Cortland Senior High School April Newsletter
4/3/2018
Upcoming Events
  • 4/14: ACT Exam
  • 4/23 to 4/27: Spring Break, No School for Students or Staff
A BIG Celebration
A BIG congratulations goes out to the students below! They are on track to graduate with both a high school diploma and Associate's degree at the same time! Our students will be participating in TC3’s College Commencement on May 24.

The students are: 
  • Julia Birdsall, Teodora Buzea, Hannah Dearie, Jonathon Frederick, Natalie Gier, Connor Holl, Lydia Mekeel, Brian Ngo, Tasia Smith, Justin Soler, Tristan Stevens, Jacob VanGorder

Awesome job!

Here is trend data about our concurrent enrollment progress since 2009!
Science Department Updates:
Once again, the science department will begin to survey our student population asking if they would be interested in attending one of two Environmental Science Summer Programs (5 - 6 day experience) coordinated by OCM BOCES. The Adirondack Field Studies Program and Marine Studies Enrichment Program provide advanced learning opportunities for students in grades 10 and 11. Student participants must meet the following requirements: Successful completion of Living Environment (biology), the ability to work effectively independently and in a group, obtain a strong recommendation from his/her science teacher, demonstrate enthusiasm for science and being in a wilderness environment.

The setting for the unique six-day Adirondack Field Studies Program is the Cranberry Lake Biological Station, owned by SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Students will explore the ecology of the Adirondacks through engaging structured outdoor activities and gain hands-on experience with the scientific method. Students will be guided by a team of instructors as they conduct group research projects to investigate questions which will conclude with a symposium where students present the results of their research projects.

The Marine Studies Enrichment Program is a five-day excursion based at the Dorothy P. Flint 4-H Camp overlooking the beautiful Long Island Sound in Riverhead. Marine biologists will lead the students in studies involving various marine environments. This unforgettable experience involves a rigorous schedule with daily field excursions to collect marine specimens, laboratory dissections, movies, lectures, and slide presentations. Students will be expected to take notes and keep a personal journal.

Interested students and parents should visit the OCM BOCES website http://www.ocmboces.org/teacherpage.cfm?teacher=2120 for more detailed information. Space is limited. Talk to your science teacher about the application process.
Instructional Highlights
  • Interested students are currently working on filling out applications to go on the next foreign language trip abroad. We will be traveling to Quebec and Costa Rica in April 2019 and will be selecting candidates soon.
  • French 3 students wrote “fractured fairy tales.” They practiced using the two different past tenses by rewriting the endings of well known fairy tales. They then made a book out of the “new” fairy tales in French.
  • Formal debates took place in Enriched English 10 classes. Students have selected the topics for debate, performed research, collaborated with teammates, and finally competed against opposing team. Many tanks have to be shared for the success of the debates with the judges who graciously volunteered their time to determine the winners. Thanks to Mr. Zarcone, Mr. Mack, Mr. Brafman, Ms. Catalano, Mr. Dearie, Officer Reyngoudt, Mrs. West, Mr. Canestaro, and Mr. Morgan.
  • Capt. Dave Jensen presented statistical data on childhood accidents and how to prevent them to Child Development students. Keeping children safe is essential to their health and well being.
  • Culinary students practiced their skills making fortune cookies, egg rolls and fried rice while learning about American Chinese Cuisine.
  • In Abe Johnson’s Earth Science class students were taught how to determine climate factors of an imaginary continent. His Bio students made Minions to discover the traits of their offspring.
  • Jim Ulrich visited Cassie Canestaro’s 1st grade classroom at Parker School to talk about rocks and minerals. Each child brought in a rock from home to find out what it is and how it was made.
  • Nicole Latham’s Forensic Science students conducted a lab where they matched the bite marks of their classmates to one another in order to determine a match. “They did a great job and the class results were awesome!”
Celebrations Continued!
  • In HS English, a new class has been approved by the Board of Education for next year. The class is for seniors, and it can earn interested students college credit through Tompkins-Cortland Community College.
  • Ithaca College offered a Women in Math Day on Saturday, March 24th. 
  • On Saturday, February 24th, the Cortland Science Olympiad Team competed at the Cornell Invitational against over 1,000 competitors from around the country, including nationally ranked teams as far away as Florida. Special congratulations to Meredith Brafman and Izzy Mendez who won 1st place in the duct tape engineering challenge, creating the most impressive duct tape roller coaster Cortland has ever seen.
  • On Wednesday, March 7th Ithaca College hosted their annual Math Exploration Day. Sophomore and juniors from local high schools arrived on campus for a fun filled day of mathematics. Cortland High School had 20 students attend this event where they took part in a team mathematical competition consisting of groups of 4 students. During the team competition math teachers enjoy a professional development presentation. Following the competition, student and teachers explored mathematical ideas in a variety of areas. There were a total of 46 teams competing in the mathematical competition. The Cortland team of Meredith Brafman, Giovanni Cinquanti, Alexander Ryan and Daniel Ruggerio tied for first place with a team of students from Johnson City while the team of Mira Dovi, Tess Engst-Mansilla, Ella Wilson and Elyssa Yonta took second place. Also competing from Cortland were juniors Aaron Hughes, Andy Ryan, Lauren Swartz and Merrill Storch as well as sophomores Hannah Aldrich, Joshua Anecelle, Kathryn Aumick, Nicholas Djafari, Seamus Gailor, Julia Spaziani, Lark Stevens and Lillian Quick. The Cortland students were accompanied by high school math teachers Carol Brafman, Paul Drexler and Pete Reif. Read more...
Oh! The Places You'll Go: College & Career Update!
  • Lersissa Allen: TC3
  • Michaela Bidwell: Hilbert College
  • John Blanchard: TC3
  • Sarah Bowker: Wells College and Keuka College
  • Angelo Brevetti - Career: Agriculture
  • 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
  • Alexandrea Lynch: Utica College and OCC
  • Alexandra Marks: TC3
  • Shayla Marsh: Army National Guard
  • Timothy Mayberry: University of Buffalo
  • Brandon McClendon: Marines
  • Maya Moes: Alfred State
  • 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
CONGRATULATIONS

