Dear Grizzly Families,

Welcome to October! As the fall season settles in, our school is buzzing with activities and opportunities for our students to shine. From upcoming assessments to special events, we are excited to see our Grizzlies continue to grow and succeed.

Please keep an eye out for important dates this month, including PSATs, Writing SOL, and extracurricular activities. Your support is essential in ensuring our students are prepared and ready to make the most of these opportunities.

Please also follow our social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for any last-minute updates. If you have any questions, please contact us at 757-558-4749.

Let’s make October a month of achievement, connection, and Grizzly pride!

Sincerely,

Mr. Brian Haughinberry, Principal

Congratulations to Grassfield High School's Teacher of the Year-Mrs. Shannon Anderson!

Wednesday, October 2 marks the end of our first marking period. Please make sure that your students are communicating with their teachers to complete their missing assignments. Please see more information regarding make-up work and late-work below

Make-up work is defined as assignments or assessments missed due to a student absence. Students shall be permitted to make up work because of excused or unexcused absences, including in-school or out-of-school suspensions (School Board Regulation 6-44). Students who are absent on the day an assignment or assessment was assigned, or are absent on the day the assignment or assessment is due, are permitted to submit work according to the make-up work policy.

1. It is the student’s responsibility to access and submit all completed work missed when absent. Students absent between one to three consecutive days have up to five instructional days to submit make-up work for full credit.

2. When a student is absent the day of an assessment, the student should be prepared to make up the assessment as soon as possible as agreed upon with the teacher.

3. Teachers will use a zero in Synergy for all missing work with a comment of “absent”. This will compute as a zero until work is made up so as to not inflate grades in ParentVue or StudentVue.

4. After the five-day window, missing make-up work is considered late work. See protocol for late work below.

Late work is defined as assignments or assessments submitted after the due date/time with no related absence.

1. It is the student’s responsibility to access and submit all work on time to avoid a late work penalty.

2. Teachers will respond to late work with a grade deduction of no more than 10% per day, not to exceed 30% total deducted for being late.

3. Late work must be submitted within five instructional days of the date the work is due for credit.

Until a student submits late work, teachers should use a zero in Synergy for all late work with a comment of “late”. This will compute as a zero until work is submitted so as to not inflate grades in ParentVue and/or StudentVue.

This information and more is available in your students instructional syllabus for each course.

Study Hall begins October 8, 2024. Please see the flyer above for more information.

PSAT:

The PSAT will be administered over the course of two days. All sophomores and registered Freshmen and Juniors will take the PSAT on Tuesday, Oct 15 or Wednesday, Oct 16. Students will receive communication on their testing day and location via their student school gmail accounts.

Fall Writing SOL:

The Fall administration of the writing SOL will begin in two weeks for those students who are currently enrolled in English 11 courses. If you have any questions regarding whether or not your student will be completing an SOL, please reach out to their School Counselor.

Impact Aid Cards will be distributed on October 15th through the student's homeroom. Please complete these forms and send them back to school on October 16th. They should be turned into the student's bell 1 teacher.

Please see the letter for more information. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Stevens with questions: Sonja.stevens@cpschools.com

ParentVue

1. Grassfield is moving away from accepting email notices for absences, tardies, and dismissals. Please use ParentVue moving forward.
2. Notes to excuse a previous tardy or absence: 4 day grace period via ParentVue or physical notes.
   
3. Last walk-in parent sign out dismissal is at 3:45pm.
   
4. Attendance Email: Morgan.Wilkins@cpschools.com

Reminder: Students must be in class for a minimum of 60 minutes to be counted as Present.

Attendance has been increasingly the focus of attention among school divisions and educators. Regular attendance is a significant factor in a student’s success:

• Chronic absenteeism correlates to low academic achievement;
• Absenteeism is a powerful predictor of dropout rates;
• Absenteeism has been linked to poor outcomes later in life.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing ten percent or more of the academic year for any reason, including excused absences, unexcused absences, and suspensions. Based on a 180-day school year, that means approximately 18 days per year or 2 to 3 days per month.

Truancy is the act of accruing one or more unexcused absences, where the parent is unaware of or does not support the student’s absence, or where the parent’s provided reason for the absence is not acceptable to the school administration.

Missed instruction, regardless of the reason, can have significant academic consequences. Therefore, the broader emphasis is on improving attendance for every student.

(VDOE Attendance & School Engagement )

Please contact the school counseling department at 558-4509 for additional help.

