Pella High School Newsletter

May has arrived, our senior celebration assembly and Tulip Time are today, and the seniors have two and a half weeks of school left. April seems like it came and went in a blur, and now we're preparing for the final days and weeks of the 2023-2024 school year. Thank you for helping us finish strong, and thank you for your partnership in making this year a successful one. It takes a village, and we love our village of students, staff, parents, and community members. We got this!

Sincerely,

Josh Manning, Principal

Derek Schulte, Assistant Principal

Matt Fouch, Activities Director

We are having a modified schedule for our senior celebration assembly on Wednesday, May 1. This celebration is for students and staff only.

Tulip Time is a unique and special event in Pella in which the help of students is needed to assure its success. In recognition of this need, school will be let out at 11:15 a.m. on May 2 & May 3. We understand there are special situations during Tulip Time where students must miss class. This “Work Excuse Form" is designed to help make communication easier. Parents and supervisors need to sign this form. Administration asks that a student be excused only if it is absolutely necessary. Please send the forms to the office with your student or email us at hsoffice@pellaschools.org.

School will be dismissed at 11:15 on Thursday, May 2nd and Friday, May 3rd. Lunch will not be served.

If you need Tulip Time volunteer hours to get to the 100 hours required for the graduation cord, submit Tulip Time hours on Monday, May 6, by 3:30. We will not accept late submissions.

Senior Awards Night is scheduled for 7:00 p.m, in the Pella High School auditorium. Seniors who have applied for Dollars for Scholars and other scholarships will be recognized and celebrated for awards they have earned. Students who completed the application process for Dollars for Scholars will receive an email invite and should attend to receive their scholarship. Please dress appropriately; business casual is encouraged.

Please use this link to view the senior graduation letter containing upcoming dates and events for seniors and early junior graduates. Senior Letter

* This was shared in April as well.

*Seniors will not be able to participate in the graduation ceremony unless their fees are paid.

Please log into your Infinite Campus Parent Portal. Click on "Fees" and pay online. Payments will also be accepted in the main office. Please also check your Food Service account balance to make sure there is no negative balance there as well. Any remaining funds in Food Service will be transferred to any other students you have in the district. If you have no other students, an email will be sent later to ask where you want the funds to go.

Senior parents & Junior graduates...please watch the mailbox for the following documents to keep for future reference:

• Immunization Card

• Copy of your senior’s “unofficial” transcript

• Copy of your child’s final report card

• Instructions on how to request college credits to be transferred to attending college this fall

The student services center will be sending final transcripts to the college written on the “Senior Check Out Form”. Questions regarding transcripts can be directed to the PHS student services center by emailing Mandy Roe at (mandy.roe@pellaschools.org).

Students recently received their schedules for next school year. If they want to request a change,they can use the following link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdn8i5jeKmfPFJ0PufbAQGPe4Gjzy0lzp67NJQGPFicY3-DNQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

All change requests must be made before the last day of this school year. Please take note of our new policy - when school starts next August, students will have five days to add or drop a class. Beginning with the first day of school, all drops will require a parent and teacher's signature.

Senior Laptop Roll In:

Seniors may hand in their laptop in Room 1217 anytime during the following hours:

● Tuesday, May 14 from 7:30 am - 3:30 pm

● Wednesday, May 15 from 7:30 am - 3:30 pm

● Thursday, May 16 from 7:30 am - 1:00 pm

We strongly suggest that you hand in your laptop as soon as you are done using it during that week. Your computer must be turned in before you leave on Thursday, May 16.

9th - 11th Grade Laptop Roll In:

Students may hand in their laptop in Room 1217 anytime during the following hours:

● Tuesday, May 28 from 7:00 am - 3:30 pm

● Wednesday, May 29 from 7:00 am - 3:30 pm

● Thursday, May 30 from 7:00 am - 3:30 pm

● Friday, May 31 from 7:00 am - 3:30 pm

We strongly suggest that you hand in your laptop as soon as you are done using it during finals week. Your computer must be turned in before you leave on Friday, May 31.

The nurse will be available the last week of school from 8:00 AM until 3:30 PM (through May 30) and from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM on May 31. During these hours parents may pick up student medication at the high school. This is for both prescription and non-prescription medications. Medications not picked up during this time will be disposed of appropriately.

If you are not sure if your student has medication in the nurse's office, please email mary.foster@pellaschools.org.

An annual U.S. News & World Report publication shows Pella High School ranked among Iowa’s best in state rankings. The magazine ranked Pella High School as the 3rd best high school in the state, and according to these metrics, Iowa City West and Gilbert High School were number one and two.

