Pella High School Newsletter
January 2020
Dear Pella High School Families,
Happy New Year! We hope that everyone enjoyed time with family and friends. As we return from break the end of first semester quickly approaches, with our final exams scheduled for January 16th and 17th. We appreciate all of the efforts students are making to finish the first half of the year strong and look forward to the start of the second semester on January 21st. We do not have school on January 20th because it is a teacher workday. Semester grades are due on January 21st at 9:00 a.m. with final reports card viewable later that week.
Pella High School continues to offer quality programs for all students. Course registration for the 2020-21 school year will be in late January and early February. Accurate course registration is very important, as it impacts course offerings and staffing for the next school year. The Pella High School course handbook will be available in the near future. This is a great opportunity to have conversations with your students about their plans for next year and the impact on their future goals.
If you have any questions about course registration, please contact the High School.
Sincerely,
Adam Beckel, HS Principal
Derek Schulte, Assistant Principal
2nd Semester Class Schedules, Course Drops or Adds
Through the Infinite Campus portal, students and parents are able to view and print class schedules from the Reports tab. Second-semester schedules may have changed since the first semester, so please review student schedules on the campus portal.
At the beginning of each semester, students will be allowed five (5) school days in which to add or drop a course. After the tenth (10) school day, dropping a course will result in an “F” for the class, unless an extreme emergency exists.
1st Semester Report Cards
Grades for Semester 1 are due Tuesday, January 21, 2020 by 9:00 a.m. By the end of that week, report cards will be made available on the Infinite Campus parent portal under the “Reports” tab. Reminder: Pella High School no longer calculates class rank, so it will not appear on semester report cards or transcripts.
Parent Teacher Conferences & Excellence in Electives (February 10 from 4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.)
If you want to schedule a conference with a particular teacher, please email him/her to schedule a conference meeting time. The conferences will be in teachers rooms. All winter coaches will be available by 5:30. An 8th grade parent meeting will be in the auditorium at 7:00 p.m. to cover PHS registration and course selection. Excellence in Elective teachers will be involved throughout the night with their program, but will be available at the beginning and end of the conferences.
Excellence in Electives (February 10 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.)
Excellence in Electives is a way for students to highlight the various experiences they gain by taking elective courses here at Pella High. Many high school teachers will be in attendance. Teachers not participating in Excellence in Electives activities will be available in their classrooms for parent-teacher conferences. This will be the only parent-teacher conference second semester.
Junior Attendance & Decorum
Junior attendance and discipline will be reviewed this spring to determine if open campus privileges will be granted to students when they become seniors. A student must have established positive track records before the school will grant senior release next fall. Parent/Guardian permission must also be given before a student will receive senior release. Parents/Guardians will be able to grant or deny permission during online registration starting March 1.
Course Registration
Course registration for the 2020-21 school year will be in late January and early February through the Infinite Campus student portal. Accurate course registration is very important, as it impacts course offerings and staffing for the next school year. The counselors have been meeting with students to plan their course selections. Please review the four-year plan with your students on their Academic Planner on IC. If there are questions, please contact one of the school counselors, Mrs. Manning or Mrs. Thompson.
Pella Community High - Breakfast
An important part of every day is a nutritious, well-balanced breakfast. Breakfast is served daily at every building in the district, including the high school. Students may purchase a complete meal including grain/protein, fruit/vegetable, and milk or make a la carte purchases that meet healthy Smart Snack guidelines. Breakfast is served from 7:30 a.m. -8:15 a.m. and again between periods one and two.
Have you moved? Do you have a new phone number or a new email address?
Parents can conveniently change their email, address, phone number, and child's emergency contact information on Campus Parent all under the MORE tab. Please see below for specific instructions:
MORE > ADDRESS INFORMATION - Update your household's address and primary phone number.
MORE > DEMOGRAPHICS - Update your child's emergency contacts.
MORE > FAMILY INFORMATION - Update parent and child phone numbers, email addresses, relationships, and contact sequence.
Requests for changes in your data won't happen immediately as the request waits in a queue for approval by the Pella Schools staff.
Questions about changing your information can be directed to Allissa Grandia by email at allissa.grandia@pellaschools.org.
January 16th and 17th Assessment Schedule
The students will be assessed in multiple ways by the high school teachers. A student may be evaluated with a standard semester test, a project, a portfolio, a presentation, or essay, etc.
1. There will be 80 - minute assessment sessions.
2. Students are only required to be in school if they have a test. Students may use the commons or lobby areas during the scheduled iStudy periods. Students are allowed to leave campus if they do not have an assessment. Students are not to be in the academic areas of the building during semester assessments.
3. All students will eat during the same single lunch period.
4. Students who can not take their assessments during the scheduled semester test days will be expected to make-up assessments on or after January 20th. All make-up assessments must be coordinated with teachers. Students are not allowed to move any semester assessments.
5. Students are not to be dismissed early from assessment sessions.
6. To honor a challenge presented to students during the spring semester of 2019, all students may choose to be exempted from one final exam. Some students have earned the opportunity to choose to be exempted from a second exam. Students received this through an incentive that was offered based on performance on the ISASP testing. Our school performed well enough that all students received a portion of the incentive, while students that performed at grade level, or exceeding grade level, earned the second incentive.
January 16th and 17th Assessment Schedule (80 Minute sessions)
Thursday, January 16 (p1-4)
1st - 8:15 - 9:35
2nd - 9:45 - 11:05
Lunch - 11:05 - 12:25
3rd - 12:25 - 1:45
4th - 1:55 - 3:15
Friday, January 17 (p5-8)
5th - 8:15 - 9:35
6th - 9:45 - 11:05
Lunch - 11:05 - 12:25
7th - 12:25 - 1:45
8th - 1:55 - 3:15
School Calendar
Semester One
January
13 - Career Academy Recruitment Follow-up Night 6:30 p.m.
15 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
16 & 17 - Semester Assessments
17 - End of Semester One
20 - No School - Teacher Work Day
20 - Post Final Grades
21 - Day One of Second Semester
21 - Semester One Grades Due at 9:00 a.m.
Semester Two
January
21 - Day One of Second Semester
27 - Senior Ski Trip
27- 8th Grade Orientation
29 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
February
1 - Winter Formal
3 - No School - Professional Development
10 - Post 3-Week Grades
10 - Parent-Teacher Conferences 4:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. /Excellence in Electives
12 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
18 - 2 Hour Early Dismissal
20 - 2 Hour Early Dismissal
21 - No School - P/T Comp Day
26 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
March
2 - Post 6-Week Grades
4 - Professional Development:90-Minute Early Dismissal
11 - Professional Development:90-Minute Early Dismissal
15-20 - Spring Break
25 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
30 - Post 9-week (Mid-Term) grades
April
1 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
4 - Junior/Senior Prom
6 -10 Iowa Assessment Week
10 - No School
15 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
20 - Post 12-Week Grades
22 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
29 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
May
7 - Tulip Time - 11:15 Dismissal
8 - Tulip Time - 11:15 dismissal
11 - Post 15-Week Grades
13 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
13 - Senior Awards Night
20 - Seniors Last Day
20 - Professional Development: 90-Minute Early Dismissal
22 - Graduation
27, 28, 29 - Semester Assessment, Laptop Return, & Student Check-Out
29 - Last Day of School - 12:30 Dismissal
* Go to www.pella.k12.ia.us and click on the calendar tab to see all events/activities. You may also access the calendar by going to www.littlehawkeyeconference.com