The high school will be closed from June 27th-August 1st.  Voice messages left on the main office phones will be checked once a week. 

While I will be away from the building for the month of July I realize there may be instances where parents, students and community members may need to contact me.  Those needing to speak with me can call either 503-318-1222 (cell) or 503-324-5680 x4901.  Those needing to speak with the Athletic Director (Jacob Pence) can call 503-324-5680 x4902.

It has been a wonderful school year, topped with the images of our graduates out on the football field on a nice evening in June at our first outdoor graduation in many years.  I wish you all the best during the summer break and will see you in August!    

It is looking as if graduation for this year will be outside.  It will take place on the football field beginning at 7 PM on Friday June 7th.  This is the first time for an outside graduation in many years.  There will be increased seating and hopefully a more comfortable climate for this event.  We will have the main bleachers for seating as well as smaller sets of bleachers set on the track in front of the main bleachers.  In addition we should have some chairs on a portion of the football field as well as a section of seating for handicapped individuals.  The Senior slide show will be shown after graduation, in the gymnasium, and it will be repeated for a full hour after graduation ends.

We are working hard to make the outdoor graduation event a special one!


Congratulations to our spring athletes!  We had a number of athletes place at the State Track Meet in Eugene led by Amy Hilger's 2nd place finish in the high jump.  The Lady Brave softball team won the 4A State Title game defeating McLoughlin High School 1-0 on Saturday June 1st.  This is their second straight State Title after winning it all last year as well.

Awards night will be Wednesday May 29th at 7 PM in the high school cafeteria.  Senior awards as well as departmental awards will be presented on this evening.

Graduation will be Friday June 7th at 7 PM.  It is scheduled to be held outside on the football field but a final decision on holding it outside will be made on Tuesday June 4th.  Inclement weather will result in it being held inside in the gymnasium as in years past.

Softball will be playing North Marion in the first round of the State playoffs.  The game is scheduled for Wednesday May 22nd at 5 PM.  Inclement weather may result in the need to reschedule this game to Thursday, one day later.

We will be sending 12 track athletes to compete at the State track meet at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.  Competition begins on Friday May 24th and concludes on Saturday May 25th.

The junior/senior prom was held this past weekend.  It was a beautiful evening, warm with a slight breeze.  Students were able to walk the grounds and had access to the Victorian Mansion as well, throughout the evening.  It was nice to see our students dressed up and enjoying the summer-like evening!

We are completing the scheduling process and will be looking at student and class schedules.  For next years seniors who have not passed the state math test, a requirement for graduation next year, enrollment in a math class will be required.  Also, our new AP Human Geography class is very popular.  We may have to limit enrollment for next year to seniors only.  Juniors who would like the class would be enrolled in their senior year. 

We have revised our fee schedule for next year.  Many of the class fees will no longer be required.  Only a few upper level elective classes will continue to have fees charged.  Our sports fees have changed as well.  We will no longer have a "free" third sport.  In addition each student wanting to play a Tier I sport will be charged a maximum of $125 and a minimum of $50 (based on free or reduced lunch eligibility). 

We had a very nice evening for the Fine Arts Fair last Wednesday night.  There were many student art displays and there was music from the band, drumline and choir.  Our students did a great job showcasing their work.

Our sports teams continue to do well with softball, baseball and track finishing up league seasons this week. 

The junior/senior prom is just over a week away.  It will be held at the David Cole Quenn Ann Victorian Mansion which is located in northwest Portland.  The event will begin at 8 PM and end at 11 PM.  This is an exciting and fun evening for all students participating.  If your student will be attending this event, please speak with them to encourage safe and responsible behaviors over the course of the evening. 

It is good to see so much student interest in many of the new courses for next year.  We have a high number of requests for Film Studies, Honors Physical Science and AP Human Geography.  I am very encouraged by all of the students wanting to take advantage of new and challenging courses for next year. Scheduling is on track and going well. 

Softball, baseball and track are all enjoying some wonderful weather and success!  The baseball team is currently tied for first place, softball is the lone leader of the league and the track team has had some outstanding results. 

Student schedules are due this Tuesday in grades 8-11.  Schedules should be handed in to Language Arts teachers.  Once we receive the schedule requests from students we begin the process of entering requests into our scheduling system.  Once that is done we then balance class sizes, and make decisions about whether we need to make any class changes.  It is critical that we get all student schedule requests on Tuesday. In the end if students have not submitted a schedule, one will be made for them.  Please encourage your student to choose classes carefully because we will keep schedule changes to a minimum.  Student schedules will be mailed home with registration materials in early August.

We will be holding senior class meetings every two-weeks until graduation on June 7th.  At our meeting last Thursday we handed out a senior schedule of events.  The most important message to the students last week was that they must meet all of the requirements for graduation in order to participate in the graduation event.  We will meet with any student who is in jeopardy of not meeting requirements during the May1st-10th time period.  At that meeting we will review grades, credits, test scores etc. and notify the student and parents if graduation requirements have not been met.

Spring sports are in full swing.  Home baseball, softball and track this week.  Hoping for good weather!



 

The high school hosted an accreditation visit on March 12th.  We had ten people in the building who were associated with AdvanceEd, the accrediting agency that has oversight for accrediting schools in most of the states in the US and many schools around the world.  The visit was the culmination of all of our preparation in providing information about every facet of the high school.  Of course the goal and the expectation is that the high school retains it status as a fully accredited Oregon school.  Many parents completed the fall online survey as a way of providing feedback about the school and it's programs.  The visit went well and we are expecting a full report from the agency in the next month.  We will share the outcome of the report in the next couple of months.  Thank you to those of you who contributed to this important process.

Students in grades 8-11 will begin the scheduling process for next school year on April 9th.  Students will have a week to get their schedules submitted and we will provide reminders to those who fail to meet that deadline.  In the end, if a schedule is not submitted by the due date we will contact the student during the school day and meet with them to have them complete a schedule.  If we can not meet with them, we will complete a schedule for them.  It is imperative that we have all students scheduled into classes by May 1st.  We are then able to adjust class sizes and look at creating or deleting sections to maximize our resources before students and staff leave for summer break.

Spring sports continue thru May and we hope for a warm and dry spring.