WRHS: Welcome Back 2021-2022
Wiregrass is excited for our students to arrive on campus!
Wiregrass Ranch High School's Vision
The Vision of WRHS is to empower students to be college, career, and life ready, and to reach their highest potential.
Lunch will be Provided :)
Open House & Meet the Teacher: August 5th
On August 5th, you will be able to attend our Open House & Meet the Teacher from 11:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Here you will be able to walk your student's schedule and meet the teachers. We will also have PTSA, Clubs, PE uniforms, Spirit Wear for purchase, and more. Students who purchase a hall locker through their MyStudent Portal are able to visit the learning community of their choice to select their locker. We will not be selling parking hang tags this day, students will be able to park the 1st few weeks without one and purchase during those weeks.
Do you need a Parent Account in myStudent?
Link to a pdf with step-by-step instructions.
Student Parking
Complete details about student parking are located on our website: Click Here
Students will be able to purchase parking passes during the first few weeks of school as well as before school starts.
Seniors ONLY may purchase on July 27th from 8 AM to Noon in student services. Senors can also decide to paint their parking spaces. The cost is $20 and can also be paid in the fees section of MyStudent. They must also complete the application, which is posted on the website.
Seniors and Juniors on July 28th from 8 AM to Noon in student services.
All students on July 29th from 8 AM to Noon in student services.
Students must be on track with Bulls PRIDE in order to get a parking pass. For information on what it means to be on track click here.
Students will be allowed to park on campus without a pass for the first few weeks. The application and list of required documents are on the WRHS website under Student Parking. The cost is $40 and can be paid in MyStudent under the student fees or by cash (please bring the exact amount), check, or credit card.
Email Mrs. Rankin at crankin@pasco.k12.fl.us with any questions.
- Completed WRHS Student Parking Application
- Copy of driver’s license with parent and student signature
- Copy of Proof of residency (utility bill)
- Copy of your registration
- Copy of your proof of valid insurance
- Copy of completion of Safe Behind the Wheel – Wiregrass
It is the expectation that at the time of purchase students have the documents/requirements listed above.
Parking permits will not be sold if these requirements are not met.
Students Need to Check Their Email Frequently!
All students will receive their myLearning announcements, Office 365 notifications, etc. through their Pasco County Schools student email account (123456@student.pasco.k12.fl.us) which is located in myPascoConnect, then click Office, then click 365Outlook.
Click Accessing Outlook Through Office 365 for step-by-step directions.
When will grades start to post?
How to Report an Absence
WRHS has digital reporting of absences through our website. Look for the button, "Report and Absence" on the home page. If the absence is COVID related or about COVID related symptoms you will not be able to use this method and will need to call the school at (813)346-6000.
Deliveries Not Permitted to Campus
Please note that we do not permit deliveries from outside services such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, Pizza, Restaurants, or Florists. Please do not order or send items to be delivered to the school. Any delivery that does appear will be sent away. Please also do not personally deliver fast food items to your child for lunch.
The only items that will be delivered would be something a student needs for instructional purposes. Please understand that we will not interrupt instructional time for students to pick up items - students will be called down during lunchtime only to secure any instructional items dropped off for them.
Medication Drop-Off
Medication will not be accepted if brought in by your child. Please contact student services and communicate with our clinic for all medical needs. Students are not allowed to carry around medication, it must be brought by a parent/legal guardian and registered with our clinic assistant.
Online Free and Reduced Meal Application & MySchool Bucks
Free & Reduced Lunch
The Free and Reduced Meal Application for the 2021-2022 school year is now available online at www.pascoschoolmeals.com. If you are unsure if you qualify, you can also review the income eligibility guidelines on our website.
MySchool Bucks
School meal accounts can be funded through the MySchoolBucks meal payment service. Just visit MySchoolBucks.com. You also have the option of paying directly in the cafeteria with cash, check, credit or debit. Contactless pay will be available at registers where credit cards are accepted. Students can use contactless cards, or Google Wallet, Android Pay and Apple Pay from their phones.
Please contact Food and Nutrition Services with any questions by emailing fns_finance@pasco.k12.fl.usor calling 813-794-2522.
