IHS October Newsletter

Thanks to all the parents, students, and family members who were able to attend our IB Parent Night last week, as well as everyone who came to the IHS Parent Night last night at the Ed Center. It was standing room only! It's always so great to see the support we have from parents and families, and I really enjoyed meeting so many of you after the presentation. One of my goals for this year is to improve communication to students and families, and holding these information nights is one part of improving our school communication systems.

For those of you who weren't able to make it to these information sessions, we have posted the presentation slides on our Eugene IHS website: http://ihs.4j.lane.edu. Please feel free to look through the information shared about IB and about Eugene International High School when you have time.

It's another busy month! I've done my best to give you an overview of what we have to look forward to in October!

Take care,

Courtney

October 2--IHS Opening Assembly

October 9--TESTING DAY--NO CLASSES

October 11--NO SCHOOL

October 15--IB Registration Deadline (before late fees are added)

October 23--South HS Open House

November 8--NO SCHOOL--Midterm Grading Day

November 11--NO SCHOOL--Veterans Day

November 25-26--NO SCHOOL--Parent Teacher Conferences

November 27-29--NO SCHOOL--Thanksgiving Break

On Wednesday, October 2, we will hold our annual IHS Opening Assembly from 9:15-11:00 at the South Eugene HS auditorium. This event is one of only two times all year when we are able to gather all IHS students from our three campuses together in one place. Our Opening Assembly welcomes returning students back and introduces our 9th graders to our school community. We celebrate the successes of last year and look forward to all there is to come in the new school year. It is a joyful celebration of community, and one of our favorite days of the school year.

4j school district requires a field trip permission form to be signed by a parent/guardian any time a student is leaving their school grounds. For our students at Sheldon and Churchill, we will need a permission slip signed for every student in order to attend the assembly. We take students in groups on 4j school buses and we return them to school afterwards.

Every school in the 4j school district uses a site council to help make decisions for the school. Site councils are made up of teachers, classified staff members, administrators, parents, and students. The goal of the site council is to have a body of stakeholders available to discuss important issues that arise throughout the school year. Last year, we had a dedicated group of parents attend each month, and I'd love to expand that group this year! We need parents from Sheldon, South, and Churchill IHS. We meet once a month, usually on the second Tuesday of the month, from 4:15-5:15 at South High School in room 540. Snacks are provided :) OUR FIRST MEETING WILL BE ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8TH!

If you are interested in being a parent member for IHS Site Council, please email me: dearinger_c@4j.lane.edu.

Every year, the district reserves one day in October for various tests and other non-course specific assessments. This year, that day is WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9TH. Each high school is following this general schedule, but please read the communication from your host schools about the specific plans for your student for that day.

• 9th: Career Interest Survey (CIS), Course Planner, Wayfinder SEL, Other Activity (Bldg.)
• 10th Grade: Career Interest Survey, Course Planner, Wayfinder SEL, Other Activity (Bldg.)
• 11th Grade: PSAT
• 12th Grade: SAT

Any IHS junior or senior student who plans to take IB exams in May 2025 must submit a registration form and payment by OCTOBER 15TH. Steve Smith, our IB coordinator, has visited all the junior and senior classes to present this information to students and distribute registration forms. Students can pick up registration forms in the IHS office at their host school. Payments can be made using SchoolPay.

If you have a junior student who has NOT had an individual IB counseling session, please tell your student to reach out to Steve Smith (smith_st@4j.lane.edu) or Jenny Hehnke (hehnke_j@4j.lane.edu) to schedule one soon. This counseling session will help explain the process of IB testing, give students a chance to ask questions, and pick up the registration forms as needed.

IHS teachers participate with our host schools for events like Open House and Parent-Teacher Conferences. South Eugene HS has set their fall Open House for October 23rd, and IHS teachers will be there to meet parents and talk a bit about our classes and curriculum. South Eugene parents and families--please keep an eye out for communication directly from Principal Kee Zublin with more details.

Sheldon HS and Churchill HS have not yet determined dates for their Open Houses. Last year, Churchill did hold a fall Open House, but Sheldon did not. If your student attends Churchill or Sheldon, please be on the lookout for information from your host schools about potential Open House dates this fall.

The school district is maintaining the same policy as last year in regards to taking courses Pass/No Pass. All academic classes will earn a letter grade (A-F) unless a request for Pass/No Pass is made by the student. Students can choose a P/NP grading option up until two weeks post mid-term grading day. For Semester 1, that deadline date is November 22. Here is a link to the 2024-25 Pass/No Pass Form.

