Sept 25, 2020
Good evening, Parents, Guardians and CHS Community,
We are starting to get into the rhythm of the school year, and our athletics teams are well under way with our first football game happening tomorrow on the CHS Varsity Athletic Field. Please keep in mind that due to the COVID Pandemic, we are tightly restricting fans to these events to two family members per athlete. Many of these events will be streamed on Litchfield CC Television, so please reach out to AD Knight for information on that. Our teaching and support staff are working diligently to accommodate the In-School and the Remote Learners in a synchronous and efficient manner. Please let us know how we are doing with this. Superintendent Jette has been sending out a request for feedback: Here is his request: We will be posting the results of those surveys the following week. This is the request from Superintendent Jette:
Dear Parents,
We continue to learn from your feedback each week. Please complete this quick survey and tell us how we are doing.
Thanks, Mike Jette, Superintendent
There are a number of important updates below***, so please review carefully for that additional information. Have a great week, everyone! Bill Lonergan, Principal
Appreciation:
To Liz Anderson-Spanish thanks for sharing that #okay poem with the CHS staff. The greeting “Happy first day of (the best season, in my opinion!) Fall” resonates with us.
We received a nice letter from the Litchfield Election Supervisors letting us know that Abigail Buxton is volunteering at the polling place for the coming elections. Thanks Abi!
Thanks to Shawn McDonough-Computer Science- for meeting with the Administration to assist with decision-making for class elections for the upper grades in this unique time and to help Nick Sica, Class Advisor for the Class of 2024 and their 9th grade elections.
We are already in the full swing of the budget process, and so far we have met on Health/PE, Social Studies,Counseling, Computer Science, World Language, Math, Business, Learning Commons & Audio/Visual, Family & Consumer Science, Fine Art, & Tech Education for budget preparations. It is amazing the level of input across CHS as we do this each year and we are really appreciative of all of the assistance from our staff in this work.
Shannon Szepan has done tremendous work with Andrea Stern on PowerSchool training and is truly going the extra distance. There is so much to learn this year, and Shannon is really tackling the role of Tech II-Teacher Support with enthusiasm and positivity. Thanks Shannon!
Jodi Callinan and Carrie Jurus, Counseling, hosted our annual Financial Aid night for seniors and their families and working with NH Higher Education Assistance Foundation through a Google Meet. They had 48 attendees, a good turnout regardless of the circumstances. Thanks Jodi, Carrie, and NHHEAF!
Josh and Campbell Athletic Leaders did a great job with checking in visitors to the boys soccer game here at CHS on Tuesday. Every parent/sibling was temperature checked, filled out the wellness forms and were continuously wearing masks on the sidelines. When COVID arises at schools it is often through athletics, so it is a good sign that this is starting off well with our athletes and our fans. Thanks to them for their good work and to the community for its cooperation..
***CHS OPEN HOUSE: Our Back-to-School Open House will be held on Tuesday Sept 29 from 6:00-7:00 pm. By this point in time, teachers should have emailed a Google Meet invite to you to join them in their classes, and the schedule will be as follows: Block A- 6:00-6:15 pm, Block B 6:15-6:30 pm, Block C 6:30-6:45 pm, and Block D 6:45-7:00 pm. Open House provides a time for teachers to introduce themselves and their classes to you. Please keep in mind Open House is not to discuss individual student progress, so if you would like to do that, please let the teacher know and they will make plans with you to accommodate this.
***A Message on Grading: The following is a message from the Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Director, Mary Widman, regarding District Grading practices. Please review so you have an understanding of how grades are calculated in PowerSchool as we move toward a more accurate Competency-Based Grading process. IGrading messaging to parents
***Student absences and going to remote learning: If your child is going to be absent and wishes to join a teacher’s classroom remotely on that day, please review the following letter from the school principals. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D27N_yPMGpGP_sv3ahuLsoB1VDE9WbH6TUP3p3GmCxU/edit?usp=sharing
***Visitors to CHS: We need assistance from parents and guardians who come to CHS for assistance. If you need to come into the building during the morning rush hour (while students are coming in), please go to the doors on the left to be buzzed in. It is important that visitors coming into the main part of the building wait until buzzing in and speaking to the office staff and formally checking in. Thank you for your attention to this.