Free meals for students
We are pleased to announce that breakfast and lunch will again be offered for free to Pasco County students for the 2021-2022 school year.
To qualify, students must select a complete meal. Information on what makes a complete meal is available on our website, PascoSchoolsFNS.org and is posted in all school cafeterias.
Snack and a la carte items will be available for purchase.
Early Relase Days
Early Release Days! Mark Your Calendars!
September 8th
October 6th
November 10th
December 8th
January 12th
February 2nd
March 9th
April 13th
Pasco County Schools has implemented a monthly, two-hour-early release time to allow for staff to engage in professional development aligned with student needs and district and school priorities.
Why?
- For students - increase in effective instruction and decrease in learning disruption on substitute days.
- For staff - increased opportunity to learn and grow built in to the work schedule.
- For stakeholders - predictable schedule, fewer substitutes, higher quality, and more engaged staff.
This means that your students will be coming home approximately 2 hours early on these dates. The Early Release Day Bell Schedule is posted with the other bell schedules in this newsletter. Please add all the Early Release Dates to your calendar!
Volunteer Application
The School Board of Pasco County requires that all adult volunteers must be approved prior to volunteering in any capacity in the school. All Volunteers must reapply each school year. Please visit the Pasco County website at www.pascoschools.org and click on Volunteer Application. It is located on the bottom of the home page. Don’t forget to register today! Any student who would like to receive future volunteer opportunities can email Mrs. Hensley at khensley@pasco.k12.fl.us to be added to her volunteer email list. Volunteer opportunities are sent via email to students.
A letter from you PTSA!
The Wiregrass Ranch PTSA is excited to start off the new school year! The mission of PTA is “to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.” We achieve this mission by being a powerful voice for all children, a relevant source for families and communities, and a strong advocate for the education and the well-being of every child. WRHS PTSA has chosen the theme “Piece of the Puzzle”. It takes every piece to complete the puzzle. Please join our puzzle by becoming a member. Our membership is open to all Staff, Parents, Students, Extended family, and Community members. Your membership contributes to the PTA being the largest volunteer advocacy association in the nation. As a member for WRHS PTSA, you are also a member of Florida PTA and National PTA. Did you know that every year Florida PTA participates in the Florida Legislative session in Tallahassee? We are advocating for our students, teachers, and families. During the last legislative session Florida PTA worked hard to keep the Bright Futures scholarship available. WRHS has participated by sending PTA Board members and Student Liaisons to Legislative sessions. Students have the opportunity to meet our Senators/ Representatives, to talk about issues facing students and schools. We are looking for both Members and Student Liaisons that would like to work within our legislative committee. Please join us and help make a difference. This Year WRHS PTSA will also offer “Gift of Membership” where you can gift membership to anyone you would like. https://Wrhsptsa.memberhub.store/ We look forward to an amazing year of supporting our students’ and teachers…at Wiregrass Ranch High School 💗 WRHS PTSA
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Bulls Cash
Student, Staff and Faculty of the week
Important contacts for each grade level
each grade level has a specific Assistant Principal (AP) and School Counselor (SC)
9th grade – AP: Ashley Boyles and SC: Allison Kanewa
10th grade – AP: Diamela Vergne and SC: Shannon Cordero
11th grade – AP: Christy Rankin and SC: Cathy Billington
12th grade –AP: Cindy Jack and SC: Dominique Gonzalez
At-Risk School Counselor – Whitney Powers
In addition to knowing the important contacts, it is important to stay informed through our Canvas Class pages.
WRHS WIN Period
We would like to welcome all of our new WRHS staff this year!
Casey Vanderstouw- Band Director
Nicole Watson- Science Teacher
Arielle Ialacci- Math Teacher
Jamie Justice- English Treacher
Irene Fuller- Math Teacher
Brooke Adkins- Music, Chorus Teacher
Sharon Grant- ESE VE Teacher
Brenden Campbell- English Teacher
Yamani Vazquez Martinez- Science Teacher, Softball Coach
Marshall Dickerson- CTE Consumer Science Teacher
Clara Miller- Social Service Coordinator
Ray Urquiola- Discipline Instructional Assistant
Shawna Levondosky - Social Studies Teacher
Irene Earley- ESE IND Teacher
Meet Corporal Keys, our SRO!