School counselors are certified/licensed educators who improve student success for ALL students by implementing a comprehensive school counseling program. School Counselors can help students by providing:

• individual student academic planning and goal setting
• school counseling classroom lessons based on student success standards
• short-term counseling to students
• referrals for long-term support
• collaboration with families/teachers/ administrators/ community for student success
• advocacy for students at individual education plan meetings and other student-focused meetings
• data analysis to identify student issues, needs and challenges

School Counselor Alpha-List:

• Ms. Lenhart: A-Be
• Ms. Butler: Bf-C
• Ms. Lewis: D-Gn
• Ms. Bowers: Go-J
• Ms. Creamer: K-Me
• Ms. Kates: Mf-Ra
• Ms. Davis: Rb-St
• Ms. Morris: Su-Z

Counselors presented grade-level information to students on September 17th. Students should visit the resources hyperlinked within the presentation and join the College and Career Readiness Canvas Course.

The timeline to level from one class to another for semester 1 has expired. Please encourage your student to utilize study hall and/or communicate with their teacher if they are struggling.

The Google form for Schedule Change requests for second semester will begin accepting responses in January.

Counselors will be meeting with seniors to discuss graduation requirements, post-secondary plans, verify names for diplomas, and answer questions. Seniors should check their emails to confirm appointments with counselors. A letter will be mailed to parents/guardians of seniors confirming requirements toward graduation.

In October and November, counselors will present the Erika's Lighthouse Program on mental health and depression awareness to fall and full year PE 9 classes. PE teachers will send home a letter about the program with students.

Transcripts include students' final grades, class rank, GPA, SAT/ACT scores, Industry Credentials, and courses in progress for the year. Transcripts may be ordered, processed, and delivered using Parchment. Most students have created a Parchment account. If your student has not created a Parchment account, directions will be emailed to them around October 15th explaining how to create the account.

Students that believe they qualify for waivers for the SAT, ACT, College Applications, Eligibility Center, and or AP tests need to complete the Access Services Application.

Don't worry, in the event students do not qualify for waivers, I WILL still assist them in navigating the college process, applying to colleges, applying for scholarships, and filing their FAFSA. Students can visit Mr. Kelly's Virtual Office to schedule appointments, apply to colleges, apply for scholarships, get career information and more.

• Southeast Virginia Community Foundation Scholarship

• Lincoln Lane Foundation Scholarship

• QuestBridge Scholarship

• Newport News Apprenticeship Program

• Military Dependent Scholarships

• Students 16 - 21 can benefit from internship possibilities Next Gen- Pathways

Important Dates:

FAFSA becomes available on: December 1, 2024

Access College Commitment Day: April 29, 2025

Red Out: Friday October 11th

Get Ready for Our Annual Red Out Game! Don’t miss your chance to grab this year’s Red Out Game Shirt! Shirts will be available for purchase starting October 7th during all lunch periods for just $15 (cash or card accepted). Sizes are limited, so be sure to get yours while supplies last!

Homecoming Dance: Saturday October 19th 7-10pm in food court

Tickets are available for purchase on GoFan! Please remember, there are only 1,000 tickets available, and each Grassfield student can purchase only one ticket.
Make sure to have your ticket ready on a device for entry the night of the dance. Don’t miss out—get yours before they’re gone!

Homecoming Spirit Week: October 21-25th "Dancing into Disney"

See attached flyer for details!

Homecoming Parade/Game: October 25th

Join us for our annual Homecoming Parade starting at 5:30pm down Scenic Parkway. Please be alert for changing traffic patterns starting at 5pm. See flyer for more details!

Seniors who paid to paint a space must park in their painted space. Seniors who did not pay to paint but have a valid senior parking permit must park in the senior lot in a non-painted space.

Juniors with a valid junior permit must park in the junior lot.

Sophomores and Freshmen are not permitted to drive to school.

Students can purchase a parking pass on Wednesdays before school by the forum. Please fill out the online registration form first there are less than 50 left.

Please email Ms. Ott with any question (heather.ott@cpschools.com)

Senior portraits: All senior portraits taken by a studio other than Candid Color must be submitted to Ms. Walsh at patti.peterson@cpschools.com by Nov. 16 for inclusion in the yearbook.

Senior Ads: Celebrate your senior by purchasing a recognition ad to appear in The Pawprint yearbook by visiting www.jostens.com. The deadline is February 13.

Underclass makeup pictures: Candid Color will take makeup underclass photos from 12 p.m.-2 p.m. on November 8 in the auditorium. An alphabetical schedule will be published that week.

Yearbook: Don’t miss out on the limited edition collection of memories from this school year! Purchase a copy of The Pawprint yearbook at www.jostens.com. The cost starts at $90.

