CSHS Weekly Bulletin
February 19-24, 2018
The Importance of Connections
Dear Cougar Family,
As I sit on my couch working on this week's bulletin, the topic of school safety is weighing on my heart. Based on the conversations I have had with our admin team, teachers, and students last week, I know this is a topic on many hearts right now.
I wrote the following post in a bulletin from last January, and I think it bears a repeat reading now:
When the the Columbine attack happened in April of 1999, I was a freshman in college. I recall sitting in my ag economics class in the Chemistry Building, listening to my classmates attempt to digest the horrible reality. It was terrifying, yet an abstraction--something played out on the news, something my peers thought couldn't happen in Texas.
When Dave Cullen published his book, Columbine, in 2009, I read it through the eyes of an experienced teacher, and the thing that resonates with me after all this time, is his description of that Tuesday morning at school. Everything was so profoundly normal. The scene he described as the school day started could have been any high school in the United States.
When I became an assistant principal and we had our first lock down drill, I remember walking from room to room, checking doors. The empty hallways were eery, and I had the profound realization that I was no longer on the other side of a locked door. Come what may, my new role was to face it.
Please take a moment to watch the video below, titled "Evan."
When I watched this, it struck me to the core. We have @1990 students on our campus, and we will swell to be much larger in the coming years. Each of these students needs us, the adults on campus, to take notice of them--to see patterns in their behavior, to know if they are struggling, to notice if they are spending too much time occupied with researching potentially harmful subjects, to truly know them.
I share all of this with you not to scare you but to cause us to take a moment to reflect on why we have a safety audit and why we have stringent expectations for checking in visitors, wearing IDs, and so forth.
Please take a moment to review these expectations as we continue with the Spring semester:
Know your students. Notice when they are not themselves or seem preoccupied. If you need help addressing issues, contact an administrator or counselor.
Wear identification badges--ALL staff and students.
Challenge any individuals without a visitor’s badge and escort them to the office for obtaining one.
Keep exterior doors locked and closed when not monitored.
Don’t allow access to visitors other than through the security vestibule and office.
Keep classroom doors “locked and propped” so that a simple swinging closed of the door will latch and lock it.
Take lockdown drills seriously and make sure lights in classrooms are turned off, cell phones are turned off, and everyone stays quiet.
Keep a close watch during outdoor activities and don’t allow strangers to interact with students.
Every single person on our campus is important. Everyone needs to feel connected and valued, even if it is by only one other person who really "gets" him/her. Let us all be vigilant in maintaining a safe, secure school where all students can learn.
As always, COUGAR PRIDE!
Tiffany
Professional Learning on Monday!
Monday's Schedule
Morning: Continuing the Journey
- 8:30-11:30 AM
- all faculty in the LGI
- Be there ready to begin at 8:30 AM!
Lunch
- on your own
- 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Afternoon: Departmental Meetings with G/T Hours
- 1:00-4:00 PM
- Report to the location shared with you by your department chair.
- Be sure to sign in to receive credit!
Register in Eduphoria using this link.
Project Innovation Studio
If students need supplies during the day, please do not send them to the CM room. You may send them to the library or check a supply cart out for your classroom. We are so glad it is helpful to our students!
Duty Schedule
THIS IS THE FIRST WEEK OF THE SPRING ONLY DUTY SCHEDULE--MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHEN/WHERE YOU HAVE DUTY IF YOU HAVE NOT YET HAD IT THIS YEAR.
If you have not had duty in the fall, you have duty this spring. Check the full schedule here and mark the dates in your calendar.
Please be sure to see the full duty schedule on the Teacher Resource Guide. Direct any questions regarding duty to Mr. Davis.
Morning Duty
Afternoon Duty
Upcoming Events
3/2 Cougar Soccer vs. Bryan
3/2 Cheer Tryouts
3/6 Softball @Bryan
3/8 Lady Cougar Soccer vs. Rudder
3/9 Softball vs. University
3/12-16 Spring Break
3/20 UIL District Academic Meet
3/30 Holiday