Welcome to our September Edition of Falcon Focus
This e-newsletter is provided to parents to keep you apprised of  CHS events and activities throughout the year.

In this edition, please find a welcome from our high school principal, Back to School Night for Parents,  information on our redesigned website and App, an upcoming event "Screenagers", and more..
Lisa Albrecht
Principal
    From The Desk of.....

It is my pleasure to welcome everyone to the 2017-18 school year.  We are excited to see our returning students as well as extend a special welcome to new students and their families, including those in our freshmen class, the Class of 2021.
 
At Central, our focus and actions are guided by our mission which states:

The Mission of Central High School, District of Westosha, a community of learners, is to ensure all students acquire the knowledge, skills, and character to thrive as contributing members of a global society through a quality, caring staff, a challenging relevant curriculum and diverse opportunities to achieve personal success.
Our staff, with their diverse responsibilities, has spent many hours preparing for students. Each has an essential role in making our school the best it can be.  Our teachers have worked to ensure classroom activities are engaging as well as challenging and meet the college and career expectations demanded by post-secondary schools and employers.  In fact, we are proud that for a second year in a row, Central was named in Washington Post's listing of America's Most Challenging High Schools .  We know this honor comes from the collective efforts of our staff, students, and parents, all putting forth their best to achieve excellence.
In addition to the shiny floors and ready classrooms, students and their families will find we have a new website, which we designed to be more user friendly and informational.   We are diligently working so parents have more information readily available.  I encourage you to explore and provide feedback so as we are working to get things on-line, we can take your thoughts and suggestions into consideration. Feel free to send that feedback to me, which I will share with the website management group.

In closing, I am honored to serve as the principal of Central High School.  It is truly a privilege to be part of a community where school staff, parents, and students sincerely care for each other and strive to build positive relationships that support academic and social growth. Please feel free to contact me at 262.843.2321 ext. 309 or [email protected] .

I wish everyone a Falcon Awesome year!
      Back to School for Parents

It's back to school for our parents on September 13th.  Here is an opportunity for parents to meet your high school students' teachers in the first few weeks of school, learn more about the courses they are taking and more about their school.
Please see the attached schedule for this very popular annual event and please plan to attend.

        Student Attendance Procedures

As we begin another school year, we would like to take this opportunity to remind parents of their responsibility to notify the school when their child will not be attending. 

We have created a document, Attendance Procedures, located on the CHS Families page of our website, which highlights expectations for when students are gone, need to leave early or are planning an extended absence.
  
Briefly, when a student will not be at school, the school must be notified by 8 AM on the day they are out.  The easiest way to notify the school is to call the Attendance Line at (262) 843-3820, leaving a message by clearly stating your name, your child's name, the reason for the absence and a contact number if there are further questions.
   
If a student is not in attendance, whether it is for a full day or a single period and no excuse called in, an automated message will be sent to parents indicating this unexcused absence and the need to clear it up.  Please understand that absences not cleared up remain unexcused and can subject the student to school discipline and/or truancy citations due to the Wisconsin Compulsory Attendance law.

Last, if your child needs to leave school for part of a day because of an appointment, we must have a written note from parents indicating the reason and time. Due to staff reductions in the main office, it will be difficult to deliver messages and/or personal belongings to students during the day.  Parents are kindly being asked to plan ahead to eliminate/reduce these requests.

We know that regular attendance is essential for success; However, on days where your child is not feeling well or has an appointment, we thank parents for their cooperation in ensuring attendance procedures are being followed.  

Central High School
2017-2018 School Year Calendar
The following 2017-2018 School Year Calendar was provided in the Back to School edition of our Falcon Focus. Since that publication, we have had many additional families join Central High School so we're providing this calendar again.

The calendar is published and available for you to download, print out and put on your refrigerator, save on your IPhone, Smartphone or other prominent location. Please click the link below to access the calendar which also includes early release days.
      

