February Newsletter
Cholla High School 23-24SY
Message from Mr. Miranda - Principal
Hello Students, Parents and Guardians,
Most students have completed registration for the 2024-2025 school year. Please take some time to talk to your child about their course selection. Reach out to the counseling department if you have any questions. Remember that changes can be made. Please encourage your child to take challenging courses such as Honor’s, CTE or IB. This will help better prepare them for college level courses down the road.
If a student did not pass a class 1st semester, remember that Cholla has a credit recovery program available before, during, and after school for students in need of making up credits. Speak to a counselor for more details.
Please speak to your child about getting from class to class on time and completing all assignments on a daily basis. If your child observes anything suspicious, please report it to the office. “If you see something, say something!”
Go Chargers!
Curriculum Updates by Cathy Adams - Assistant Principal
Parents we have lots of testing this quarter and we need to ensure that all students are prepared. Please help us by starting with a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast. Here are a few of the tests that are coming up:
- AZELLA February 1st – March 7th
- 3rd Quarter Benchmarks—Feb. 26th - March 7th
- Arizona Science Test—March 26th
- ACT Aspire (9th grade) - April 4th
- ACT (11th grade) - April 4th
- IB Exams – May 1st – May 15th
- CTE Technical Skills Assessments – March 18th – May 3rd
If you have any questions about testing, please email your students teachers directly. Or stop by the office and speak with Ms. Adams.
Operations Athletics by Tariq Rasool - Assistant Principal
Spring sports are underway! Track, softball, baseball, boys volleyball and tennis. Games start late February so please plan on coming out to support. We have new coaches in baseball, softball and track. Please come out to support!
Student Services by Sharon Ingram - Assistant Principal
Greetings Cholla Chargers and welcome back!
We have finished with course selection here at Cholla for next year and our Counselors are going into our Middle Schools and helping our incoming 9th graders choose their courses. If your student has not chosen their courses, have them see their counselor ASAP! We build each class based upon the number of students who select it so we may not have space if our students don’t complete this process!
Also, please complete your online registration for next year if you haven’t already done so. Our front office is available to help if you need it!
Thank you to all of the parents/guardians/families that came out to meet with their teachers during the Parent/Teacher Conferences. Students with family support do better in school!
Counseling Department
Dear Parents,
We hope this newsletter finds you well. As we progress through the academic year, we want to keep you informed about important updates and events in the counseling department.
- Course Requests for Current Cholla Students: Our counselors have completed course requests with current Cholla students. However, if your student missed their English class on the day we selected courses, we kindly ask you to encourage them to make an appointment with their counselor to ensure they are on track academically.
Meeting with Your Child's Counselor: If you have any concerns or would like to meet with your child's counselor, we recommend making an appointment to guarantee their availability. This month, our counselors will be visiting middle schools multiple days a week to register our rising 9th graders. Please note that they may not be on campus if you drop by without an appointment.
Senior Parents Reminder: For parents of seniors, we urge you to check your student's grades and ensure they are on track for graduation. If there's any uncertainty, please don't hesitate to make an appointment or email your student's counselor. Additionally, during the beginning of the 4th quarter, the counseling office will send out letters to all senior parents with an update on their student's progress.
Credit Deficiency Notifications: At the beginning of the 4th quarter, we will also be sending letters home for all students in grades 9-11 who have a credit deficiency. This is to ensure that students can be enrolled for summer school when registration opens. We believe early intervention is crucial to academic success.
Support and Assistance: We understand that the spring is a busy time on the school calendar. However, please know that we are always here to help. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your child's academic journey.
Thank you for your continued support and partnership in your child's education.
IB - International Baccalaureate by Teresa Green
It's been busy in the English classrooms guiding current Cholla students in their course selections for next year. The International Baccalaureate has three pathways available to rising juniors (11th graders): The IB Diploma (most rigorous academic pathway), the IB Career-Related Diploma (CP-combines rigorous IB academic courses with a student's chosen CTE pathway) and the IB Course Certificate pathway. Be sure to talk to your child about their post-secondary goals and see which of these three college preparatory pathways might best fit with their goals.
For rising 9th graders (current 8th graders) and our current 9th graders, challenge yourself by joining others in the IB Prep College Preparatory pathway. Sign up for IB Prep English, Mathematics or Science courses. We also offer AP courses for those rising 9th and 10th grade students looking to earn some college credit early on!
Our current 11th grade students are starting to hear about their Internal Assessments (IA's) from their teachers and what might be required of them to work on during the summer on their Extended Essay, CAS projects and IA's.
Seniors have started their IB Mock exams. These are mandatory exams as part of the IB Programme. Teachers use the results from these exams to report predicted grades to the International Baccalaureate Organization(IBO). This is one of the many ways the IBO ensures consistency in grading and scoring throughout the world. Mock exams run February 8-14. The schedule is below. All exams will be held in the Auditorium. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the start time. End times are for the entire AM or PM testing window and not an indicator of when the test will be completed.
AVID College and Career
The African-American Student Services Department selected 12 high school students throughout the district to be representatives on their Student Advisory Council. Cholla is honored to have five of our amazing Chargers sit on the council and be a voice for the student population as well as have internship opportunities and mentor middle school students.
Congratulations to Debora Hamuli, Navaeh Gonzalez, Jurisa Ramos Kirksey, Mar Shon Allen, and Orin Bingham. We are so proud of you!
CTE Department
CTE Parent Teacher Conference 02-08-24. Thank you to all the parents who attended the conference!
Library Updates by Ms. Case
The library is used for many events on campus, and the next six weeks the library will be hosting two classroom teachers whose classrooms are being renovated. During this time the library will not be opened to students who are not in those classes. As always, if students have outstanding books, they can be put in the book return slot by the front door. The Pima County Public Library is a great resource for our community. Check out some of the streaming services available:
21st Century
The 21st Century program is a great way for students to try new clubs on campus. Students who are wanting to recover credits can sign up for Credit Recovery with their counselor. Credit Recovery is Monday-Friday from 7:00-8:00 and Monday, Tuesday, Friday from 3:15-4:30.
Important Dates:
February 22 & 23 – Rodeo Vacation (no school)
March 4 - Star Party 6 - 8pm
March 8 – Grading Day, no school, end of the 3rd quarter
March 11 – 15 – Spring Break (all offices will be closed)
March 20 - TUSD Professional Learning Day - no students on campus.