PHS August 2023 Newsletter

Hello Pella Families,

The Pella High School staff is eager to welcome you to the 2023-24 school year! Please find important information below, and we will highlight more of these items during class meetings.

Respectfully,

Josh Manning

Pella High School Principal

21st Freshmen & New to Pella Open House (details below)

23rd First day of school!!!

30th 90 Minute Early Dismissal

* Go to www.pellaschools.org and click on the calendar tab to see all events/activities. You may also access the calendar by going to www.littlehawkeyeconference.com

The high school will be hosting an open house for all high school students on August 21st, which will be held in two sessions. The ninth-grade and all new students to the district will begin at 5:00, and 10-12th grade will begin at 6:30. See the Schedule below.

5:00 – 5:15 HS Principals' & Counselors' message (Auditorium)

5:15 – 6:30 Open House

• Locker: find your locker, check your combo and drop off school items

• Walk your schedule and meet teachers

• Pick up ID at the activities office

• Computer Checkout - IT Office across from the Library

6:30 - 8:00 10th through 12th grade student open house

• Check locker and combo

• Drop off any items in locker

• Walk schedule and meet teachers

• Pick up ID from activities office

• Pick up parking tag from main office

• Computer Checkout - IT Office across from the Library

Returning Students - may stop by the high school between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm August 17-22 to check out a laptop from the Student Help Center (HS Room 1217). Please enter from the activities entrance or the building main entrance. There will be some construction in the Library area and some portions of the building may be blocked off. Do not enter through the IT (west) entrance.

New Students & Parent/Guardian - You will need to watch a Chromebook Training Session and sign our Acceptable Use Policy prior to being issued a Chromebook during the checkout window of August 17th to the 22nd. We will also have hard copies available.

ID Cards/Activity passes can be picked up in the activity office on the following dates.

• August 17 - 22 from 8:00-4:00 PM

• August 21 from 5:00-8:00 during open house.

Shared 8/4/23 from Pella HS Activities Office - LINK

Board Policy 501.9

In order for a student to participate in an interscholastic event, the student must attend all classes and study halls on a normal school day of the event. A school- approved absence the day of an event must be submitted to the office by 9:00am of the day of the absence. If an absence occurs and there is no communication and approval prior to 9:00 am, documentation of an excused appointment is required in order for that student to be eligible to participate in an event that day. Failure to comply with this regulation will result in being ineligible for participation in any extracurricular event/performance on the day they were absent.
Any student serving an in-school OR out-of-school suspension will be ineligible to practice or perform in an event for the day(s) they are suspended. A student serving an out-of-school suspension is not allowed on school property or allowed to attend school events, home and away until reinstated by administration.

A Pella High School student must be a full time student to participate in interscholastic school-sponsored activities. A full time student is defined as one who is enrolled in seven (7) courses in grades 9-10 and six (6) course in grades 11-12. The exception to this rule is 8th grade students are eligible to participate in High School softball and baseball.

*A full credit course is considered to be a class that meets on a daily basis with the exception of post secondary correspondence unless an online course is approved by an SAT Team.

*Good Conduct Policy can be found in our handbook.

Here is the link for the 2023-2024 high school supply list.

Here is the link for the 2023-24 Student Handbook. All students and parents are responsible for being familiar with the policies and procedures in the student handbook.

Students received their schedules in May but will need to look at them again before school starts. Some schedules have changed in an effort to balance class sizes. At this point, there is very little wiggle room to make changes, but add or drop requests can be made using the following form:

• Schedule Change Request Form

To find your student’s locker and combination, please refer to Infinite Campus in the Parent Portal, and find it under MORE then LOCKERS. Lockers and their combinations are also found on the student’s printed schedule found under DOCUMENTS.

Start your day off with a nutritional breakfast! Breakfast is available every day, in each building. A variety of breakfast items are served or you may want just cereal & toast! Every breakfast includes fruit and fruit juice and the choice of milk.

