First Week Reminders
August 9, 2021
One week to go!
As a reminder, the first week is packed with introductory events:
- Freshman First Day is scheduled for the morning of THIS THURSDAY, August 12th.
- New 10th-12th graders & any students who were full-remote all year last year may come in to tour the building as desired between 8-noon on Friday, August 13th.
- Open House is scheduled for 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. on Monday, August 16th.
- Our first full day of student attendance for all grade levels is Tuesday, August 17th.
Student Parking, Drop-Off, and Pick-Up
STUDENT ENTRANCES
While we had many extra entrances open last year when temperature checks were in place, this year we will return to opening just 3 student entrances: The west BPAC entrance adjacent to the student parking lot, the main front doors on the north of the building, and the main back entrance under the awning on the south of the building. Doors will open no earlier than 7:30 a.m., and all students entering prior to 7:50 a.m. will be directed to the cafeteria until the 7:50 bell rings.
If a student is coming early to meet with a teacher or attend a club/activity meeting, he/she should enter through the front main entrance only, and will need an e-hallpass from the teacher or be on the club roster in order to enter prior to 7:30.
STUDENT PARKING
All students parking on campus must have a current school parking tag displayed at all times. Un-tagged vehicles will be ticketed by the Moline Police Department, and the first ticket actually costs more than the parking tag and increases for subsequent infractions. To procure your parking tag, you'll need to complete some paperwork through the MHS bookstore and provide a copy of a valid driver's license. Tags cost $20 and may be paid in advance online or any day at the MHS bookstore. Parent signature is required.
Student parking spaces are limited to TWO locations: The student parking lot to the west of the building, and the spaces along the first base line of the varsity baseball diamond near Whiteys. There is NO LONGER student parking along the 3rd baseline of the ball diamond, and students are prohibited from parking in staff spaces, visitor spaces in the front of the building, or the BPAC lot. Violators will be ticketed, just as those without a proper parking tag.
DROP-OFF & PICK-UP
Parents dropping off and picking up students at MHS are encouraged to coordinate a location for both that is convenient for both parent and student. Traffic is very congested on campus and the adjacent streets. Please use caution when crossing streets and when driving near campus, for the safety of all.
We ask for those of you dropping students off at the front and back doors to please pull as far forward as possible, and ask your student to walk the distance to the door, rather than waiting to let them out exactly at the entrance. This will help speed up the traffic flow for everyone. Parents should refrain from parking, standing, or stopping in designated handicapped parking and in bus lanes, as both of these areas are reserved for their intended purpose.
For those students who take the bus, it is important to look on the Metrolink website to see if your bus will pick you up behind the school on 26th Avenue, in front of the school on Avenue of the Cities, or to the east of school on 41st Street. Remember, for first semester this year, Metrolink is offering free bus rides to students who show their current student ID.
Weekly Schedule for Students
- Drop off between 7:30 - 8:00 a.m.
- Students may move throughout the building as of 7:50 a.m.
- 8:05 - Five minute warning bell
- 8:10 - First Period begins (50-minute class periods)
- 3:00 - dismissal from Period 7
- 3:10 - students must exit building unless under direct adult supervision
Wednesday (unless designated as a half day)
- Drop off between 7:30 - 8:00 a.m.
- Students may move throughout the building as of 7:50 a.m.
- 8:05 - Five minute warning bell
- 8:10 - First Period begins (40-minute class periods)
- 2:15 - dismissal from Period 7
- 2:25 - students must exit the building; teachers will attend required in-service hour
LUNCHES
MHS hosts 6 different lunch periods in order to move students quickly and efficiently through lunch lines and provide seating for all in the cafeteria. A student's lunch period is determined by the location of their 4th Period class. In addition to being posted in the published bell schedule, lunch times and appropriate routes from class to the cafeteria will be provided by your student's 4th Period teacher on the first day of class.
Students who bring their lunch from home will NOT be allowed to go to their locker between class and the cafeteria, so they must BRING their lunch with them to the start of their Period 4 class.
