Principal’s Message
February 8, 2019
Souper Bowl of Caring:
Thank you to everyone who participated in Souper Bowl of Caring. We raised over $4700 in addition to over 800 items of food. We participate in the food drive every year, and it’s something we like to focus on because we never want to lose sight of the fact that there are many families in need within Granite School District. We appreciate Granite Education Foundation and the work they do with The Utah Food Bank to keep the multiple food pantries within schools in Granite stocked. We appreciate the work of our PTSA, specifically Amber DeBirk for spearheading the drive and organizing parent volunteers, in shifting the focus of this year’s drive to raising money. Raising money is a powerful tool for the Food Bank as they are able to turn each dollar donated into seven dollars-worth of buying power, so the $4700 we raised will go a long way in purchasing food and supplies for our district food pantries.
Student Drop-off:
We are having many parents using the east parking lot as a drop-off zone. This is not a drop-off area. Please use the west parking lot loop for drop off as that area has been designed and designated for that purpose.
Mid-term and Parent-Teacher Conferences:
Today is 3rd quarter mid-term already. Teachers should have grades updated by tonight, so by tomorrow you can access Parent Portal and see your student’s grades. Parent-Teacher Conferences are Monday and Tuesday from 4pm-7pm in the gym. For those of you who attended conferences in the fall, you probably remember that there were long lines for some of the teachers. Generally speaking, the core teachers (English, math, science) have the longest lines, and, more specifically, the sixth grade core teachers tend to have the longest lines. I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that your meeting time with a teacher at Parent-Teacher Conferences should be limited to three minutes. I will be reminding teachers of this prior to conferences as well.
Three minute meetings will help keep the lines moving so all parents can have an opportunity to speak with the teacher. Please be aware that if, at the end of your three minutes, you still have questions or would like additional information from the teacher, you can call the teacher, email the teacher, or set-up another meeting time where you can take the time you need to address your questions. We have great teachers who are anxious to discuss your student’s progress in their classes with you, but we also know that in some cases, three minutes is not enough time to accomplish those conversations.
Open Enrollment:
The Early Open Enrollment window is open until February 19, 2019. 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
New Event: Game Day!
All students are welcome to join your friends for snacks, games, and fun on Wednesday, Feb. 20, after school in the cafeteria. You can bring a non-electronic game to share (cards, dice, boards, etc.), or join a game brought by the PTSA. Parent volunteers can help with snacks and games by contacting Melanie at mtsoelberg@aol.com. See you at Game Day!
We are excited to see kids come play games and participate in this new PTSA activity. I see kids playing games at lunch, so I hope to see them come play after school on the 20th.
Sports Update:
Both of our volleyball teams have made it to the Championship Game! The girls will play at West Lake STEM next Wednesday and the boys will play Matheson Jr. at home. It is great that both teams have reached the finals, but we also know it is difficult to support both teams as they will be playing at different schools at the same time. I have asked the SBOs to help drum up excitement for the games and help make posters to support our teams. Good luck to both teams as they try to finish of undefeated seasons.
Musical:
The musical is almost here! This year, the students will be performing High School Musical. They have been working hard for the past couple of months to get the show ready. There will be a school assembly preview and an elementary performance on March 4. The musical will then be March 6, 7, 8th at 7pm. This year is additionally exciting as Churchill and Wasatch are doing a coordinated effort for the musical. Churchill we be performing our show, and the following week, Wasatch will perform High School Musical 2. I have even heard some rumblings that the two school’s performers will be doing some combined work during the two shows. Our drama department always puts on a great show, and I am looking forward to seeing this year’s performance. I hope to see many of you there.
Class Fees:
Please check your student’s account to make sure there are no outstanding class fees owed.
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 have added a bell that rings 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.
Attendance Issues:
Many people are 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:
Feb. 8 3rd Quarter Mid-term
Feb. 11, 12 Parent Teacher Conferences, 4-7pm
Feb. 12 Community Council, 1:30pm
Feb. 13 Volleyball Championship Games, 3pm
Feb. 15 No School
Feb. 18 No School, Presidents’ Day
Feb. 19 Collin Kartchner Assembly, 1:45pm
Feb. 20 Wrestling @ Evergreen
Feb. 20 Game Day, 2:45pm
Feb. 27 Wrestling @ Churchill
Mar. 2 Wrestling @ Hunter High
Mar. 4 Musical Assembly (school and Elementary)
Mar. 5 PTSA Meeting, 11:30am
Mar. 6 Wrestling @ West Lake
Mar. 6, 7, 8 Musical, 7pm (High School Musical)
Mar. 9 Wrestling Divisional @ Olympus High
Sincerely,
Josh LeRoy
Principal
