The Bird Call

Hello Clever Bluejays! Welcome to another edition of the Clever High School monthly newsletter which aims to keep our community informed about all of the happenings at our school.

I always look forward to sharing the latest updates and happenings from CHS. October is an exciting time of year as we settle into the rhythm of the semester, celebrate the successes we have already accomplished, and look forward to the many events and activities ahead. On top of that, the changing weather and return of all things Pumpkin Spice seems to bring out the best in some.

Be sure you are following the high school and district Facebook pages for announcements and updates. Also, if any personal information (email address, phone number, emergency contacts, etc.) have changed, please make those updates in Lumen.

Thank you for your continued support. As always, if there are questions please reach out.

Go Jays!

Joe Casey

High School Principal/A+ Coordinator

Email: caseyj@cleverbluejays.org

Character Education in the HS

Our character word of the month for October is Citizenship. A Clever Bluejay Displaying Good Citizenship follows all school rules including in the parking lot, shows kindness and compassion to all, volunteers and gives back to the school and community, and helps to maintain a safe and clean school by reporting safety concerns, picking up trash, and recycling. Keep up the positivity and kindness Bluejays!

Friday Treat Day and Students of the Month

Friday Treat Day is back but changed to Tuesday Treat Day! Students who have no tardies or discipline referrals from the previous week will be drawn for a free ice cream from BlueJays Scoops. The drawings will be done during each Pride on Tuesdays. We enjoy being able to treat the students for being good!

Students who have received positive referrals from the month become our Students of the Month. These students are rewarded with pizza for lunch donated from White Oak Station.

Mrs. Waisner is here to help students with their college and career plans. She will help them develop a postsecondary plan. Deciding what to do after high school can be hard, so I'm here to provide support on all but not limited to:

• Career Exploration

• Researching majors and programs

• Assisting with college applications

• FAFSA

• Financial Aid / Scholarships

• Military

• Workforce / Apprenticeships

• Develop a postsecondary plan

• Develop a financial plan

• Provide resources & support

We support ALL pathways: College, Workforce, and Military.

9th - 12th grade were able to attend Clever's College and Career Fair on October 3rd. We had 39 area colleges, 6 military branches, and 11 area employers represented.

Dates to know

College Visits - Tour campus

Evangel University & Mission University - October 22nd

Senior Parent Night - October 22nd @ 6:00 PM in the CPAC

ASVAB - October 30th - all juniors and any senior that didn't test last year should take this test. There are a lot of career research benefits with this test.

ACT Dates - Register at actstudent.org

Dates the test will be at Clever are December and February (we didn't have enough students sign up for the October test. ACT removed us as an active test site in October this year)

If your student receives free/reduced lunches, they can take the ACT twice for free. Have them see Mrs. Waisner for details.

Red Ribbon Week October 23-31

DID YOU KNOW?

Children of parents who talk to their teens regularly about drugs are 42% less likely to use drugs than those who don’t; yet, only a quarter of teens report having these conversations . Red Ribbon Week® (October 23-31), the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the nation, is your opportunity to get the ongoing conversation started . This year’s theme is Life Is A Movie, Film Drug Free.™ Visit www.redribbon.org to learn more about Red Ribbon Week® and get tips for talking to your kids about drugs . The life you save may be that of your own child or a dear friend

Signs of Suicide Training

We will continue to utilize the Signs of Suicide program to educate students on recognizing signs that they or someone they know may be thinking about suicide. Please be on the lookout for information about our Signs of Suicide training for families and students. More information will be coming in October.

As part of our Suicide Awareness Month efforts, students and staff were treated to doughnuts provided by the Gilmore "Say You Can" Foundation. We are grateful to the Gilmores for the work they are doing and the message they are sharing.

We had a great time at our first pep rally of the year! Special thanks to our Leadership students and Mrs. Grant for all of the behind the scenes work to make it happen.

On September 26, the FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) chapter attended the Career Day event at Silver Dollar City. Students had the opportunity to learn about various career paths available at the theme park, including roles in the medical field, maintenance and construction, promotions, and human resources.

In addition to the informative career exploration, the FBLA members also enjoyed the beautiful day at the park and took the chance to experience the thrilling rides.

The high school FCA has been active with 60 at their weekly meeting at 7 am this morning! They participated in See You at the Pole, held a 5th Qtr after the football game Friday night in the HS Gym, and they will have a fundraiser bake sale for Hurricane victims on Friday, October 11th at the football game. They also have a Bonfire planned for October 27th.

The Clever High School Marching Band and Guard took nice hardware home from their first competition in Mount Vernon on Saturday, September 28th!

-1st Place in their division

-Best Music

-Best Visual

-Best Auxiliary

We are so proud of the Clever Choirs students who made it into the 2024 All-District Honor Choir. Four of our students were even selected to audition for the 2025 All-State Honor Choir!

Big shoutout to Project Hometown and CoxHealth!

Thanks to their generosity, every classroom in Clever now has a Lockdown Bucket filled with essentials like water, toilet paper, tourniquets, and more. CoxHealth provided vital training for our staff on how to use these supplies effectively. Mr. Casey and Officer Bouldin also went over how to use many of the items during their safety training in August.

While we hope we’ll never need them, we're grateful for the preparedness.

Mark your calendars for picture re-take day: Tuesday, November 12th.

October 2nd was National Custodian Appreciation Day! A big shoutout to the true heroes who keep our Bluejay nest sparkling clean. Thank you to our amazing custodians for all you do behind the scenes to make our school shine!

A look into the day-to-day here at CHS!