Free and Reduced applications are now available on our website. If you need a printed copy please call or email Connie Boldt, 641-628-1748 or connie.boldt@pellaschools.org.

Students primarily use their student ID to purchase lunch, however, they may also use a pin number to purchase their breakfast or lunch. To find this code, log onto your parent portal, click the student’s name, then click MORE then STUDENT CREDENTIALS and see the code next to STUDENT PIN NUMBER.

Resources and Time

A scheduled TIME during the instructional day for students to access the necessary resources to maximize the opportunity for success, and to learn the responsibility necessary to navigate their lives. This time will be scheduled between period 4 and 5, and will be split between A and B, and balanced with a lunch period.

Smart Lunch Schedule

i-Lead - Every Wednesday

Students will meet with their iLead teacher every Wednesday to develop skills in leading their lives, and to build plans for when they graduate from high school. During this time students will experience Leader in Me lessons, enrichment activities with representatives from local businesses, begin career awareness, and begin to plan for their lives after high school. This experience will be tailored for each grade level as they build their post-secondary plans.

i-Learn - Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

Q: What is an iLearn session and how do iLearn sessions work?

A: An iLearn session is structured TIME each week for teachers to offer various learning activities in addition to what happens during your regular class. This is targeted time to allow students to maximize their learning. Students can voluntarily attend an iLearn session with a teacher OR can be assigned to attend a session by a teacher or counselor. If a student attends an iLearn during A lunch, they will eat B lunch that day or vice versa.

Q: What happens if a student doesn’t show up to the check-in period?

A: Students who do not show up to the check-in period will be considered skipping. Attendance will be taken daily and does show up on Infinite Campus. We will have a monthly session on Wednesday’s after school from 1:45-3:15pm for students that have not attended their scheduled iLearn or make-up time.

If you have any questions regarding i-Learns please contact Mr. Derek Schulte, Assistant Principal at derek.schulte@pellaschools.org or 641-628-3870

Parking map Drop off link

• Parking Permits - Cost $5

• Pella HS Parking Lots (parking maps below)

• Who: 10th-12th Grade Students

• Where: Purchase in HS Main Office

• Faith Church Parking Permit:

• Who: 9th Grade Students

• Where: Purchase at Faith Church Office

• A parking permit grants a student access to campus parking but does NOT guarantee a parking space, as parking is limited on campus.

• All students who are not issued a parking permit must park off of school grounds. Off campus parking is available at Caldwell Park and legal street parking

• The school IS NOT responsible for lost items, stolen items, or vandalism to vehicles in the parking areas.

• Parking Lots (Parking Maps)

• Student Parking

• Lower and Upper East Lot, South Lot by Gymnasium, Tennis Court Lot (new this year), Faith Church (9th Grade) and Caldwell Park Lot

• Faculty/Staff Parking

• South Lot (Bus Pick up & Drop off), Career Academy and Activities Entrance Lot

• Visitor Parking

• South Lot (Bus Pick up & Drop off) and Activities Entrance Lot

• Parking Fines/Tickets

• Students who park in school parking lots without a permit or park in “no parking” or “reserved parking” areas may have their permits revoked, be fined, and/or towed at their expense.

• Fines for illegal parking are $15 for each offense.

• If a student consistently parks illegally or does not pay their parking fines, then they may lose additional privileges (open campus privileges, work release, parking privileges etc.)

• Students who drive in an unsafe manner may have their permits revoked, be fined or other disciplinary action(s) including suspension.

All students are to use either the east entrance OR main entrance to exit or enter the building during school hours. Students may use other doors when arriving at school and leaving the school at the end of the school day. All school doors will lock at 8:10 a.m. All students entering after 8:10 a.m. will need to use the east entrance or the main entrance and pass through the office(s).

