GunnTogether Times (Sept 2, 2021)
Principal Stratton's Newsletter
A Word from Wendy
Dear Titan Families,
The revival of the Gunn campus and in-person learning continues to energize us and breathe life into our day-to-day lives. With routines and rituals established our students and teachers continue to build a sense of community in their classrooms while engaging in deeper dives into their content area.
This newsletter provides some important updates of interest for all Gunn Families. If you were not able to attend the Back To School Night webinar that included a brief welcome from our student executive council, our PTSA, and your admin team, here is the recording.
We are appreciative of the support from our PTSA for hosting the Back To School Night webinar, and we hope you will consider becoming a member if you are not already one!
Warmly,
Principal Stratton
Back To School Night & Accessing Teacher Videos
This year’s Back to School Night on Sept. 2 (6-6:30 pm) will be fully virtual! We will kick off with a live Welcome message from our admin team at 6 pm, followed by asynchronous opportunities to view the videos created by your student's teachers.
Your student completed a Google Doc during Wednesday’s PRIME outlining their schedule and linking the videos for each of their courses. Please use this document to guide yourself through your students’ schedule. BTSN videos are also available on each teacher's Schoology page. Videos will continue to be available for the next two weeks.
While on YouTube for each video, you can enable captions (if they aren’t already enabled), and translate those captions as needed.
Minimum Day Schedule (Friday, September 3RD)
Sept. 3 minimum day schedule:
Period 5 (9:00-10:15)
Brunch (10:15-10:30)
Period 6 (10:30-11:45)
Period 7 (11:55-1:10)
VTA bus schedules are adjusted accordingly: on Friday, September 3, School Trippers bus will depart Vets Hospital at 1:18pm(288M), 1:20pm(288L) and 1:22pm(288).
Subscribe to the Oracle
Go to SAC link below and click on Titan Webstore for access to all of the above!
New Administrative Regulation: No Homework Due Mondays
Most recently the administrative regulation (AR 6154) was updated to reflect this districtwide mandate. If you have any questions about AR 6154, please feel free to email me at wstratton@pausd.org.
SELF and PRIME = Mandatory Attendance
SELF is a four-year program which cultivates students' social-emotional skills among a small community of peers and mentors.The purpose of SELF is to develop students’ empathy, resilience and other core social-emotional skills; help students build trusting relationships with their peers and mentors; and establish spaces where they feel safe and supported.
PRIME is an opportunity for students to work on a variety of skills -- academic (tutorials with peers and teachers, makeup tests, counseling appointments, etc.), wellness, and interpersonal. Students are encouraged to make teacher appointments 5-7 days in advance of their PRIME class.
PRIME UPDATE
- Once they check in with their assigned teacher, students will be allowed to attend appointments with teachers with whom they made need additional support (this allows students to visit with multiple teachers).
- Students will be expected to work productively during the period, and attend appointments made with their teachers (in advance) for additional support.
- While these are "instructional minutes" and students are expected to be on campus for the duration of the period, we understand students may occasionally need to make outside appointments during this time slot to avoid missing academic classes. In these cases, students and families should follow the same protocol for calling in an excused absence as they would with any other class period.
Upcoming Events
Sept 2
- Back-to-School Night via Zoom (6-8 pm)
Sept 3
- Minimum Day (see website calendar)
Sept. 6
- Labor Day Holiday (no school)
Sept. 8
- Junior Parents' Counseling Night (virtual), 6:00-6:45pm
- Senior Parents' Counseling Night (virtual), 7:00-7:45pm
- PTSA Association Meeting (virtual, 9:30-11am)
Sept. 15
- Titan Health Fair during PRIME (2:40pm)
- Fall Club Fair, part 1 & 2 @ lunch
Reminder: Complete the Online Back to School Packet
Bell Schedules
Construction Update
Gunn’s parking lot is currently under construction. This project, including a bike lane, should be completed by the first week of October.
IMPORTANT: Due to limited space, students will not be able to park on campus for the duration of the construction project. Available parking is limited to staff and visitors only.
Please plan to bike, walk or take public transportation to school until at least the end of September. Students can park their bikes at any bike stall regardless of the color of the stall. Bikes should be locked.
Once we have been given a firm completion date for the parking lot, the Student Activities Office will begin the sale of parking permits for Seniors only with a current Driver’s License (not a permit).
