Principal’s Message
October 26, 2018
Science SAGE:
The state released Science SAGE results last week, and Churchill did well. Sixth graders were 67% proficient and above, 7th grade was 57%, and 8th grade was 60%. This gives the school a 62% overall proficiency score. That is up from 49% the year before. So, once again, we made great strides by increasing 13% overall in science. Churchill finished second in Granite District in Science SAGE. Joined with our number one finish in English, math, and RI from last year, we are very excited about the progress we are making. We are also hard at work this year to continue to improve.
Performing Arts Concerts:
I want to recognize the Performing Arts Department and all the students who put on great shows this week. The department tried something different this year and the separate groups all worked together to create an interwoven concert experience that included music, dance, drama, and art. The results were outstanding. Thank you also to everyone who came and supported the concerts. We had a very full auditorium for the students to perform in front of, and that makes it a better experience for the kids as well.
Spirit Week:
Next week is Spirit Week. The SBOs have planned out all the days for dressing up, but this is the reminder that everything needs to remain appropriate to the dress code. The days are lined-up as follows:
Monday Formal Wear (Dance after school from 3-4pm)
Tuesday Crazy hair and socks (Yes, this is also picture retake day)
Wednesday Halloween costumes (same rules as Halloween Hustle)
Thursday Blue-out
Friday Pajama day
Open Enrollment:
With November right around the corner, it is the time of year to advertise and make sure everyone is aware of Open Enrollment. Open Enrollment is the state law that allows families to choose which school they would like to attend. The following is the official letter from Granite School District regarding Open Enrollment:
Dear Parent/Guardian,
Granite School District provides school choice enrollment in all schools where space is available. Parents are responsible for transportation when exercising school choice. This letter explains Granite School District’s Open Enrollment Guidelines; Open Enrollment is necessary for students to attend a school other than their home boundary school.
There are two open enrollment periods: Early Open Enrollment and Late Open Enrollment. The Early Open Enrollment period is the recommended time to enroll for the next school year. Late Open Enrollment period is for the current year and may be applied for at any time. Early open enrollment period for the 2019/2020 school year begins on Monday, December 3, 2018 and ends on Tuesday, February 19, 2019. Open Enrollment Applications are available at all schools, and are processed in the order received. Students residing within Granite School District boundaries are given priority. Enrollment depends on space available in the requested grade, class, or program. Open Enrollment requests do not require a release from the student’s home school or district.
A one-time, non-refundable $5.00 processing fee, payable to the requested school, may be charged at the time the application is submitted. This fee can be waived for qualified applicants.
If your student is accepted for Open Enrollment, annual reapplication is not required—as long as the student remains in the same school, and space is available. When a student transitions from elementary school to junior high, or from junior high to high school, there is no automatic feeder system for Open Enrollment; therefore, reapplication is necessary to attend a school outside of the student’s home boundary school.
For more detailed information, refer to the back of the Open Enrollment Application or Granite School District’s website: www.graniteschools.org; select Departments>Prevention and Student Placement>Open Enrollment Guidelines.
The Early Open Enrollment period is an important time, and I recommend that everyone submit their paperwork during this window. The window is important because the school uses the applications we receive during this time to submit a preliminary enrollment number to the district so that we can get preliminary FTE allocated to us. The FTE is what we use to determine the number of teachers we have in the building and the programs we can offer. It is much easier for our school to accept Open Enrollment Applications if they are received during the Early Application Window as opposed to those received after the February 20 deadline. This year we did get to the point where we denied Late Open Enrollment Applications and placed students on a waiting list due to our core classes reaching capacity. I know that has not generally been the case at Churchill and people have not felt a sense of urgency to get their application turned in during the Early Window, but it is important to change that perspective and get it in.
I would also like to remind everyone that you do not need to fill out an Open Enrollment Application each year, but you DO need to fill one out if you are changing schools. So, for any of our eighth graders who are at Churchill via Open Enrollment, they will need to fill out a form if they would like to attend Skyline next year. Out-of-boundary fifth graders at any of our elementary schools will need to fill one out to attend Churchill.
As always, if you or anyone you know would like to check out Churchill, you can call the main office and speak to Mr. Peterson or me about setting up a time for them to take a tour of the school. If you have friends who live out of the boundaries who would like to see the school they can do the same. We have already begun doing tours and have done around eight in the past month. The phone number for the main office is 385-646-5144. Our email addresses are jeleroy@graniteschools.org and wcpeterson@graniteschools.org
After School:
We are having some problems with students staying and hanging out in the building after school gets out. Please make sure your students head home when school releases. We will be doing announcements at 3pm Monday-Thursday and 12:45pm on Fridays to remind students to leave. Once those times come and go, the only students who should be in the building are those under the direct supervision of an adult, meaning they are in Homework Club, another club meeting, are at practice/intramurals, or are at rehearsal.
