On Tuesday March 8th all juniors will be taking the OAKS science test. This is one of the three state assessments that comprise the essential skills tests. Unlike the ELA and math tests passing the science test is not a requirement for graduation. The test provides students good feedback about their science knowledge and also provides teachers good feedback about their science teaching. For students at Banks High School who are seeking the Honors Diploma, passing the science test is a requirement. Students can take this test up to three times in a school year beginning with their 11th grade year. Students will be tested on March 8th during their first two classes of the day. They will not attend their regular morning classes on this date. This will be the first state tests of the spring. ELA and math testing will occur in April.

We are working on the curriculum guide for next year. This document will be distributed to all students during the forecasting process which will begin the week before spring break. The guide will have course descriptions, graduation requirements, Honors Diploma requirements and career and college information. We are looking at the possibility of adding some new courses next year and those will be added in the guide. One of our counsellors will meet one-on-one with your student to complete their forecasting sheet. All students requests are submitted to the computer scheduler at the ESD and schedules are produced. We expect to have student schedules to students/parents with semester grades in June.

The week ahead will be a busy one with a couple of home basketball games on Tuesday and Friday nights. Games start at 4:30 PM with varsity games at 6:00 and 7:30 PM in the high school gym. District wrestling will take place next Saturday. It will be at Scappoose High School. Wrestling starts at 9:00 AM Saturday. Looking ahead, regional wrestling will be the weekend of the 19th-20th at Crook County High School. Our winter sports teams are doing well as they head down the home stretch towards state level competition. Come attend an event and cheer on our student athletes.