Hawks Happenings Monthly Newsletter
January 2024 Edition
Principals Corner: Welcome to 2024!
Good morning Hawks families,
Goodbye 2023...Hello 2024!
I hope each of you had a wonderful holiday break and are excited about the new year. For our students, we welcome in 2024 at around the half way point in the school year! This is the time we look to wrap up the 1st semester and launch into our 2nd semester.
We also get to shift into our two week window of J Term, January 16-26. Details can be found further down in the newsletter but please remember that for CPHS we adjust our school start time during J Term to 9:00am. Students who take the bus will continue to get on their routes at their regular time and will be given ample time to have breakfast and engage in 21st century led game play in the commons prior to 9:00am. For students who drive themselves, walk, or ride bikes they do not need to get to school until 9:00am during J Term.
January is also a time for celebration and recognition for our students. On Friday, January 12 we will have an ASB led assembly that recognizes many students, clubs, and sports team with particular emphasis on "growth" piggybacking off both the messages of MLK and also of our CP Strong focus which has been on growth in our habits. We also will hold an afternoon CP Strong celebration activity that same day, which is a way to recognize students for the growth they've shown during the CP Strong activities this 1st semester. Throughout the week of Jan. 16-19, we will continue to celebrate the messages of MLK through some fun, reflective, and engaging lunchtime activities.
Additionally, here are a few key date reminders:
--FAFSA/WASFA Financial Aid Night @Valle Lindo: Tuesday, January 9 (see details below)
--FAFSA/WASFA Financial Aid Night @CPHS: Wednesday, January 10 (see details below)
--No School: Monday, January 15
--Start of 2nd Semester: Monday, January 29
--1st Semester Report Cards & J Term grades mailed out week of January 29
In this edition of the Hawks Happenings newsletter we share details about our upcoming post high school FAFSA Financial Aid Night, instructional shout-outs to our 10th grade Humanities team, the fun being had in our Gesa "pie-in-the-face" promotional event, information about J Term, 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
FAFSA Financial Aid Night
For our senior class families, please mark your calendars to join us on Wednesday, January 10th here at CPHS in the common as we have on site college admissions and financial aid experts to help get those FAFSA completed. We also will be out at Valle Lindo on Tuesday, January 9th to help families with Spanish speaking translators. See flier below!
Prior to being able to complete the FAFSA, parents must have a financial aid ID. Here is the link for parents to complete that step prior to FAFSA Night. (link)
For families completing the WASFA, here is the link to able to create your financial aid ID.
FAFSA Financial Aid Night
Wednesday, Jan 10, 2024, 04:00 PM
College Place High School, South College Avenue, College Place, WA, USA
J Term 2024
We are excited for our upcoming January 16-26 third annual J Term experiential learning opportunity. For those new to CPHS, this two week window between first and second semester, is an intentional opportunity to break from our traditional courses and to give students unique learning experiences in a variety of areas that are both teacher and student interest driven.
Students recently were given our J Term Course Catalog and a registration link to select their top five potential courses of interest. We hope to have students scheduled into their J Term selections before Winter Break. If you are interested to see what we are offering this year, please help yourself to look through the attached course catalog!
Instructional Shout-Out: 10th grade Humanities Team Teachers Ms. Elmenhurst and Mr. Zeller!
This month's instructional shout-out goes to our 10th grade Humanities Team of Ms. Madison Elmenhurst and Mr. Charles Zeller!
These teachers have been embracing project based learning and executed an amazing Mock Trial simulation activity with all of our 10th grade students just recently. The students read and learned about the historical context of John Steinbeck's classic "Of Mice and Men" and then engaged in a court trial that put George on trial for killing Lenny. Students had to argue by citing evidence and work collaboratively on creating witness statements, opening and closing arguments, and were able to conduct this court trial in our Walla Walla Superior Courthouse with Judge Wolfram.
Check out the article the UB put out on this as well! Way to go Ms. Elmenhurst and Mr. Zeller!
Shout out to the CPHS Latino Club!
A big shout out to our CPHS Latino Club for taking home the first place prize for their float during the CP Festival of Lights Parade! Felicidades!!
Gesa Promotional Fun!
Shout out to our amazing Gesa student branch manager, Eva Cardenas!
This past month we ran a promotional event where any student with a Gesa account got the opportunity to throw a pie in the face of some of our willing teachers! We saw a flurry of new Gesa accounts being opened as a result!
Thank you Eva for spearheading this fun event and thank you Ms. Hockersmith, Mr. Eastep, Mr. Roberts, and Mr. Raikes for being good sports!
Is your student on their phone late into the night? Check out this article!
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/