Reality Town Volunteers:
The annual Reality Town is scheduled for November 7 this year. This event is for 8th graders and allows them to choose a profession and earn a salary. They then take the salary and have to purchase the goods of life from different stations. Some items are required “bills” that adults have, and some categories are extras that they may want (i.e. a pet). Reality Town is an activity to help students begin to understand costs of living. The purpose is to help students see the importance of education and training in helping them get a job that will allow them to have the lifestyle they envision for themselves.
What allows this activity to run so smoothly is volunteers. The PTSA helps recruit volunteers for the school for Reality Town. For the activity to run as smoothly as possible we need many volunteers. The volunteers man the stations that students visit during the activity. Each station needs at least two volunteers, and most run best with three or four volunteers. This means that we need between 60-80 volunteers. I would also like to add that we would love to have volunteers regardless of what grade your student is in. Reality Town is an 8th grade activity, but we rely on the whole community of our parents to make it work. An advantage of volunteering earlier than your student’s 8th grade year is that you can participate in the event more than one time, and you’ll be an expert by the time your own child is in 8th grade.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Cris at ccbrimley@graniteschools.org and she will pass your information on to the Reality Town coordinator.
Clubs:
Information about all the clubs was distributed earlier this month. That information has been posted to the school’s website under the “Clubs” tab. If you have questions about a specific club, please feel free to email the teacher advisor responsible for the club. I have also put the club information that I know on the school calendar at the website. Most of the clubs are now up and going, so if your student is interested in being involved, encourage them to get involved earlier rather than later.
We also run what we call Homework Club. This is essential after school help teachers offer for students. The schedule for Homework Club has been posted to the website and to Facebook, and we have paper copies available in the main office. I suggest printing the schedule off and keeping if available for reference. Homework Club is staffed by the teachers and it identifies times the teachers are available after school to work with and help students with questions and work. Your student does NOT have to go to their specific teacher for help. For example, if they are struggling with math, they can go to any of the math teachers for help. I encourage everyone to take advantage of Homework Club.
PTSA/Movie Night:
The PTSA has been working hard on activities for the school, and I’d like to make sure they know how much we appreciate their efforts. This week we had the Halloween Hustle and Amiee Larkin was the lead organizer on that. We had many parents show up to serve as markers on the course and help supervise students. We had other parents serving water and popsicles at the school as kids finished. And if that weren’t enough, we did 7th grade vision screenings that same day in the morning and we had parents show up to help the school nurses with that as well. Allison Armstrong has been doing a great job as PTSA President in recruiting volunteers to help and in being her many times herself and jumping in to make sure activities get organized and completed.
In addition to Reality Town on November 7 (information under a different subheading of this newsletter), the PTSA is having Movie Night on November 9 at 6pm. The students were presented with a few options for the movie this year and then they were able to vote on the movie they’d like to see. The winner was The Nightmare Before Christmas. We’d like to have a good crowd come join us for the movie, so mark it on your calendars!
Sports:
Congrats again to the Girls’ Cross Country and Soccer teams for winning district championships this year! In looking at the cross country results, I saw that our girls’ JV team also took first place at the championships, so congrats to them as well.
Basketball intramurals will be getting started on November 5 for boys and girls. We don’t have the schedule yet, but we will post it as soon as we do. We encourage everyone to come play during the intramural portion (first couple of weeks) and enjoy playing, learning, and getting better at basketball.
Attendance Issues:
We have a lot of people calling the main office to handle attendance issues. Please call the Counseling Center for attendance issues. Their phone number is 385-646-5145. Calling the main office will only mean it will take longer for you to take care of the attendance as they will have to put you on hold and then transfer you back to the Counseling Center.
Important Dates:
Oct. 29-Nov. 2 Spirit Week
Oct. 29 2nd Quarter Begins
Oct. 29 Fall Dance (3-4pm)
Oct. 30 Picture Make-up Day
Oct. 30 MESA Club begins
Nov. 5 Basketball starts (Girls and Boys)
Nov. 6 PTSA Meeting, 11am
Nov. 7 Reality Town
Nov. 7-8 Musical Auditions
Nov. 9 Movie Night, 6pm
Nov. 12 Know Before You Go Avalanche Assembly, 9:20-10:20am
Nov. 13 Community Council, 1:30pm
Nov. 14 7th grade Hearing Screenings
Nov. 21-23 Thanksgiving Recess
Nov. 26 Basketball team selection
Sincerely,
Josh LeRoy
Principal