child in the one thing all people keep, the yearbook.

The deadline to purchase isn't until January, but the earlier they get purchased, the better our accuracy on page count, etc. for the overall book.

Please consider purchasing an ad today, using the attached flyer. Don't miss out! Please reach out if you have any questions!

Mr. Griffey

Yearbook Adviser

Lancaster High School

jgriffey@avhsd.org

Issaiah McCorvey capped off his historic Lancaster high school cross country career with a 6th place finish in the Boys Division 1 CIF State Cross Country Championships on Saturday 30NOV24 at Woodward Park in Fresno, California. Issaiah also received "2024 All State First Team" recognition in Division 1! Issaiah McCorvey became the 3rd Lancaster Eagle to compete in the State Meet and highest placing of the two previous athletes (Jace Kellogg - 13th in 2003 and Pedro Zaragoza - 26th in 2008). In his senior cross country season, Issaiah won 8 of the 11 races where he toed the start line, which included Golden League Finals, Extra Large Varsity race at Asics Clovis Invitational, Individual Sweepstakes at Mt. SAC Invitational and CIF Southern Section Preliminaries. He also finished 55th in the Sweepstakes race at Woodbridge Cross Country Classic against 275 of the fastest high school runners in the country and 3rd place at the CIF Southern Section Finals. At Woodbridge in September, Issaiah broke the 16 year old school 3-mile record with a time of 14:26.9 by 23 seconds and Saturday broke the 5K school record with a time of 15:15.9 by 9 seconds (both previously held by Pedro Zaragoza a 2009 Lancaster High School graduate).

Please reach out to your student's counselors if you have any guidance questions or concerns. See contact and scheduling info below.

To schedule a virtual appointment with a counselor please visit designated link below.

(Counselors are designated by last name. Please see alpha next to names to find your counselor)

Robert Parks (A-Ak & M&E Academy) (rdparks@avhsd.org) https://rdparks.youcanbook.me/

Monica Lomeli (Al-Ce) (mlomeli@avhsd.org) http://mlomeli.youcanbook.me

Kenneth Dakwa (Ch-Ga) (kdakwa@avhsd.org) https://kdakwa.youcanbook.me

Raelene Lewis (Ge-Ke) (rrlewis@avhsd.org) https://rrlewis.youcanbook.me

LaTanya Jones (Ki-Mo) (lajones@avhsd.org) https://lajones.youcanbook.me/

Debbie Penny (Mu-Ri) (dpenny@avhsd.org) https://debbiepenny.youcanbook.me

Christina Candelaria (Ro-Ti) (ccandelaria@avhsd.org) https://ccandelaria.youcanbook.me/

Melissa Vattioni (To-Z) (mvattioni@avhsd.org) https://mvattioni.youcanbook.me

*Please note that there is always a Counselor of the Day who is able to meet in person with a student and/or parent if their assigned counselor is not available.

Our district hosted Basketball Media Day for our students as we enter this upcoming Basketball season.

As always, safety and security is a top priority across the Antelope Valley Union High School District. It is with this in mind that we will not be able to allow students and/or parents/guardians to place food orders for delivery to our schools during the school day.

This practice not only causes a disruption to the school environment but also poses a potential security threat. As such, beginning immediately school staff will not accept any food deliveries, nor will delivery personnel be allowed onto our campuses. If your student does not bring a meal or snack, there are no-cost healthy options available in the cafeteria every day.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and your cooperation in keeping our school safe and secure. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mr. Santoyo at asantoyo@avhsd.org

Here are the daily bell schedules for this week. Flex Days this year are EVERY Tuesday.