Amazing Falcon Families,

"What we are teaches the child more than what we say, so we must be what we want our children to become." ~Joseph Chilton Pearce~

For many students and their parents, that first progress report of the year is probably one of the most jarring moments for them as they try to navigate the emotions that they face from their point of views. Brene Brown, author of Daring Greatly, writes about this concept of Wholehearted Parenting. She states that we live in a "never enough" culture that draws us compare our students against each other or even our own achievements as children. In her research on vulnerability and shame, participants talked about being parented and parenting through the lens of "worthiness, - of being enough." And it begins in the familial environment, which sets us on a course that will do one of two things: 1) fight to reclaim our self-worth or 2) give hope, courage and resilience for our journey. One of the measures of self-worth that we are judged by is academic success. I know this as a Filipino child and as a Filipino parent. As a parent, I have been guilty of pushing my own children to the levels of success that I have arbitrarily embraced and passed on to them, and I see some of the long-term effects it has on them. Brown says this, "Instead, we should love and accept our children for who they are, which means our job is to love and accept who we are, especially as parents." This is the model that creates courageous children. If we want our children to dare greatly in this "never enough" culture, we cannot use fear, shame, blame and judgment in our own lives as this is the antithesis to raising courageous children. We want children observing parents who want them to: "1) engage with the world from a place of worthiness; 2) embrace their vulnerabilities and imperfections; 3) value hard work, perseverance and respect; 4) have the courage to be imperfect, vulnerable and creative; 5) do not fear feeling ashamed or unlovable if they are different or if they are struggling; and 6) move through the world with courage and a resilient spirit." As September 2 approaches, I want each family to consider how to approach the conversation regarding the progress reports using these observations as the foundation for the conversation.

Class Changes Will Be Effective Tomorrow and Tuesday

This is a reminder that the class changes I mentioned in the last two newsletter will take effect starting tomorrow. I apologize for these changes but they do have to occur. We have tried to make the changes as painless as possible with only one period being affected for most students. If you have any questions, please contact your assistant principals, Ms. Cruz (8th Grade) and Mr. Toms (7th Grade). Thank you for understanding.

Schedule C Is Modified Effective this Week

Our Pep Rally /Assembly Schedule (Schedule C) has been modified to move the assembly from before lunch to the end of the day. The number of minutes per period has not changed. It is still a 1:45pm end-of-day release. This schedule will be utilized this Friday to support our first Assembly of the Year.

First Progress Report is September 2, 2022

The first progress report is fast approaching. If you are doing well in your classes, then continue what you are doing. If you are NOT doing well in one of your classes, now is a good time to catch up. Falcon Scholars is open as a homework center starting tomorrow after school. All teachers have to submit their grades by Wednesday, August 31. So make sure that you do not wait until the last minute to make up any missing work. Please see the flyer below

Jupiter Grades Access

If you have not accessed your child's grades on Jupiter, now is the time to start checking up on them. If you do not know how, please email on of your child's teachers as they will be able to give you a temporary password. You can set Jupiter Grades to give you weekly notification if you want to. If you need help, please contact Ms. Garcia at claudia.garcia3@sweetwaterschools.org or Mr. Zaragoza at adrian.zaragoza@sweetwaterschools.org.

Suicide Prevention Community Forum

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. To kick-off this month, on September 1, Olympian High School will host the 2022 Suicide Prevention Community Forum. The forum begins at 5:30 PM. The flyer is below. This community forum will include a resource fair and a keynote speaker, Bertha Loaiza—a national expert and documentarian on suicide prevention. If you have any questions, please contact Margaret Sedor at Margaret.sedor@sweetwaterschools.org.

HTM Fall Sports Practice and Games Schedules

Below is a flyer that contains practice information for Fall Sports. While we have the dates for the Saturday games, we do not have the times yet. Once we receive it, we will forward the information to you.

Additional Important for the Upcoming Weeks

Families, please read all the sections below as they contain valuable information for the upcoming week, such as Spirit Week, ASB Dance, District Events, Falcon Scholars and more.

Let's have an amazing week Falcons!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Finley

To better streamline the instructional time on pep rally and/or assembly days, the Faculty Advisory Committee has agreed to make a minor modification on Schedule C, which is our Pep Rally/Assembly Schedule. The modification moved the Pep Rally / Assembly from before lunch to the end of the day. This way, as soon as the assembly is over, students are released at the end of the day. The number of minutes per period did not change. Below is the modification. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact administration.

For your planning purposes, I have included the entire bell schedule document with the different bell schedules for the school year.

NOTE: Our first pep rally / assembly is this Friday, August 26, 2022. We will be using the newly modified Schedule C.

Students, if you test positive for COVID, click HERE to determine which scenario fits your situation. Once you have identified the correct scenario for you, please follow all safety protocols that go with the scenario.

For classwork, you will be placed on independent study. Please contact the attendance office to report the absence or email our assistant principal secretary, Ms. Garcia at patricia.garcia2@sweetwaterschools.org. It is important that once Ms. Garcia sends you the independent study form, you sign it immediately.

At this time, teachers are NOT required to host a virtual synchronous session during her in-person instruction. This is being negotiated with the teachers union right now.

Weekly COVID testing is mandatory for all athletes and extracurricular activities. If you have not done so already, please sign up with SDSU-NIH Testing program [Click HERE] or you will have to provide test results from your healthcare provider or other verified health organizations.

If you want your child to participate in extra-curricular activities such as athletics, tutoring, drama, strings and other programs, follow the instructions below. We need you to sign up TODAY!!

Click HERE to sign up. Once a staff member enrolls your student into the program, you will receive an email stating that they are now part of the program.

NOTE: SUHSD mandates that all students participating in extracurricular activities such as are offered in the Falcon Flight will be required to test weekly. Here are two ways in which you may test:

1. Participate in the SDSU-NIH Weekly Testing Program. Click HERE to sign up for the testing program. The results will go directly to the district and will be provided to all schools.
2. Provide a weekly test results provided by your healthcare provider or other verified healthcare organization such as 211.org or pharmacies that provide free testing. Submit test results by 5:00pm Tuesday each week.
3. You may use a store-bought home test kit but you will have to submit test by 5:00pm Tuesday each week. You must take a picture of the results with your full name written on the test kit and the date you took the test.