Thank you...yes you...and you...and you. Each of you reading this has some sort of impact on our students and staff here at Blanco High School. I want to make sure you know you are appreciated and valued.
I also want to solicit your feedback. Sometimes we wait till the end of the year to ask how the year could be better or things we could improve on and while that is valuable information when reflecting, I also want to know how we can be better right now. So if you have any suggestions or thoughts on things we can be better at here at the High School, please send them my way. I know we are not perfect in everything we do but I promise we have a staff full of people who are trying to make a positive difference in the lives of your student each day. Some days we are successful and some days we fall short but I guarantee we will strive each day to be better and sometimes that means getting help and advice from you!
We got our scores back from our December STAAR EOC testing and we have communicated with all families and students on the progress their student has made. If they were in an EOC Prep Class and passed all their exams, we should have moved them out of the class. If they have failed again, there is a small chance that if they were not already in an EOC Prep Class then they have been moved into one if their schedule allows. The next opportunity to take exams will be in April for English 1 and English 2 and then the first week of May for US History, Biology, and Algebra 1. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Our students are working hard and participating in many activities right now. Our Powerlifting teams are competing at events, our FFA program is right in the middle of the stock show season and they are also getting ready to start working on their competition teams for the spring, softball got started with their 1st official day of practice recently and baseball will be following shortly. Our band has been traveling and competing at UIL events and our One Act Play has started rehearsals and is getting ready for a wonderful season. UIL Academics traveled to their first competition this past weekend and you can find updated results below. There are plenty of opportunities for your students to be involved in something here at BHS. Please encourage them to "plug in" and get involved with their friends and represent BHS.
Yearbook Update
Yearbooks are still being sold by our yearbook staff. If you haven't bought your yearbook yet, you can still place your order by the end of the month for a $10 discount. After February 1st, the price jumps to $72, so just scan the QR code on posters in the hallway to place your 2022-23 yearbook order now! I am also including the QR code below so you can scan it from the newsletter if you want.
Student Transcripts
We have all incomplete grades taken care of from last semester and we started working on senior transcripts this past week. We hand calculate them to make sure everything is running correctly and that their GPA, Rank, courses, etc... are all correct. We should be ready for students to pick up transcripts early next week. Thank you for your patience in getting those done and done right. If you think there is a mistake on your student's transcript, please have them come to the office and we will sit down and go over it with them.
Course Selections for the 2023-24 School Year
I believe we are going to be able to offer some new courses for next year. We have been in meetings with our leadership team and our Chief Academic Officer to talk over options. I think we have some exciting courses to be added to the course guides for next year. As soon as we finalize these choices, I will let everyone know!
Soon we will start the process of course selections for next year. We will have two parent meetings, one for current 8th graders and then a separate one for current HS students. We are currently working on course offerings for next year and there will be some new courses offered so it is a great opportunity to come up and hear about choices and help your student make an informed choice on what classes they want to take next year.
Monday, February 6th - Incoming 9th Graders (current 8th graders) Parent Meeting
Wednesday, February 15th - Current HS Students Parent Meeting
Loss of Credit due to Hours Owed
We will be communicating with students and parents about students who owe hours from last semester. We will be withholding credit for these courses till the hours are made up. Hours can be made up either through Saturday School sessions or coming early/staying late with teachers. Once you have heard from either Mr. Drinkwater or I, and you have some questions, please let me know.
Prom Dates and Location
Our Prom Committee made up of junior students, staff sponsors, and junior parents have been hard at work trying to finalize a date and location for the prom next semester.
Junior Class Officers voted for their preferred location for prom. Here are the details:
Date: April 15th
Time: 8:00pm-12:00am
Location: Buggy Barn Event Center, Blanco, TX
Upcoming Dates to Keep in Mind:
Monday, January 23rd
Tuesday, January 24th - Boys and Girls Basketball vs. Ingram
Wednesday, January 25th
Thursday, January 26th
Friday, January 27th - Boys and Girls Basketball vs. Florence
Saturday, January 28tyh
As we continue with our basketball season ...I wanted to make sure our expectations are clear on fan behavior. We are speaking with our students daily via announcements but I want ALL fans to know our expectations. We will not be tolerating any yelling at officials or the other team/coach. We are there to be supportive of our teams and that is where we want to focus our energies. Any behavior that sheds a negative light on our school and district will be dealt with by asking the offenders to leave and possibly a ban from future games. While I want our gym or fields to be "hard places to play", I want this to be because of the product of our teams and a supportive crowd that gets behind our players and teams...not because of bad behavior. Again, this expectation is for our students, our fans, and even opposing fans. I have had to escort a few of our visiting fans out for not adhering to our expectations. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please reach out.
Attendance
Speaking of attendance...we are in the midst of the sick season as RSV, Flu, and Covid are still lingering around. While we don't want our students to be here at school while they are sick, we are starting to see a decline in our daily attendance numbers. If your child has a fever, please keep them at home. If you need to schedule a doctor's visit (dentist, eye, health, etc..) and you can make it for after 9:30 a.m., that would be GREAT! Our official attendance time is 9:00 a.m. each day so if your student is late or absent, they will not count towards our ADA (Average Daily Attendance). If your child misses any single class more than 9 times, they will start to accumulate "hours owed" for that class. If they finish the semester owing hours, we will be withholding the credit for that class on their transcript until they make up the hours. More on make up hours below...
Makeup Hours
We have contacted all students and are working on contacting all parents of students who owe hours from the Fall Semester. Please remember we are not awarding credit for any classes that they have missed more than 9 times for inexcusable reasons. They are able to make up hours with teachers before/after school or during scheduled Saturday School sessions.
If you have any questions about hours, attendance, etc...please reach out to me, Mr. Drinkwater, or Ms. Staas. We will be happy to clarify and answer anything you
Our next Admin/Parent Meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 1st at 8:30 a.m. in the HS Library. Please note the new time. We are trying something different as the last two meetings have only had 2 and 1 parents attend. We will be providing donuts and coffee for all parents who are in attendance. Most of these meetings last about 30 minutes but always have time allotted at the end for any questions you might have. We will be going over new course offerings at this meeting so it would be a good one to attend.
This is an opportunity to hear updates on what is going on at the High School from myself (Mr. Hinson), our AP (Mr. Drinkwater), our counselor (Ms. McLendon), and our Academic Dean (Ms. Hackebeil). Come out and be involved in what is going on with us at Blanco High School!
