February 2025

Dear Bulldog Students, Families, and Friends,

Welcome to the second semester and the second half of the school year! As we look forward to an incredible finish to this year, we’re also busy preparing for next year with exciting changes ahead.

One major update is our transition to a six-period day starting next school year. This change has been carefully planned with input from students, families, and the community. Here’s how it benefits our students, school, and district:

Student Benefits

• Focused Schedules: Students will take six classes, reducing overload.

• Daily Consistency: Classes meet every day for better continuity.

• More Learning Time: Each class gains an extra 15 hours per semester.

Financial Benefits

• Cost-Effective: Requires fewer staff resources.

• Budget Stability: Helps delay asking for a levy increase.

We also want to clarify any confusion about the schedule. This is a five-day week.

• Monday-Thursday: Teachers will focus on introducing new material and covering essential course content.

• Friday: Dedicated to helping students master what they’ve learned. Just like our current Bulldog Time, this day offers interventions or enrichment tailored to individual student needs. No new content will be introduced on Fridays.

Our mission is to “Inspire,” and for this quarter, we are focused on inspiring student engagement. As we prepare for class forecasting, we encourage students to think not just about the classes they need, but about courses which spark their interests and passions.

This week, the counseling department will share information about graduation requirements, course offerings, and four-year planning. See below for more information. This is an exciting time for students to explore opportunities that make learning meaningful and engaging for students!

Thank you for your continued support in helping our students succeed. Let’s make this semester one to remember!

Sincerely,

Principal Jacki Crossingham

Planning for 2025-2026

Yep, that’s right! We are starting to plan for next school year and that means it’s time for students to review their four-year plans and forecast for the courses they will take next year. Here are some important dates for SHS families to keep in mind:

Hello Parents of Athletes and Activities,

We are working through winter sports and we have a lot of success happening. One of those successes include the car raffle from Parker Subaru. Our students raised over $65,000.00 which goes directly to our teams. We just love this fundraiser because students go out and earn the money and someone in our community wins a free car. Congratulations to the winner, Marie Wallace, from Clark Fork!

Regional basketball play starts next Friday for the girls. Please take a look at our calendar and join us. Hopefully we will get to host the games this year. Our wrestling team continues to get Sandpoint back on the map. The girls are literally dominating across the state and many of our boys are in the top 10 for Idaho Wrestling. Not only are they winning on the mat, but our coaching staff is doing a great job holding athletes accountable in the classroom. Looking ahead, Dance and Cheer will be competing in Regional competitions on February 15th in Coeur d'Alene.

On the activities side, band and choir will be performing at the Jazz Fest at NIC this week. Good luck to all who are involved there.

Lastly, spring sports are right around the corner so please be on the lookout for any communication from our coaches. We are excited to get outside and enjoy some fresh air.

Go Bulldogs!

Important Updates for Second Semester at Sandpoint High School

As we begin the second semester, we are implementing systems to enhance school safety, efficiency, parent communication, and student accountability. These updates include Student ID Requirements, a Tardy Scanner, and the Smart Pass System.

Please review the slides below for information and understanding. You may contact me via email or a phone call and I will be happy to answer your questions.

Chris Taylor

Assistant Principal

Sandpoint High School

SHS admin will host an informational meeting on Wednesday, February 5th at 4:45pm in the school library to address any questions you might have regarding the student ID requirement, tardy scanner, and smart pass.

Ashlei Hawkins was born in Sandpoint Idaho. He is a great student, taking all AP and honors courses, except in English, and getting A's throughout high school. The only two B's he's earned in high school were in College Pre Calculus and Spanish 2. Ashlei is also an active participant in school sports. He is an integral part of the football team in the fall and competes in wrestling during the winter. During football, he plays running back and during the wrestling season he wrestles in the 132lbs weight class. After high school, Ashlei plans to attend the University of Idaho and get his accounting degree, and maybe even learn finance as well.

Aubrey Knowles, a senior at Sandpoint High School, has a 4.0 unweighted GPA and 4.36 weighted GPA, ranking 8 in her class. She is a member of the National Honor Society with nearly 100 volunteer hours since joining her Sophomore year. Outside of the classroom, Aubrey plays on both the basketball and tennis teams for Sandpoint High School. Her passion is tennis, during her Junior season last spring she was the junior captain helping to lead the girl's team to their first Idaho state title in school history. She and her doubles' partner were selected to the Idaho all-state team after placing 2nd in the state doubles championship match. Individually, Aubrey was also selected to receive the team scholar-athlete award. Following high school, Aubrey hopes to study Civil Engineering at Gonzaga University.

Here are a few things people are saying about her:

• Mrs. Bankson is not only a wonderful teacher who connects to students in a way each and every one can benefit, but she is also a great supporter of our personal lives.

• Always super kind!
• She is the sweetest it gets! Always filling the room with kindness and support.

Congratulations to Derrick Chamberlain our student of the month. Derrick was nominated by teacher Jim Barton who had this to say about him, "Derrick is a polite respectful student. He works well individually and with his peers. He is a pleasure and easy student to teach."

Other students nominated were, Owen Decker, Kooper VanGenderen, Sierra Brunner, Milana Guercio, Andrew Aexel, Abbey Lambrecht, Lucas Curiel and Leeann Tillberg. You are all awesome!

Sandpoint High School Wrestling is rich in winning and tradition. It's hard to have firsts in a school sport that has seen so many greats. Jorden's work ethic and leadership is unmatched. This year Jorden was ranked in the top 2 for his weight class right out the gate. Three weeks into the season, Sandpoint headed to the prestigious Rollie Lane Invitational, a tournament that has never been attended by Sandpoint before. The road to the final would go through multiple state champs from three states and the last year's Idaho State Champ From Minico. Jorden teched and pinned his way to the finals, where he would face a three time state champ from Oregon. Jorden won the match 10-7 in dramatic fashion becoming the first Sandpoint wrestler to win Rollie Lane. These are great accomplishments as athlete of the month and Rollie Lane Champ, Jorden has his heart set on being the next State Champ for Sandpoint High School.

• In January, counselors went into freshman and sophomore English classes to give research paper presentations focusing on different opportunities available to students after graduation.
• Juniors will have the opportunity to sign up for the SAT and ASVAB in mid March.
• Jeralyn and Angie will be going into senior English classes in February to cover the entire local scholarship application process.
• February is Forecasting month! Keep an eye out for the Forecasting Newsletter for more information.

Saturday Jan 25th from 9:00am-12:00pm @ Farmin Stidwell providing day care for attending parents.