The Weekly Update #3
July 30th, 2023
PROTECT THE DEN!!
Mission and Vision
VISION
All Living the Pursuit of Excellence for Lifetime Achievement
MISSION
The Mission of CGUHSD is to inspire excellence by providing globally competitive educational and career opportunities for all students
Message From the Principal
Good evening Cougar Nation… This newsletter is long, but is packed full of essential information, so please read all the way through and click on the provided links. I am extremely excited by this opportunity and grateful to have met so many wonderful students, families, and staff thus far. I want to thank you all for your kindness as we have met over the last few weeks. I humbly ask for the opportunity to earn your trust. You will always receive accurate, honest, timely, and concise information from me. I have created a "Back To School"website where you can get a lot of important information. Parking, schedule changes, etc can all be found here.
This week our administrative team met with all students to review our behavioral expectations, below is a summary of what we reviewed:
- Personal Electronic Devices
- Off and away during class time, including if leaving the classroom to use the restroom or go to the office.
- Hall passes. Security has been directed to inquire with students who are out of class and ask to view their pass. Please help us with this by ensuring you are in compliance with having a pass.
- Restroom
- Office/Counselor/Teacher/etc.
- Nurse
- Dress Code
This is how I think is the most efficient way to handle the dress code violation load utilizing the three strike rule:
1. Students will receive an email from Mr Raymond's office, Ms. Esparza, notifying them that they have been dress coded and the number of strikes they have.
- Once a student reaches strike three, they will be given IFS (interventioin for success) the following day.
- Consequences will increase with each violation up OSS.
- Dress code violations will reset at the end of the semester.
- Be the Three
- Respectful, Responsible, Reliable
- Student parking
- Arrival/Drop off– Please pull past the first speed bump in the drop off lanes, we are adding additional signage within the week.
- Dismissal/Pickup- Please pull through the pick up lane as far as safely possible.
- Fighting / Vaping - Please see district policy, violations may result in short-term suspension (1-10 days out of school), Long-term suspension (a hearing with up to 365 day suspension), and applicable criminal charges as they may apply.
As this semester continues to move forward, there are a number of important items that I want to share. Please remember that Mrs. Clement, Mr. Raymond, Mrs. Telles, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Robbins, and Dr. Gardner and I remain available to assist you in any way that we can.
Protect the Den!
Dr. Chris Lineberry
Principal
Casa Grande Union High School
AVID
Great news! We now have 1 full class period of AVID being offered. If you are interested, see your counselors asap so that we can form a second class.
Our nation’s schools are full of students who possess a desire to go to college and the willingness to work hard, but many of them do not truly have the opportunity to be college-ready. These are often the students who will be the first in their families to attend college and are from groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education. AVID Secondary equips teachers and schools with what they need to help these students succeed on a path to college and career success. To address this need, AVID has developed the AVID Elective course. For one period a day, students receive the additional academic, social, and emotional support that will help them succeed in their school’s most rigorous courses. Districts have the flexibility to decide how many AVID Elective classes to start and which grade levels will implement AVID first. What AVID is . We are offering AVID here on our campus, Ms. Demerest is the teacher and we are looking for YOU to join us! If you are interested, complete the schedule change request form and add AVID. This class is open to Freshman and Sophmores only at this time.
Cell Phones
Nationally, there has been a significant spike in cyberbullying and classroom disruptions from cell phones in the classroom. We know that teen mental health continues to decline across the country from excessive screen time and social media. You can read some of the latest research on this important topic here. Our policy is OFF AND AWAY (Cell phones and Earbuds) during classtime.If there are extenuating circumstances, ex. diabetes and need to monitor, a caregiver with severe illness, etc please send Mr. Raymond an email and he and our staff will work with you to come to a solution.
Between classes and at lunch, there is no problem with students having their phones out or listening to music with their earpods, etc.
This Weeks Challenges
We have faced and are in process of overcoming multiple challenges as we begin the school year. I still see two major challenges as we approach the beginning of our second week of school: Schedules, student drop off / pick-up. I agree with the feedback that I have received from many of you that there is work to be done in both of these areas, significant work at that. Let me explain where we are with each, the WHY behind our challenges, and our plan to address these areas of challenge immediately.
Schedules:
We were not successful in creating the master schedule for students. As the principal, this is on me 100%. I do not see anything positive from blameshifting, or not owning this situation. I am the principal and it is my job to fix this, and fix this we will. This is what has been done since last week's newsletter:
1. We have changed the process some, in that we have made it easier for students to get uninterrupted time with the counselors. We are now using a QR code and a program called Calendarly to schedule time. This has worked very well thus far and we will continue to utilize this process.
Moving Forward:
1. Counselors have been directed to connect with every student on their caseload by Tuesday of this coming week. This may be by email, meeting, or phone call.
