Cortland Senior High School January Newsletter
1/05/2018
Upcoming Events
  • 1/02: Welcome Back Students
  • 1/15: MLK Day, No School for Students and Staff
  • 1/22 to 1/26: NYS Regents Exams click here for schedule
  • 1/29: Staff Work Day, No School for Students
From the Principal
Testing 1-2-3 It's Test Day!

With the January Regents week and the end of the 1st semester quickly approaching, many of our students will be taking final exams, midterms, and or Regents exams. Is your teenager ready? Here are answers to questions parents often have about test taking in high school. Share this advice with your child to help him feel confident and perform well on test day.

  • Question: What does my high schooler need to keep in mind as he prepares for tests?
  • Answer: The first order of business is to know what will be on a quiz or an exam. Your teenager should pay close attention during class reviews and take any practice tests the teacher or textbook offers. To review notes, your child might type highlights from each day’s material into a computer file. Typing his notes will help him remember them better, and he can use the file as a study guide. Encourage your teen to pace himself. Cramming is stressful and usually doesn’t result in real learning—only a temporary (and often spotty) memory of the material. Instead, he should start preparing for tests as soon as they are announced.

  • Question: Besides studying, what else should my child do before a test?
  • Answer: Urge her to get ready the night before. She can load up her bag with any necessary test gear, such as pencils and eyeglasses. If permitted, she could bring a calculator (with extra batteries), a healthy snack, and a water bottle. Also, eating a good breakfast will give your teen energy and keep her from feeling anxious or shaky. Remind her that caffeine could cause her to feel nervous and jittery during a test. Suggest that your high schooler get to class early. She’ll have a few extra minutes to take out supplies, look over notes one last time, and get focused.

  • Question:  How can my teen feel confident before and during an exam?
  • Answer: Teach him relaxation techniques he can do during the test. Deep, slow breaths and positive thoughts can increase his confidence. Example: “I am going to do well because I am prepared.” Help your child avoid distractions by suggesting that he keep his eyes on his own paper and not worry about students who finish before he does. Remind him that faster doesn’t mean better. Finally, encourage your teen to stay active by making time for 30–60 minutes of exercise each day. That will give him more energy and help him feel less stressed.

  • Question: What test-taking strategies can I share with my high schooler?
  • Answer: Help her budget her time. When she receives the test, she should do a quick survey of the entire exam and consider how long she will need for each section. She’ll want to allow more time for harder portions or those that are worth the most points. Advise your child to read all directions carefully. She should never assume that she knows what the instructions say. For instance, some questions may have more than one correct answer. Your high schooler can use any extra time to go back to skipped questions and look for careless mistakes. She might redo math calculations or double-check dates on history quizzes, for instance.

  • Question: What special advice can I give my child for different test formats?
  • Answer: For true-false tests, it’s helpful to circle key words in the question. If any part of a choice is false, the whole thing is false. Encourage your teen to watch for tip-off words like never, always, all, none, or only—they often indicate a “false” answer. Words like usually, sometimes, and generally may be clues that a “true” choice is correct. He should answer every question—there’s at least a 50 percent chance a guess will be right. When taking a multiple-choice exam, your child might read the question and try to answer it before looking at the options. Then he can read the choices, eliminate those that are clearly wrong, and select the one closest to his initial idea. Remind him not to leave any answers blank (if there’s no penalty for wrong answers). Even if he doesn’t know the answer, he has a 25 percent chance of success when there are four choices. For essay questions, suggest that your teen make an outline of main ideas and supporting facts. All of his points should be backed up with examples, and he shouldn’t stray from the topic. Encourage him to reread the question halfway through and at the end to make sure he has answered all parts. Finally, he should go back and proofread carefully—spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors can lower his score.
Instructional Highlights
  • Math:
  • As the mid-school year approaches, 9th-12th grade mathematics teachers are busy preparing for January Mathematics Regents, midterms and finals while also preparing for student course schedules for the 2018-2019 school year. Students and parents should check out the Cortland School mathematics website for math information regarding Regents review and math resources. There are also google slides that highlight math elective selections and explain the course requirements for the 2018-2019 school year.
  • Check out the videos that Algebra 1A students are completing for homework video notes in their flipped classroom. Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 students are learning through eMathInstruction.
  • Academic tables for math take place every morning in the academic center from 7:15-7:45 am with Mrs. Brafman. After school academic table take place on Mondays and Wednesdays with Mr. Robinson or Mrs Brafman in the academic center from 3:00-4:00pm. Math teachers are available in their classrooms after school each day from 2:30-3:00pm. The National Honor Society is also providing student academic support throughout the day in the library. Please take advantage of these great opportunities to receive math assistance.
  • Music:
  • The Chamber Orchestra have been learning about Jazz and improvisation. Senior High Concert Band members will be exploring new literature while working in small groups using Harmony Bridge music for community outreach.
  • Concert and Mixed choirs will begin work on Schubert's Mass in G, a romantic period work that will be performed in March. By learning this full oratorio the members of the high school choirs will gain a better understanding of singing in Latin and will learn about Franz Schubert and other acclaimed composers of this era while reinforcing fundamental musical and vocal skills such as vowels, blend, sight-singing and harmony.
  • Physical Education: 
  • 11th and 12th grade classes were able to go ice skating at SUNY Cortland before the break. Prior to that, they were at Cort-lanes bowling. 9th and 10th grade classes are learning badminton, while the 7th and 8th participate in cooperative games.
  • Science:
  • Biology students are exploring the life of a plant playing the plant game. Miss Latham’s students are saving their Bio Bucks for a pizza party!
  • Johnson and Latham’s Earth Science students are using playdough to create Topo Map Islands. Biology students are using their phones to take pictures and videos of microscopic organisms in pond water.
  • An engagement strategy used in Ms. Frost’s class with her Bio students uses whiteboards and teaches them about food chains and food webs. A group of two students draw a food chain using 3 organisms. Boards get passed from group to group and each time more organisms are added until the board is returned to the original group. Students are now looking at a food web.
  • Physics and Astronomy students created rockets made out of paper and shot them up by an air compressor. They determined how high their rocket went by using formulas studied in class.
Celebrations
  • Athletics:
  • We have had 3 winter Athletes of the Week so far and they are Jon Frederick, Trevor Jubran and John Blanchard.
  • The Science Olympiad Team
  • The team went to an Invitational Tournament at F.M. high school on December 16, 2017. We had 2 teams so everyone could participate. It was great practice for our official Regional Event at LeMoyne College on Jan 27, 2018.

