Hawks Happenings Monthly Newsletter
February 2024 Edition
Principals Corner: Second Semester Begins!
Good morning Hawks families,
As we roll into February, we also roll into our second semester here at CPHS. There is a whole half of the year to squeeze every opportunity of learning and growth in the months ahead. For most students, the semester marks a continuation of their previous courses as most of our classes are year-long, while some students may be entering into a new semester-long course. If you have any questions for our teachers, they will be happy to respond to your outreach. While email works best, we can call or text with families if any questions come up for you.
In March, we look forward to being able to engage in our second round of Teacher/Parent Conferences, with more information about that coming to you in a separate communication sometime mid February.
In this edition of the Hawks Happenings Monthly Newsletter, we share information about a new "Hawks Beyond Program", details about upcoming events (especially for our senior class), celebrations, and much more.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out at 509-522-3312.
Thank you and Go Hawks!
Robert Aguilar, Principal
College Place High School
Hawks Beyond Program
In an effort to bring more awareness to our students about post high school opportunities, we are excited to announce a new program that aims to share career and life stories from invited community guests with our current students.
The "Hawks Beyond Program" is a recurring optional Hawk Time activity that we hold on Thursdays whereby students can drop in and listen to our guest of the week share their story and journey after high school, describe their current career, and answer any questions our students may have.
We hope that by bringing in community guests to speak to our students, we can get yet another voice to share with them about what their post high school journey could be like especially in career fields they may be currently thinking about.
if you, or someone you know, may be interested in being one of our Hawks Beyond Program speakers and have a dynamic story to share that you think would be interesting to our students, please feel free to reach out to our Career and College Specialist, Heidi Shumate, at hshumate@cpps.org
Hawks Beyond Program (pg.1)
Hawks Beyond Program (pg.2)
Seniors: Important Dates in February
Some important dates for our Class of 2024 Seniors to note:
Wednesday, February 7: Leos Photography will be on campus from 9:00am-12:00pm to take the annual senior cap and gown photos. These photos are used in the Yearbook so we encourage ALL seniors (including part time students in SeaTech or Running Start) to make sure they swing by the school this day to get their picture taken! Seniors and their families that wish to purchase these photos from Leos directly, may do so, however seniors will not be gifted a senior photo by default this year. You can grab a flier at the main office, or you can visit their website at www.leosphotography.com and use the school code of GRA224635.
Tuesday, February 20: We are doing a second FAFSA/WASFA Night Event with financial experts coming in to work with any interested families on completing their FAFSAs or WASFAs for next year. Again, we will be available from 4:30-7:00pm on Tuesday, February 20th here in the CPHS commons. Hope to see you then if you have not yet completed your FAFSA/WASFA.
Thursday, February 29: College Place High School has been selected this year to participate in the national NAEP assessment. This means that around 50 seniors will be randomly selected and invited to participate in this exam on Thursday, February 29th. Letters to those seniors who have been selected to test, will go out in the mail the first week of February. If you have any questions about this or the NAEP exam, please feel free to contact me at raguilar@cpps.org.
February is Black History Month!
February is the national Black History month focus and our US History teacher, Mr. Charles Zeller, uses this month to especially be intentional with lifting up stories of black Americans during the WWII era. 10th graders in our school will be given plenty of opportunities to study and learn about the contributions of black Americans that are often left out of traditional history textbooks.
In addition, our daily morning student led announcements will share stories of black American heroes, inventors, business leaders, and other leaders whose stories are often untold.
Attendance Matters: "How Sick is too Sick?"
Our goal at CPHS is that students come to school all day everyday, unless they have a legitimate excuse or illness preventing them from attending.
Our assistant principal, Ms. Bryant, leads our schools efforts around improved attendance and has created a short 3 minute video with our district nurse, Ms. Crystal Smith, to share with our families how to know if a student is "too sick for school".
Link: "How Sick is too Sick" (3:23) video with Nurse Smith and Assistant Principal Bryant
We also shared this linked video of Hugo "talking" about the importance of attendance in this short video with Ms. Bryant as well, with our student body during a Hawk Time a few weeks back.
We also have provided families with some information from attendanceworks.org of resources for families to support high student attendance.
Valentines Day Fun with Key Club
SAT Sign-Ups
11th graders interested in taking the spring SAT on Thursday, March 28th should sign-up at Ms. Shumate's door ASAP. Thank you.
Instructional Shout-Out: Mr. Tim Hutchison
This month's instructional shout out goes to our own beloved Coach Hutchison. In addition to coaching multiple high school and middle school sports, Mr. Hutchison is a fantastic and knowledgeable Health, and PE/Weights instructor. Students in his class are taught proper lifting techniques on Day One and followed up with in demonstrations and modeling of the lifts everyday they in are in the weight room.
Coach Hutchison loves teaching and cares deeply about his students and their success. Often his lessons, are not just about lifting weights or engaging in PE activities, but broader about skills such as grit, perseverance, and team work. As a health teacher, he has students dig into the learning in groups often and gets students to really think about their life choices and the impact it has on their overall health.
Thank you Mr. Hutchison for all that you do for our Hawks students and community!
Five Star Hawks Recipients: Valuing Each Persons Opinion and Journey!
CPHS Drama Club Presents...."Bye Bye Birdie"
Hawks Boys Soccer gets a new Head Coach!
Welcome Coach Santos Garcia to the Hawks coaching family!
21st Century After School Programs in February!
Have you bought your Yearbook yet?
About Us
Non discrimination Statement
College Place Public Schools does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, honorably-discharged veteran or military status, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability, and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Title IX and Harassment, Intimidation & Bullying (HIB): Marissa Waddell, mwaddell@cpps.org; Civil Rights and Section 504 Coordinator: James Fry, jfry@cpps.org; (509) 525-4827,1755 South College Avenue, College Place, Washington, 99324
Email: raguilar@cpps.org
Website: https://www.cpps.org/o/high-school
Location: 1755 South College Avenue, College Place, WA, USA
Phone: (509) 522-3312
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CollegePlaceSchoolDistrict/