Again for the 21-22 school year, ALL students are eligible to receive a free Type A meal (not a la carte items) at no cost, daily.
Lockers, Bags, and PE
Students will be using hall lockers this year. All students are issued a locker when they first enter MHS as a student, and they maintain that same locker for all four years at the high school. We do not change locker locations by request, so students may need to navigate when they plan to return to their locker between classes and when that's not feasible. Students have 5 minute passing periods, which USUALLY allows time for a locker stop and/or restroom use. For safety and the security of personal items, students should NOT share lockers or locker combinations with others. Each locker (and its contents) is the responsibility of the student assigned to it.
BAGS, BACKPACKS, & PURSES
These items may be carried to and from school, but must be kept in lockers during the school day. In addition, outerwear should also be kept in the locker during the school day.
PE AND PE LOCKERS
All students enrolled in an Illinois Public High School are required to take PE for every semester of enrollment, except for the one semester they are enrolled in Health. We are finally able to use the new PE locker rooms that were built along with our new PE Center. However, to maximize gym space, the number of student PE lockers was reduced. Therefore, students enrolled in PE will NOT be assigned a permanent PE locker. Instead, students will need to carry PE clothes/shoes with them to PE class daily. Lockers may be used during the students gym time only. We recommend purchasing your own combination lock to secure items during PE, but we do have some available for use if that's not possible. All students are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to lock up all items during PE class.
This year, only MHS PE shirts are required for PE class, and the cost of this shirt has been reduced to $5. They are the same shirts as last year, so there is no need to purchase a new one if you still have last year's. However, for new students and those who desire a new shirt, they may be purchased through the MHS bookstore. PE shorts may also be purchased, but those are no longer a requirement. Instead, appropriate athletic wear must be worn for bottoms, as well as athletic shoes.
ID's, Schedules, and Other Miscellaneous Topics
All students must carry their student ID with them at all times for school and school events. This can be accomplished through the photo ID provided to them, or through the ID feature in the Skyward mobile app. ID's are used for identification in hallways, food service scanning, library book check out, tardy kiosks, and as the student activity ticket (ID card only). This year's IDs will be distributed to students during the first week of school through their Period 2 teacher.
SCHEDULES
Schedules will appear in students' Skyward access no later than Monday August 16th. MHS will not print schedules for all students, as most prefer to view this electronically, anyway. You may print a physical schedule from home, if you'd like, or students have access to print a schedule in the library, should they choose.
Schedule changes are largely NOT PERMITTED, unless an administrative error has occurred. If you notice an ERROR on your schedule (like a missing class, or a doubled-up period, for example), please visit the counseling center during the period where the scheduling error occurs.
CLASS PICTURES
- 9-11th Graders will have individual school photos taken by Lifetouch on September 23rd & 24th.
- 12th Graders have individual photo sessions for their senior pictures. These take place at Photographic Arts and must be individually scheduled by each student. Please contact Photographic Arts at 309-762-6662 to arrange for your senior pictures to be taken by mid-October.
- Full Class Senior Photo - date is TBD, but cost will be around $20 for a panoramic photo of the entire senior class.
FALL SPORTS & SPORTS PICTURES
Fall sports begin Monday, August 9th (today). Fall sports include Football, Boys Soccer, Cross Country, Girls Swimming & Diving, Girls Tennis, Boys Golf, Girls Golf, and Girls Volleyball. Tryout times, locations, and coaches information can be found on the MHS Athletic website or by calling the Athletic Office at 309-743-8830.
Fall sports pictures will be held at Browning Field/Wharton Field House on Wednesday, August 10th. Times for each team will be communicated through individual coaches.
SUPPLY LISTS
We don't really supply a specific list of supplies for students at the high school level. We do ask math teachers to make a recommendation for the calculator that would work best for their classes, and some teachers will ask for an extra notebook or binder for their room. However, for the most part, we recommend an effective organization system for notetaking and organizing papers, pens, pencils, highlighters, paper/notebooks, and sticky notes as a basic list of needed items. You may also want to buy a combination lock for your student to use during PE class to lock up their items, but those are also available for use from PE teachers.