Oh The Places You'll Go: Student College and Career Update
  • Lersissa Allen: TC3
  • Michaela Bidwell: Hilbert College
  • Sarah Bowker: Wells College and Keuka College
  • Angelo Brevetti - Career: Farming
  • Connor Canfield: Geneseo
  • Jonathan Frederick: Cornell
  • Jon Gesin: SUNY Potsdam
  • Natalie Gier: Cornell
  • Taylor Hart: SUNY Delhi and SUNY Canton
  • Ben Jackson: TC3
  • Mckenzie Johnson: TC3
  • Marcus Linde: TC3
  • Alexandra Marks: TC3
  • Timothy Mayberry: University of Buffalo
  • Brandon McClendon: Marines
  • Ja-Shia Moore - TC3
  • Reanna Moran: Eastern Mennonite University and Radford University
  • Alexander Morgan: LeMoyne College, St Bonaventure, St John Fisher
  • Summer Mullen: TC3
  • Mackenzie Mulverhill: TC3
  • Alex Myers: Utica College, Wilkes University
  • Taylor Oaks: TC3
  • Lauren Phetteplace: SUNY Delhi
  • Zachary Redfield: TC3
  • Sophia Reyngoudt: Keuka College
  • Lucas Rivera: TC3
  • Leah Romer: MCC
  • Victoria Schmidtbonacker: Army National Guard
  • Joseph Sickmon-Lindberg: TC3
  • Tasia Smith: SUNY Purchase
  • Caitlin Snell: LeMoyne, Utica College, Keuka College
  • Justin Soler: RIT
  • Kathleen Starr: Siena College, Hartwick College
  • Tristan Stevens: Roberts Wesleyan, Houghton College
  • Nicolas Strobeck: TC3
  • Marissa Sweet: MCC, TC3
  • Isabella Terrazas: TC3, Broome CC
  • Tramayane Towers: TC3
  • Damien Walker: TC3
  • Jerome Williams: NAVY
High School News & Notes
  • Parent Portal/Student: The Cortland Junior Senior High School continues to offer a program that allows the parents/guardians of our students to have access to essential information about their child’s work at school. Cortland families will continue to be able to access academic information regarding student progress through the Internet. We have switched to a new student management program called SchoolTool that includes a Parent and Student Portal. We have been “live” since October 2nd. Please call the main office for more information (758-4110).

  • Activity Period: Teachers are available every day Monday through Thursday each week after school from 2:30 until 3:00. During this time, students can see teachers for extra help, study, or make-up class work.
  • Extended Learning Time: The Cortland Enlarged City School District will again provide separate Academic Tables for the High School. This program is designed to provide a place for your child to get a start on, and help with, their daily homework assignments. Although Extended Learning Time is a scheduled extra-help/tutor time that is available to all students, schools will encourage the participation of students who would benefit for the extra time and support. While homework will sometimes be addressed, that is not the focus of the sessions. The program is designed to help students be successful in their learning. It will run Monday through Thursday afternoon from 3:00 to 4:00. Bus passes will be given to all students who wish to take the late bus home. Academic Tables (Extended Learning Time) began on September 25th. The schedule is available online in the Senior High Section under the “Helpful Links” tab and will be titled Academic Tables. 

  • Math Help in the Morning! Every day, from 7:15 am until 7:45 am, we have a certified math teacher in the Academic Center available for all of your Math needs. The help is offered for any student that may be stuck on a homework problem or has a need to review a concept, or study for a test. Please feel free to stop in the Academic Center before school for any Math questions.
  • Need a Late Bus? Again this year, there will be a 3:15 bus and two 4:30 late bus run buses (Monday through Thursday). Bus routes and stop times for the High School have been posted on the District website under transportation. 



  • Athletics: E-Mail Notification of Game Changes - You can "Subscribe to team updates" in Schedule Galaxy and receive an email every time there is a game change whether due to inclement weather or the need to reschedule a game for any reason. Sign up today for this great feature and be notified of all changes to a team’s schedule. You can also sign up on the district's home page under the "District News - ED Emailer" for email notifications from the Athletic Department or any school events, happenings, etc. What better way to stay informed and up to date with news from your child's school.


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