Paly Community Update
Friday, August 12, 2022
Hello Viking Students and Families!
The opening to the 2022 - 2023 school year has been filled with exciting events and opportunities for our students. Our students began their year in their advisory group to help them familiarize themselves with the advisory structure and help them understand the purpose and goals of their advisory group. The rest of the first day, students attended all of their classes, which allowed them to meet all of their teachers and understand the course expectations and projected outcomes.
On Thursday, the entire Paly community had the opportunity to hear from Timothy Alexander (TA), who is a motivational speaker from Birmingham Alembama who has changed a life tragedy into wonderful opportunities. TA used his own story to motivate our students to never give up and focus on life’s possibilities, while being resilient. It was truly inspiring to witness our students engaged in his message, which focused on his theme that “we don’t need it to be easy, we just need it to be possible.” After each assembly, TA was surrounded by several students who reached out to him to thank him for his message and to also share how his message positively impacted them yesterday.
Finally on Friday, Paly ASB held a lunchtime pep assembly on the quad, with performances from the Paly Pep Band, Dance Team and Cheer Team. We were also joined by several parent volunteers who helped pass out ice cream treats to all of our students. Thank you parent volunteers!
Study Hall/Advisory
Earlier today students learned about Study Hall. Students will receive more details about logistics next Wednesday during Prime.
Starting next week, we are adding a Study Hall class for all students at Paly. This class meets in the same time slot as Advisory and students will attend Study Hall during the “off weeks” when they aren’t in Advisory. They will remain grouped with their Advisory cohort and will meet in a classroom near their Advisory classroom. The exact location of a student’s Study Hall is found on their schedule in Infinite Campus.
When do students go to Study Hall?
Students go to Study Hall in the weeks when their Advisory classes don’t meet. For example, if 9th and 12th grade students have Advisory, 10th and 11th grade students will attend Study Hall. Attendance will be taken and absences and tardies will be marked just like any other period.
What will students do in Study Hall?
Students will be in a quiet classroom with a teacher and have time to complete their work.
Why are we adding Study Hall?
With our Advisory model, only half of the students were in an Advisory class each week. In order to meet our instructional minutes and provide a safe environment for all of our students, we are creating Study Hall periods for students when they are not in Advisory.
We appreciate your collaboration in talking with your student(s) about using Study Hall effectively.
In Person Gatherings and Meetings
Back To School Night
All PAUSD schools will be hosting in-person Back To School Nights. Information for Paly’s in-person Back To School Night will be shared with our parents soon. The date for this event at Paly is September 1, 2022 beginning at 6:00 pm.
IEP Meetings
We will also be making a shift to in-person IEP meetings. Using Zoom for IEP meetings will only be available for medical reasons moving forward.
Construction update
With the start of the Paly Tower Building project, there are certain changes on campus. Please refer to map (link below) with major changes in bold.
ASB Cards, Lockers and Textbooks
Students can purchase their 2022-2023 ASB Card and check out lockers at the ASB Office, which is now located at the South side of the Peery Building (baseball field side). Lockers can be checked out anytime, beginning the first day of school. Textbooks will be checked out to students during their classes, beginning the first week of school.
COVID Tests
The Nurse's Office is now located in P2.
Chromebooks
Students may go to Room 410 and pick up their Chromebook at any time. The expectation is that all 9th, 10th and 11th grade students have a Chromebook, teachers will be requiring them for certain activities.
Also, students that have the older "Dell" model of Chromebook may come to Room 410 to trade in for a new Chromebook.
Update from Guidance
We have made it to the end of the first week of school where we focused on fixing scheduling errors. As we move into the final stage of schedule adjustments, we wanted to provide you some important information about the process for the next two weeks.
Any student looking to make schedule updates needs to fill out a schedule correction form (hard copies available in Guidance), with parent signature. We do not accept schedule change requests through email.
When a student submits a schedule correction form and the change is not processed by the following day, the first step is for them to return to Guidance to pick up the form, which will have notes/explanations as to why the change could not be made. The student can pick up the form and leave a follow-up note which will direct us to make the final change or submit a new form if appropriate.
We appreciate your partnership and understanding as we strive to provide you with the best service possible.
Thank you,
Paly Guidance
Paly Athletics Information and Tryouts
The PALY Athletics Program offers a variety of competitive sports throughout the school year. The opening date for Fall sport tryouts is Friday, August 5th. For details on how your student can participate, visit our website at https://palyathletics.com/how-to-join-a-team/.
Please visit www.palythletics.com for all sports inquiries. There you will find athletic registration, team schedules, ticket purchases, donations and more. #SkoVIKES!!