The start of the 2016-17 school year is here. The first day of school is Tuesday August 30th. All incoming 9th graders and any 10th, 11th or 12th graders new to the school should be present on Tuesday. We will have an orientation day where students will learn about the school routines, get to know the staff and will also be able to go to all eight classes for a shortened period. Lunch is provided on this day as well. All returning students start school on Wednesday morning. There is no late start this week so classes begin at 8:25 AM on Wednesday. On another note, I wanted to share that this will be my last year at the high school. I will leave the high school at the end of June 2017. I am retiring and although I don't have any set plans at this time, I look forward to travel and more bike riding as at least a couple of things to keep me busy. I am very pleased to announce that Jacob Pence will be the principal at the high school beginning with the 2017-18 school year. Jacob will do an outstanding job in this new role. Jacob and I will work closely this coming school year on making a smooth transition for my departure and his move to the principalship. To that end, I will be handling student management for 9th and 10th graders and Jacob will handle 11th and 12th graders. Jacob will also be much more involved in graduation planning and the counseling of seniors as they move towards graduating. I anticipate some other changes as well and will keep you posted. We expect to post and hire for Jacob's replacement in the spring. As I have always said, the students, parents and community of Banks are wonderful. The students commitment to their studies and the parent and community support results in a high graduation rate with students prepared to move on to the next step in their lives. Thanks for great kids and all that you do to support their success! Welcome to the 2016-17 school year.

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.

We are beginning to look towards the end of the year, and graduation. For our seniors that means making sure that all of the requirements for graduating and receiving a diploma are complete. Passing the essential skills requirement in reading, writing and math means either passing the state tests in these areas or successfully completing work samples. The other major requirement is having 24 credits and meeting the requirements there as well i.e. 4 credits of language arts, 3 math, 3 science etc. It's a great time to review transcripts which should be coming home with semester grades this week. For the remainder of our students it will be time to select courses for next year soon. We will be forecasting for next years classes, in March and April. Those seeking the Honors Diploma will need to pay close attention to the requirements and their course selections. It's a very busy time of year from now until the end of the year, but it's also an exciting time with the fun of graduation just around the corner.

We are starting the second semester on Tuesday January 26th. For seniors, the count down towards graduation begins. We will work with all seniors to help them complete all of the many requirements that are required by both the State and the District. the biggest deterrent to being able to graduate has always been attendance at school. Seniors who do not attend regularly, for any reason, put themselves at risk of not graduating. Please make sure that your senior student has regular attendance.

The end of the first semester is Friday January 22nd. There is no school on Monday January 25th. That is a grade day for teachers. The new semester starts on Tuesday January 26th. Students received their second semester schedules last week on Wednesday and Thursday. If they did not pick it up, they can come to the office this week and get their copy. The Winter Formal dance is Saturday January 23rd at 7 PM. It will be at the World Forestry Center which is up next to the Portland Zoo. The dance ends at 10 PM.