
Hall's Corner
November 19, 2021
Dear BHS Families:
Hope you had a wonderful week. This week marks the transition from the first to the second marking period. Grades will be available to the Parent Portal on Wednesday, November 24.
Thank you!
Tom
FEV Tutoring Support for 3-12 grade students
Great news! This school year, Brighton has chosen to partner with FEV Tutor to provide you with free, school-sponsored, 1:1 online tutoring as a support resource as we begin the school year. This virtual service will be available to students from 3pm-10pm daily and also on weekends as needed. By logging in to student accounts through Class Link, students will be able to request to work with a tutor in minutes for an On-Demand session. On the FEV platform, students will be able to upload and share files directly with their tutors so that they can provide support with specific assignments or projects.
If you have any questions about this free virtual tutoring program, please contact FEV Tutor directly at: support@fevtutor.com or call 855-763-2607. FEV's Support Team is happy to answer any questions and work with you to create a personalized tutoring experience that best suits your learner! Take this opportunity to help your student reach their academic goals when they need support outside of school hours. We look forward to supporting our Brighton students!
TOPICS COVERED IN TODAY'S HALL'S CORNER
A Message from the District on Thanksgiving
Free Practice ACT Saturday at Brighton Library
Attendance Reminders and Updates
Driver Education Update
Class of 2022 Activity Timeline
Crossroads Yearbook
In Counseling
Athletic News
American Red Cross Blood Drive
Brighton - Israeli Exchange Newsletter
- American Red Cross Blood Drive
- Snow Days are going Remote
Calendar of Future Events – Check this out!
Elevator Use
- Bathroom Stall Use
A Message from the District on Thanksgiving
Celebrating Thanksgiving
As part of our work around Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education we are taking a thoughtful look at different parts of our curriculum and instruction with our students including holidays such as Thanksgiving. As you may know, many Native American images found on Thanksgiving cards, decorations, and some school materials are very stereotypic. They are often based on a "composite" view of Native Americans rather than on accurate and diverse Native American lifestyles and traditions. As a consequence, Thanksgiving imagery serves to teach and reinforce children's misinformation and stereotypic thinking about Native Americans. Moreover, the story of Thanksgiving is usually told from only one side -- that of the European pilgrims who came to America. Rarely is it told from the perspective of the people who were already here.
Through our work with students our hope is to help children understand that Thanksgiving means different things to different people. Some families celebrate Thanksgiving and others do not. As we talk about Thanksgiving, we hope to help students understand it as part of a larger effort to learn accurate information about Native Americans of the past and present. Additionally, it offers a chance to talk about gratitude in light of the Native Americans who provided food and resources to the colonists. As we give thanks this season, we hope you will find ways within your family to reinforce these lessons and help instill in our children an appreciation and accurate understanding of all cultures.
If you are interested in more resources, please see the list below.
Additional resources:
- Book list with books written from the Native perspective: https://coolmompicks.com/blog/2015/11/21/childrens-books-about-thanksgiving-from-native-perspective/
- Native American contributions to the US: http://blog.nativepartnership.org/history-of-native-american-day-part-2/
- American Indian perspectives on Thanksgiving: https://americanindian.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/education/thanksgiving_poster.pdf
Brighton Library Offering a Free ACT Practice Exam
PROCTORED PRACTICE ACT AT THE BRIGHTON LIBRARY ON 10/20/21, NOON-4PM
Take an official, full length test under proctored conditions at the Brighton Memorial Library, and find out your score as soon as you are done!
Get ready or stay ready for the next official ACT by leveraging the irrefutable benefits of full proctored practice exams. Attendees will take a full ACT under the guidance of an expert proctor from Chariot Learning, who will then help everyone score their tests. Bring a mask, a calculator, pencils, snacks, water, and a commitment to score your best!
Participation is free, but you MUST register ASAP by calling 585-784-5300 or emailing dviviani@libraryweb.org.
Attendance, Updates and Reminders!
Please read below for reminders and some updates to our attendance procedures for students.
- When a student is late to school and does not attend homeroom, the student should check in with security at door 1 or door 20 when they enter the school, and then MUST sign in at the Attendance Office.
- We encourage students to go outside during Flex and during free periods. They should exit the building by door 20, and they do NOT need to sign out of the building. Students are expected to stay ON CAMPUS when they leave the building using door 20.
- Students who are signing out of school to go to an appointment should pick up a dismissal pass in the Attendance Office and leave by door 1.
- Students using open campus privileges (available periods 5, 6, and 7 only) need to sign out with security at door 1.
- Students with Scheduled Early Dismissal (completed yellow permission form) should sign out at door 1.
- During periods 1, 2, 3, 4, FLEX, and 8, ALL STUDENTS MUST STAY ON CAMPUS unless specifically excused by the Attendance Office.