***UPDATE on CHS Testing: We want to give parents and students advanced notice of upcoming testing dates. On Wednesday, October 14th, Freshmen will be taking the PSAT 8/9 and Seniors will be taking the Statewide SAT assessment they missed during the Spring. The day will be an early release for those students when testing is complete for all students.This will be a Remote Learning Day for Sophomores and Juniors and teachers will have work prepared in advance for these students.
Sophomores and Juniors will be taking the PSAT test on Thursday, October 29. The day will be an early release day for those students when all students complete their testing. This will be a Remote Learning Day for Freshmen and Seniors and teachers will have work prepared in advance for these students.
A grab and go lunch will be available after testing in the cafeteria. Buses will be departing at 1:00pm on both days.
Our full-time Remote Learning students are required to take the testing, and they will be provided a separate testing site here at CHS in the Gymnasium. Specific instructions will be provided to those parents via separate email for accessing CHS on those days.
If you have any questions, please contact your child’s counselor for clarification.
***CHS School Photos: We will be taking student photos on October 9. More information will be coming out for Remote Learner families through a separate email. These photos will be taken outside the building, weather permitting with a rigid schedule to facilitate the RL photos. We are working with Barkesdale (formerly Hockmeyer) to make this process as smooth as possible for all students. Look for more info coming soon.
***CHS Yearbooks: Don't delay ordering the 2020-2021 yearbook. These are the last weeks to purchase one before the price goes up in November. Order online at Jostens.com or fill out a paper form and return it to the CHS office before the October 31st deadline. Any questions please reach out to the advisor Julie Green at [email protected]
***Food Services Information: This is an announcement to state that all meals for students in the Litchfield School District are FREE until 12/31/2020!!!!! The USDA Granted a waiver extension, allowing schools to serve meals for free regardless of student status. What the free meals cover: Any Hot Lunch, Breakfast Meal, Yogurt Meal, Salad Meal or Sandwich Meal. This includes all 5 components to the meals Protein, Veggie, Fruit, Whole Grains, and Milk.
What this does not cover: second helpings, meals that are "incomplete" (a second slice of pizza, or a meal that doesn't contain fruit/veggie selection), or any item purchased a la carte - including fruits, veggies, milks, etc. All of these items students must have a positive account balance to purchase.
Here is a link to that notification: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=om#inbox?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1
Litchfield Food Services has moved to a new online payment portal. Please sign up for online payments at www.k12paymentcenter.com. You will need your child's Student Number to create an account. The student number is not the same as their lunch PIN code. You can contact Lauren Crowley, or any school office to get the Student Number for your child. [email protected], 603-546-0300 x3112 Free and Reduced Applications are available at www.lunchapplication.com. Families can apply at any time of the year for Free or Reduced Lunch, and information is 100% confidential. Please contact Lauren Crowley for any questions you may have. [email protected] at 546-0300 x3112.
***Homework Club: Please encourage your students to check out Homework Club if they would like a bit of help with their homework, or maybe just a quiet place to work from 2:30 - 3:30. This includes ALL students, even Remote Learners.
They can even drop in virtually to ask a question or three!
There is both a M/W Google Classroom (code - u3p3jye) and a T/Th Google Classroom (code - v6okksn). There are also Google Meets for each day as well.
T/Th is https://meet.google.com/sgj-jast-tgm
M/W is https://meet.google.com/iou-ezmn-oop
CHS Parent Organizations: I would like to remind families that we have tremendous support from parents, guardians and the community here in Litchfield. It is gratefully appreciated, so if you want to assist us at CHS, please reach out to the Athletic Boosters (through AD Knight in athletics), the Friends of the Performing Arts (through Carolyn Leite and Brittney Milligan in music), or the CHS Parent Teachers Organization through Elana in the main office. Any and all support is appreciated, particularly as we are faced with unique challenges presented in this strange COVID world.
From the Counseling Office: Counselors are currently meeting with seniors to discuss post-CHS options and processes. They have strategic times during the year when they meet with each grade level of students, both individually and in groups. If your child has any counseling needs, please have her/him reach out to their counselors accordingly. For parents with concerns, the number at CHS to contact the counseling office is 546-0300 x 3257.