This year, we are planning to hold a CAS Fair for our Juniors and Seniors! CAS is an element of the IB curriculum and it stands for Creativity, Activity, and Service. CAS hours are required to earn the IB diploma, and we require 100 CAS hours during 11th and 12th grade to earn the IHS diploma. Students can earn these hours by engaging in creative activities (painting, dancing, playing a musical instrument, etc), activities (playing a sport, going on a hike, riding a bicycle, doing yoga, etc) and service activities. Service opportunities require students to go out into the community and engage in some type of community service. The CAS Fair would be an opportunity for various community organizations to advertise volunteering options for high school students, and a time for students to learn about all the exciting service organizations working in the Eugene area.

If you are associated with an organization that would like to be part of our CAS Fair this year (or perhaps you volunteer with a group yourself!), please reach out to our CAS Coordinator, Jenny Hehnke (hehnke_j@4j.lane.edu) with the name and contact information for the organization. More details to come soon!

The IHS branch of Model UN has officially kicked off the 2024-2025 session! This year, our group will be representing Slovenia, Egypt, and Guyana. Meetings are held twice per month at each campus, and the Model UN State Conference will held in the spring at the University of Oregon. Students are still able to participate this year! So If your student is interested in joining Model UN, please reach out to Steve Smith (smith_st@4j.lane.edu) or Joanne Heidel (heidel_j@4j.lane.edu).

Eugene International High School offers students a chance to earn an honorary diploma at the end of our four years together. Students still earn their high school diploma from their host school--for example, a student's high school diploma is from Sheldon High School, but they also receive the honorary IHS diploma as recognition for completing our separate set of standards and requirements. Eugene IHS holds our own separate graduation ceremony at the Hult Center (my favorite night of the school year!) where we recognize graduating seniors together from all three host campuses.

In order to earn the honorary IHS diploma, students must do the following:

• Complete all required IHS courses in 11th-12th grade (listed above)
• Submit a final draft of the Extended Essay research paper (completed during Junior Seminar)
• Take at least (3) years of a world language (does not have to be the same language all three years)
• Complete (100) CAS hours (Creativity, Activity, Service) during junior and senior year
• Complete all graduation requirements for the high school diploma

**Please note that students DO NOT have to take any IB exams in order to earn the IHS diploma. IB testing and the IHS diploma are separate and do not affect the student's ability to earn the diploma.**

We'd like to introduce you all to our two new IHS staff members for the school year:

Haley Wakelam is our new French Immersion Social Studies teacher at South. Originally from Cincinnati, OH, Haley has spent over two years living and working in France, where she first gained teaching experience working as an English Teaching Assistant with elementary and high school students. In 2023, Haley obtained a master's degree in Romance Languages (French, Spanish) from the University of Oregon, during which time she taught elementary and intermediate language classes to college students. Haley is looking forward to the challenge of teaching a new curriculum and especially to working closely with her new colleagues at IHS. We are thrilled to welcome Haley to our IHS staff!

Amy Baker is our new educational assistant for IHS. Amy has been an EA in the district for several years, first at Cal Young Middle School and most recently at Willagillespie Elementary School. Amy brings with her a wealth of experience from many important angles---not only has she worked as an EA, but she is also a Sheldon IHS/Spanish immersion graduate and an SI/Sheldon IHS parent! Amy will spend 3.5 days at South and 1.5 days at Sheldon this year. We are so excited to welcome Amy to our IHS staff!

Switzerland / 8 days / June 2025

Iceland / 8 days / August 2025

Would you like to learn more about this upcoming educational travel opportunity? Attend the upcoming travel meeting to learn:

• What we will see and do

• Travel Logistics

• How to earn elective credit

• Affordable payment options

• Travel Scholarships

• How to enroll on this trip before it fills up!

• $200 early enrollment discount for those who attend a meeting

Meeting Information

Welcome to all IHS students @ Churchill, Sheldon, & South HS

South Eugene High School

Tuesday Oct. 8th @ 6:30 pm

IHS wing, room 534

Sheldon High School

Monday Oct. 14th @ 6:30 pm

Lecture Hall C-9

*contact Lisa Joye @ TravelwithLisaJoye@gmail.com for more information

Our IHS Graduation Ceremony will take place on Friday, June 6 at 7:00 pm at the Hult Center! This year, we have a record number of graduating seniors across our three campuses--in June, we will graduate 211 IHS seniors! I will put important graduation information in this newsletter starting in January.