Highland Park Senior High Headliner

Highland Families,

Now that the new school year has settled in and our students are busy with their studies and involvement in activities such as clubs and sports, I have an ask for all parents and guardians. I am asking you to encourage your child to get involved in some sort of activity outside of school if they are not already involved in such. It can be a club or sport at Highland or some other activity in your community. Students who are involved in positive ways are usually happier and more academically successful. Students usually feel more comfortable if they join with a friend, so please consider that when encouraging your child to be involved. This is a great way to expand a child's social network and learn new skills while having fun. Thanks for all of your support.

Monday, September 25, 2023

• No School - Professional Development

Saturday, October 7, 2023

• Homecoming Festivities (7:00-10:00pm Dance)

Monday, October 16, 2023

• PSAT/NMSQT

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

• PSAT/NMSQT

Thursday, October 19, 2023 - Friday, October 20, 2023

• No School/MEA

Monday, October 30, 2023

• Picture Retakes

Dear Highland Park Senior High School Families,

We are excited to celebrate our annual Homecoming event this school year starting on Monday, October 2 and culminating on Saturday, October 7. As part of Homecoming, we celebrate the following school and community events:

Spirit Week Daily Themes

Pep Fest

Homecoming Court

Homecoming Dance

Power Puff Football Game

Tailgating prior to the Football Game

Homecoming Football Game

While there are many positive aspects of Homecoming, unfortunately every school year there are a group of students who engage in destructive mischief late in the evening in the community during Homecoming Week. Activities include but are not limited to throwing toilet paper in trees, dumping garbage on lawns, throwing eggs at houses and much more. These activities are usually between juniors and seniors who generally know each other. Some students and parents view these as harmless pranks. They are not harmless and tarnish the positive aspects of Homecoming despite not being affiliated with Highland nor Homecoming. I am respectfully requesting that parents carefully monitor the whereabouts of their children during Homecoming week and not allow students to participate in any negative activities.

Thank you for your continued support of Highland Park Senior High School, for helping to keep our community safe and helping our students to make good decisions.

Dr. Winston H. Tucker, Principal

• Monday - Dress like your type
• Tuesday - White lie
• Wednesday - On Wednesdays we wear Barbenheimer
• Thursday - Class colors
• Friday - RED OUT!

Check out what our awesome Scots are up to by following Highland Park Senior High on Facebook and highlandparksr.scots.pride on Instagram.

Click here to see the latest CCRC newsletter! This newsletter highlights upcoming college and career-related opportunities.

Highland Park CCRC - The CCRC is here to help students with college and career planning! The CCRC provides the following resources to students:

• Interests and skills exploration tools
• Career Information
• Resume Help
• College and Post-Secondary exploration tools
• College Admission, Career and Military Representative Visits
• College Admission test information such as ACT and Accuplacer
• Scholarships
• Financial Aid
• Summer and Community Opportunities
• And more!

CLICK HERE to check out the new CCRC website! This site will be updated throughout the year with important information, resources, and opportunities.

You can now order your 2023-2024 yearbook. Follow this link:

https://www.balfour.com/minnesota/saint-paul/highland-park-senior-high-school/yearbook-packages

Contact Nancy Michael with questions. nancy.michael@spps.org

Registration for this year's PSAT/NMSQT will close at 3:00pm on Monday, September 25th. If you have an 11th grader interested in taking the PSAT this fall, please make sure they sign up before registration closes on Monday.

A link to the registration form was posted on the class of 2025 Schoology group on Monday. An email was also sent to all 11th grade students with PSAT information and a link to the same registration form.

Below is the original note that was shared with families in last week's newsletter regarding the PSAT:

*** The SAT is a separate 4-year college exam unrelated to the ACT. The ACT will be offered to juniors at Highland on March 12th, 2024.

If your 11th grader is interested in taking the PSAT/NMSQT, they must sign-up via the google form that will be posted on Schoology the morning of Monday, September 18th. This form will remain open until spots are filled.

Some important information:

* The PSAT is now digital and will be taken on school-issued iPads

* Students are expected to bring their fully-charged iPad on test day

* Students will take the test on either October 16th or October 17th

* More specific information about the test date will be shared after registration ends

More extensive information about the PSAT/NMSQT can be found at https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt

GTK- (Good To Know) information about HPSH for parents and guardians, especially those new to Highland. New this year- virtual parent/guardian informational meetings around relevant topics and commonly asked questions. Click here for more details.

First Meeting - September 21

Here are the links to the slides and recording from the first Virtual Parent/Guardian Meeting. Hope to see you all in October!

Meeting Dates:

October 26, 2023

November 30, 2023

December 14, 2023

As the school year begins, there are two ways to support our terrific Highland Park teachers and staff:

• By purchasing items on the Wish List for use in the classroom: Wish List This list is always being updated—teachers are in the process of adding their lists for this school year.
• By purchasing general school supplies—Kleenex, hand sanitizer, pencils, pens, highlighters, dry erase markers, post-its and snacks. General supplies can be brought to the school office any time.

The PTSA will also be collecting Kleenex, hand sanitizer and general school supplies at the Open House event—if you can bring even one box of Kleenex, it will have a positive impact! It is the number one requested item from teachers and staff!

Thank you from the Highland Park PTSA.

