Godwin Heights High School
Weekly Newsletter October 2, 2020
Upcoming Events
10-5 - Feeding America Food Truck - Located at the High School 5-6 PM
10-7 - Pupil Count Day
10-7 - Early Release for H.S. Students Only - Parent/Teacher Conferences
10-8 - Early Release for H.S. Students Only - Parent/Teacher Conferences
10-9 - Half day for H.S. Students Only - Parent/Teacher Conferences
10-12 - Board of Education Meeting 6:00 PM - Administration Building
10-13 - Freshmen PSAT (7am - 3pm)
10-14 - PSAT and SAT (7am - 3pm)
10-14 - Early Release for Students
10-22 - Board of Education Meeting 6:00 PM - Administration Building
10-23 - End of 1st Marking Period
10-28 - Half Day for Students - Virtual From Home Required Class Time 11:50 AM - 3:15 PM
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Godwin Heights High School will conduct Virtual Parent/Teacher Conferences on Wednesday, October 7 from 5pm-8pm, Thursday, October 8 from 5pm to 8pm, and Friday, October 9 from 12:35pm to 3pm.
Conferences are an opportunity for parents and guardians to meet with teachers to discuss how students are doing in class and areas they can work on to improve. In order to get as many conferences in as possible, we ask that you keep each meeting to 5 minutes.
Recommended: Parents and students attend the virtual conferences together using student chromebook.
Parents may choose to join using their student’s Godwin email credentials or may access the Google Meet link from their own account.
Please click on the linked document here to schedule conferences with your student’s teacher.
In the linked document above, find your student’s teacher for each hour. Click on their name to access the scheduling form to select a day and time to meet with your teacher. All conferences must be scheduled by the end of the day on Tuesday, October 6th.
On Wednesday, October 7th, the meeting links will be sent out. The meeting links will be linked to the teacher's name. Simply, click on the teacher’s name when it is your scheduled time.
Due to the tight timelines for each meeting, there might not be enough time slots for every parent to schedule a conference time. If you are unable to schedule a time slot or make conferences and you would still like to talk with your student’s teachers, please reach out by email or phone. Students’ counselors will also be available if you would like to talk with them during this time.
If parents prefer to call and talk to a teacher in regards to their student progress instead of attending a virtual conference, please feel free to call our teachers anytime during the conference times listed above. Please refer to the bottom of this page where we have conveniently located all the phone numbers for all High School Teachers.
Thanks for your patience with this new process of parent/teacher conferences.
Yearbook 2020-21
Odysseyware Class and Grading Changes
I am sending this email to notify you of a change in how teachers are grading Odysseyware classes. As you know, currently your student earns an Odysseyware course grade based on their progress in their Odysseyware class. In the past, if they have not been at a certain percentage of the class completed, the student would automatically be given an E.
Since we are currently living in the Pandemic of Covid-19, and we have numerous students earning a failing grade. We have made a few adjustments on how we will grade Odysseyware classes. The administration working with our Odysseyware teachers have made an adjustment to the progress goals to more accurately gauge student progress in Odysseyware. Please understand, if students are currently behind in pacing based on this new progress chart, the student will still have an E in their Odysseyware course and the student will need to work diligently to get caught up.
As we move forward, at the end of this week Friday, October 2nd, each student should have 15% of the course completed to earn the grade reflected in Odysseyware based on their knowledge of the content. If a student is not at the 15%, they will still have an E reported in their studentvue as their current grade. Please note, each week students will be expected to earn 8% in each class to finish the class on time. If students do not finish the class by the end of the semester, students will receive an E for the course.
I can't stress enough the importance of making sure students work with their Odysseyware teachers to get the 8% progress in each of their Odysseyware classes each week. If students are currently behind in their pacing and they do not finish the class by the end of the semester, students will receive an E for the class, and students will have to start the class over.
Grand Valley State University Tutoring
Beginning October 5, Grand Valley State University is offering free 1:1 virtual tutoring/homework support to all K-12 students in Michigan throughout the school year. As a school who works closely with the university, we want to give you an advance opportunity to share this information with your families and students and allow them the chance to sign up right away.
While the program is open to the public on October 5, early slots are available for your students beginning tomorrow Monday, September 28. These are available to book on our website right now. Ideally, students will sign up for one session and then if recurring sessions are needed, they will work with their tutor to arrange it.
Tutors, comprised of GVSU students, faculty, staff, and alumni, will be available Monday through Friday from 11a to 9p and Saturday from 12p-5p. Every tutor has passed a background check and all sessions take place through Zoom which is monitored full time. Content areas include English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Spanish. Additional subjects may be added throughout the year. As the tutoring portal is open during the day, this could also be a great tool for teachers to utilize if they want specific support during the class day for one of their students. They can also share with identified students who could benefit from this service.
Please don't delay and sign up today!
Class of 2021 - SAT
While many colleges in Michigan have waived the SAT requirement for admissions and scholarships for the class of 2021, there are some who have not. Taking the SAT on 10/14 will allow you the opportunity to be prepared for all situations and colleges.
In an effort to prepare for testing with safety measures for COVID-19, we need to know how many students will be taking advantage of this opportunity. Please talk to your parents about this test and answer the survey below by Thursday, September 24.
Each Senior was sent the following form to fill out.
PSAT
Here is a reminder that you have the opportunity to take the Practice SAT (9th grade) and the PSAT/NMSQT (11th grade) on October 14.
Taking these tests provides you some really great feedback on your skills and knowledge and a plan (through Khan Academy) of where you should focus your studying before the next test in the spring.
11th grade students, this test date gives you the opportunity to possibly be recognized as a National Merit Scholar (that's the NMSQT part :))
I want to be sure that you take advantage of this opportunity on the 14th. Please respond to the survey below (according to your grade level)
This Week's Sporting Events - Good Luck to all participants!
5:00 PM - Girls Freshman Volleyball - QUAD
October 6 -
4:30 PM - Boys JV Soccer vs. Fremont High School
6:00 PM - Boys Varsity Soccer vs. Comstock Park HS/MS
6:00 PM - Girls JV Volleyball vs. Lee High School
7:00 PM - Girls Varsity Volleyball vs. Lee High School
October 7 -
5:30 PM - Girls JV Volleyball vs. Wyoming High School
5:30 PM - Girls Freshman Volleyball vs. Wyoming High School
6:30 PM - Girls Varsity Volleyball vs. Wyoming High School
October 8 -
4:30 PM - Boys JV Soccer vs. Sparta High School
6:00 PM - Boys Varsity Soccer vs. Sparta High School
6:00 PM - Boys JV Varsity Football vs. Calvin Christian
6:00 PM - Girls JV Volleyball vs. Belding
7:00 PM - Girls Varsity Volleyball vs. Belding
October 9 -
7:00 PM - Boys Varsity Football vs. Ludington High School
Godwin Heights High School
Email: conklin@godwinschools.org
Website: https://hs.godwinschools.org/
Location: 50 35th Street Southwest, Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Phone: (616) 252-2050
Facebook: facebook.com/godwinhighschool
Twitter: @GodwinSchools