News from the Nest
Happenings at Decatur Central High School
October 7, 2022 Edition
Greetings,
As we conclude the week and prepare to enjoy a 2 week fall break I wanted to take a moment to encourage you to get rest and focus on making the next 9 weeks better than the first 9 weeks! If you are doing well, then focus on getting stronger. If the first 9 weeks saw some struggle, work on getting better in those areas! Credits are earned by the semester so all students have 9 weeks to either maintain excellence or to work towards it!
Along that lines, eligibility for participation in our bands, choirs, sports and ECA clubs and teams require passing at least 6 classes. If your student isn't at that standard, reach out to teachers to see if there is work they can do over break to remedy that. If there isn't, focus on attempting every assignment and working hard and studying for every quiz or test and finishing each project to the best of their ability. If a student does that, eligibility will take care of itself!
Finally, on Tuesday, October 25th, the day after returning from fall break all 9-11 grade students will be taking the PSAT. Seniors that have not completed their grad pathways or met the standard on the SAT will be taking the ASVAB that day. We will be running a test schedule that day.
Have a great fall break...and come back ready to better today than yesterday; better tomorrow than today!
Tom Wachnicki
Principal
Daily Bell Schedule
Employment Opportunities
DCHS is currently has several Instructional Assistant positions available. If you would be interested in being a 1:1 IA wherein you work with one student in need of assistance, working in our CIPs room, or would like to supervise one of our Learning Centers (approximately 25 - 30 students) please scan the following QR Code to access the job posting page for Decatur Township Schools. If you are interested in learning more about job opportunities, look no further!
Home Events the Week of October 24-28!
Saturday, Oct 22
Host ACT 7:30-12 pm
Tuesday, October 25
PSAT & ASVABTesting Day
Addressing Vaping
Decatur Township School Police Department, (DTSPD), in collaboration with the Drug Free
Coalition, is excited to offer a new diversion program for students found to be in possession of tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and or vaping devices. DTSPD has also partnered with our local courts in an effort to minimize the use of these products and devices on our campuses. Our students, if found with the aforementioned items, would be in violation of Indiana Code 35-46-1-10.5, Minor in Possession of a Tobacco Product or an Electronic Cigarette or 7.1-5-12-8 Smoking in a Prohibited Area. Each of these would be met with an Indiana citation, also known as a “Uniform Traffic Ticket,” (UTT). When submitted to the courts, the cost of the ticket for this violation is $170.50. This is an actual ticket and will affect your license or the ability to obtain one if left unpaid.
Our objective however, is not to create financial hardship, but to have an opportunity to
educate students and families on the dangers of vaping and tobacco products. Twice per month, DTSPD officers will present a 1-hour class for students who have opted to accept the terms of the diversion program. The cost of the class for a student attending alone is $75.00. If a student attends the class with a parent or guardian, the class is discounted at a cost of $25.00. Upon the completion of the class, the UTT, or citation, will not be referred to the courts, and there will be no record of the violation. A student may only participate in the program once per school year, and only twice throughout their entire school career.
Lunch Assignments
10:55 Zone A/Lunch A--Choice and Edge classrooms
11:25 Zone B/Lunch B--New Tech, Art and JAG classrooms
11:55 Zone C/Lunch C--Q&I and Innovation classrooms
12:25 Zone D/Lunch D--Study Halls, PE/Health, Performing Arts
Please keep in mind that we do not allow students to leave school for lunch nor do we accept food deliveries unless arranged ahead of time with the student's director.
Blue/Gold Day Calendar
Attendance Procedure
You may contact the SLC office as follows when calling the school at 317-856-5288:
First Option: To input an extension if you know the party's extension to whom you would like to speak.
Second Option: To choose the SLC of your student by selecting a number, with a 1 for Choice, 2 for Edge, 3 for Innovation, 4 for New Tech or 5 for Q&I.
