Newsletter
November 2023
IHSSA Theatre Educator of the Year
Come see her latest production, Peter and the Star Catcher, this week Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night!
Alternate Fall Activity Assembly Schedule - Friday, November 3
Work-Based Learning Information Night - November 6th
Future Ready Conferences
WHAT are Future Ready Conferences? Students, parents, and iLead teachers will meet in small groups to discuss:
Class selections for the following school year and four-year plans
Navigator interest, career, and skill survey results
Future Ready iLead tasks
Specific tasks for seniors
WHEN? November 13 or 16, 2023
WHERE? Pella High School
WHY? The Department of Education asks that schools include parents in their students' ICAP (Individual Career and Academic Plan). We are aiming for 100 percent attendance. If you are unable to attend on the 13th or 16th, you will be contacted to attend at a later date.
To sign up for your student's FRC, look for an email and link from your student's iLead teacher!
HIGH PERFORMING Iowa School Performance Profile for PHS
Iowa School Performance Profile (ISPP) designated Pella High School as “High Performing” for the 2022-2023 School Year
- One 3A HS in "Exceptional" category - Gilbert
- Only four 3A High Schools in "High Performing" category
- ADM
- Le Mars
- Pella
- Decorah
Publication Awards
Pella High School publications was recognized with several awards at the Iowa High School Press Association annual conference this fall. The Duchess was named Class B Yearbook of the Year, and the school won 23 other awards for their efforts in the past academic year!
Robotics
The start of the 2023-24 robotics season begins next week for the Pella High School Bionic Dutch. The Dutch are part of an international competition called First Tech Challenge (FTC). Last year over 70,000 students in 53 different countries participated in the head to head competitions where teams design, build, and program robots to compete in an alliance style format.
The Dutch return ten key team members from last year’s record breaking season. The team finished 18-8 while competing in the challenging Des Moines metro league and narrowly missed the opportunity to advance to the state championships.
Senior Bulletin
Please continue to check the Senior Bulletin for important dates for seniors and for local scholarship opportunities; the bulletin can be found on our school’s web page under the ‘Counseling’ link.
Transcript Requests
If you need an official transcript sent to an educational institution, you must submit a request. Transcript Request Form
FIRST SEMESTER CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
November
1- Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
8 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
13 - Future Ready Conferences
15 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
16 - Future Ready Conferences
22 - Holiday 90-Minute Early Dismissal - NO PD
23 & 24 - No School -- Thanksgiving Break
29 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
December
6 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
13 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
22 - Holiday 90-Minute Early Dismissal - NO PD
22 - End 2nd Quarter - Start of Winter Break
January
3 - Teacher Work Day
4 - Classes Resume - Begin 2nd Semester
15 - No School -MLK Day
FIRST SEMESTER FINALS SCHEDULE
Finals will take place the week before winter break on December 20, 21, and 22. The schedule for the exams may be found below:
LEADER IN ME: HABITS TO HOME
The Importance of Goals
Research has shown that the simple act of writing a goal greatly increases the chances of accomplishing the goal. If the goal is broken down into action steps and the action steps are tracked, goals have an even greater percentage of success.
At school, your students are writing their academic and personal goals as part of their preparation for Future Ready Conferences. When you join us on a Future Ready Conference night, you will gain a lot of information on how your student is doing when you ask your student to tell you about their goals. The goals chosen are meaningful to your student so be sure to practice Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.
Encourage your student to share and post their goals at home, and ask them how you can help and support them in their goals. The idea of setting goals and writing them down can also be used in your home. Create goals such as reading together, eating dinner at the table, or doing an activity together. Involve everyone in the family in choosing a meaningful goal and action steps. Post the goal and the action steps in a visible place and be sure to track and celebrate progress!
Download the Infinite Campus App on Your Phone!
Parents and students have individual access to view grades, attendance, assignments online via the Campus Parent Portal and Campus Student Portal. This link also allows parents to print report cards for insurance purposes (under the Documents tab), deposit money for school fees (under the Fees tab) and other items (under the Optional Payments under the Fees tab), and update demographic information (under the More tab).
Download the Campus Parent app from the App Store and use the district name of PELLA. Enter your Infinite Campus parent portal username and password to log in. This app allows you to view lunch balances, grades, assignments, and student schedules. See all your students in one app!
If you have forgotten your Infinite Campus portal username and password, please contact Shayla Gift at shayla.gift@pellaschools.org.
Follow Pella Schools!
Twitter - @pellaschools and @pellahigh
Facebook - Pella Schools
Instagram - @pellaschools
Website
Click HERE to see more information about our work-based learning informational event taking place on November 6th at 6:30-7:30 PM in the high school auditorium.