The Souhegan Scoop

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held from 4-7pm on Monday, November 7 and from 8:30am-3:00pm on Tuesday, November 8. Information about how to sign up for a 10-minute time slot with teachers will be sent home soon.

Veteran’s Day

Souhegan High School is honored to again host Veteran’s Day programming on Thursday, November 10, 2022 from 11-11:40am in the gym. During this time SHS welcomes the community to attend as we remember and recognize our Nation’s veterans, active service members, and their families.

Grading and Reporting

The shifts to assessment, grading, and reporting practices this year have all been thoughtfully implemented so that we can realize the communicated purpose of grades in SAU 39 by ensuring that the system of grading and reporting more accurately and easily communicates student learning to all stakeholders. Click here for a full description of the updates and here for a narrated presentation that describes the context, updates, and feedback so far.

Jazz All-State Results

NHMEA Jazz All-State Auditions were held on October 15 and our Souhegan students impressed again this year with five being selected in the areas of vocals and instrumental:

Zealand Broadley - drums
Autumn Fischera - vocals
Adam Horrocks - guitar
Jeremy Klapka - drums
Isabella VanBibber - vocals

Congratulations!

Marine Science Classes Travel to Odiorne Point State Park to Study Invasive Crab Species

Souhegan’s marine science students have partnered with scientists at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, N.H. to gather data on the impact invasive crab species are having on native crab populations in the Gulf of Maine. On October 17th, students traveled to the intertidal zone to follow a data collection protocol to inventory the number of invasive crabs, like the green crab and Asian shore crab, at Odiorne Point. Students demonstrated their skills at identifying crabs and were surprised to discover 0 native species in all 16 quadrats that were inventoried. Students are now in the process of entering this data into GMRI’s database where it will be compiled with data from other locations throughout the Gulf of Maine. In addition, students had the chance to hear from scientists at the Seacoast Science Center on the current issues facing the Gulf of Maine and explore the brand new exhibit on climate change in the GoM. To bring a piece of the ocean back to the classroom, students picked a few of those invasive crabs to observe in our classroom’s 55 gallon saltwater aquarium (that was made possible by the Souhegan PTSA!) The trip was also intended to spark curiosity about other intertidal species; when they return to the rocky shore in the spring, they will collect data to explore their own inquiry questions. Great work by our Souhegan Marine Scientists!

“Open Campus” vs. “Off Campus” on your Schedule

Junior and Senior students are probably noticing something strange happening to their schedules. Not to worry! To better track student whereabouts and data related to the number of classes being taken by students, schedules are being updated to reflect if a student has either a) “open campus” (with no off campus privileges) or b) “off campus” privileges (allowed to sign out and leave campus).

“Open campus” means the student is not assigned a class at that time and is allowed to utilize the campus facilities accordingly and appropriately. Students are not required to check in for attendance.

“Off campus” means the student, if permission has been granted by the parent or guardian, is allowed to sign out to leave campus during that period of time. As has been practiced this year, students leaving campus must sign out and back into campus using the QR scan code.

Both of the designations have the Dean of Students, Sarah Gilliam, listed as the instructor. Students are not required to sign in with the Dean during those times.

AP Exam Registration

Students currently enrolled in Advanced Placement who are planning to take the AP exams in May will be asked to register by making their payment between October 13 - November 1. Due to College Board deadlines, the Nov. deadline must be strictly enforced. Payment per exam is $97 which will be able to be made through your “My School Bucks” account or by check to student services. Students on free & reduced lunch pay $40. If you are enrolled in an Advanced Placement Course, please review this letter with important information and instructions.

PSAT Make-Up

We will administer the PSAT on October 25 to any Junior who was absent on PSAT day. Please make sure to respond to the email you received about this opportunity.

College Visits

College representative visits will end on November 16th. Juniors and Seniors please review the list of schools that have scheduled to be here in the next couple of weeks.

College Application Deadlines

Seniors, important college applications deadlines are approaching. Please make sure to see your counselor and have the Naviance updated with the colleges you are applying to by the SHS deadlines associated with the college deadline dates. We are heading into the holiday vacation season. It is important to consider the school calendar when planning for this process.

College Deadline / SHS Deadline

December 1 / November 2 - Wednesday

December 15 / November 10 - Thursday

Scholarship Opportunities

Scholarship opportunities continue to be added to our school website under Student Services Scholarships. These are generally national or regional scholarships. Local scholarships will be posted in February to Naviance. We recommend that you check out the web-site weekly to review any new additions. Each scholarship has criteria, an application and deadlines. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to see Maren or your counselor.

Senior Yearbook Pictures

High resolution, vertical JPEGs of your senior are due no later than October 21st! Click here to upload them to our private photo submission link. If for some reason the link does not work and requires a User ID (this can happen if they use safari) the User ID is: 0jwfc8cLpKnxTwRrIDcKg-w.

Senior Project News

The first Senior Project panel meeting is fast approaching! At this point seniors should be meeting with their mentors on a regular basis and should be hard at work on their proposal letters. Letters are due to mentors and panel members by Monday, October 31, and the first panel meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 1st, from 3:10 to 4:30 pm. Seniors should consult the proposal letter description and rubric well in advance of submitting their work. As always please see Ryan or Kathy with any questions!

Below are additional details regarding senior project that families and students should review:

Senior Project Resource Packet - This document contains information related to all parts of the project, including checkpoints and rubrics and specific applied piece requirements
Senior Project Important Dates - A few big dates to add to calendars include: Panel Meetings on 11/1, 1/10, and 4/20 from 3:15pm and of course presentation days on 5/18 and 5/19.

A Message from the PTSA

Parents,

It is the time of year when we begin to fundraise and plan for Project Graduation 2023! Project Graduation is a party the PTSA hosts for newly graduated seniors. It is a way for us to help our students stay as safe as possible during a time when there is a high rate of teen accidents. We need all grades of parents to help make this a successful event, although there is one caveat: Senior parents cannot work the night of the event. They can definitely help to plan and organize, though! Many on our committee will be leaving us this year as their last child will be graduating, so there needs to be some folks to pass the baton to after June 2023.

To kick off the fundraising: we will have a table at the high school on Election Day (11/8) selling raffle tickets to win $100 worth of various gift cards. We begin the active planning stages soon, so if you can help on Election Day and/or are interested in joining this committee, please contact Lisa Eastland at lmm.eastland@gmail.com.

The Learning Commons is open all periods for students to work, relax, and get support. Need some help with math? Tara or Joann can help. Need help with an essay or reading a difficult text? Matt can help. Need a place to sit back, relax, and chat with some friends? The couches and chairs can help! Check the Learning Commons Support Schedule to see who is available which period.