Letter from the Principal - April 2024

April 10, 2024

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The end of the school year is quickly approaching. Friday is the final mid-trimester marking period of the year, and conferences are next week.  Many students are preparing for AP exams in May. Graduation plans are underway, and our year-end awards assembly is in a few weeks. Activities are wrapping up while prom and other year-end events are quickly approaching. Spring season athletic teams are competing and Fine Arts students are preparing for their final performances.  

Even though we are near the end, I want to remind parents and students that the school year isn’t over yet. School attendance and involvement are important for a strong finish to the school year. We still have several weeks of classes and school events. The events we celebrate become more meaningful as we move into summer and prepare to say our goodbyes. Also, teachers continue to hold high expectations of students as they prepare the culminating lessons of the school year.

Parents and guardians, we need your help to finish strong. An increasing number of students are missing the first and last periods of the day. Please do not excuse your students unless they are ill or have an important appointment or unavoidable conflict.  While they may try to convince you otherwise, students need to be in class, even if they aren’t being graded that day.  Teachers provide relevant learning experiences that build on one another and cannot be replaced.  Teachers expect that students will be in class.  That’s why students are at risk of losing credit after five absences.

If we learned anything about education during the pandemic, we learned that students perform better when they are with their teachers and classmates in school. We do a disservice to our students when we diminish the importance of showing up. 

We value our partnership with you. Thank you for your ongoing support and trust.   

Mona Passman