It's always encouraging to see a strong start to the athletic season with 410 participants. It's even more impressive when you can connect these athletic achievements with improved academic performance. Positive outcomes in both sports and academics demonstrate the benefits of a well-rounded education that includes physical activity and teamwork.

We are looking forward to our girls' and boys' soccer teams playing Central at Allianz field on October 6, 2023.

Join the St. Paul Alpine Ski Team (SPAST)! The team is open to SPPS students in grades 7-12. While some alpine skiing experience is necessary, racing experience is not required. It should be noted this is a race team and not a ski club. The team practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Afton Alps. The activity fee is $250/$20 for free and reduced lunch. In addition, a season pass to Afton is required. Bussing is provided and departs from Central and Highland High School. Please fill out this form to sign up to be invited to our informational meeting or email annekettler@yahoo.com for more information.

The final games of the season leading up to possible playoff position for the Loons are here! September through October 7th is packed with games. There are many slots remaining for 10/7. Playoff decision day for hosting home games will be decided on October 21st with playoffs to begin October 25th. We need to be ready for anything! New games will be added to the signup website as they become known. Check back often as slots may open up overnight. Get on the waitlist for a game, or playoffs, by sending a request to the Volunteer inbox at hpshptsa.vol@gmail.com.

Parents and students (ages 14+) can sign up for a 5-hour volunteer shift at Allianz Field, home of the MN United Football Club, to raise money for their club, team, and classrooms. We receive $125 per volunteer! Site Leads receive an additional $50 for their group. All shifts are climate controlled indoors at the Premium Stadium Club level. Please sign-up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0944ADAE2EAAF85-allianz.

SEAA - South East Asia Association! Can't wait to see all they do!

Hello New York Trip Participants and Possible Participants,

I am so excited that you are interested in learning more about our HPSH New York Trip Spring Break 2024.

Please make sure to block off the following dates on your calendar April 6th-14th. The travel company will be looking for the best ticket prices as we get closer to the date so we may need to leave a little earlier or later within this possible travel window for our 5 days; hopefully the 8th-12th, but again it might start a little earlier or later.

The link for more detailed information and signing up is www.efexploreamerica.com/2611215kk

I am planning a google meet October 27th from 6:00-6:45pm. Our Google Meet Nickname will be HPNewYork2024

AGENDA

• Welcome New Interested Travelers:We may be welcoming a few final interested travelers!

• Behavior Expectations Form: I will have a form for people to download, sign and return to the school about safety and behavior expectations.

Students will also be able to pick this form up from me in room 150 in the link.

• Slide Introduction Tool: Here is a link to a slide show you can use to introduce yourself to the group.

You may enter information before the meeting, during the meeting, or after the meeting.

Link: Introduce Yourself to Fellow Travelers:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tBZqsBimHDGgAmSVTiYvd1Gl9E0FhksTGCw9y2zuJjA/edit?usp=sharing

Looking forward to seeing you there. Please reach out to me anytime with any questions.

Warm Wishes,

Keri.Schultz@spps.org

There will be some positive changes to grading practices at all SPPS high schools beginning in the 2023-24 school year. SPPS is shifting to more consistent and equitable grading practices across all high schools to ensure that students’ grades truly reflect what they’ve learned. Visit the Grading Practices FAQ webpage for more information. More details will be provided this fall, including information sessions with language support for families.

In-person students will receive free breakfast and lunch under the Minnesota Free School Meals program. All students are eligible to receive one free breakfast and one free lunch each school day. Second meals, incomplete meals and single item purchases, such as milk only, must be purchased.

• Student Second Breakfast: $2.85
• Student Second Lunch: $5
• Milk Only: $0.50
• For a complete list of prices, visit spps.org/ns.

Visit schoolcafe.com/spps to manage your student’s meal account, view menus, ingredients and nutritional information, and complete the Application for Educational Benefits.

• While all in-person students will receive free breakfast and lunch under Minnesota’s Free School Meals program, it remains critical that all families complete an Application for Educational Benefits each school year. These applications determine how much funding your child’s school receives for educational programs and supports. Additionally, eligible families can qualify for other benefits. The application can be completed online at schoolcafe.com/spps. Paper applications are available at your child's school.

Use Parent Portal and see your child’s attendance, homework assignments, grades and more. Log on to spps.org/onestop and click on “parent portal”. This valuable tool will provide both information on your student and a means of communicating with your student’s teachers. Report cards are not mailed to homes.

For access please contact the main office at 651-293-8940.

The MTC Unlimited Pass is available to purchase for $97.00 per quarter. Bring the payment to Shawn Vennemann in the main office (checks payable to Highland Park Senior High School). When the first payment is made, the bus pass will be ordered. When the quarter ends the bus pass will need to be renewed by submitting a payment for the next quarter (schedule is below). If payment is not received by the due date the card will be de-activated. The card will be re-activated when payment is received it will take 24 hours after payment is made to be active again.

MTC Bus Pass Quarter Dates

8/21/2023 to 11/1/2023 payments due now

11/2/2023 to 1/14/2024 payment due by Monday, October 30, 2023

1/15/2024 to 3/31/2024 payment due by Monday, January 8, 2024

4/1/2024 to 6/14/2024 payment due by Monday, March 25, 2024

Website: https://www.spps.org/highlandsr
Location: 1015 Snelling Avenue South, Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone: 651-293-8940