Schedule Change Requests
Student Code of Conduct
Each year the Student Code of Conduct is updated by Pasco County Schools. It is the expectation that every student and family are aware of their rights and responsibilities outlined within the Student Code of Conduct. Please CLICK HERE to access the Pasco County Student Code of Conduct.
Student Expectations Presentation
Below is a link to view the expectation presentation that students watched the 1st week of school in their WIN period.
Tardy Policy Consequences
Teachers will mark a student tardy for attendance on each occasion.
- 1st Tardy (each class): The teacher reminds the student to be on time and the next Tardy is a Lunch Detention
- 2nd Tardy (each class): Teacher assigns Lunch detention and notifies home and documents. The student gets the detention slip/note signed and returns it to the teacher, if not complete then a referral is submitted for not serving.
- 3rd+ Tardy (starts school-wide consequences): Teacher submits Tardy referral.
Dress Code Policy Consequences
For all violations, the student will be required to change into appropriate clothing
- 1st Violation: Verbal Warning
- 2nd Violation: Lunch Detention issued by IA or Administrator.
- 3rd Violation: After School detention issued by IA or Administrator
- 4th Violation: Saturday School issued by IA or Administrator.
- 5th + Violation: A referral will be processed for Defiance by IA or Administrator
BUS TRANSPORTATION, PARKING & CAR LOOP!
BUS: Students that arrive by bus to school will exit by the cafeteria. Each bus will park in the same row in the afternoon and bus maps as well as staff members will be available to help students locate their buses in the afternoon. Buses leave 5 minutes after the end of the day, it is important that if your student is a bus rider that they go directly to their bus at the end of the day to not be left behind. If you have transportation questions, please call our transportation department.
- C Routes 727-774-0520
- D Routes 813-794-0560
- N Routes 727-774-0540
- S Routes 727-774-4410
- W Routes 727-774-0400
- Z Routes 813-794-0501
Student Parking: Students that are "On Track" are able to purchase a hangtag and park in our student parking lot. Hang Tags will be sold the1st few weeks of school. Students who park on campus that do not have a proper hang tag will be subject to disciplinary consequences. Students can not share tags and must park in their own spot following the parking policies. When students exit their cars in the morning they need to walk down the parking lot and enter campus by the gym. In the afternoon, students can cross at the 2 designated crosswalks to enter back into the parking lot for dismissal. Check out the Student Parking section of this email for more details. Encourage your student to arrive early as traffic backs up in the morning.
Car Loop: Our student drop-off circles through the student parking lot. Please stay in the lane closest to the school building and circle around, dropping your student off as you approach the gym. Students should not be dropped off in the front of the school or be exiting cars from the 2nd lane of traffic. We do have a large volume of parents dropping off students as well as student drivers in this same lot, please arrive early as traffic will back up. Make sure that you allow enough time to get through the traffic and for your student to arrive at class before 7:24. Drop off starts at 7 AM.
New District Dress Code Policy
Security of Valuables
Students must secure electronic devices, money, jewelry, etc. at all times. Failure to secure valuables may result in LOSS or theft and the school is not responsible.
Portables and Rainy Days
With over 2100 students, we have 30 portables that most students will use during the day. Please plan on providing your child with rain gear or a small umbrella (to fit in a book bag) for rainy days. Florida weather is unpredictable and we do not cancel classes in the portables when it rains. Plan accordingly.
Protection of School Instructional Time
The primary purpose of school is to provide instruction for students, and any infringement upon time designated for instructional activities is a failure to achieve that purpose. Therefore, classroom interruptions will be limited to emergency cases only. Please attempt to schedule all appointments after school. If you must check your child out from school, please plan ahead to allow time for a pass to be delivered to the classroom to retrieve your student. Calls to the classroom are prohibited. In addition, teachers will not be checking their email during school hours. Please allow teachers 24 hours to read and then respond to your emails and telephone messages. Deliveries of essential school-related items dropped off to Student Services during school time will be limited to the last five minutes of each class period. We will not be delivering flowers, cakes, balloons, etc. to student classrooms. We appreciate your cooperation, as we attempt to make this the best year yet!
