Souderton Area High School August 2019 Newsletter SAHS PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Inside this issue: 5th Block 4 Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s), Activity Fee 7 Athletic Department 7 Happy summer, still! I know that this message and newsletter always Back to School Night 3 arrives too soon for most of you. While I love the energy that our stu- Bus Passes 9 dents and teachers bring when they return for the next school year, I Calendar 2 do enjoy summer. Canine Searches 12 Cultural Awareness 8 Last year was amazing in many ways. Winning State Championships in Dress code 12 two 6A sports, girls soccer and baseball, is unthinkable. Our coaches, Finals Permission Form 9 student-athletes, athletic program, and Athletic Director, Dennis Stan- Food Service Prices 4 Freshman Orientation 3 ton, deserve loads of credit for cultivating an environment where Graduation 2020 8 those involved have positive and growth-oriented experiences, while Guidance Counselors 6 also winning! It is no coincidence that the winning is a result of a posi- Hands Across the District 11 tive culture. Homecoming 3 Home Access Center 5 My most challenging responsibility is to help guard against compla- Hot Spot 6 cency. Fortunately, we have amazing staff members and an incredible Keystone Exams 9 student body and community at Souderton who are precipitously col- Laptops 6 laboratively competing to generate the next innovative idea. A great Marking Periods Dates 2 Military Opt Out 11 example of this collaborative competition has been the development Naviance 8 in recent years of both Women’s and Men’s Leadership Symposiums, Non-Discrimination Statements 13 with the females spawning the idea first, and the guys saying, “What Pathway 360° 4 about us?” Parent Participation 11 Picture Day 3 I am looking forward to another great year at SAHS! Physical Education Lockers 7 PSAT 9 Sincerely, SAHS Goals 10 SASD NEXT 10 Scholar’s Banquet 8 Sam Varano Senor Privilege 2 Principal Student Handbook 2 Summer Reading 5 625 Lower Road, Souderton, PA 18964 http://sahs.soudertonsd.org Senior Privilege (1st School Day) CALENDAR On the first day of school (August 27th), all students AUGUST with senior privilege must report to 5th Block for the AUG 23: Freshman Orientation- 7:40AM start of the school day. All senior privilege students AUG 23: Freshman Tailgate - 5:00PM will meet with Dr. Coddington at 8:30 AM in the Auxil- AUG 27: First Day of School AUG 28: College Admission Presentation - 5:30PM iary Gym. Period 4 senior privilege students will be AUG 28: Post-Secondary Options Panel- 6:00PM permitted to leave school after Period 3. AUG 28: Back to School Night - 6:30PM AUG 29: Welcome Back Dance - 7:00PM AUG 30: NO SCHOOL - Labor Day Holiday SEPTEMBER SEPT 1: NO SCHOOL - Labor Day Holiday SEPT 11: Picture Day SEPT 12: College Fair - 7:40AM SEPT 18: College Financial Aid Night - 6:00PM SEPT 26: Parent Participation Meeting - 9:30AM SEPT 27: Homecoming Wing Bowl SEPT 27: Homecoming Football Game - 7:00PM Student Handbook SEPT 28: Homecoming Dance - 7:00PM The Student Handbook is available on-line only. You SEPT 28-29: SAT Bootcamp - 9:00AM may access the Student Handbook through the web- SEPT 30: NO SCHOOL - Rosh Hashanah site. Students and parents are responsible for being OCTOBER aware of the content. The handbook can be found OCT 2: College Admissions Presentation - 6:00PM at: OCT 5: SAT - 7:00AM http://sahs.soudertonsd.org/students/handbook OCT 9: NO SCHOOL - Yom Kippur OCT 16: PSAT - 7:40AM OCT 16: FAFSA Completion Night - 5:30PM OCT 22: Picture Retake Day 2019-2020 End of Marking OCT 23: NO SCHOOL - Act 80 Day Period Dates OCT 24: Parent Participation Meeting - 9:30AM OCT 25: FAFSA Completion Night - 5:30PM Parents/Guardians can continuously monitor stu- OCT 26: ACT - 8:00AM dent progress on Home Access Center (HAC) NOVEMBER End of Report Cards NOV 4: End of Marking Period 1 Marking Period Available on HAC NOV 5: NO SCHOOL-Election Day NOV 7,8,9: Fall Play - 7:00PM MP1 11/4/19 11/13/19 NOV 13: Report Cards Available on HAC MP2 1/27/20 2/5/20 NOV 20: Parent Participation Meeting - 9:30AM MP3 4/2/20 4/13/20 MP4 6/10/20 6/17/20 2 Back to School The First Semester Back to School Night is scheduled for Freshman Orientation Wednesday, August 28th, from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Parents We are excited to welcome the freshmen to Souderton Area High will follow their student’s First School! All freshmen should come to the high school on Friday, Au- Semester Schedule only. gust 23rd, for orientation. Please plan to arrive early The day will begin at 7:40 AM and end at 12:00 PM. The regular bus (pulling into the school by 5:45 run will pick students up at their designated bus stop and drop them PM is recommended), and use off there at the end of the day. both the Lower Road and This will be a half-day of fun and an opportunity for freshmen to get Halteman Road Entrances. We to know the school and their classmates. This day is a student day! will begin promptly at 6:30 We hope to see all of our freshmen at orientation, for which the Link PM. We look forward to seeing Crew has been working diligently to prepare. you there! Please bring a copy of your student’s schedule. Homecoming 2019 SAHS Homecoming begins with Spirit Week, September Picture Day! 23rd—27th,with daily themes to be announced. The week Pictures will be taken of all freshmen, sophomores and juniors on ends with a Pep Rally, Wing Bowl, and Homecoming foot- Tuesday, September 11th. An order form is part of the first day ball game against Central packet for students. Full-time North Montco students should report Bucks East at 7:00 PM. to the Auditorium upon arrival to Be sure not to miss the Home- school on September 11th, as we will coming Dance on Saturday, take their photos prior to them leav- September 28th, 7:00 PM— ing for North Montco. 10:00 PM at the high school. Tickets will be on sale during Spirit Week. 3 What is 5th Block? Food Services Prices th 5 Block, which is scheduled Tuesday and Breakfast (All Schools) $1.65 Wednesday mornings, provides support and ex- High School Lunch $3.50 tension activities specific to each grade level. Milk - A La Carte $ .60 The freshmen and sophomores focus on their transitions to high school, relationship build- To get free or reduced price meal benefits for ing, and exploring their selected your children, you must complete an application career pathway through job and return it to school. Applications will be sent shadowing opportunities. The home the beginning of each school year. junior and senior 5th Block ad- Questions? dresses mentorships, college, http://www.soudertonsd.org/parents-students/food- career, and post-secondary edu- services/free-reduced-meals cation. Pathway 360° The hallmark opportunity for students in Souderton’s Pathway 360° Program is the 20-hour unpaid mentorship. The Class of 2019 did a good job of taking advantage of these opportunities, with 364 seniors completing a mentorship. Souderton’s goal is to strive for every graduating senior to complete a 20-hour unpaid mentorship sometime between the summer after sophomore year and the beginning of senior year. With the intent of catering to more students’ needs for mentor- ships, last year we established, in collaboration with Grandview Hospital, the Grandview Health Program, which provided men- torships to 20 Souderton students. Additionally, through the leadership of our police officers, Sergeant Gower and Officer Diehl, we re-established the mentorship program, Police Acade- my, of which several students took advantage. Our goal with in- house programs is to provide opportunities for students that are difficult to come by through the regular mentorship networking process. The Class of 2020 is the first class that has college and career readiness requirements, which students fulfill by simply com- pleting Souderton’s program, including the Reflections in Pathway Manager. However, our staff will be focused on ensuring that stu- dents are up to speed at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year in order to be on target to graduate. 4 Schedules and Report Cards on Home Access Center (HAC) As a means to be more efficient and fiscally responsible, while also conserving paper, we will continue our protocols of not printing and mailing schedules prior to the school year and not mailing paper cop- ies of report cards. Transcripts and students’ course histories will also be available on HAC. If parents and students are having trouble accessing HAC, such as log-in problems, please contact Kelli Nonema- cher at [email protected] or at 215-723-2808, ext. 20021. Parents/guardians who do not have internet access at home should contact the Guidance Office at (267) 203-0117, or Dawn Kester at 215-723-2808, ext. 20115 or [email protected], to request that they still receive a hard copy of report cards. Instructions: When you log into HAC there are tabs across the top that are self-explanatory (i.e., Re- port Card, Schedule, and Transcript). Simply click on that tab to see your student’s information. 2019-2020 Souderton Area High School Pre-Course Reading List Students can expect an assessment on their summer reading early in the semester. This assessment will count as not more than 15% of the First Marking Period grade.