Athletics Update: Due to Covid-19 there will be a limit on fans at CHS home events as well as away. Campbell, along with our cluster which includes Pelham, Sanborn, Hollis-Brookline, Souhegan and Milford, have a two immediate family member limit for home and away games. Only family members who have children playing in the game are able to attend that game. “Season passes” have been given out to each athlete which will allow two immediate family members to attend. Do not pass these season passes to other people or students outside of your immediate family. The Athletic Department is working with Litchfield TV to stream as many home games as they can. Once received, a streaming schedule will be sent to your child’s coach. We are extremely grateful that Litchfield TV has agreed to work with us to provide these streaming events. Please know that if you are attending a game that isn’t within our cluster there may be different rules. Some schools do not have a restriction on fans while others aren’t allowing fans. We will do our best to inform you of these rules/protocols prior to each game.
Health Office Update: Our health office continues to be very busy this year. Please understand if your child has any symptoms of COVID, Donna Boucher, our school nurse will be in contact. Also, please make sure to daily check your child’s well-being, and if they meet any of the conditions of COVID on the following document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fqoeqCaw-L-WE5xIFAIc2Y2cGcCk31mbxZhXsZ0P1sg/edit, then keep your child home and reach out to Donna to keep us informed. If you have any questions, please contact her at [email protected] or at 546-0300 x 3115.
The IT Remote Learners Help Page: The District IT department has created a specific page for Remote Learners: Please have your child reach out to them with challenges or concerns. https://sites.google.com/litchfieldsd.org/student-parent-it-help-page/home
Dress Code for Litchfield Schools: The Litchfield School District has created a new dress code for students. Please review this with your child to ensure they are dress code compliant at CHS. See the following link for specifics.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MqiCP8e0idMuRGQBYZgORLllb6YFPHRNC9kv-FB4mkM/edit
Employment Possibilities within the Litchfield School District: The Litchfield School District continues to look for substitute teachers, paraeducators, custodians and food service workers. Check out the district HR site for info: https://www.litchfieldsd.org/EmploymentOpportunities.aspx
Schedule for Sept 28 - Oct 2:
Looking Further Ahead:
Oct 5th - Booster Club Meeting @ 7:00pm (virtual)
Oct 7th - CHS School Board Presentation on Senior Projects- Lynn Gnaegy and Denise Freeman presenting
Oct. 9th - Picture Day in Auditorium @ 8:00am
Oct. 12th - NO SCHOOL - Columbus Day Holiday
Oct. 14th - PSAT’s - Early Release for Students @ 12:30pm
Oct 14 : - Test Date for PSAT for Juniors & SAT for seniors
Oct 29: - Test date - PSAT/NMSQT for Freshmen & Sophomores
Nov. 19th - Picture Retake Day in Auditorium @ 8:00am
Athletics Updates: See blurb above for attending events
Sept. 26th - Girls Soccer Home vs. Hollis-Brookline 10am Senior Game
Sept. 26th - Cross Country @ Pelham @ 10am
Sept. 26th - Football Home vs. Monadnock 1:30pm Senior Game
\Sept. 28th - Golf Home @ Passaconaway SENIOR MATCH 3:30pm
Sept. 29th - Girls Soccer Home vs. Pelham 4pm
Sept. 29th - Volleyball Home vs. John Stark JV 4:30pm, V 5:45pm
Oct. 1st - Golf @ Canterbury Woods 3:30pm
Oct. 2nd - Girls Soccer Home vs. Bishop Brady 4pm
Oct. 2nd - Volleyball Home vs. Pelham 5pm
Oct. 2nd - Football @ Pelham 7pm
Oct. 3rd - Cross Country @ Pelham @ 10am
Oct. 3rd - Boys Soccer Home vs. Pelham 10am
Upcoming College Rep Visits (via Google Meet) - students register in Naviance
Lincoln Tech Institute-East Windsor Tues, Sept 29th, 2020 at 8:30 am
Saint Anselm College Tues, Sept 29th, 2020 at 9:30 am
Husson University Tues, Sept 29th, 2020 at 11:30 am
Roanoke College Wed, September 30th, 2020 at 9:30 am
University of Maine Wed, SepT 30th, 2020 at 11:30 am
University of NH at Manchester Wed, Sept 30th, 2020 at 12:30 pm
Franklin Pierce University Thursday, October 1st, 2020 at 8:30 am
University of Southern Maine Thursday, October 1st, 2020 at 9:30 am
Wentworth Institute of Technology Thur, October 1st, 2020 at 12:30 pm
Fisher College Friday, October 2nd, 2020 at 8:30 am
Hofstra University Friday, October 2nd, 2020 at 9:30 am
University of New Haven Friday, October 2nd, 2020 at 11:30 am