Gunn Together Times
Principal Stratton's Update, 4/01/21
Dear Titan Families,
I am pleased to share that the majority of our staff will be fully vaccinated by the end of spring break. The increased feelings of safety among teachers and staff have impacted their comfort levels with being on campus and teaching in person. Several staff members have expressed both their relief and their enthusiasm as conditions improve around us.
The number of students attending classes 2 days a week has been fairly steady. We are currently looking at ways to increase access to in-person learning. Below is a form you may fill out if interested in having your student attend Gunn 4 days a week, instead of 2. Once we have a sense of how many students may be interested, we will communicate with families to approve requests.
I continue to be incredibly grateful to be a part of the Gunn Community. Thanks for your support and partnership throughout this challenging year!
Warmly,
Principal Stratton
Opportunity to Attend Four Days a Week - Complete Form
Gunn is opening up opportunities for selected students based on academic, attendance, and other circumstances to attend 4 days a week. If your students would benefit from attending 4 days on campus in person, please fill out the following form, and your student's counselor will forward their recommendations to the administrators for approval. Do not begin attending 4 days a week without approval and notification from your student's counselor.
Graduation Update
Graduation for the Class of 2021: Plans are underway for Graduation!
Confirmed details:
Graduation rehearsal will be 6/1 (Time TBA) on the Football Field
Graduation will be on 6/2 (5:00 PM) on the Football Field
Spectators - It is our hope that all graduates will be able to have some family spectators at the ceremony. Families should plan for limited numbers of in-person tickets for the event. Live streaming of the ceremony is being arranged so all family members can view the ceremony.
Other Activities:
Car Parade - Due to the popularity of the City-Wide car parade last year, both Paly and Gunn are discussing holding this event once again. The tentative date is June 1st, in the early evening. More details to follow in April.
Senior Showcase & Awards - Students interested in giving a speech or performing in the Senior Showcase should look for tryout information in April.
Graduation Speech Tryouts - Will be included in the Senior Showcase application
As always, plans may fluctuate based on COVID safety protocols from the school and District. We will do our best to give you updated information as soon as it is available.
Schedule Adjustments
Friday, April 2nd - Minimum Day
- Collaboration/Prep - 8:30 - 9:35 am
- Period 5 - 9:40 - 10:45 am
- Period 6 - 10:55 am - 12:05 pm
- Period 7 - 12:15 - 1:20 pm
Week of Monday, April 5th - Friday, April 9th - Spring Break
Monday, April 12th
- At Home/Synchronous Learning (Normal Monday Schedule)
Tuesday, April 13th
- Asynchronous Day for SATs
April 17 PAUSD Parent Leadership Summit
April 17th district-wide Parent Leadership Summit. Sign-Up To Attend!
If you missed the Family Leadership Summit kick-off event last Saturday, March 27th, 2021 don’t worry. There will be another date offered on April 17, 2021. See the links above to register. Here is a preview of what was shared, learned, and discussed at the kick-off event. You can also catch a look and listen to Be The Change by the Fletcher Choir at https://www.pausdfamilies.org/family-leadership-summit-2021/redefining-strength.
A special racial/ethnic affinity listening session will be hosted by PAUSD staff to get feedback from diverse groups on their experiences in PAUSD and hear what teachers, staff, students, and parents need and would like to see to build a more inclusive environment and work towards an equitable and antiracist organization. Although the affinity groups are grouped along racial lines, the experiences of LGBTQ+, students with disabilities, and other diverse groups may be addressed in all breakouts.
Saturday, April 17th 9am-1pm
Keynote: Kiran Gaind
Equity for Academic Success: Aptly named as the sessions in this day of the series revolve around the idea of truly teaching every child. The breakdown of sessions on this day will focus on supporting diverse learners, teaching the whole child, bringing culture into the classroom, breaking down cultural barriers and biases, and the pathway towards college and career success.
Take-Home COVID Testing Coming Soon
Upcoming Parent Nights
- 4/14 - 9th Grade Parent Night, 6:00-7:00 pm
- 4/14 - 10th Grade Parent Night, 7:15-8:15 pm
SAT School Day Schedule (April 12-16)
Gunn will be administering the SAT without an essay during the school day on Tuesday, April 13th. The exam is for 11th graders only. We have approximately 300 11th graders committed to taking the exam. Due to the number of students who want to take the exam we will be using most of our classrooms and staff to administer the exam. We will be working on a schedule to train staff over the next two weeks to proctor the exam.
