Hilltop Herald - Parent Edition
Be Respectful ~ Be Responsible ~ Be Resilient
Volume 1 ~ Issue 13 ~ October 24, 2022
Wonderful Falcon Families,
“Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.” ~Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart~
In spite of the Padres' three straight losses this weekend, I hope that you still enjoyed your weekend. While the Padres would have wished that they moved on to play in the World Series, I know that the players are happy that they made it this far. And it wasn't all wins; in fact, they won by only 16 games more than they lost. There were times during the season when they had more failures than wins. They did not give up; they continued to try to improve and their efforts led them to a division championship by beating the heavily favored 111-win Dodgers. As you approach this second progress report on Friday, I want you to persevere through whatever grades you may have. Remember, this is still a progress report keeping in mind that their is a finishing date of December 16, which is when the grades will be permanent. If you have grades that you are not happy with, then you will have to make the time to improve those grades. Do not wait until December to ask your teachers how you can improve your grades. ASK NOW. Do what you need to do because that is what you can control. This way, regardless of the December 16 grades, you can say that you really tried and gave it your all.
Progress Report 2 is on October 28, 2022
The second progress report is around the corner. Students, look in the HTM Academic Support Section below to see where you can go to get support. Don't wait until the last minute to catch up.
Coffee with the Principal on October 28, 2022
Parents, I will be hosting coffee with the principal on the day of Progress Report 2. It will be a hybrid meeting but I would love to see you in person. This time, we will host two meetings: one on Thursday, October 27 at 6:00pm and then on Friday, Octboer 28 at 9:00am. If you cannot attend either meetings, please join us virtually. See the flyer below; it has all the information including the QR code.
Required Password Change for your School Accounts by Friday
Falcons, by Friday, all of you must have created a 12-character password (numbers, letters, special characters, lower/upper cases). Your advisory teachers will be showing you how to do this.
HTM Chocolate Fundraiser
Falcons, we are close to the end of our fundraising event. If you want to sell chocolates, please see your PE teachers. All monies collected need to be returned to your PE teachers.
Red Ribbon Week is October 24-31, 2022 and includes Halloween Day
Students, Red Ribbon Week is this week. Please read the flyer below to see what to wear each day. We will end with Halloween on October 31. Please make sure you read the costume guidelines so that you can wear your costume during school. Both flyers are below.
Falcon Flight Program Rules and Changes
Falcon Families, if you are part of the Falcon Flight Program, please make sure that you follow ALL rules to participate in the program. In the Falcon Flight section below, I have included all the rules that must be followed. This is especially important for accurate attendance records. Parents, know that for your child to leave early, you must have completed an early release form; this is important if your child has a regular day where he/she might need to leave early. Early release begins at 4:35pm. If you cannot stay at least until 4:35pm, you might not be eligible for Falcon Flight. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Finally, we have two new coordinators: Ms. Pulido and Mr. Horton. They can be contacted regarding the changes via email: jessica.pulido@sweetwaterschools.org or joshua.horton@sweetwaterschools.org.
Please make sure that you read the newsletter in its entirety to ensure that you are in the KNOW of what is happening at HTM.
Sincerely,
Ms. Finley
All Falcon Flight Programs will resume on Tuesday, October 4, 2022. If you are a Falcon Flight family, it is important that you follow ALL rules pertaining to the program in order to remain enrolled in the program. Please read all the rules in the image below. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Ms. Reimund and Ms. Pulido who are the coordinators of the programs.
Parents, if you want your child to join Falcon Flight, click HERE to sign up. Once a staff member enrolls your student into the program, you will receive an email stating that they are now part of the program.
Effective upon returning from break on October 3, 2022, student athletes and VAPA participants are recommended, but no longer required to test weekly to continue to participate. Testing and masking requirements for Covid-positive, symptomatic students and close contacts are still in effect. Please continue protecting your family by testing weekly.
If you wish to continue to test weekly, click HERE to sign up for the testing program.
Students, if you test positive for COVID, click HERE to determine which scenario fits your situation. Once you have identified the correct scenario for you, please follow all safety protocols that go with the scenario.
For classwork, you will be placed on independent study. Please contact the attendance office to report the absence or email our assistant principal secretary, Ms. Garcia at patricia.garcia2@sweetwaterschools.org. It is important that once Ms. Garcia sends you the independent study form, you sign it immediately.
At this time, teachers are NOT required to host a virtual synchronous session during her in-person instruction. This is being negotiated with the teachers union right now.
Weekly COVID testing is no longer mandatory but strongly recommended for all athletes and extracurricular activities. If you have not done so already, please sign up with SDSU-NIH Testing program [Click HERE] or you will have to provide test results from your healthcare provider or other verified health organizations.
Easter Finley, Principal
Email: easter.finley@sweetwaterschools.org
Website: htm.sweetwaterschools.org
Location: 44 East J Street, Chula Vista, CA, USA
Phone: 619.498.2700
Twitter: @erfinleysd