Golden Bear News: November 22, 2024

Dear students and families,

As we approach the upcoming week, we anticipate the Thanksgiving holiday. Falling on the fourth Thursday of November, this day invites us to express gratitude and reconnect with our loved ones. In keeping with this spirit, I encourage each of you to disconnect from school and enjoy a well-deserved break.

We hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Sincerely,

Andrew C. Theado

Principal

Our Mission: Challenge and support every student, every step of the way.

• Nov 27-28 ~ Thanksgiving Break

• Dec 3 ~ Gold Period ~ Winter Culture and Climate Survey

• Dec 4 ~ Altered Schedule for Capstone Presentations (2 hr delay)
  Note: Periods are not in order.

  Capstone ~ 8:00-10:00
  Period 1 ~ 10:05-10:36
  Period 2 ~ 10:41-11:11
  *Period 4 ~ 11:16-11:58
  *Period 5 ~ 12:03-12:45
  *Period 3 ~ 12:50-1:20
  Period 6 ~ 1:25-1:55
  Period 7 ~ 2:00-2:30
  Period 8 ~ 2:35-3:05

• Dec 5 ~ Bear Essentials Community Shopping Hours, 3:30pm-4:30pm
  NOTE: No refunds or exchanges.

• Dec 5 ~ Poetry Out Loud Competition, 5:00pm-7:00pm in the Black Box Theatre

• Dec 11 ~ Gold Period ~ OHYES! Survey

• Dec 11 ~ Career & Technical Education Showcase, 5:00pm-7:00pm

• Dec 11-17 ~ EOC/Make-up Ohio Assessments

• Dec 11 ~ Winter Choir Concert, 7:00pm-9:00pm in the Performing Arts Center

• Dec 12 ~ Bear Essentials Community Shopping Hours, 3:30pm-4:30pm
• NOTE: No refunds or exchanges.

• Dec 12 ~ Holiday Orchestra Concert, 7:00pm-9:00pm in the Performing Arts Center

• Dec 20 ~ Jostens Winter Order Deadline for Graduation Cap, Gown & Accessories

As an extension of the October 2024 Digital Safety Week and Screenagers viewing, we wanted to provide families with some Digital Wellness tips and strategies to consider during the Thanksgiving break. These five days are an opportunity to exhibit a healthy balance with device use. Here is an exercise to try:

• Commit to a plan around having no phones or devices out as family from out-of-town are visiting or if you are visiting others. Explain that it’s an opportunity to connect with family and anything online can wait.

• Set an expectation for the entire family so parents/guardians can model a similar ability to know when it is appropriate to be on devices.

• Find other times during the weekend as your family moves from one activity to another to preemptively define if this is a time the family has devices out.

By Sunday, discuss questions with your students related to this activity, such as:

• Did you feel more present with your family?

• What was the most challenging part of the day for you?

• What was the first thing you did when you got your device out? Why is that specific thing important to you?

• Can you help our family create a plan to make this a more frequent practice?

If you do this with your family and feel comfortable to share, please share an anonymous feedback about the process. The Excellence and Engagement Office is committed to supporting families with exercises like these to help create a healthy digital balance for our students.

We understand that illness or other excused absences can sometimes make it challenging to keep up with assessments.

To streamline the make-up process, we’d like to clarify our expectations: when a student misses an assessment due to an excused absence, the standard approach is to schedule a make-up session with their teacher after school from 3:15 to 4:00 p.m. While we know that many students have extracurricular commitments, academics take priority, and students should communicate with their coach or advisor to ensure they’re aware of this academic obligation.

Thank you for your cooperation in helping us keep this process consistent and effective. Our goal is to support students in managing their academic responsibilities smoothly alongside their other activities.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital is offering a virtual session on “Supporting Your Child’s Mental Health” on Wednesday, December 11 at 12:00pm for parents/guardians to learn more about risk factors, warning signs and the steps to take if you have a concern about your child. Zoom Link

This presentation is suitable for parents of all grade levels! It includes a brief segment on the Signs of Suicide program that the 10th graders participated in recently.

It’s time to join your friends and neighbors and get involved in phase two of facilities master planning! Serve as an expert and committed stakeholder for your school(s) of choice by signing up to volunteer for one or more building teams — Hastings, Jones or Burbank. Each team will have three meetings between December 2024 and April 2025. To sign up and learn more, visit the Building Teams page on our website.