Additional Information:
Juniors who are registered to take the SAT at Gunn, on Tuesday, April 13th should watch this video to prepare for exam day. Harvey Newland sent an additional message this week (only to those registered for the SAT) with room assignments and details about exam day. If you have questions about the SAT, please reach out to hnewland@pausd.org.
Prepared Schools Update for Parents
COVID -19 Prepared Schools Update for Parents
Let's look at three scenarios as they relate to COVID-19:Scenario 1: Your child is exhibiting one or more COVID-19 symptoms.Scenario 2: Your child has been i...
Summer School Information
This year summer school will be offered in-person for kick-start credit or credit recovery. Session one will be offered June 14 through July 2, and session 2 will be offered July 6th through July 23rd. Students can take one kick-start (general education) course per semester or two credit-recovery classes per session.
Kick-start courses offer students an opportunity during the summer to take both credit or non-credit courses. For-credit courses help students lighten the regular school year course load and to access an in-person instruction opportunity over one or two sessions (total of 10 credits). Living Skills will be offered online both sessions and is only available to rising seniors. Non-credit courses are provided as supplemental courses not typically offered as part of the course catalog. Language immersion courses are offered without credit. No credit or grades will be awarded for the completion of these courses.
Credit-recovery courses offer the opportunity to recover 2 courses per session up (total of 20 credits).
Maximum Graduation Credits Earnable: A student may earn a maximum of 80 units of credit toward graduation in any given school year. This includes summer school and any courses taken off-campus.
High School Credit Recovery
- The Guidance Counselors will approve and register all Credit Recovery classes.
- Counselors will register students who are credit deficient. Families do not need to contact counselors.
- You will be able to take and complete up to four semester's worth of credits (20 total) this summer. Two semesters during Session 1 and two semesters during Session 2. Note: You do not need to participate in both sessions or both classes offered per session, if you do not need to recover that many credits.
- Please note that school counselors and our Summer School Admin team will reach out to students and families with notifications of enrollment before the end of May 2021. Enrollment in credit recovery classes is determined and prioritized by student credit deficiency and graduation year. If your student needs to re-take a Spring 2021 course, counselors will communicate once spring semester grades are posted and/or the need becomes apparent.
- Summer Principal, Courtney Carlomagno.
- For questions regarding enrollment, contact Natalie Skelton.
Kick-start Program
- Registration will be open from March 12 - April 1 for all classes.
- Living Skills is limited to rising seniors and is a separate registration. Please use this link for Living Skills Registration.
- Economics will be offered through UC Scout and is also a separate registration. Please use this link to register.
- Kick-start Course Catalog
- Kick-start registration link (open until April 1, 2021).
- Please note you will not be officially enrolled until you receive an email confirmation. This will not be first come, first served. Your request will be noted by our administrative staff and your enrollment status pending. Enrollment confirmation for Kick start will be sent at the end of April.
- For those unable to register online paper registration forms for the General Program will be available at the district office, beginning March 12, 2021.
- Spaces are limited to capacity at Gunn High School and COVID protocols.
- Summer Co-Principals, Courtney Carlomagno and Kim Lohse.
- For questions regarding enrollment, contact Natalie Skelton.
2020-2021 State Testing
We will be administering the State mandated SmarterBalanced assessments across the Palo Alto district this spring. The high schools will administer the CAASPP and CAST testing on consecutive Mondays, April 26 and May 3. The testing will be a school-wide commitment, therefore, these Mondays will need to be asynchronous days.
The CAASPP tests for English Language Arts and Math will be administered to all Juniors. The CAST test for science will be administered to all Sophomores and any Seniors who did not complete the test as Sophomores.
The CAASPP and CAST tests give teachers important information on the academic progress of our students and are useful for curricular improvements. Teachers will be administering the tests during testing blocks, non-instructional periods.
In addition to providing students, parents, and teachers with valuable information on student academic progress, the CAASPP test also provides students with academic eligibility and opportunities that they will not have if they do not participate.