Security Notice
Parent/Teacher Conference Procedures
The WRHS faculty knows that parental involvement is the number one indicator of student success in school. To ensure a successful parent-teacher conference, WRHS asks that the following procedures be followed. Before scheduling a parent-teacher conference, please contact and discuss the issue or concern directly with the teacher by email or telephone. If, after this discussion, and a conference still needs to occur, contact the guidance secretary at 346-6011 in Student Services to schedule the conference. All conferences will be held from 2:00-2:30 pm. At this time, all conferences will be held through Zoom this year.
Academic Honor Code for WRHS
As a student at Wiregrass Ranch High School, you have entered a community of student scholars and educators who are committed to excellence in education. Take the time to read and think about what you want your education to mean to you. It is assumed that all students will pursue their studies with integrity and honesty. This means that all work for which the student wants to receive a grade, credit or recognition will be the work of the individual student. Academic honesty is a very serious commitment to make, so please do not do so lightly. Students have the responsibility to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student’s own work, to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the school community, and to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of your class and in the Wiregrass Ranch High School community. Violations of the following infractions will result in severe disciplinary action by your teacher, which will include –but are not limited to –a grade of F on the assignment/test, a referral, and parental contact. The following are considered egregious infractions of the academic honor code:
I. Cheating
A. Copying, in part or in whole, from someone else’s test
B. Altering or interfering with grading
C. Using or consulting any of the following during an examination: any sources, consulting with others, use of electronics equipment including cell phones and PDAs, or use of materials not authorized by the instructor
D. Committing other acts which defraud or misrepresent
tII. Plagiarism
A. Incorporating the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs or parts of another person’s writings without giving appropriate credit, and representing the product as your own
B. Representing another’s scholarly works such as written assignments or projects as your own
C. Submitting a paper purchased from a research or term paper service, including the Internet
D. Undocumented Web source usage
III. Other Specific Examples of Academic Dishonesty
A. Purposely allowing another student to copy from your paper during a test
B. Giving your homework, written assignments or other academic work to another to plagiarize
C. Having another person submit any work in your name
D. Lying to a teacher to improve your grade
E. Altering a graded work after it has been returned, then submitting the work for re-grading
F. Stealing tests
G. Forging signatures of parents or other students on documents
H. Collaboration without permission of your teacher.
On-Line Classes
Parents and students, please remember to register in advance for all online(Pasco eSchool)classes. Do not wait until school starts on Tuesday, August 10th. This will enable students to begin course work on the first day.
SAC (School Advisory Council)
SAC members shall be elected for two(2) years. At the end of two years, they may be re-elected. If you are a current SAC member within your two-year term, please confirm with Jeffrey Graham at jgraham@pasco.k12.fl.us that you are continuing to serve your term. If you would like to run for an additional term, please complete the nomination form that is attached. Any Parent or Business/Community Member that would like to be considered as a SAC member can also complete the nomination form. All nomination forms must be returned to the Front Office no later than Friday August 13th.
ABC (Assist, Believe and Care)
The ABC committee would like to share some information with our Wiregrass families. ABC stands for Assist, Believe, Care and the goal of our program is to try to address those barriers that may interfere with the educational success of a child. The program does this by providing support to students and their families that are experiencing economic hardship or in an immediate family crisis. This year we are hoping to get the community and local businesses involved to support these needs during the holidays and throughout the year. If you would like to participate, are looking for assistance, or would like further information please contact Carmen Baez at 813-346-6000.
Student Voice
Hey students, are you interested in having a voice in school-based decisions?
Ms. White is currently looking for students from all demographics and all grade levels that represent the school. If you are interested in any of the following, please send an email to rwhite@pasco.k12.fl.usand let me know which committee you may be interested in. Students will be selected and notified by the end of August
Wiregrass Ranch High School
Website: https://wrhs.pasco.k12.fl.us/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WiregrassRanchHighSchool
Twitter: @wiregrassRanchH