Our GHS Field of Valor is a tradition aimed at generating a visual and heart-felt salute to military service members in recognition of Veterans Day through a display of American flags. Individual miniature flags can be sponsored to recognize family, friends, Grizzly alumni, Chesapeake Gold Star Service Members as part of our Field of Valor. Flag sponsorship is just $3 and flags are labeled in honor of the service member. All proceeds go to benefit our local Chesapeake veterans through Chesapeake’s own Veterans of Foreign Wars post command.

Sponsorship forms are available through Friday, October 25th.

The Field is planted by our students and ready for observance of the holiday. Flags are planted alphabetically and folks are encouraged to visit their flags. Our hope this year is to sponsor over 1,200 flags to fly in front of Grassfield High School and around the Cody Childers Memorial. Please consider supporting this wonderful service-learning activity.

If you would like to sponsor a flag to honor a loved one, or even a GHS alumni or teacher, payment can be sent to Grassfield High School (Attn: Kim Hammers) or made online via the OSP system. Choose one of the following options:

Option 1: Mail a sponsorship payment and use the Printable Sponsorship Form. Include one for each flag sponsorship.

Printable Sponsorship Form

Option 2: Complete BOTH steps.

Step #1 - Online Payment Link: https://osp.osmsinc.com/p/DD059-211

Step #2 - Service Member Google Form: https://forms.gle/6Anxt2fbdLwjvT9t9

Option 3: Flag sponsorship will be available in-person at a variety of HOME varsity football games, during select lunches (dates announced on the G-News), and in classroom D105.

Did you miss the club fair but are still interested in signing up for a club? Check out our club website on the Grassfield HS webpage under the students tab for club/sponsor information.

Students are required to attend their classes as scheduled. Students are considered tardy after the bell has rang. Please see the bell schedule for class start times. Students will be issued discipline consequences for tardies exceeding 4. On the 4th tardy, teachers will email home a tardy warning. Subsequent tardies will result in a referral to the grade-level administrator.

It's that time of the year that we invite all parents and students to join our PTSA. Our faculty and staff last year had 100% membership and we would like to do the same with our parents and students. The cost is $7.00 and you may join at the link below. Any senior student wishing to apply for a $1000 scholarship(possibly 3), needs to be a member to win. We hope to have many members as we all work together to make this a fabulous school year for all!

Givebacks (memberhub.com).

Please follow us on Facebook- Grassfield High School PTSA and Instagram-GFHSPTSA

If you have any questions, please feel free to email GFHSPTSA@gmail.com

The following individuals will be serving a two year term as officers of our PTSA for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years. Thank you very much for volunteering your time to serve our school community.

✨President- Chessa Foster

✨1st Vice President (Legislation)-Amy Fannon

✨2nd Vice President (Craft Show)- Meghan McDermott

✨Treasurer- Pattie Oliver

✨Secretary- Sandy Huneycutt

Next PTSA meeting will be Oct 14, 2024 @ 4:30pm HS Main Office. Please check out our Facebook for meeting details or for link to Join. New Members are always welcome!

Entries Due to GFHS PTSA by Nov 22, 2024-please drop off to the main office. Entries will be judged by GFHS Arts Teachers.Winner(s) will be announced/notified Dec 9, 2024. Winning entries will be submitted to Chesapeake Council of PTAs by Dec 12, 2024. Students MUST be a GFHS PTSA member to participate.

Thank you to all of our volunteers, vendors, and patrons for a successful September Craft Fair. We look forward to next year!

Cash is NO LONGER accepted at Chesapeake Public Schools athletic events. All tickets must be purchased via Gofan.co (not .com) prior to the game.

Adults - $7 Student - $5

Parents are highly encouraged to purchase a “Parent Pass” at Gofan.co. Parent passes are ONLY $60 and allow you entry into any high school or middle school regular season sports event in the city of Chesapeake. This pass is good for the entire 2024-2025 school year!! (Does not include playoffs events)

“Student passes” are available at Gofan.co as well. Student passes are ONLY $30 and are good for the entire school year to any sports events at the high school or middle school levels.

(Does not include playoffs)

Purchase the 2024-2025 athletic pass using the QR Code.

