Suwannee High Newsletter -September 08
Great Start to the Year
Suwannee High Welcomes the Class of 2012
Suwannee High School started classes on August 8th with approximately 1300 students. The first days of school went very smoothly with all students and teachers having a great attitude and spirit of cohesiveness.
The freshmen class looks to be a great class who have met the challenges of high school life ‘head on’ and doing a great job. So far the freshmen have impressed the staff with their overall great attitude and enthusiasm for school.
We are looking forward to another great year at Suwannee High!
FCAT Re-Takes Coming up IN OCTOBER
All Juniors and Seniors who have not passed the FCAT will have another opportunity coming up on Oct. 6 and 7. All students in Florida must earn a passing score on the FCAT to receive a diploma. For the past several years, state law has allowed for appropriate scores on the ACT or SAT to substitute for the FCAT score. All seniors who have not yet passed the FCAT should register for the ACT and SAT. Over the years, several
students have earned the required score and received a diploma with a substitute score from SAT or ACT scores.
For more information on how to register for the SAT or ACT, go to the SHS website at: www.suwannee.k12.fl.us/SHS or see a Guidance Counselor.
SHS Website Provides Lots of Information for Students and Parents
All students and parents are encouraged to visit the SHS website often (www.suwannee.k12.fl.us). A great deal of information is provided as well as links to informational sites related to scholarships, college entrance, career inventories, attendance policies, staff emails, and lot more. In addition to the information provided, games and contests are added occasionally to encourage students to ‘check it out’ often.
Attendance Policy Reminder
Parents and students are encouraged to be familiar with the Suwannee District Schools attendance policy. Students who exceed the attendance policy ‘allowable days’ of absence will be denied credit for courses, regardless of the grade earned in the class. The policy’s ‘excessive absence’ limits vary from class to class depending on the format of the class. If the class meets for 45 minutes per day, excessive absences is defined as ‘more than 10 days’ in a semester. For the classes that meet for 90 minutes per day, excessive absences is defined as ‘more than 5 days’ in a nine-weeks. Students and parents should ‘keep up’ with absence totals so that credit is not lost due to excessive absences.
Parents can stay aware of attendance totals by logging on the the Parent Viewer (linked on the SHS website) or by calling the SHS attendance office. You will need your child’s student number and date of birth to access the system.
SHS Website: www.suwannee.k12.fl.us/SHS
Parents are Encouraged to Complete Federal Lunch Program Applications
All parents should consider applying for the Free/Reduced Lunch program. The federal government provides all students who qualify to receive breakfast and lunch each day at a reduced charge or free of charge. The qualifications are based on household income and with lunch prices continuing to rise and economic factors as they are, all parents are encouraged to make application. In addition, SHS qualifies for more grant opportunities as our free/reduced lunch percentage increases. Again, all parents are encouraged to make application.
The Suwannee County ELP Program is holding an Ecophones fundraiser to help raise money for new technological equipment. If you have old cell phones,
ink jet cartridges, laptops, iPods, or digital cameras, please drop them off in the box in the SHS front office. It does not matter if the items work or not. All items will be shipped off to Ecophones to be recycled or refurbished. Please consider donating your items to help us and the environment as well! Thank you!
School Advisory Council Members Needed
The SHS School Advisory Council meets the second Thursday of each month at 6:00pm in the SHS front office Student Activities room. All parents with an interest in being involved in school improvement efforts are encouraged to attend. Everyone is welcome!
SHS Spar Report Available to Parents / Community Members Upon Request
The SPAR report can be requested by calling SHS at 364-2639. The report contains statistics regarding SHS population and assessment results.
A Parent’s Guide to Suwannee County Schools can be viewed online at www.suwannee.k12.fl.us. Booklets are available by request in the front office.
ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK
“It’s never been easier!!”
You can go to the SHS website and place your yearbook order with a credit card. Order yours today!
Senior Scholarship Newsletter #1 is Available in Guidance....Go by and pick one up!
(It’s also available on-line)