Following is the link for AP/IB Exams in April and May 2025:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NtuWB-JgOfw1PGUQiPLsJMVJgw2OLzzcO889yl4yPt8/edit?usp=sharing

To enroll in the UA Online Academy:

The enrollment window for the second semester is open from Monday, December 2nd through Monday, December 9th. If your student is ready to commit to participation in the Online Academy for the second semester of the 2024-2025 school year, please complete the UA Online Academy Enrollment Form. Please note that this will be a semester-long commitment through the end of the school year.

The deadline is Friday, December 9th at 7:00 am. If you have any questions, please contact mrjordan@uaschools.org or onlineacademy@uaschools.org.

We invite you to join us for regular conversations about key topics at Upper Arlington High School. Whether you choose to actively participate, listen in, or catch the recording later, it's a great way to stay connected and informed about what's happening at UAHS.

Family Connection Webinars 2024-2025 (Topics subject to change)

• September 18 - State Report Card Review (Recording)
• October 9 - Preparing Students to be Successful Post-High School (Recording)
• November 13 - Challenging and Supporting Students: Rigor and Interventions at UAHS (Recording)
• December 11 - Innovation and Engagement
• January 15 - Academic Scheduling for 2025-2026
• February 12 - Program of Studies Review
• March 12 - Senior End-of-Year Information
• April 9 - Summer 2025 Academic Options

Submit your senior photos - “head shot” only - using this Senior Yearbook Photos Google Form. The deadline is Monday, December 16. Photos do not have to be from a professional photographer but should meet the requirements listed on this 2025 Senior Photo Flyer.

Link to order the yearbook: 2024-2025 Norwester Yearbook.

Use the following link to purchase senior Tribute Ads:
https://www.jostens.com/apps/store/customer/1049738/Upper-Arlington-High-School/.

Norwester Staff will once again be featuring the senior destinations on their Instagram page: uahsnorwesteryearbook. Submissions will begin January 7, 2025.

Must earn a competency score (684) or higher on both the Algebra I and English Language Arts II state test once they have completed the course. In addition, the Class of 2024 is required to take the Geometry, American History, American Government and Biology state tests after taking the corresponding course.

The American Government, American History and Biology tests can be applied to earning the Ohio state Citizenship Seal and Science Seal respectively, if a score of proficient or higher is earned.

Please review this link for Class of 2024 requirements.

Attendance is a critical component to learning. Students need to show up in order to take full advantage of the education programs we offer. Student and parents/guardians will be notified of the unexcused absences. Consequences (detention) may be assigned for each unexcused absence. Be sure to check your attendance each day to ensure it is accurate.

In order to streamline the absence reporting process, we ask that parents/guardians leave a voicemail on the attendance line (614-487-5213), or complete the Absence Notification Form available on the high school website and on the Upper Arlington City Schools APP. We will no longer accept emails. By using the Absence Notification Form, we are able to organize and record absence requests in a more efficient manner. Note that the form will collect your email address, which we will use to verify the request, so please use an email address that is on file in PowerSchool. Additionally, parents/guardians should follow the instructions in the online form to submit Pre-Planned Absence Requests.

A Planned Absence Excuse Form should be printed, signed and turned in to the Attendance Secretary in the Main Office at least 10 days in advance, when possible.

If a parent/guardian submits an Absence Notification Form or calls Attendance at 614-487-5213 to inform the office that their student needs to be dismissed during the day, they will receive an e-hallpass (EHP) to leave class at the designated time. The student can use the EHP to notify their teacher of the dismissal and then should come to the Attendance Office to sign out before leaving.

Please submit your medical notes to uahsattendance@uaschools.org. In order for attendance hours to not accumulate towards habitual absence triggers, medical documentation is needed.

Announcements for the current week are available on the high school website.

Online form for absences (no longer accept emails)

Email if you’ve stopped receiving communication from us

The Daily Bell Schedule and Modified Bell Schedules (Early Dismissal & Two-Hour Delay)

Links to the District Calendars, the UAHS Calendar and the UAHS Athletic calendars

Our webpage with community service options and the link to enter hours

The website for school portraits, club photos, senior class photo

Use LightSpeed Parent Portal Support Page to monitor your student’s internet activity

2024-25 Program of Studies including courses descriptions, academic options, graduation requirements, awards, etc.

The form to report a concern related to safety, bullying, harassment, etc.

The link to purchase season passes for UAHS athletic events

How to Get Help at the high school and familytechhelp@uaschools.org for families with tech support questions or situations