Acceptable passes for entry into Athletic Events:

· VHSL Pass

· VHSCA (Coaches Pass)

· Media Credentials

· Gold Card/CPS Senior Citizen Pass (regular season ONLY)

· Faculty passes of those schools participating in the competition and CPS badges

Winter Sports– Monday, November 6th

• Boys Basketball – Erik Johnson – Erik.Johnson@cpschools.com
• Girls Basketball – Alan Jones - Alan.Jones@cpschools.com
• Swimming – Eric Henniker - Echenniker@gmail.com or Eric.henniker@cpschools.com
• Gymnastics – Kelley Williams - Kelley.williams@cpschools.com
• Wrestling – Patrick Shuler - Patrick.Shuler@cpschools.com
• Indoor Track – Leroy Harper – Leroy.harperjr@cpschools.com

Spring Sports – Monday, February 19th

• Baseball – Gary Spedden – Gary.spedden@cpschools.com
• Softball – Leroy Bohn – lbohn3@aol.com
• Track and Field – Leroy Harper – Leroy.harperjr@cpschools.com
• Girls Soccer – Kevin Ellis – Kevin.ellis@cpschools.com
• Boys Soccer – Brad Killenbeck Bradley.Killenbeck@cpschools.com
• Girls Tennis – Melissa Strickland - Melissa.Strickland2@cpschools.com
• Boys Tennis – Stephen Cutchin – sw10is@aol.com or Stephen.Cutchin@cpschools.com

*Fall sports began July 27th and are already well underway*

*Specific locations and times of tryouts can be obtained from the main office, the school website, or by contacting the coach directly via e-mails shown above.

*A completed VHSL Physical Examination Form is required to be on file prior to trying out and participating in athletics. Forms may be found on the Athletic Website, the VHSL website or in the main office. (Other required forms for participation found on website: Social Media Contract, Concussion Form, CHKD release, CPS Sportsmanship Pledge, Emergency Information Form)

Core Course GPA – NCAA Eligibility

Every Grassfield High School athlete is invited to take advantage of Core Course GPA for FREE. Core Course GPA is a program that allows our athletes and their parents to track their progress to becoming eligible for NCAA participation. Information on how to create your personal account can be found on the athletics website or obtained from any Grassfield coach. All Grassfield High School athletes are highly encouraged to enroll.

Check Schedules, Get Updates, Scores and More with “R-school”

Parents and athletes can now check team schedules, records, scores, get updates on cancellations and postponements, and more utilizing “R-School”. All Grassfield parents and athletes are encouraged to go to www.southeasterndistrictva.org , go to the Grassfield High School tab. Download the app to get updates on your mobile device. More information regarding “R-School” can be found on the Grassfield Athletic website.

VHSL Alignments – Grassfield’s District, Region, and State

The VHSL alignment changed yet again in 2023. Information regarding specific schools, districts and regions can be found at www.vhsl.org. Grassfield currently competes in:

· Southeastern District (All Chesapeake and Suffolk secondary schools)

· Region 6A (Eleven level “6” high schools in Hampton Roads and Richmond)

· Virginia High School League (State Tournaments)

Grassfield High School Athletics Website

Be sure to visit the Grassfield High School Athletic Website to obtain information on: dates for athletic physicals, Core Course GPA, required forms, concussion testing, “R-School”, athletic recognition ceremony dates, youth sports camps, contact information (Athletic Director, coaches, trainers), and upcoming events.

Sports physicals are offered twice a year at Grassfield High School and are done by CHKD physicians. The physicals are $25 each and are offered in the months of February and May. Exact dates are contingent upon physician availability and are advertised at least two weeks in advance. Physicals begin at 4 p.m. and end at 6 p.m. promptly. VHSL physical forms can be downloaded from the school athletic website. Physicals are not valid if dated prior to May 1 of the previous school year. Parents are highly encouraged to maintain a copy of their athlete’s physical for summer camps, transfers, etc.

For up to date information about Grassfield Athletics follow @grassfieldathletics on instagram.

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):

If your student will be receiving medication at school, please read this in its entirety in preparation for

the upcoming school year.

All medications require a current doctor's order to be administered at school. Most pediatricians have

the school forms, and I have also attached common forms below.

1. Please ensure the dates on the form cover the entire school year (2024-2025).
2. All medication must be brought in by the parent, with the proper order form signed by the physician and parent, and properly labeled by the pharmacy. In addition, please read the entire medication policy, which can be found in the student handbook.
3. Lunchtime meds- If your child will be receiving lunchtime medication, and you do not know your student’s lunch period, having your doctor write “ at 1:10 pm” covers all lunch times best. We can not accept “at lunch” as an actual time of administration.
4. Over the counter medications also require a physician's order. Please provide it unopened.
5. All medications must be dropped off at school by the parent/guardian – it will not be accepted from a student. This also applies to refills.

If you would like to sign-in medications the week before school starts, please call the number listed

below. That week we will be in meetings and are in and out of the building, so getting a time from us would be best. Also, please keep in mind the capacity of the school. If your student does not require daily or emergency medication, please allow the first week of school for those medications to be received first, if able to do so. Please feel free to call the clinic with any questions or to discuss your student's health condition.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy upcoming school year!

Grassfield High School Nurse

Ms. Grandel, RN

757-558-4511