Graduation Date
New Cyprus Building Video Tour
Parent Teacher Conferences – February 6-7 (4 to 7 pm)
- Tuesday – Virtual (click the teachers’ zoom links)
- Wednesday – In person (Come to Cyprus Main to meet with teachers. Teachers from Brockbank will be located in the Cafeteria and teachers at main will be in the gym.)
Principal’s Message – Notes from the Quarterdeck
March 4, 2024
Reading Push and HMH:
Reading is a foundational skill students will need regardless of what post-high school path they choose. All students will have to be able to read email, instructions, employee manuals, and other work-related materials, so we are beginning a push to make sure our students are reading more. As with any skill, the best way to get better at reading is to read. Our entire Cyprus Network has decided to use the lead-in to our annual Cyprus Unites event as a focus to push for kids to read more. We have partnered with Raising Caine’s to incentivize students to read every day.
We want students to read for 15 minutes a day. English teachers should be giving students a reading log in the next day or two so students can track their reading. We’re being flexible on what they read because we recognize that our kids have different needs and goals in their reading. Our main push at the high school level is 15 minutes a day. That can be a magazine, a book, on-line articles/newspapers, or anything that fits within what they already need to get done within a day. The main thing is the dedicated 15 minutes. Obviously, it would be great if students were using their 15 minutes to read for enjoyment to build a life-long habit, but this is our starting point.
We have asked all employees to hang signs showing the kids what they’re currently reading. This can serve as a conversation starter between teachers and students about books. Some teachers have taken the extra step of keeping a running list of books they’ve read since we started this process. We also have an awesome library at the school where students can check books out. We have also asked teachers to write book recommendations that can be posted next to the book in the library so students can get a bit more information about a book they might be interested in. Mr. Walden in the library is also a good resource in helping find topics of interest.
Students who read 15 minutes a day and track that between now and April 17 (the day of Cyprus Unites) can turn their reading log in at Cyprus Unites and receive a free food certificate for Raising Caine’s.
English teachers will also begin administering the final HMH Reading Inventory assessment for the year this week. This assessment is for 9-11th graders and select 12th graders. It will be taken in your student’s English class. Students complete this assessment three times during the year,
and the data should show their improvement in reading over the course of the school year. They take the assessment in September, December, and March. The assessment should be reflective of a student’s grade level reading ability (are they at or above grade level or below, and, if below, how much below). Last year, Cyprus had 34% of our students on or above grade level on the end of year HMH administration. We are aiming to raise that to 40% this year.
Next year, we will be introducing reading support classes to work with our students who are struggling to be on grade level in reading. We will use HMH data to help determine which students should be placed in those classes, so as you talk to your student this week, please encourage them to try their best on this final administration of the assessment so we have accurate data of our students’ abilities and not just data that is reflective of their effort level.
Multicultural Week:
This week is Multicultural Week at school. We are taking this week to recognize the many cultural backgrounds of our awesome students.
Monday (today): Heritage Flag Colors- wear clothing colors that match the colors of your heritage flag.
Tuesday: Loteria/Vaquero dress. LIA will be selling chicharrones at lunch for $4.00.
Wednesday: Black Heritage Day. 12th graders wear black, 11th graders red, 10th graders green, and 9th graders yellow.
Thursday: Tropical day. Wear bright colors, a lei (real or plastic), island themed shirts.
Friday: Flag or jersey day.
There will be lunchtime activities each day, so make sure to remind your student to swing through the cafeteria area to see what’s up. The assembly will be on Thursday at 10am.
End of Quarter:
The end of the quarter is quickly approaching. Please check your parent portal and your student’s grades and talk to them to find out what they need to do and can do before the end of the quarter to bring their grades up. Third quarter ends March 15th, and teachers will have established cut-off dates for any late or missing work or assessment retakes, so please incorporate that into your discussion with your student. Teachers have been advertising their cutoff dates, so there should be no surprises there.
Any student playing a sport this spring will have to remain eligible for participation based on 3rd quarter grades, so they should be checking and working to make sure they remain eligible for the rest of their season.
ACT Test:
All juniors in Utah are given the opportunity to take the ACT for free at their high school. This year, the ACT will be taken on Tuesday, March 26. This will be a no school day for 9th, 10th, and
12th graders. Eleventh graders will come to school that day to take the ACT and then will be released once the test administration is over. Students will need to come to school on time that day as we won’t be able to admit students to classes once the test begins.
We will be sending out a separate letter to juniors and their families outlining more details about the ACT test, but for now, please mark it on your calendar and plan on having your 11th grader attend that day.
Utah provides access to Shmoop for students. They can access the ACT prep materials on Shmoop and take practice ACT quizzes that have questions similar to what they’ll see on the ACT. Below you can find the link your student will need to gain access to Shmoop. Students will need to use their school gmail account to gain access.
CTE Pathway Completer Application:
If your senior has been working through classes on one of the CTE Pathways, it’s time for them to apply for completer status. Students need to see Mr. Garcia in the Career Center to get the application. CTE Pathway completers will wear their pathway’s cords at graduation.
Winter Sports Recognitions:
Huge congrats go out to our wrestling teams. Skylar Armenta was State Champion in the 5A Heavyweight Division. On the women’s side, Emily Scherzinger took 6th place in her division, Casandra Pastrana took 3rd, and Caroline Pastrana took 2nd place.
Our Debate Team is region champion for the first time since 1969. The team won region in a dominating fashion. Cyprus scored 132 points compared to second place Granger’s 73.
Congrats also go out to our girls’ basketball team who were Region IV champions this year. They were able to wrap up the championship on our home court and then cut down the nets.
The swim teams both took second place at region and sent a number of swimmers to the state competition. At state, Colton Reddon took 2nd place in the Unified 50 Free race.