During Fall iLeads, students will be working on activities for a slide show that they will later present to their parents during the scheduled November conference. These activities will be related to the students’ future career plans. Also, during this time, students will show their parents their class requests and complete their registration for the following school year. Our goal is to partner with parents in students’ class and career planning. More information to come!

Attendance - A parent must call or email (hsoffice@pellaschools.org) the HS office by 9:00 a.m. each morning your son/daughter will be absent from school. Please see the full attendance policy for our expectations and procedures in the student/parent handbook.

Visitors: Raptor - In an effort to improve our visitor tracking and monitoring, and continue to develop building security, all visitors (including all parents) will need to check in with the office and will be required to produce a driver’s license to gain access to the building.

Personal Cell Phone Policy – The use and access to cell phones will be limited to before and after school, during passing times, and during the SMART lunch period. Any parent concerns or emergencies should be processed through the office.

Backpacks or Personal Bags – The use of backpacks or personal bags will be limited to before and after school only. Students will be expected to keep backpacks or personal bags in their assigned locker during the school day. Handbags smaller than a school textbook may be carried at school (small purses, pencil pouches, etc.)

Dress and Hygiene - (Board Policy - 502.1)

There is a strong connection between academic performance, students' appearance and students' conduct. Inappropriate student appearance may cause material and substantial disruption to the school environment or present a threat to the health and safety of students, employees and visitors on school grounds. Students are expected to adhere to reasonable levels of cleanliness and modesty.

• Hats and any other clothing that promote alcohol, tobacco, or controlled substances or display obscene material, profanity, gang symbols, hate messages, and violence are considered a violation of this policy.

• All students must wear shoes or sandals.

• It is inappropriate to wear pieces of clothing that intentionally expose cleavage, midriff, and/or undergarments.

• Skirts and shorts must be long enough to avoid any exposed pockets and/or reveal anatomical details.

CONSEQUENCES:

Students will be asked to find alternative clothing and/or change their attire. Additional disciplinary action may be taken if the situation is not corrected and/or the student has multiple offenses violating the student dress code.

If students are applying for college and need high school transcripts sent to colleges this fall please follow the steps on the Pella District website: http://www.pellaschools.org/high school home page > gray box on right hand side > counseling > transcript request form

Any student that is planning to take the ACT test for college admission requirements may visit this website for further details. www.actstudent.org. The ACT testing dates and locations as well as the online registration is all on this website. There are also tips and strategies for test taking, plus Test Prep information. Another test prep resource is located at this link: http://www.doorwaytocollege.com/. This is the company that comes into Pella HS a couple times throughout the school year to host ACT test prep workshops. The first workshop is scheduled for October 4 & 5, from 6:30-9pm each night; more details about registration will be sent at a later date.

Pella High School Distinguished Services Program is a program that encourages all students to volunteer in our community and school; all hours must be served in Pella. Participation is not required. Those who choose to partake and who serve 100 hours or more throughout their four years at Pella High School will receive a Distinguished Service Award and a special cord to wear at the graduation ceremony. Students must submit their hours to the counseling office, and they will log the hours for them.

The Pella High School Student Support Services team is available to assist students and families in many life circumstances that could affect students’ schooling. The services include academic assistance and planning, career and college planning, and personal or social counseling. Students and parents are also encouraged to contact the counselors to assist with situations that arise. It is beneficial to the students when the staff and families work together as a team. There are also many community resources the guidance staff can suggest for any further assistance needed. The Pella High School counselors are Mrs. Manning and Mrs. VanZante.

Drivers Education is provided by Street Smarts or Training Wheels Inc. Street Smarts is a company from Clive, Iowa and offers class sessions in Pella during the summer, fall, and spring. For more information go to their website Street Smarts Driver's Ed or call 515-279-1112. Training Wheels Inc. is a company from Knoxville, Iowa that offers courses based on level of interest. For more information, visit their website Training Wheels Driver Education or call 641-820-0234.

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www.pellaschools.org

Preparing Everyone to Learn Lead and Achieve