These include:
§ Eligibility for the State Seal of Biliteracy (along with other language criteria)
§ Eligibility for the Golden State Certificate of Merit Diploma (along with other criteria)
§ Eligibility to bypass entry course requirements for English and Math at CSUs
(depending upon score toward the College Readiness Indicator)
The CAASPP and CAST tests have been intentionally scheduled after SAT testing and before AP Testing in May. Gunn teachers have committed to being mindful of testing on scheduled days and will not load students with assignments, projects, and tests.
Gunn High School has made tremendous progress in our student participation in the SmarterBalanced assessments. We progressed from participation in the low 20% to 84% participation last year. Our intention is for all Juniors and Sophomores to participate in these upcoming tests. We hope to get closer to the 95% or above participation that our surrounding school districts, such as Mountain, Los Altos, and Menlo Park, have achieved. We need your support to do this.
More specific information on SmarterBalanced assessments will be coming. If you have questions after this information is shared, please contact our Gunn SmarterBalanced Assessments Coordinator, Pier Angeli La Place at plaplace@pausd.org
ParentSquare Training and Information
Please complete the health screener for your child(ren) by 8:00 AM every day that they are coming to campus. Fill out the survey honestly and keep your child(ren) at home if you answer "Yes" to any of the questions.
If you answer a question incorrectly, you will need to contact your school to clear your child to attend. You will not have another opportunity on the same day to complete the screener.
If your student will not be attending school, you do not need to fill out the screener but you will need to contact your site attendance secretary.
Additional details, instructions, and a quick video can be found on the district website. To download the PAUSD custom app for your mobile device go to the App Store (iOS devices) and the Play Store (Android devices).
Gunn Return To Campus Handbook
Please review this document to learn about procedures and protocols associated with returning to campus. This document will be updated regularly to reflect any changes made over the coming weeks.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aHAVM7igfh1ByOzUG8KBRSsnO3K_n3bFHvJ8hreZYbo/edit?usp=sharingOn Campus Learning Student Checklist
Packing Checklist:
Fully Charged Chromebook/Laptop
Laptop Charger
Gunn lanyard w/photo ID
Headphones
Filled Water Bottle
Lunch (BYO or have the Free Lunch, no delivery)
Mask(s) (ready to be put on as soon as you arrive on campus)
School supplies needed for your classes
Jacket (classroom doors and windows will be open)
Athletics Update
Current sports practicing and playing
- Football – Finish on 4/18/21
- Cheerleading – Finish on 4/18/21
- B/G Soccer – Finish on 4/23/21
Sports Starting on Monday April 3, 2021
- B/G – Track and Field – Purple Tier – Finish on 5/28/21
- Boys Golf - Purple Tier – Finish on 5/28/21
- Boys Tennis - Purple Tier – Finish on 5/28/21
- Baseball – Red Tier – Finish on 5/28/21
- Softball – Red Tier -Finish on 5/28/21
- Girls Lacrosse -– Red Tier -Finish on 5/28/21
- Boys Lacrosse – Orange Tier – Finish on 5/28/21
- B/G Water Polo - Orange Tier – Finish on 5/28/21
Sports Waiting to Start due to being indoors – Can not start unless County is in proper color tier
- Badminton – Orange Tier
- B/G – Basketball – Yellow Tier
- B/G – Wrestling – Yellow Tier
- B/G Volleyball – Yellow Tier
Athletic Registration and Updates
- AthleticClearance.com to register and current athletic physical to be able to start practice.
- Updates at GunnAthletics.com and GunnBoosters.com
STANDARD RESOURCES
Quick Links
Quick Links
Parent Networks
| 12th Grade Class | 2021pncoordinator@gunnpta.org
Nisha Datta, Julie Dubrouillet & Laura Wingard
| 11th Grade Class | 2022pncoordinator@gunnpta.org
Claire Kirner, Leena Gill, & Gunjan Gupta
| 10th Grade Class | 2023pncoordinator@gunnpta.org
Annie Bedichek, Lili Nova-Roessig, & Mana Uchino
| 9th grade Class | 2024pncoordinator@gunnpta.org
Elizabeth Lam, Naomi Wang, & Michelle Chen
| Special Ed/Inclusion Rep | specialed@gunnpta.org
Momo Yanagihara & Yael Uziyel Navel
Palo Alto Partners in Education
PTSA
Support for Gunn Families
Henry M. Gunn High School
Email: wstratton@pausd.org
Website: gunn.pausd.org
Location: 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Phone: (650)354-8200
Twitter: @Gunnhighprin