Personal Responsibility In Delivering Excellence (P.R.I.D.E.) time at CHS takes place at the end of each school day from 2:59 - 3:25. We have revamped the structure and expectations this year with the hopes to better the needs of all of our students.

In general, each week will follow the schedule below:

Tuesday: Students will report to their assigned P.R.I.D.E. time classroom. Their teacher will review their current progress report, specifically looking for any D or F grades. Students with a D or an F will be assigned to a content-specific classroom where two teachers will be assigned to provide extra support. For students with no D or F grades, enrichment time will be offered. Students who have met the expectations we have in place will be given a choice to spend their time in the gym, commons, or library.

Wednesday and Friday: Students will go directly to their assigned location for the week. These will be locked in on Tuesday, meaning a student who improves his/her grade from a D/F will remain assigned to that room until the following Tuesday when we re-assign locations.

Thursday: This time will be utilized for Club meetings. Students will report to their assigned P.R.I.D.E. time classroom. It will also give those teachers working in the support classrooms on Wednesday a day to prepare for students to return to their room on Friday. This could include gathering materials, talking to other teachers, and much more.

In order to set a high standard of excellence and encourage students to actively engage in their learning, the following policy is in place.

In accordance with existing School Board Policy, personal electronic devices - including cell phones and wearable devices - will be prohibited during instructional time. Instructional time is defined as the time spent in a classroom during 1st – 7th hours and P.R.I.D.E. time. Instructional time includes the use of restrooms, water breaks, etc. Devices will need to be set to silent during instructional time and placed in the designated pouch assigned by the classroom teacher. At no point during a class period should a student access their personal electronic device. Additionally, students may not use their cell phones at any time during the school day to take pictures, record videos, and/or record audio. Furthermore, cell phones are strictly forbidden in the following locations: restrooms, locker rooms, and other district schools (i.e. during A+ tutoring, internships, etc).

In the spirit of compromise, utilizing personal electronic devices during the following times throughout the day will be acceptable:

• Before 7:38 and after 3:25 while on campus
• Between classes during passing times
• During the student's assigned lunch period

The inappropriate use of any personal electronic devices will result in disciplinary action. Exceptions need to be approved through building administration. Parents and students are reminded that the school office phones are available for parents and students to contact each other for legitimate reasons, i.e. illness or personal matters. You can reach the main office by calling 743-4830. Beginning this school year, consequences for violating the Personal Electronic Device policy will be as follows:

• 1st Offense: Device is confiscated and turned in to the main office. Administrative conference and phone call home. Student can retrieve device at the end of the school day.

• 2nd and Subsequent Offense(s): Device is confiscated and turned in to the main office. Administrative conference and phone call home. Parent/guardian will be required to pick up device on a day school is in session between 7:00 am - 4:00 pm.

Absent Work

The number of days allowed for making up/turning in work due to an absence will be equal to the number of days missed. For example, a student who misses two days of school will have until the end of the school day on the second day he/she is back to turn in missing assignments.

Assignments not completed within the allowed timeframe will be recorded as Incomplete ("I") and will then follow the guidelines for missing assignments.

Missing Assignments & Re-Do Procedure

All Formative and Summative activities not turned in on time will be recorded as an Incomplete ("I") in the grade book. This will be calculated as a zero in the student's overall grade. For assignments completed on time, the original grade will be recorded. Turning in incomplete work or re-doing an assignment will be allowed and the new grade will be recorded as long as the following timeframes are met. If the timeframes are not met, the grade will remain an Incomplete or the original grade will be the final grade.

Formative: Due no later than the beginning of class the following Tuesday*.

Summative: Due no later than the end of the school day 7 calendar days* from the original due date (missing) or the day the graded assignment was recorded in Lumen (re-do).

*If the final due date is a day that school is not in session (inclement weather, breaks, etc.), it will extend to the next day school is in session.

It is recognized that unforeseen hardships will arise which might result in the need for flexibility within this policy. In those circumstances, individual exceptions will be considered at the discretion of the teacher or building administration as long as the student or parent/guardian communicates in a proactive manner.

Access to Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more available and easy to use for students. More specifically, AI is commonly used by students to write essays and answer school-related questions. These AI capabilities encourage academic dishonesty.

As a result, the academic dishonesty policy in the high school handbook now includes a statement specifically prohibiting the broad use of AI tools to complete assignments. As is the case with any new technology (calculators, search engines, etc.), there are practical uses that will increase efficiency, prompt deeper levels of understanding, and more. Our hope is to work together to find the balance while deterring students from relying on AI to think for them.

Student grades will be updated weekly by teachers and can be accessed at any time by logging into the Lumen portal. Academic eligibility checks will take place once every TWO weeks this school year beginning on the fourth Wednesday of each semester. If a student has two or more failing grades at the time of an eligibility check, he/she will be academically ineligible until the following eligibility check at the earliest. Ineligible students will not be permitted to participate in or attend any extracurricular activities. This includes all athletic events, clubs, and activities as well as attending any school-sponsored events outside of the school day, such as Homecoming or Prom.

Eligibility checks will take place on the following days during the school year:

• September 11, 2024

• September 25, 2024

• October 9, 2024

• October 23, 2024

• November 6, 2024

• November 20, 2024

• December 4, 2024

• December 18, 2024

• January 29, 2025

• February 12, 2025

• February 26, 2025

• March 12, 2025

• April 2, 2025

• April 16, 2025

• April 30, 2025

• May 14, 2025

Every Wednesday, a tutoring bus will be available to students who need a ride home. The bus will leave the high school around 4:40 pm. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, Mrs. Larson (larsong@cleverbluejays.org) in the main office needs to be notified by noon each Wednesday so that final plans can be made with the transportation department.