CSHS Weekly Bulletin
January 16-22, 2017
School Safety & Security
Dear Cougar Family,
When the the Columbine attack happened in April of 1999, I was a freshman in college. I recall sitting in my ag economics class in the Chemistry Building, listening to my classmates attempt to digest the horrible reality. It was terrifying, yet an abstraction--something played out on the news, something my peers thought couldn't happen in Texas.
When Dave Cullen published his book, Columbine, in 2009, I read it through the eyes of an experienced teacher, and the thing that resonates with me after all this time, is his description of that Tuesday morning at school. Everything was so profoundly normal. The scene he described as the school day started could have been any high school in the United States.
When I became an assistant principal and we had our first lock down drill, I remember walking from room to room, checking doors. The empty hallways were eery, and I had the profound realization that I was no longer on the other side of a locked door. Come what may, my new role was to face it.
Please take a moment to watch the video below, titled "Evan."
When I watched this, it struck me to the core. We have @ 1,860 students on our campus, and we will swell to be much larger in the coming years. Each of these students needs us, the adults on campus, to take notice of them--to see patterns in their behavior, to know if they are struggling, to notice if they are spending too much time occupied with researching potentially harmful subjects, to truly know them.
I share all of this with you not to scare you but to cause us to take a moment to reflect on why we have a safety audit and why we have stringent expectations for checking in visitors, wearing IDs, and so forth.
Please take a moment to review these expectations as we move into the Spring semester:
Know your students. Notice when they are not themselves or seem preoccupied. If you need help addressing issues, contact an administrator or counselor.
Wear identification badges--ALL staff and students.
Challenge any individuals without a visitor’s badge and escort them to the office for obtaining one.
Keep exterior doors locked and closed when not monitored.
Don’t allow access to visitors other than through the security vestibule and office.
Keep classroom doors “locked and propped” so that a simple swinging closed of the door will latch and lock it.
Take lockdown drills seriously and make sure lights in classrooms are turned off, cell phones are turned off, and everyone stays quiet.
Keep a close watch during outdoor activities and don’t allow strangers to interact with students.
Every single person on our campus is important. Let us all be vigilant in maintaining a safe, secure school where all students can learn.
Have an excellent week!
As always, COUGAR PRIDE!
Tiffany
Advocate Videos
Registration Information from the Counseling Office
The counselors will be in the cafeteria during all lunches on Tuesday, January 17th from 11 - 1 to answer questions. We will also be in the counseling office from 5:30 to 6:30 to answer questions that night. If you are sending home an email to your parents - please remind them of this.
Both sides of the PURPLE course request form are due to social studies teachers on Wednesday, January 18.
Please let the counseling office know if you have any questions.
Duty Schedule
If you have not had duty in the fall, you have duty this spring. Check the full schedule here and mark the dates in your calendar.
Morning Duty
Afternoon Duty
Upcoming Events
1/24-25 Senior Cap and Gown Ordering During Lunch
2/1 Sadie Dance Lessons
2/3 50 Men Who Can Cook
2/4 Gospel Choir Concert
2/6 Cougar Club General Membership Meeting
2/7 AMC Math Test
2/7 Strutter Contest Showoffs
2/11 Sadie Hawkins Dance
2/15 AMC Math Test
2/16 Orchestra Concert
2/25 Night of Percussion