Churchill families,
We are excited to welcome our incredible students to the upcoming 2022 school year. Churchill is a part of your family and is committed to helping our students succeed. This year the school has invested in extra classes, staff, and system-wide structures to ensure students are at or above grade level in their learning progress. Please read below on important items to navigate the upcoming school year.
1. Online registration:
Registration is the payment of fees and completion of required forms for all students and will start on August 2nd and will be fully online. Please follow our step-by-step instructions by going to: https://portal.graniteschools.org/LoginPolicy.jsp. Everything can be completed online including; proof of residency, immunizations, and updating contact information.
If you are new to the district and you do not have a student I.D. number, please email Cris Brimley: ccbrimley@graniteschools.org.
For help setting up your parent portal account:
When you are complete with registration you will receive your students’ schedule via email within 24 to 48 hours. When you receive this schedule and have questions understanding it please go to this link for help: https://schools.graniteschools.org/churchilljr/canvas-help-for-parents-and-students/
3. School supplies:
Students will have one on one Chromebooks this year and will only need limited school supplies (paper, writing utensils). Teachers will provide information on other school supplies needed that first week of school. .
4. New student building tours:
New students to the building will be allowed to come and tour the building on August 9th,10th, and 11th from 2:30 to 5:00 pm. These are self-guided tours where you may walk the building to see class locations. Teachers and staff will not be available at this time.
5.Granite Online Live:
All students/parents interested in the synchronous GRANITE ONLINE program will need to contact their counselor on or after July 30th for registration information and to determine if the program is a good fit. Please contact your student’s counselor via email listed below to make a brief phone appointment. These appointments will be held on August 2nd and 3rd.
Students with Last Names Beginning with A-K –Contact Marci Taylor at mtaylor3@graniteschools.org
Students with Last Names Beginning with L-Z –Contact Julie Sasouda at jsasouda@graniteschools.org
6. Student handbook including dress code revision:
Attached you will find our student handbook. This contains fundamental information about the school. The community council, with help from students and teachers, simplified the dress code this year. Please refer to that as you shop for school clothes.
7. Covid mitigation:
Please watch for our upcoming Covid-19 mitigation plan. Some of the details in this letter including our welcome back night may be subject to change as we work with safety guidelines and recommendations from the state. Churchill already decided to keep most of our mitigation strategies put in place last year. Please see below for items we know will be in effect for 2022:
Masks- Masks are welcomed for all students and patrons but not required at this time.
Lockers- lockers are not provided this year. Please provide your student with a backpack and water bottle. Leadership committees observed that not having lockers added a lot of benefits to our student’s day such as safer distancing, less traffic issues, help in organization, and less stress on the first week of school. Please let us know if your student needs help with getting a backpack.
Starting the day in the auditorium- Students will still go to the auditorium until the first bell in the morning. Students expressed having the softer start to the day was welcomed and the space allowed teachers to be better prepared to greet them as they come into the room.
Tardy bells- Churchill will continue to not have tardy bells. We learned last year that students were respectful to their learning time without having a bell to signify they were late. This allows students to decide when they need to use the bathroom and refill water bottles. The expectation is that students will go directly from one class to the other unless a bathroom break is needed. Excessive lateness or habitual lateness will be given consequences as needed.
Lunchtime- Churchill will return to 1 lunch for the entire school. However, students will still be encouraged to eat outside. This allows spacing and much-needed vitamin D time.
8. First week of school:
The first day of school students should go to the auditorium in the morning and will be released at 7:40 am to go to their first-period class. Students will have a welcome back assembly during second period where they will be educated on best practices to navigate the school year. As of now, we plan on hosting a welcome back night for parents on Wednesday the 18th from 6 to 7 pm. This is intended for new students and families. It will be an open house format for families to briefly meet with teachers. The event will also have two brief sessions (6 and 6:30 pm) giving schoolwide information from administration and counselors. However, please watch for upcoming emails in the event that Covid safety may require a change to this night.
9. School goal and vision:
Churchill’s school goal is to increase our overall RISE and literacy scores as well as developing social-emotional strength and strategies (resiliency). The school will accomplish this by a focus on building collective teacher capacity and students self-reporting grades. These are identified as the top two areas to increase student learning outcomes (https://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/). The school has also developed a committee of students and teachers at providing mental health support to students, teachers, and our families.
Students will increase their ownership of learning in the following ways:
Reviewing their own data and setting goals based on these assessments. Weekly reviewing their grades and setting a weekly goal. Students will write this goal which will be sent home in a weekly email (starting the end of the second week). Parents, please use this weekly email to enforce learning by asking questions, celebrating success, checking their writing. Students will also be given 20 minutes a week to do nothing but read to improve their literacy scores.
Again, we are excited to welcome our students and families. We are grateful to be a part of this incredible community.
Please let us know if you have questions or concerns.
Thanks
Mr. Hendricks
Principal
Churchill Junior High
385-6464-3204
