Bluejay Express

Hello Blue Jay families.

The first two weeks of the 2022-23 school are in the books, and all is well. We have many new programs, schedules, and staff this year, which made for a start that required a lot of patience and understanding. Our students were incredibly patient, our staff–new and returning–were incredibly resourceful and flexible, and the result was that by week two of our school year, things feel like they are running smoothly and, dare I say, normal.

Our beginning of the year (BOY) MAPS/NWEA testing has begun this week in middle school, and will begin for high school next week. These are the main measurements of student growth and achievement that we use district-wide, and we administer them three times a year.

One of our main goals this year in our secondary schools is to re-establish and maintain consistency and fairness in the day-to-day expectations of our staff and students. We will do this by holding each other accountable to our code of conduct and employee expectations in order to maintain an environment where learning is the primary focus. The first two weeks of school, as expected, have been challenging as we get back to having consistent norms and enforcement of our code of conduct, and I have already seen and heard positive results from students and teachers. Regarding student and employee expectations, we will be updating our student handbook throughout the school year, so that it better reflects our day-to-day and specific procedures, rather than being overloaded–as it currently is–with more general district policy. We feel that this will be helpful, as it will be more specific, transparent, and brief, and enable our students and parents to have a better understanding of our norms and expectations.

I would like to say that I am excited about this coming year and I am proud & humbled to be your new secondary principal. I plan to work extremely hard, to be firm and fair, and to be an advocate for all students. My door is always open, and I encourage you to reach out to me–even for difficult conversations–as you will find that I will always listen and seek solutions that are thoughtful and fair. I look forward to working with you and serving your student(s) this year and many more to come.

Ed Whritner

The dress code does apply to both boys and girls - please follow these simple rules.

Shorts must be thumb length (this means thumbs pointed straight down at your toes)

Skirts must be finger length, middle finger (this means fingers pointed straight down at your toes)

Tank tops must have shoulder straps 1.5" wide or greater

and in addition to the above the 3 B's (no bellies, no butt's, no breasts)

Rips and tears in clothing must also follow the shorts length and 3B rule.

If a student is dress coded they will be given something from the office to replace the item, or they can have something else brought to the school to wear.

The athletic department will putting out their own newsletter on Monday's, and will be sent out in the same newsletter format as the Bluejay Express. We look forward to this exciting new addition.

The web site is the best source for up to date sports schedules and calendar.

Congratulations to Teya Yeomans for being chosen the MaxPreps/AVCA Colorado High School Player Of The Week!

Knowledge Bowl is a team sport where high school students from around the area compete in groups of 4 to answer trivia questions on a wide variety of subjects- math, poetry, geography, history, science, sports, etc. We are looking for high school students to join our team. We hold meets once or twice a month on Mondays between September and February.

Our first Knowledge Bowl meet is scheduled for Monday, September 12th in Dolores.

Our first practice will be this Thursday, August 25th at 4:15 pm in Room 123 of the elementary building- the classroom next to the cafeteria. At this meeting, we will go over general information and set teams.

Please contact Liza Eschallier if you have any questions leschallier@mancosre6.edu or if you’d like to be on the team but can’t make this meeting.

Welcome Back to School!!!

I hope your students enjoyed their first week of school. Please remember that school meals are no longer free unless your family qualifies through the confidential application process. Applications can be filled out at MySchoolApps or picking up a Blue Free and Reduced application from the front office. A new form needs to be filled out each year and only one application per household. Please note it takes a few days to process these applications. If you do not know if your student qualifies please call or email me at jfogel@mancosre6.edu or 970-533-7745. A paper confirmation of your housholds eligibility status will be mailed to your address that is on file with the school district in the next few weeks.

Menus can be accessed at Mealviewer.com

If your family does not qualify for free or reduced meals and they plan to eat lunch with us, please visit MySchoolBucks.com to deposit money on their lunch accounts. If you have a problem setting up your account please contact me.

If your student is bringing a lunch from home please do not send soda of any kind with your student.

If your student has life threatening food allergies, please notify myself and the nurse. We will need a meal modification statement filled out and signed by your physician before we can make any meal replacements. If your student just suffers from intolerances please watch the menu closely to determine which meals are appropriate for your student. We have a full salad bar each day stocked with many allergy/intolerance free items.

Meal prices:

Breakfast K-12 $1.75

Lunch K-5 $2.50

Lunch 6-12 $2.75

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me anytime.

Begins August 30th - Every Tuesday 4:30-5:30 pm in the band room.

Open to all MS and HS students. You and your friends can learn to play the drums, guitar, bass or piano in a rock band setting! No experience necessary - you can borrow an instrument from the school if you need to.

Contact Mr. Saletta at asaletta@mancosre6.edu for further questions.

PSAT/ NMSQT: The PSAT/NMSQT will be offered to Juniors who are interested….The cost of the test is $18.00 per student and must be paid to Mancos Schools by August 31st to allow time for ordering. Please pay Mrs. Aspromonte. The test will be administered on MHS campus, Wednesday, October 12th. There will be a signup sheet at the front office.

**If you are planning on taking the PSAT/NMSQT, please reply and I will add you to the list.

When you take the PSAT/NMSQT, you’re automatically screened for the National Merit® Scholarship Program, an academic competition for recognition and scholarships. The PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 are not considered for entry. To be considered for the National Merit Scholarship Program, typically you need to test within the top 1%.

All sophomores will be taking the ASVAB on Tuesday, October 25th at 8:00AM in the performance center. Please make sure you are in attendance and on time. The ASVAB will be administered on Chromebooks so please make sure you bring yours and that it is fully charged.

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a comprehensive test that helps determine students’ eligibility and suitability for careers in the military. Students who score at least 31 on the AFQT are eligible for service (along with other standards that include physical condition and personal conduct).

Students who take the ASVAB are not required to enlist in the military.

As part of the new graduation guidelines, students must demonstrate college or career readiness in English and math based on at least one standardized measure such as the ASVAB.

****Class of 2020 and Beyond will need to demonstrate competency in Reading and Math academic areas. The state’s competency level determinations for English and Math are set to match proficiency levels on the state assessment. They are designed to be of approximate comparable rigor and will be refined, improved, and added to overtime. Students must demonstrate competency in each content area using any one of the items in the competency demonstration menu for that content area.

For more information regarding the menu of options of measure and their competency scores, please refer to page 63 of the student handbook.

Mancos High School woodshop classes are making and selling cornhole boards as a fundraiser!

They are making 6 sets of boards this first time, each set will be custom painted by the students in the shop class and will include bags. We are accepting very limited custom orders at this time.

Please contact the shop instructor Mr. Vannest for more details and pricing. evannest@mancosre6.edu

Did you miss the morning announcements? Did you hear something, but wasn't sure what was said? Now you can read them! The outline on the side of the document allows you to find the day/date fairly easily.

https://bit.ly/MHSMorning

Fall picture day will be October 3rd. ALL students will need to have their picture taken. Even if you do not purchase pictures this is the day that pictures will be taken for students ID's and school records.

Email: dlockhart@mancosre6.edu
Website: www.mancosre6.edu
Location: 355 Grand Avenue, Mancos, CO, USA
Phone: (970) 533-7746
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MancosHighSchool/