  • Antonia Murray: SUNY Binghamton
  • Alex Myers: Utica College, Wilkes University
  • Brian Ngo: SUNY Oneonta, LeMoyne
  • Taylor Oaks: TC3
  • Taylor Parente: Alfred University
  • Lauren Phetteplace: SUNY Delhi
  • Alaina Rabusin: Concordia
  • Zachary Redfield: TC3
  • Sophia Reyngoudt: Keuka College
  • Lucas Rivera: TC3
  • Leah Romer: MCC
  • Victoria SchmidtBonacker: Army National Guard
  • Samara Scott: Hartwick, Keuka, OCC
  • Jade Shively: OCC
  • Joseph Sickmon-Lindberg: TC3
  • Tasia Smith: SUNY Purchase
  • Caitlin Snell: LeMoyne, Utica College, Keuka College
  • Justin Soler: RIT
  • Kathleen Starr: Siena College, Hartwick College
  • Owen Stem: LeMoyne
  • Tristan Stevens: Roberts Wesleyan, Houghton College
  • Nicolas Strobeck: TC3
  • Marissa Sweet: MCC, TC3
  • Cooper Swarthout: St. John Fisher College
  • Isabella Terrazas: TC3, Broome CC
  • Tramayane Towers: TC3
  • Jacob VanGorder: Alfred State
  • Damien Walker: TC3
  • Jerome Williams: NAVY

High School News and Notes:
  • April 23 to 27:  Spring Recess, No School for students
  • Parent/Student Portal: 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 p.m. During this time, students can see teachers for extra help, study, or make-up class work.
  • Extended Learning Time: Cortland Enlarged City School District continues to 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 encourage the participation of students who would benefit from 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 runs 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 is titled Academic Tables
  • Math Help in the Morning: Every day, from 7:15 am until 7:45 am, we have a certified math teacher available in the Academic Center 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.
  • Late Bus Information: There continues to be a 3:15 p.m. bus and two 4:30 p.m. late bus runs (Monday through Thursday). Bus routes and stop times for the High School have been posted on the District website under transportation. Click here to see late bus pass information on our transportation department website.
  • For updated practice and game information go to our Athletic website:
  • 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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