Our cheer squad qualified for and participated in the state cheer competition. They did a great job representing our school. We appreciate that they’re able to support our other teams while preparing themselves for their own competitions.
Cyprus hosted a Special Olympics basketball tournament with eight schools from the Salt Lake valley participating. We had multiple Cyprus teams participating, and both of our teams qualified for state. The state tournament is this Friday at the University of Utah, and we know our teams will do a great job.
Dress Code Reminders:
Students are not allowed to wear clothing or accessories that depict drug use, drugs, drug paraphernalia, or that advertise companies associated with marijuana (for example, Cookies
branded items). Students also cannot wear any items that depict or advertise alcohol. Finally, clothing or accessories that depict weapons and violence are also against the dress code. Students wearing clothing items or accessories that fall into these categories will be referred to the office.
Graduation:
I want to make sure I address this directly so everyone knows that our graduation date and time has been announced, and we will be at a new venue this year. Cyprus’ graduation will be held at the Maverik Center this year, and our ceremony will be May 23 at 1pm.
GSD Futures Website:
I have been asked to make sure I am advertising and sharing the district’s website that provides updates and photos of the progress being made on our new high school. The website address is http://gsdfuture/org/, and it’s updated monthly.
Truancy:
We are having major issues with tardiness. We have many students who are not feeling any urgency to get to class when the bell rings. We provide eight minutes between classes for students to get where they’re going to account for our spread-out campus and students needing to get between Cyprus Main and Brockbank; however, students are taking much longer to get where they’re supposed to be. We will begin issuing truancy tickets to students who are more than 10 minutes late to class and making little to no effort to get to class. Truancy tickets are $3 and increase to $5 if not paid within a week.
Please talk to your student about the importance of being in class on time. Much of the instruction that takes place in classes happens in the first 30-40 minutes of class time, so that is the most important time to have kids in class so they can know what’s going on.
Yearbooks:
We sell our yearbooks directly through the publisher. That means that Cyprus High School doesn’t take payments for yearbooks. If you would like a yearbook for your student, you can order one at https://yearbookordercenter.com. The Cyprus code is 7323. The site is up and ready to accept payments. The yearbook will be $45.00 this year. The deadline to preorder a yearbook is April 20.
Yearbook would also like you to know that you can purchase Senior Ads to be published in the yearbook. You can go to www.yearbookordercenter.com, and use the code 7323 where you’ll look for the “Share Your Love” section. Click “Start Your Ad” and you can design the ad and upload pictures for the ad. Ad costs are as follows:
Half-page $140
Quarter-page $75
Eighth-page $40
Fees:
The bookkeepers have sent out fee letters, so you should be aware of your student’s account balance. If you haven’t seen the letter, please log in and check your student account balance. Second semester fees have been added to accounts. From this point, the only fees that should get added to accounts will be participation fees for different sports and activities your student decides to participate in.
Upcoming Events:
Our up to date calendar is available on our website: schools.graniteschools.org/cyprushigh/
March 4-8 Multicultural Week March 5 B Volleyball @ Tooele March 5 B Soccer @ Riverton March 5 Cheer Season Review (6pm, Main Gym) March 7 Region Jazz Band Festival @ Taylorsville March 7 B Volleyball vs. Stansbury March 8 B Soccer @ Mt. View March 8-9 Baseball @ St. George for a tournament March 8-9 Softball @ St. George for a tournament March 12 B Volleyball vs. Copper Hills March 12 B Soccer vs. Cottonwood March 13 Track @ Taylorsville March 13 Cyprus Family Center activity (6pm, Cyprus Main Commons) March 14 End of 3rd Quarter March 14 B Volleyball vs. Taylorsville March 14 Softball vs. Davis March 14 B Soccer vs. Tooele March 14 Solo/Ensemble Festival March 15 No School for Students March 15, 16 Track @ Mt. View March 15 Baseball vs. Mt. Ridge March 15 Softball @ Cedar Valley March 16 Dance Co. @ Utah High School Dance Festival (BYU) March 18 B Volleyball @ Kearns March 19 B Soccer vs Taylorsville March 19 Baseball @ Riverton March 19 Softball vs. Hunter March 20 Baseball @ Skyline March 20 Track vs. Granger March 20-22 Spinnaker Tryouts
Sincerely,
Josh LeRoy, Principal
Andy Carbaugh, Assistant Principal
Amy Fishler, Assistant Principal
Kayla MacKay, Assistant Principal
Josh Moore, Assistant Principal
Cyprus High School Mission & Vision Statement
Pursue & Achieve Excellence
Cyprus High School is a community-centered high school focusing on pursuing and achieving excellence. We provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery while maintaining fidelity to the core. We will create a foundation of excellence through effective use of professional learning communities and the support of all stakeholders-including school faculty, staff, families, and students. All students will pursue and achieve excellence by attaining academic proficiency throughout their high school career which will support life-long learning.
School Information App
We're excited to announce the new Granite Schools Mobile App! This replaces the Cyprus School Info app we've used in the past. Search "Granite Schools" in your app store and download.
Login to the app is not required, however, you will be able to get more information on your student when you are logged in. Simply use your parent portal login credentials.
Contact Information
School PrincipalJosh LeRoy
Main Office Phone(385) 646-5300
Main Office Fax(385) 646-5303
Main Office Hours
Monday - Friday
7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Summer Office Hours
8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
School Registration Help
August 1 - August 4
8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. each day
Extended hours August 2, 8:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Fee waivers must be done ONLINE using the portal. Administration will review uploaded documents and fee waiver applications and provide a response via email.
Open Enrollment Application
The open enrollment application is live and online now. Paper applications are no longer being accepted. If you need assistance with the form, see the main office.
Click here for the application: https://www.graniteschools.org/psp/open-enrollment/