High School Blog 8/22 - 8/26/16
HS Fall Newsletter
You should be receiving the fall newsletter in the mail this
week. Please note there is a lot of
valuable information in the fall newsletter pertaining to the start of the
2016-2017 school year.
Freshmen and New Student Orientation
On Tuesday, August 30, 2016, at 6:30 p.m.,
St. Joseph High School will hold an Orientation night for all incoming 9th
grade students and any other students new to the district. All parents are highly encouraged to
attend. The Administration and Counseling
staff will provide information from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the High School
Auditorium. Students will be able to
pick up schedules at this event and have access to all areas of the building
for a walk-through to become familiarized. The teachers will also be on campus
to meet the new students. Senior mentors
will be present to assist as building guides.
Passwords, locker combinations, and PIV information (both student and parent)
will be printed on the schedules.
Alternative Day: If you can’t attend, you may pick up schedules on
August 31 from 1:00 – 3:30 pm. Parents, please park in the parking lot
adjacent to the football field.
The High School “Back-To-School” Night
Will take place on Monday, September 12,
2016. We are encouraging parents to check Power School for your student’s
schedule. Several Clubs & Activities
tables may be visited in the Student Center between 6:00 – 6:30 pm and first
hour class will begin at 6:30 pm.
Announcements for parents will take place in their child’s first hour
class. Parents will then be released for classroom visitations for the
opportunity of meeting their child’s instructors. We hope to see all parents
there for this informative evening.
BYOD @ SJHS
St. Joseph High
School will be entering the second year of its BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
program. Students are encouraged to bring a laptop computer to school
with them daily to support learning activities in the classroom. Devices
will be used on the first day of school, so it is strongly recommended
that all students come prepared with a device or plan for securing a device to
use this school year. For students who do not have a device to bring from
home, SJHS has an affordable Chromebook Rental Program. If students are looking for options
to purchase a device, SJHS has a partnership with Best Buy to offer special
pricing on suitable devices for the BYOD program. More information can be
found on the SJHS BYOD webpage. Lastly, while all SJHS classrooms
are equipped with loaner devices for students who may forget their devices or
have repair issues, the classroom laptops are not meant to be individual
long-term solutions for BYOD. Please plan to make every effort to secure
a device for your child this school year. If you have any questions or
need assistance, please contact the main office and we will do our best to help
your child with this program.
itsLearning – Learning
Management System
The new Learning
Management System (LMS) for St. Joseph Public Schools, itsLearning, will be
rolled out to students and parents at the beginning of the school year.
This system replaces My Big Campus. Teachers have been trained on using
the system and are busy setting up their class spaces. itsLearning will
be the primary method of communication between teachers and parents this school
year regarding classroom activities and assignments. Detailed information
on how parents can access the system, as well as instructions for using the
program, will be provided at Back-to-School Night. Stay tuned for more
information.
Guidance Office (News)
Please take a look at the following and note
by last name which of the school counselors your student will be working with
for the 2016-17 school year.
· Mrs.
Amy Peterson – Last names A-D
· Mrs.
Tracy Wagner – Last names H-P
· Mrs.
Tracy Olson – Last names E-G and Q-Z
The Tuition Incentive Program (TIP) is a program that encourages
eligible students to complete high school by providing tuition assistance for
the first two years of college and beyond in Michigan. For a student to be
eligible for TIP they need to have or have had Medicaid coverage for 24 months
within a 36-consecutive month period prior to high school completion. All TIP
applications must be received by Student Scholarships and Grants before August
31 of the students graduating year from high school or its recognized
equivalent. The deadline is quickly approaching, be sure to get your
application in!
Call the
Customer Care Unit today to complete your application over the phone at 1-888-4-GRANTS.
College Night @ SMC and
LMC
Tired of scouring university web pages? Come to College Night at
Southwestern Michigan College from 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesday, September 28, on our
Dowagiac campus. Talk with representatives from the more than 60 Michigan and
Indiana colleges who typically attend this event. It all begins at 6:30 p.m. in
the Charles O. Zollar Building. For your convenience, use the Daily Road
entrance. Also scheduled are two Financial Aid Information Sessions.
Lake Michigan College will host the same
event on Monday, September 26 at their Napier Campus from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
In September of
last year, President Obama announced changes to the FAFSA
process. Beginning with
the 2017-18 application cycle, students will be able to submit the FAFSA
earlier than in previous years, and also will be required to use earlier income
information. This means that students can file their FASFA as early as October
1of this year, rather than waiting until January 1. In addition, students
will report their 2015 income information, rather than waiting for income
information from 2016.