Athletics (Titan Home Games)
https://gunn.pausd.org/campus-life/athletics
FOOTBALL (Frosh/Soph 4:30pm, Varsity 7:00pm)
- Sept. 3, Sept. 10, Oct. 1, Oct. 15, Oct. 29
- Sept. 2 (6:30pm), Sept. 14 (6:45pm), Oct. 7 (6:45pm), Oct. 13 (7:00pm), Oct. 19 (6:45pm), Oct. 26 (6:45pm)
- Sept. 10 (F/S 4pm, Varsity 5:15pm), Sept. 14 (Varsity 3:30pm), Sept. 17 (Varsity 3pm), Sept. 18 (Varsity 8am), Sept. 21 (Varsity 3:30pm), Sept. 28 (Varsity 3:30pm), Oct. 7 (Frosh/Soph 5:45pm, Varsity 6:45pm), Oct. 14 (F/S 5:45pm, Varsity 6:45pm), Oct. 15 (Varsity 3pm), Oct. 16 (Varsity 8am), Oct. 21 (F/S 5:45pm, Varsity 6:45pm)
COVID Testing & Notification Protocol
ON-SITE COVID TESTING:
- In partnership with Predicine Labs, we will be providing on-site COVID-19 testing throughout the school day on a weekly basis. The testing clinic will be in the portable (B-P01) next to the health office. Students and staff who want to participate need to complete a Test Requisition Form (TRF). English Test Requisition Form or Spanish Test Requisition Form Students wanting to participate should go during their prep periods or lunch.
- Parents or guardians do not need to be present during the test, as long as there is a completed Test Requisition Form with their signature. Results will be available within 24 to 48 hours from the test collection. Parents will be informed of test results by Predicine.
- Gunn will have testing available this Thursday, Sept. 2, then every Friday, 8:30-4 in a room near the Health Office. Questions? Contact PAUSD Health Services at health@pausd.org, or (650) 833-4240.
COVID NOTIFICATIONS:
- When there is a known positive case, close contact letters are sent to all the students’ families and staff members in the classrooms who were/may have been exposed. (Letters are sent to entire the class as a precautionary measure and not necessarily because the positive case was within 6ft for 15 minutes or more to a particular student/staff member.) In addition, a non-close contact letter will be sent to our Gunn community as an FYI. No action is required by families other than to monitor their student(s) for symptoms and stay home if they are sick.
- Regardless of the scenario and vaccination status, individuals identified as close contacts may need to get tested on Day 5. PCR test kits are available in the health office. In certain situations, close contact students/staff may continue to come to school while waiting for test results.
- We are asking for test results to be submitted to the school to ensure it is safe for students/staff to be on campus.
- You are encouraged to review the most current PAUSD information about covid guidelines.
VACCINATED VISITORS ONLY:
- Our district now requires that every visitor (volunteers, those with staff appointments, etc.) check in at our attendance office window and show or state proof of COVID vaccination.
Reminder: All Visitors and Volunteers Need to Be Vaccinated
12th Grade Parents Only: Prior Approval for College Visits
Parent Resources
- For information on the district’s air quality protocol, see this link. Typically, site administrators will receive notification from the district if and when outdoor activities should be held indoors, in which case, we will share that information with staff ASAP.
If you or someone you know lacks adequate housing, please fill out this confidential Local Education Agencies’ Instructions for the Housing Questionnaire or email lskafi@pausd.org to receive support.
- Our Wellness Center is ready to help students and families deal with the stresses of high school life. Email gunn-wellness@pausd.org.
The VTA busses are running now: https://www.vta.org/school-trippers
- Gunn Together - the weekly e-newsletter you're now reading with general school news.
- Titan Talk -- a bi-weekly Sunday evening e-newsletter from the Guidance and College & Career Departments with information on grade-level focus, visiting college reps, etc.
- The Gunn Connection - a weekly e-newsletter published on Sundays by PTSA volunteers with events information from Gunn and the community. Subscribe here.
- Schoology - e-messages sent to students; homework assignments; current graded work
- Infinite Campus - e-messages sent to parents/guardians.
- Daily Bulletin & TBN News - daily news for students posted online and broadcast in classrooms each morning.
- Parent Networks - grade-level parent groups, organized by the PTSA, who meet at various times and locations. Email network coordinators: parentnetwork2022@gunnpta.org, parentnetwork2023@gunnpta.org, parentnetwork2024@gunnpta.org, parentnetwork2025@gunnpta.org.
- The Oracle - Gunn's student-run newspaper published monthly under the supervision of Kristy Blackburn (kblackburn@pausd.org)
- Reopening FAQs: https://www.pausd.org/return-to-campus/faq
COVID Response: https://www.pausd.org/return-to-campus/responding-to-covid
Independent Study: https://www.pausd.org/school-life/learning/ab130/faq
Retention: https://www.pausd.org/school-life/learning/ab104
Grade Changes: https://www.pausd.org/school-life/learning/ab104 - We have many opportunities to volunteer at Gunn!. Email president@gunnpta.org or nhesterman@pausd.org.
PiE
PTSA
Gunn Foundation
Henry M. Gunn High School
Email: wstratton@pausd.org
Website: gunn.pausd.org
Location: 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Twitter: @GunnHighPrin