We will send out automated attendance notifications throughout the school day if students are marked absent and a parent phone call hasn't been received. We do this to avoid students acquiring excessive unexcused absences that can bring disciplinary actions.
Thank you for your help in maximizing the opportunities we have to help your student be their best version of themself!
Keeping up with your student!
Skyward is where teachers take daily attendance, sync grades 1 time per week, and host other vital information for your student. To keep track of your student using this you simply use the parent login you used for registering your student this year. If you cannot remember your password please contact your student's SLC office.
School Saftey
School safety takes a team. The school staff, the SROs, the students and the parents all make up this team and it takes us all to make sure DCHS is as secure as possible.
Our safety emphasis this year will be making sure students are where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there and that the school remains as secure as possible throughout the day.
Currently, we have 1 access point during the day at DCHS, Door 1. We recognize that this can be inconvenient for students arriving at school after the start of the day since it is quite a hike to door 1 from student parking and we are working on a procedure that would allow students to have a shorter distance to go for access. Once we have worked this out it will be communicated out. Parents, please encourage your students to abide by the door 1 entrance.
As well, please recognize that students leaving the building without authorization and/or propping doors open to be able to leave and come back are major safety violations and will have to be handled sternly. Again, please encourage your students to speak with their SLC office in order to leave the building for any reason during the day.
Thank you for being a supportive member of the safety team!
Serving is our specialty!
Choice Academy Gleaners Food Pantry
This year the Choice Academy is working with Communities in School Staff at DCHS to combine the Choice Academy Food Pantry and the DCHS Gleaners Food Pantry. This is a great opportunity for the Choice students to help Decatur Community members in need. Starting in September, community members can pick up a donation box every Thursday. The following is the link for scheduling a donation box.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScIS6hJ_CABoqqFUFatsozAhzkX2s5jI0vAkM0iGCTgj6-FOQ/viewform
DCHS is part of the Indiana Thriving School Program
The Choice Academy's School Wide Recycling program was awarded a grant as an Indiana Thriving School. The Choice Academy will use the grant funds to continue building the program with recycling awareness through collecting data and refining the process of collecting materials during recycling pick up.
Getting Settled and Down to Business!
The Innovation community is feeling strong and settled having completed the first four weeks of the school year! The first month of school included the adjustment to block scheduling (Blue/Gold days), new classes, new instructors and staff, new peers, and much more. Our scholars have been masterful in their flexibility to all the "new" they've experienced in the first four weeks! We are proud of our students, and we look forward to seeing all the good that their hard work yields in the coming weeks.
A major focus for our community this week has been relationship and community building. We believe as an SLC that students have greater chances of success and growth when they have a village to walk alongside them during the high school experience. To that end we have designated each Friday of CCR to building community and connection while integrating components of the SEL curriculum. It was inspiring and fun to walk through the Innovation hallway last Friday and see the valuable work being done within each CCR to connect scholars to one another and to an adult champion within our SLC. This Friday our SLC will participate in the first all-CCR "Innovation Jubilation" of the school year. During this time we will spotlight students who have exemplified the quality of "kindness" during the month of August. Each month of the school year we will select a different core value and spotlight students within Innovation who have demonstrated that quality.
Mr. Hiller"s Chem is collaborative!
Mr. Archer's Choir...
...is looking good!
The Heart of New Tech: Academics, School Spirit, and Family
This week our students were hard at work, getting into their “knows” and “need to know” in their group projects. The New Tech community produces real world projects for real people. Our students are not only good at solving real world problems and producing items our community needs, but we also have the help of our construction team creating and making the products alongside the Engineers.
Our construction teachers are truly amazing! Our construction classes have grown so much that we are buying skids of lumber versus buying in batches!
Although we are always hard at work academically, we do find time to show school spirit and participate in our Family Friday event. This week each CCR competed in a rock, paper, scissors competition. Congratulations to Ms. Ehmen’s CCR! Her CCR won the belt this week.