Eagle Express
January 2021
Important Dates
1/11- VC Semester 2 Starts
1/14 – VUSD’s School of Choice Night via Zoom, 5:30-8pm. More info HERE
1/18 – MLK day, no school ECHS and VC
1/19 – ECHS Parent and Student Information Zoom (recruitment for potential 2021-2022 students)
1/22 – Last day of semester 1
1/25 – Teacher Inservice day: No School for ECHS
1/26 – First day of semester 2
1/26 – Districtwide PSAT day
1/29 - Distribution day and Picture day
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Preparing for the Spring Semester at VC
Most Spring 2021 Ventura College classes start next week, January 11. If you are unsure how to prepare, please check your my.VCCD.edu portal for emails from your instructors. Some may have already sent you a syllabus, which contains important information like required texts and exam dates. We recommend you review it to get any needed textbooks and highlight important dates on your calendar. Your VC instructors will be using Canvas for their classes, but please note that it is a different log in than your VUSD Canvas classes. The links to your email and Canvas accounts can be found in the upper right corner of your portal beneath the Ventura College logo.
Below is a link that may give you some guidance regarding VC online classes:
Contact your counselor if you have any questions.
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Master Agreement Meetings Digital Signatures
Soon ECHS teachers will be reaching out to schedule the required semester Master Agreement meeting. This process will once again be completed virtually. Below is a video to demonstrate how to complete the signature process.
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Semester 2 Distribution
Distribution/Collection, January 29 11:30 - 3:00 pm
Come to the ECHS campus to:
- Return textbooks and materials from last quarter / completed classes
- Collect new Textbooks and curriculum if needed
- Collect a Chromebook computer if needed (Contact office in advance if one is needed)
Face masks/coverings and social distancing will be required
This will also be picture day for any student who wants to have their picture taken and/or needs a school ID card.
Parking will be at the Wright Center Lot. See map below.
Ventura College will have a COVID screening and construction towards the front of our school. ECHS families can bypass this by parking at the Wright Center.
Due to social distancing practices families should expect some delay. Getting everything checked in and out can take up to an hour during the most busy times.
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Picture Day - Save the Date
Please save the date for our socially distanced Picture Day on January 29.
-Student photos by LifeTouch Photography
-Option to Purchase photo packets
-Receive a School ID Card (this is the only opportunity to get a school identification card)
Details regarding packets and time slots will be sent out soon via Parent Square.
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ECHS Information Night for 2021-2022 New students
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88921120903
Meeting ID: 889 2112 0903
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From ECHS Counselor Mr. Jordan
“Happy New Year! While we can make a fresh start on a number of fronts, we still need to grind out things from a distance a little while longer. I regret that I haven’t been able to meet you all in-person, but I look forward to the day when you may hear that Mr. Jordan is available to help you with something, and you actually know who this Mr. Jordan guy is….! I have been able to meet students with last names starting “Se-Z,” as an academic counselor to help with VC registration, and I also work with Mrs. Harper as the “Student Assistance Program Counselor” for the whole school, to assist students with personal issues that may be affecting your success at school. I’ve gotten to know some students during the first semester, and a common challenge is clearly that everyone is “Zoomed Out,” so to speak. At the moment, I am able to offer my time to “Zoom” with you to explore strategies about how to make the best of this. I don’t know if you call this irony, or a contradiction, but it’s not lost on me that this dynamic is problematic. My instinct as a counselor is to leave you in peace and not add 1 more minute of screen time to your day. But then, what am I being paid to do? What a problem! If you need someone to vent to, or strategize with, or feeling like you’re in a very lonely spot, please consider sending me an email (gregory.jordan@venturaedu.org), and/or reach out to Mrs. Harper. We can write. We can Zoom. We can figure out what makes sense. We will make it through this, together.”
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PSAT
Our district’s current plan is to offer the PSAT/NMSQT to juniors only on January 26th in person following COVID-19 safety protocols, in masked and social-distanced format. The PSAT is a practice test for the SAT. It’s also a qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship Program. We recommend all college bound juniors take the exam. Registration closes on January 15. The test is reduced to $18 payable to ECHS in the ECHS office (hours 8:30am-3:30pm). Fee waivers are available for students who quality for our free lunch program.
Please note: Ventura County Public Health has cleared VUSD for hosting the PSAT, even if we are in purple tier. If we have to cancel this test due to unforeseen circumstances, we will notify families with as much advance notice as possible and will refund all registration fees.
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Information for Parent/Guardians of all 9th Grade Students and Those Who Have Not Completed Secondary Family Life
THE CALIFORNIA HEALTHY YOUTH ACT – EDUCATION CODE 51930-51939 COMPREHENSIVE SEXUAL HEALTH AND HIV PREVENTION EDUATION PARENT/GUARDIAN NOTIFICATON LETTER FOR GRADES 7 - 12
January 6, 2021
Dear El Camino High School Parent/Guardian:
California state law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires that comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education be provided to students at least once in middle school or junior high school and once in high school, starting in grade 7. You may request a copy of the California Healthy Youth Act (California Education Code Sections 51930-51939) by contacting Ventura Unified School District.
Instruction must encourage students to communicate with parents, guardians or other trusted adults about human sexuality. Instruction must be medically accurate, age-appropriate and inclusive of all students. It must include the following:
· Information about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including transmission, FDA approved methods to prevent HIV and STIs, and treatment
· Information that abstinence is the only certain way to prevent unintended pregnancy and HIV and STIs, and information about the value of delaying sexual activity
· Discussion about social views of HIV and AIDS
· Information about accessing resources for sexual and reproductive health care
· Information about pregnancy, including FDA approved prevention methods, pregnancy outcomes, prenatal care, and the newborn safe surrender law
· Information about sexual orientation and gender, including the harm of negative gender stereotypes
· Information about healthy relationships and avoiding unhealthy behaviors and situations
The week of January 18th, we will be instructing on Family Life Education for those ECHS students who still need to be offered this curriculum. As a parent/guardian, you may view the materials utilized regarding the California Healthy Youth Act and the Ventura Unified School District’s board approved curriculum for this particular instruction (Positive Prevention Plus). Ventura Unified School District employees will provide the in-class instruction. If you have questions, please see your student’s teacher. Written and audiovisual instructional materials are available for you to review with Katie Tapia, ECHS teacher or you may contact the Ventura Unified School District Education Service Center – Health Services & Prevention Programs Department by appointment (805-641-5000 x1136).
State law allows you to remove your student from this instruction. If you do not want your student to participate in comprehensive sexual health or HIV prevention education, please give a written request to Hector Guerrero, Principal/Director by January 18, 2021.
ECHS @ VC
Website: http://www.elcaminohighatvc.org/
Location: El Camino High School at Ventura College, 61 Day Road, Ventura, CA, USA
Phone: (805)289-7955
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elcaminohighatvc/