The first 6-weeks have just been completed. Progress report grades will be mailed home this week. These grades are just that, progress to this point in the semester. There are still 12-weeks left in this semester. Progress report grades are indicators of how the student is doing academically in the class. The semester grade is the critical grade. The semester grade goes on the transcript and becomes a part of the students permanent record. Progress reports do not go on to transcripts. We will be handing out log in information so that students can check their grades online. Parents should have already received that information for checking their students grades. Please encourage your student to be aware of their grades and to work towards high academic achievement. Students continue to demonstrate outstanding behavior in what has become a pretty crowded school with the addition of the middle school students. Our sports teams continue to do well as the days grow shorter and cooler. Hopefully we will see you out supporting our teams.

This will be short school week for students. There is no school both Thursday and Friday (October 10th and 11th). On Thursday teachers will be completing the 6-week progress reports. Those will be mailed home the week of October 14th. Friday is the Statewide Teacher Inservice Day. This is a non-contract day for teachers and it is an opportunity for teachers to attend inservice sessions around the state, however it is not a requirement. Parents should have received a letter in the mail last week that will allow them to view their students grades, attendance and transcripts. The new student information system we are using this year is called Synergy and as in the past there is a parent viewer aspect that allows parents to view grades etc. via the internet. If you have not received the information for logging in and accessing your students account please contact the high school office. We are continuing to experience significant issues regarding our mealtime program across the district. This program is the one that tracks student lunch accounts. It is an automated system that should allow parents to deposit money into their students lunch accounts for the purpose of buying lunch at school. Our technology department is working on fixing this system and hopefully it will be working properly this week. It was a pretty exciting finish to last Friday nights football game in Seaside. An interception of a Seaside pass with 3.4 seconds left in the game was returned for a Banks touchdown. Andrew Santa Maria was the Banks player who made the catch and scored resulting in a 20-14 win for Banks. It was an amazing finish to a game of two evenly matched teams. Banks remains undefeated and highly ranked with three more league games to go.

What a great week we had last week at Banks High School! Homecoming 2013 is now in the books. We had dress-up days, class competitions at lunch, floats, a parade, a lip sync assembly, soccer, volleyball, dance team, cross country and football games and a Homecoming dance on Saturday night. The energy level in the building was high all week. The students were just fabulous throughout the busy and slightly crazy week. I have been in other high schools and districts and Homecoming activities have never gone smoother than they do here at Banks. Students, staff and parents are involved, organized and just great to work with here! Our 2013 Queen, Lauren Draves was crowned during the Homecoming game Friday night and the court included; Tori Seed, Laysia Rosa, Johanna Wren, Lauren Birr and Melissa Epifano. The win on Friday night over Scappoose was a quality win over an outstanding team and places the Braves in the hunt for a league championship. It looks like it might be the start of a wet, windy fall now. Time to settle in and hit the books...grade day is next week on Thursday with no school on Thursday or Friday (Oct. 10th and 11th, statewide inservice).

It is an exciting week at Banks High School. It's Homecoming week 2013!! It all starts on Monday with a tapping assembly at 8:30 AM in the gym. There are dress up days each day of the week, class competitions, floats, a parade and after school sporting events most evenings. It all culminates in the dance on Saturday night in the wrestling building. It should be a very busy, fun filled week at the high school. We are working hard on getting the student viewer and parent viewer sites up so that students and parents can see things like grades, attendance , class schedule and transcripts online. We will notify students and parents when that is completed and ready for viewing. We are just over two weeks away from the first 6-week progress reports on October 10th. Conferences will be later this year on November 7th and 8th. It has been a very nice start to the school year. The building is very full and students seem to have great attitudes and patience with each other as they move through the halls from class to class. It is a great group of kids that we have at the high school and I know they will be ready and involved in the events of the Homecoming week ahead.

The weather is in the process of changing. Cooler days and moisture are here for this week. It is a welcome change from the very hot days that we had last week, especially for our students and coaches participating in events that are held outside. We do have our air conditioning running now and the difference in climate is amazing. Rooms are comfortable now regardless of the temperature outside and that is wonderful. We have had two fire drills which utilized our new alarm system and it works as expected. Science students in Mr. Victor's classes are enjoying the new science classroom which is large and very well equipped for science instruction. We are working hard to get all of our students accounts for using the school computers. The changes in technology this year have been extensive and we are starting to catch up in many technology areas, but we still have work to do. A reminder that each Wednesday, for the remainder of the year, we will have late starts. Classes begin at 9:10 AM on these days.

The first week of the 2013-14 school year has just ended. It was a week where we welcomed students back to a renovated high school building. We have a new fire alarm system in place, security cameras in some hallways and a new heating and cooling system. The security cameras, while in place, are not yet up and running and this is due to a few issues related to technology. We expect them to be "on line" very soon. The air conditioning in the building is on in some rooms and off in others. We are working quickly to get all rooms cooled to a comfortable temperature for the coming school week. The high school is a very "full" building with the addition of some full time junior high classes being held in high school classrooms. Student attitudes and behaviors have been outstanding during the first week of school! Just a reminder that the late start Wednesdays will begin this week with the first late start on September 11th. The first class of the day will begin at 9:10 AM. Late starts will continue each Wednesday for the remainder of the school year. High school staff will spend the late start time in professional development, throughout the school year.

The campus at the high school/middle school is a very busy place these days. Construction of the new middle school and the remodel of the high school continues. With all of this going on it is important to be very aware when you drive on to campus. For safety sake we are asking all visitors to campus; parents, community members, students and staff to slow down when entering and while driving on campus. Thank you for your cooperation! We are expecting the high school to be "ready to open" at the start of school. It will be a full building with the addition of some junior high classes that will be held at the high school this year. Junior high students will be expected to arrive in the morning at the junior high building and to remain there until the bell to class rings. They will attend classes either at the high school or at the junior high during the day and will eat their lunch at the junior high each day. I encourage everyone to fully review the contents of the registration packet that will be mailed to homes early next week. There is a wealth of information to look at and read. Grab a cup of coffee, have a seat and spend a few minutes with it. Registration night is August 20th from 5-8 PM in the high school gymnasium. This will be for all students in grades 7-12, for this school year. I am looking forward to another great school year. Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or concerns.