New Early Release Time

Please click button below for information on our New Early Release Schedule for the 2017-2018 school year.
        New School Year Activities

As we opened the new school year, students participated in a special advisory period each day of the first week. During this time, a variety of activities took place to ensure students understood expectations, as outlined in the student handbook as well as safety procedures (fire/tornado/etc.). One safety procedure that you may not be that familiar with, but is critically important for is a procedure called A.L.I.C.E.  

ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate and is what Central uses if there were a potentially violent intruder in the building. ALICE is a procedure in used across the nation in partnership with law enforcement in K-12 schools, higher education institutions, health care agencies, government offices, and even with private businesses. Each of the strategies in the procedure allows students and staff to make the best possible decision given their location to the threat.  For more information about ALICE and to watch an introductory video, please see the following link: Waltham High School - A.L.I.C.E.

Additionally, throughout the year, during advisory time, which after this week is dedicated to Mondays, freshmen will be participating in a specially designed Freshman Mentoring Program (FMP).  This program is a comprehensive transition program for freshman that provides a supportive environment that eases the transition from middle school to high school.  Upperclassmen will work with freshmen advisory classes throughout the school year, leading discussions and facilitating activities to build confidence and a sense of community among freshmen. For more information about this program, please email Mrs. Heidi Zavacke at [email protected].

Screenagers Returns
to
CHS

In collaboration with Brighton, Bristol, Paris, Salem, and Wheatland School Districts, Westosha Central is excited to once again present Screenagers  on  Monday, September 25th.

      ( 5:00  Doors Open,  5:30  Movie Start,  6:45-7:30   Panel Led Discussion) . 

The districts received such positive feedback from parents and students at the last presentation of this important documentary, we were asked to bring it back to you again in early fall.

This documentary addresses one of the most crucial parenting issues of our time head-on depicting pre-teen and teen struggles over social media, video games and internet addiction. The film empowers teens to best navigate the digital world and provides practical resources to help them do it.  We encourage you to attend with your pre-teen/teen and to engage in the conversations about digital media use after the filming. Please RSVP to reserve your free tickets .  Follow link below: (click Screenagers - Free Ticket Link)
 
          Now Available - New CHS Website and App

The introduction of our new CHS website was forwarded to all parents in our early August Back To School edition of our Falcon Focus. Again, for those families who registered after the first publication and may not have been on our mailing list, this information is provided once again.

This past school year the Web Design class helped in building a new website for the school that went LIVE on June 7.  The new site design is more mobile friendly, allows for quick searches and will have more information about news and upcoming events. 

We are also excited to announce that you now will be able to download a CHS Web App on your phone. The App allows you to get push notifications and alerts right at your fingertips. Go to the App Store for IPhone or Play Store for Android and search for Central High School District of Westosha. 

A few new features that have been added to the new website include an Alumni Spotlight to highlight where former students are at in their lives years after graduation, a News and Announcement section that will provide more detailed information, and staff can now be found using search boxes.

We are always looking for ways to better the communication between the school, parents, students and our community. With the new site and App, we are definitely stepping in the right direction.


Falcon Focus is Your E-Newsletter

The monthly Falcon Focus is your parent E-newsletter. We always are looking for ways to make this communication more beneficial for our readers. Any suggestions parents may have as to additional content you wish to see in the Falcon Focus, please feel free to send an e-mail by clicking the following e-mail address:   [email protected].
Central High School District of Westosha Non-Discrimination Statement 
The Board of Education does not discriminate in the employment of administrative staff on the basis of the Protected Classes of race, color, national origin, age, sex, (including transgender status, change of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity), pregnancy, creed or religion, genetic information, handicap or disability, marital status, citizenship status, veteran status, military service (as defined in 111.32, Wis. Stats.), national origin, ancestry, arrest record, conviction record, use or non-use of lawful products off the District's premises during non-working hours, declining to attend an employer-sponsored meeting or to participate in any communication with the employer about religious matters or political matters, or any other characteristic protected by law in its employment practices.