2. Counselors need students to please use the QR codes that have been sent out to make an appointment to see them.
We have made a huge dent in the number of requests and are in process of completing scheduling changes. I continue to ask for your kindness, grace, and patience as we work to resolve this issue.
You have my word as a father, husband, principal, and son that we will not be in this situation again while I am the principal here.
Student Drop-Off / Pick-Up
UPDATE: This week we hit our goal of under 20 minutes to clear the student parking lot. We have some challenges with the parent pick-up, but thanks to your willingness to give this process a chance we have cut the average time to less than 24 minutes (on average), and most importantly, have significantly reduced traffic back-ups on Trekkel, while maintaining a safe environment on campus. Great work CGUHS Community!
We have made some major changes to the traffic flow on campus. I realize that this has caused some unrest and discomfort this week. Here is my request of you, please give us the opportunity to implement this new traffic pattern as it is designed. Our issue has not been that our plan will not work, the challenge has been in effectively communicating how the plan is to work with students and families. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated and needed, please keep in mind, our priority is student safety. I will always do all that I can to protect student, parent, community, and staff safety on our campus. Students crossing lanes of moving traffic, lines backed up over half a mile blocking traffic on Trekell is not safe. This plan is working, I humbly ask for your continued assistance in the implementation.
On Friday with your help, we minimized traffic on Trekkel and were able to safely move over 500 cars through our property safely and quickly. Is this plan perfect? No. Will this plan work to keep students, parents, and community safe? Absolutely. Please click here to watch a video on how drop off, student parking, and parent pick up has changed for this school year. This is VERY IMPORTANT.
Student Fines / Fees
Any student fines or fees can be paid online. Students can purchase parking passes, pay class fees, technology fines, etc. All of this should be done online. You can access the payment center by doing the following:
You will need a PowerSchool Parent Portal account to access TouchBase.
If you don’t have a PowerSchool Parent Portal account, please call your
student's school office to get an account set up.
Please sign into to PowerSchool to access TouchBase. The steps below
can only be done using an internet browser such as Google Chrome, Internet
Explorer, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Android browser, etc. (computer, tablet, smartphone) and CANNOT be done using the Powerschool Mobile App.
- Sign in to PowerSchool.
- Once signed in, click the icon in the left panel labeled Purchases and Payments (see image on left).
You will immediately be taken to TouchBase without having to sign in.
Student Academic Responsibilities
CGUHS Student Responsibilities 2023 - 24
This school year we will be discussing academic responsibilities at length with all of our students. It is important that students not only familiarize themselves with these responsibilities, but that they practice these responsibilities on a daily basis. We reviewed these expectations with students this week. If students follow the guidelines below, they will experience tremendous success at Casa Grande Union High School.
- Acquire Knowledge of Content - Students understand the content they are learning in class.
- Come Prepared for Class - Students bring the needed materials for class.
- Take Notes - Students accurately and completely take notes.
- Ask Questions - Students ask questions when a lack of understanding occurs.
- Complete Homework - Students complete assignments on time.
- Attend Tutoring/Seek Help - Students attend tutoring or seek help when they need it.
- Attend Regularly - Students attend class regularly and arrive on time.
- Take Assessment Seriously – Students bring their best effort possible on assessments.
- Appropriate Work Ethic/Attitude/Behavior - Students display appropriate work ethic, attitude, and behavior.
- Put cell phones and ear buds off and away while in the classroom
- Be Kind
TRACKING SENIORS TO GRADUATION
Our counselors and Dr. Johnson will be working closely with Mrs. Clement and our students / families to ensure that students are on track to graduate. Seniors must complete 22 credits in order to graduate. Additionally, every senior must take and pass the AZ Civics test, and must complete ECAP (Education and Career Action Plan). Additional information can be found here. We will be rolling out our ECAP program as well as ensuring that students have opportunities to take and pass the Civics test in the coming weeks.
Student Council
Student Council sponsored Spirit Week last week and it was a big hit. Kudos to all staff and students for your participation and to STUCO for planning an awesome week! Homecoming is early this year, Sept 15, 2023 and we have started our planning process. Please stay tuned for more information.
Upcoming Activities this Week
Activities this Week:
8/1 : Band Practice
- 5:45 - 9:00 P.M.
8/1 : 4 - JV Cheer Tryouts
- 6:00 - 8:00 P.M.
8/3 : Meet Your Teacher Back to School BBQ
- 5:00 - 7:00
- Get your food outside, eat in the cafeteria and then join us in the gym to meet your child's teachers!
- 5:45 - 9:00 - Band Practice
Looking ahead:
August 7 - Pep Assembly
Student Council Pep Assembly in the Gym
Split assemblies using 3rd hour and Cougar Time
August 9 - 11: CGUHS Club Rush Week!
August 14 and 15 - Underclass Pictures
August 16 - Freshmen Student Council Applications Due
August 17 - Senior Pictures
September 15 - Homecoming (much more to come!)