- Student drivers may not have any passengers during the school day (7:40 – 2:47)
Matt Comeau, Assistant Principal
Driver Education
We are pleased to bring the Driver Education program back to BHS this school year after being unable to hold the course last year due to Covid-19 restrictions. New York State has released guidance limiting all class sizes (three students and an instructor in the car wearing masks, regardless of vaccination status). Thank you so much for being patient as we try to create as much availability as possible. We can only provide information about upcoming Driver Education sessions when it becomes available to us from Monroe One BOCES. As soon as we know when registration opens for the Winter session, it will be announced by Dr. Hall and Brighton Community Education using eNews. Until Winter information is available, you can get an idea about what the program entails by reading the Fall session information, which can be viewed at bcsd.org/bhs; Students drop-down menu; Driver Education – General Information. Thank you.
Attention Class of 2022 Students and Their Families
Click here to see the Class of 2022 timeline, https://www.smore.com/sdhjx
Crossroads Yearbook
Senior Portrait requirements, as well as directions on how to submit portraits and "Now and Then" photos can be found on the link. Please note the Baby picture section has been replaced with the "Then and Now" section.
Seniors Portrait submissions are due by November 30, 2021!!
In Counseling
ATTENTION Families with SENIORS
Class of 2022
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
College Application Process and so much more!
Click on the link below to learn about Senior Seminars, Instant Decision Days, Senior Office Hours to get help with the application process, College Rep Visits, Registration Deadlines, Financial Aid, College Fairs, Parent Brag Sheets, and so much more!
View this week's Senior Newsletter here, https://www.smore.com/2deum
Athletics
Check out this website for the most up to date athletic schedules
Follow Brighton Sports on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/BCSDSports
American Red Cross Blood Drive
The semi-annual BHS Leadership Seminar Blood Drive will be held Saturday, December 11 from 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. Please call 1-800 RED CROSS or go to www.redcrossblood.org to make your lifesaving appointment. All of this drive's donors will receive a $10 Amazon e-gift card by email and a t-shirt at the drive.
Brighton - Israeli Exchange
Open to all BHS students!
Brighton High School is once again excited to participate in the BHS-Israeli Exchange. This program is jointly sponsored by the Brighton Central School District and the Jewish Federation of Rochester. This is intended to be a strictly cultural and non-religious exchange; any BHS student can participate.
Marla Taplinger and John Clements are the school advisors for this exchange program. BHS students interested in participating in the BHS-chaperoned student exchange trip to Israel during our 2022 February Break should Click here for more information.
Snow Day Schedule
There will be NO regular Snow Days with cancelled classes/closed buildings this year in Brighton Schools. If inclement weather warrants the Superintendent of Schools to close in-person schooling, students, faculty, and staff will follow the Remote SNOW DAY Schedule (note below) and attend classes remotely via ZOOM or Schoology. Teachers have already communicated their SNOW DAY Zoom or Schoology links with students. An e-news message, robocall, and e-mail will be sent to all families in the event school buildings are closed. If students signed up for REMIND, they will also get a REMIND message from Dr. Hall.
The following EXPECTATIONS are for all high school students:
· Bring home computer devices if we suspect a possible snow day may be called.
· Check teacher’s Schoology pages for a SNOW DAY ZOOM link ready to go for SNOW DAYS.
· Sign onto ZOOM links and attend all classes for the entire class period as per the SNOW DAY Schedule.
· Turn on Cameras so that proper attendance can be taken.
· Actively participate during the lesson.
Click the link to see open the Snow Day Schedule:
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
ELEVATOR USE at BHS
Bathroom Stall use at BHS
Similar to the elevators, we are finding that some students are congregating in the Gender Neutral bathroom, accessible bathroom stalls, and smaller bathroom stalls in various student restrooms in the building - vaping, eating, talking, and sitting on the floors.
- Students with physical and medical needs must be able to access the larger stalls in bathrooms whenever they need them. The Gender Neutral bathroom is for everyone’s use, staff and students, and should not be occupied by more than one person at a time.
- Any students needing to use the restroom should be able to access stalls and toilets for the purpose for which they are intended.
- Students should not be eating in the bathroom stalls or sitting on the floors in the bathroom stalls. That is just gross, a health hazard, and just wrong.
- There should never be more than one student in a stall at one time. From experience, if we see more than one pair of legs in a stall, that usually means students are vaping, which is clearly against school policy. Vaping is also extremely dangerous and harmful to teenage bodies and organs like the heart, lungs, and brain.
“A 2016 Surgeon General’s report concluded that youth use of nicotine in any form, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe, causes addiction and can harm adolescent brain development, which impacts attention, memory and learning. E-cigarettes can also expose users to harmful and carcinogenic chemicals such as formaldehyde and lead. Studies have found that young people who use e-cigarettes are more likely to become smokers.”
Security and administration will be stepping up bathroom patrols and issuing detentions if we see this happening. Also, starting on November 15th, the lower gym will be open from Period 1 through period 6 every day if you don’t want to be in the library or cafeteria during a free period. Go there with your friends for an eating break and conversation and not to a bathroom stall.