Amazing Raider Families,
“I tell my story, not because it is unique, but because it is not. It is the story of many girls.” ~Malala Yousafzai~
As we continue to celebrate Women's History Month, it is important to emphasize this year's theme of “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.” In 2013, a movie titled Girl Rising was produced to showcase the lives of nine girls from developing countries and showcased how they overcame obstacles to be educated and change the trajectories of their lives. What stood out about these girls was the RESILIENCE they demonstrated so that they could receive education. Resilience is difficult to define; in short, resiliency is demonstrating competent living as a consequence of adaptation to significant challenges. Wadli, a 7-year old Haitian girl was featured in this movie. She lost her home and school after the devastating 2010 earthquake. But she was so determined to learn that she stood up and told the teacher she was not leaving school even if she could not afford the fees. This was a challenge in addition to the miles she had to walk to get to school. The Girl Rising Organization continues to promote the importance of educating girls. Another story that rang around the world was of Malala who grew up in a country where girls were not allowed to be educated. But her father risked every thing to make sure she and other girls learned to read and write. In 2012, she spoke up against the Taliban regime and was shot in the head. She survived that heinous attack and began the Malala Fund to help girls around the world achieve their dreams. For her work, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17. Many of us in the United States receives free public education for 12 years of our lives but many girls in most parts of the world are not even offered education at all. Lady Raiders, while this next please applies to all students, I am especially pleading with you to take the privilege of a free education seriously. Honor it, be grateful for it, and pursue your education to completion. I see some of you waste this opportunity by trying to take shortcuts, miss school or skip classes and/or take your free education for granted. I challenge you for the rest of the year, to take your classes seriously so that you, not only graduate, but also have better opportunities past high school.
Monday and Tuesday are Late Start Days
Families, a reminder that Monday and Tuesdays are late start days. First Bell rings at 9:15am.
Negative Student Behaviors
Students, it has come to my attention that we have had a rise in negative behaviors that are resulting in very serious discipline such as suspensions. Semester 2 started well with minimal incidents and now some of you are not showing kind and respectful behavior. This is not acceptable. Everything you do is a choice. At the end of my daily welcome, I encourage with this statement, "Choose to make today a great day." When you choose to harm someone, physically, emotionally, mentally and verbally, that is not choosing to make today a great day. So, this is a warning to those of you who want to display bad behavior. When you are caught, you will be given serious consequences that fit the bad behavior. For seniors, this could include you not participating in graduation or any other senior activities. It is my hope that you you show up everyday want to be the best version of yourself, being kind and respectful. Let's finish this quarter and semester strong.
SBAC Prep for 11th Graders March 24-27, 2025
Parents, we are offering SBAC preps for students who almost met the standards as an 8th graders. If your childe falls into that category, we will be calling your child to invite them to attend. Meeting the standards in the state test will designate that your child is college ready. The 11th grade scores, if deemed college ready, will be used by the CSU and UC college as part of the readiness criteria in college admission. Please support this effort by encouraging your child to attend.
Surveys to be Completed before Spring Break.
Families, we have two surveys that need to be completed before spring break. Please help us by completing each survey.
Adelante Mujer is April 19, 2025
Mothers and daughters, this is a great conference for you to attend together. Please read the flyer below and register.
Graduation Requirements for the Class of 2025
- California Grad Plan Waiver: At the December board meeting, the California Grad Plan Waiver was approved for seniors who may need it. This is to be implemented on a case by case basis. Please do not share this with seniors. Counselors will call out each student who may qualify for the waiver.
- Community Service Requirement: Effective immediately, all seniors will only need 10 hours of community service to graduation, starting with the Class of 2025.
Graduation Date is June 4, 2025
Class of 2025, your graduation date is June 4, 2025. To ensure your participation in this milestone event, please make sure that you pass all your classes, and you also do not get in trouble. Starting in February, the senior non-privilege list will released. You will be placed on the list if you have are not passing your classes at the first progress report, you missed school and did not make it up at Saturday School, you were seen at the main office for behavior issues and/or you owe the library monies.
Library March Newsletter is HERE!
Click HERE to access the library newsletter.
Let's have a wonderful week!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Finley