The intent of these changes is to help ensure that more students
who want to attend college are able to obtain financial aid, and can figure out
how they will afford college sooner, rather than later. It also makes it easier
for students and their parents to apply, since they can use readily available
income information, rather than waiting until the end of the year.
To learn more
about the upcoming FAFSA changes, read the fact sheet College Students and
Parents: What You Need to Know About the 2017-18 FAFSA.
SJHS counseling
department will be offering a free FAFSA completion session for seniors and
their parents. Financial aid experts from Lake Michigan College will be
available to help with FAFSA completion. The session will be offered
on Wednesday, October 12 from 5:30-7:30 pm in the media
center computer lab. Contact the counseling office to sign up.
The PSAT National Test Date is Wednesday, October 19 from 7:45-11:30 a.m. in the SJHS competition gym. Information was mailed home to every Junior in August – sign up in the counseling office by Friday, September 23. Cost is $16, checks made payable to SJHS. Questions? Please contact Tracy Wagner, twagner@sjschools.org
Wind-Up (School Newspaper)
Subscriptions to the schools news
magazine, The Wind-Up, are available. Students, parents, and
businesses are invited to reserve a copy of each issue. Wind-Up staff
members will be at the new student orientation on Tuesday, August 30 to
answer questions and to provide subscription forms. For more information
contact Joyce Hunter at jhunter@sjschools.org or at 926-3357.
Picture Day – HS (Tues. Sept. 6th)
We will host Picture Day on our first day
back to school. The High School Fall Newsletter will include a few more
details and an Order Form, which will be sent home this week. In the
meantime, you can get order details here:
Key Club
WHAT
IS KEY CLUB?
Key
Club is an international student-led organization that provides its members
with opportunities to provide service, build character and develop
leadership. Key Club is sponsored by Kiwanis with our local club being
the St. Joseph/Benton Harbor Club. Key Club exists in 30 countries, with
membership of over 250,000 in over 5,000 clubs. Key Club members have the
opportunity to hold leadership positions at the local (school), state, and
international level. The SKY is the LIMIT.
HOW
DO I JOIN?
Anyone
interested in joining Key Club needs to fill out an application and turn in $20
dues to Mrs. Berry or an officer by Wednesday, September 28th.
Meetings will be on Wednesdays in the morning every week and every other
Wednesday after school. Those dates can be found on the bulletin board in the hall
or on our ItsLearning group.
Our BIG event for the fall will
be the “Kiwanis Family Fall Festival” for Berrien County foster families.
This event is being co-hosted by the St. Joseph and Lakeshore High School
Key Clubs. It will take place at Kiwanis Park in St. Joseph on September
24th from 11-3pm. This event is sponsored by the Saint Joseph-Benton Harbor
Kiwanis Club and will include volunteers from both the Lake Michigan College
Circle K and Upton Builders Club.
Fall Sports Program
We
are looking for candid pictures from last fall's sports (football, cheer, cross
county, women's swim, women's golf, men's soccer, volleyball, men's tennis)
To
possibly include in the 2016 Fall Sports Program which will be sold at home
Varsity football games this fall. Please
send to sjfallprogram16@yahoo.com starting Monday 7/20/16.
Thank you! BOP Program
Committee
Athletics
Monday:
8:30
VAR Golf @ Forest Hills Central
1:00
VAR/JV tennis vs. Gull Lake
3:30
JV Golf @ Blossom Trails
4:00
VAR Tennis vs. Loy Norrix
4:00
VAR Volleyball @ Vicksburg Round Robin
5:00
JV Volleyball @ Niles Quad
6:45
VAR Soccer @ Vicksburg
Tuesday:
4:30
XC Invite @ Riverview Park
5:00 9th
Volleyball @ Niles Quad
Wednesday:
8:30 JV
Golf @ Wayland Invite
1:00 VAR
Golf @ SMAC Invite
1:00
VAR/JV Golf @ BC Lakeview
4:00
VAR/JV Golf @ BC Central
5:00
JV/VAR Soccer vs. Three Rivers
Thursday:
9:00 VAR Tennis
@ Sturgis Invite
4:30 9th FB @
Kalamazoo Central
6:30 JV FB @
Kalamazoo Central
Friday:
4:00 VAR FB vs.
Kalamazoo Central @ UM
Saturday:
8:30 JV VB @
Portage Central Invite
1:00 Swim @ Lakeview Relays
