SARANAC LAKE HIGH SCHOOL
October 2020 Newsletter
Hello SLHS Families,
October is here and we have completed four successful weeks! Since day one, our students have been patient, understanding and flexible. They've been great! Even though school isn't the same, our students have been able to appreciate and celebrate the simple things. We benefited greatly from the September weather and we have been able to go outside for lunch and PE everyday. Students are randomly selected daily to receive a red lawn chair for the day, where they can use in the classroom or outside for lunch. We've also been able to move students to Technology, Art and Music classes. Juniors and Seniors have been granted the privilege of only being in school when they have classes. Class officer elections have started and will conclude on Tuesday, October 6th. Just this week, athletes started cross country and soccer. We've also started serving a free afternoon snack for all students.
I would also like to thank our families for the continuous support. We are fortunate to have amazing families that understand our plan, provide constructive feedback and ask questions when things are not clear. We all can feel the support and it is so appreciated. The SLHS staff has been working tirelessly since the summer and our students have noticed. Student attendance, student engagement, and student follow-through are all priorities; as a result, our remote instruction is getting better everyday. I can't thank our staff enough for their dedication, pride in, and compassion for our students. The SL community is lucky to have great students, supportive families and a hard working staff.
Some Reminders...
- Homeroom: 10:15-10:25
- Block 1: 10:25-11:40
- Block 2: 11:45-1:00
- Lunch: 1:05-1:45
- Block 3: 1:50-3:05
- Block 4: 3:10-4:25
- Dismissal: 4:30
- Click HERE to view the daily assignments . This is also posted on the SLHS Website.
- Attendance is weighted heavily this year because of our schedule. If students don’t attend their google meets for the entire time or hand in assignments on time, they will not receive credit for that class. On Wednesdays, they must respond to their homeroom teacher's check in. If they don’t check in by 10:30, they will be marked absent.
- If students are absent, parents need to contact the main office, (518) 891-4450 or barkerkar@slcs.org. Students will also need to email their teachers.
- Our policy only recognizes these reasons for excused absences, which are in our handbook: personal illness, illness or death in the family, impassable roads or weather, religious observance, quarantine, required court appearances, attendance at health clinics, approved college visits, approved cooperative work programs, military obligations, school-sponsored activities or such other reasons as may be approved by the appropriate building administrator.
- If students/ families know in advance that they will be missing school, please use this prior notice form. Click HERE for the form.
- Click HERE to view the SLHS Instructional Expectations
The Next 5 Weeks (October 13-November 13)
For 9th & 10th graders, we will be switching their cohorts and placing them according to their math classes. This change is to increase the amount of in-person instruction with their math teachers. For 11th & 12th graders, their cohorts will basically stay the same, but we will be pulling from cohorts to provide more in-person instruction. Those classes include, Financial Math, MST, French 4 & 5, Spanish 4 & 5, College Algebra, AP English Language, AP English Literature, AP US History, OAS, 3D Printing, and a variety of Art, Tech & Music Classes. This will be phase 1 of us moving towards more in-person instruction and we will evaluate every 2 weeks.
Juniors & Seniors, who are failing one or more classes will lose their privileges and will need to be in school when they don't have classes.
Any fully-remote student who is failing one or more classes or who has been absent from more than 10% of the required attendance days to date is required to return to in-person (hybrid) learning, and must continue in-person instruction for at least the next five weeks. These students/ families will be informed by me later this week.
A note from the primary care provider is required if the student or a member of the student’s immediate household has an underlying health condition making a return to in-person (hybrid) learning a health risk.
Congratulations to Cedar Young
Congrats to Cedar Young, who has been named a Commended Student in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success. We are very proud of you!
2020 NYSSMA All-State
The Saranac Lake High School is very proud of Reuben Bernstein, Colter Cheney-Seymour, Adrian Hayden, Micah McCulley & Forrest Monroe, who were selected as participants for the 2020 NYSSMA All-State Performing Ensembles. NYSSMA will not be able to assemble these students to rehearse and perform at its December Winter Conference in Rochester which has been cancelled. NYSSMA however, does plan to assemble the All-State ensembles in a virtual format to record a 2020 Virtual All-State Concert. The concert will feature each of the All-State ensembles in performance. Congratulations to all five of you!
Our five-week period ends on Friday, October 9th and progress reports will be available on October 14th on the SchoolTool parent portal. To receive access to the parent portal, please email your request and your email address to Diana Schwartz at schwartdia@slcs.org. Again, I want to thank all the SLHS families for your support!
Sincerely,
Joshua Dann, Principal
Saranac Lake High School
Email: dannjos@slcs.org
Website: highschool.slhs.org
Location: 79 Canaras Avenue, Saranac Lake, NY
Phone: (518) 891-4450