Principal Josh Manning said, “We are very proud of our students, staff, and district accomplishments, and I am constantly in awe of the heart work our high school staff is doing for our students. They are truly amazing, and the students we work with are equally superb. We also want to thank the parents for their relentless pursuit of supporting us in this high school journey.”

To read the full article, please click on this link. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/iowa/districts/pella-community-school-district/pella-high-school-7755

Congratulations to the following Pella High students and their success at the 2024 State of Iowa Technology Student Association's STEM competitions:

• Haden Papendick - 1st Place: CAD Engineering and 3D Modeling
• Grant Hartke and Jack Weaver - 1st Place: Structural Design and Engineering
• Jack Weaver and Seth Vos - 1st Place: VEX Robotics
• Meav Swank - 3rd Place: Engineering Design CO2 Powered Dragster

Grace VanderBeek and Jack Conrad represented Pella High School at the Governor's Scholar Program Ceremony. The largest 64 schools in Iowa were invited to select two seniors who are the highest academic achievers for their first seven semesters. The students received a photo plaque from the ceremony and certificate to commemorate their achievement. Congratulations to Grace and Jack for being selected as 2024 Governor's Scholars!

The Career Academy of Pella and WorkSmart Connector honored local high school students who signed up for work-based learning opportunities in Pella and neighboring communities. Students from Pella, Pella Christian, Knoxville, PCM, Melcher-Dallas, Twin Cedars, North Mahaska, and homeschool were all represented.

To read the full story from KNIA/KRLS's Andrew Schneider, please click the following link: https://www.kniakrls.com/2024/04/17/area-students-sign-for-apprenticeship-programs/.

Deadline for registration was March 31, but we have extended it for those who still need to register. Log into your Infinite Campus Parent Portal and find the ONLINE REGISTRATION link under the MORE section.

Beginning July 1, the 2024-25 School Fees can be paid online under the FEES and FOOD SERVICE sections on the parent portal. If you feel you qualify for Free/Reduced lunches, the 24-25 form will be released this summer and emailed to all district families. Questions? Contact Connie Boldt at 641-628-1748.

Questions regarding registration or your Infinite Campus log-in, please contact Shayla Gift by emailing registration@pellaschools.org or by calling 641-628-9539.

LEADER IN ME: HABITS TO HOME

Can you believe it that we are in our last month of school? As we wrap up the year, it is a great time to reflect on the goals we set for this year and how we did. Our focus that we set this year was grow our Family & Community Partnerships, grow our Service Learning opportunities, and to Build Trust.

We certainly gained many new family and community partnerships this year when we kicked off Future Ready Conferences. We had more families in our building hearing and conversing with our students and teachers than we have ever had during conferences! And then during March, we had over 60 representative from our community in our building participating in our first ever WorkSMART career fair!

Our seniors this year piloted a service learning project with their iLeads. This was in addition to all the volunteer hours that many of the put in on their own time. We hope that this project will continue in the future for more grades and in better ways in the coming years.

And finally, we worked hard to continue to build trusting relationships between students, students and staff, and families and staff. The results of our latest MRA survey that we took at the beginning of April proves that our hard work has paid off! Our overall high school culture score jumped 3 percentage points from last year, meeting the goal we set last year. We were able to meet our goal because of HUGE jumps in our scores in the following individual categories:

• + 7% - School Belonging “Students feel cared about and understood by people in their school.”

• + 14% - School Climate “Staff see the worth and potential in every student and provide the support each student needs to see their unique strengths for themselves as well as to develop the skills necessary to pursue their potential.”

• + 10% - Trusted Relationships “Staff see the worth and potential in every student and provide the support each student needs to see their unique strengths for themselves as well as to develop the skills necessary to pursue their potential.”

We want to keep this momentum going! As we look at the results from our MRA survey, we’ve also found areas that we have potential to grow next year. As we gear up for summer, we hope that you will join us in encouraging our staff and students to continue to take the next right step to lead their learning, to lead their life! Comment end

May 2: Tulip Time - 11:15 Dismissal

May 3: Tulip Time - 11:15 Dismissal

May 7: 15-week grades are due @ 9:00 am

May 8: Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

May 8: Senior Awards Night @ 7:00 pm

May 15: Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal

May 16: Seniors Last Day

May 17: Grades due for GRADUATES @ 9:00 am

May 17: Graduation

May 29-31 (9th -11th) : Semester Assessment, Laptop Return, & Student Check-Out

May 31: Last Day of School

June 3: Teacher Work Day

June 3: Final grades due at NOON

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www.pellaschools.org