The Colonial Connection 
valencia college visit - group
Wednesday, March 1, 2017


Florida statehood, March 3, 1845

Pictured very top: 
A group of CHS juniors on the Valencia College East campus during a special tour Feb. 24  
Connect With CHS
Colonial High School
   

Today was one of two regular school hour Wednesdays this month to accommodate testing. We will have another full-day Wednesday on March 29.

Kindly take note that next Monday evening is our AP Curriculum Night (details below). If your student will be pursuing an Advanced Placement class in 2017-2018 we strongly urge you to attend. All of our guests will have the opportunity to meet with AP faculty and current year AP students after the presentation.

I hope this week's update finds your month of March off to a great start. Thank you for your readership and continued support.

It's Great to be a Grenadier!

Jose T. Martinez
Principal
Colonial High School

Note:
If you no longer attend or have a student attending CHS and do not want to read our weekly updates, you may opt out at the very top of this issue. However, if you do so, your email will be permanently removed from the system as a security step. We hope you will continue.  


Upcoming Events
 
Mar. 01: No Early Release
Mar. 04: 2017 Annual Conference for ESE (ACE)
Mar. 06: AP Curriculum Night (details below)
Mar. 11: OCPS Parent Academy - "Many Directions, Many Choices: Creating a Path to College and Career Readiness"
Mar. 15: Prom Fashion Show, 6 PM
Mar. 20-22: Spring Break Boot Camp




Testing

March 1st - SAT for all Juniors
March 6th - FSA Writing all 9th and 10th graders plus any 11th and 12th grader that still needs a passing score
March 7-10 - PERT Math 10th, 11th and 12th graders who have not passed the Algebra I EOC
April 17th and 18th - FSA ELA Reading for all 9th and 10th Graders (All students must take All three parts of the FSA ELA Writing and Reading test for the Test to count)
April 24th - 26th - Common Final Exams for Seniors
April 27th and 28th - Algebra 1 EOC, Algebra 2 EOC, and Geometry EOC (First time takers only, 2 part test)
May 1st-12th - AP Testing
May 2nd to June 6th - Cambridge Testing
May 4-10 - PERT Math 12th graders in Math for College Readiness and Liberal Arts Math classes and those that have not passed the Algebra I EOC
May 8th - US History EOC
May 9th - Biology 1 EOC
May 15 -19 - PERT Math for 9th, 10th and 11th graders who have not passed the Algebra I EOC (both campuses)
May 22nd - 24th - Common Final Exams - all 9th - 11th graders

* FSA = Florida Standards Assessments (FLDOE)
**  EOC = End of Course Exam

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Official SAT Practice - Khan Academy 
Research data shows that if students practice on Khan for 9 hours prior to taking the SAT, students will see 100 point increase on SAT scores. Please encourage your child to take advantage of this free resource (click image below).

khan

Vital Signs



STEM Expo - Mid Florida Tech
 
STEM Expo is an event where major simulation and hi-tech companies help OCPS high school and middle school students make the connection between STEM and career paths that lead to high-skill, high-wage employment in an ever growing and changing Central Florida economy.

 
 
   
STEM Occupations: Past, Present, and Future
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
January 2017


Wages for STEM occupations vary vastly. The national average wage for all STEM occupations was $87,570 in 2015, nearly double the national average wage for non-STEM occupations ($45,700).  
 
* Chart from Jan. 2017 U.S. Labor Dept. study
 
 
Class of 2018 Valencia College Visit

Last Friday, Ms. Paul, our College and Career Counselor, took 17 juniors on a field trip to visit the Valencia College East campus to participate in their campus experience tour. The students were engaged, they asked a lot of questions, and were eager to learn more about college.

Ms. Paul overheard one of the students state out loud to himself, "This makes me want to go to college." When she asked him about what he said, he explained that he had never been on a college campus before.

* A special THANK YOU to our interns for chaperoning with Ms. Paul.

 
Colonial High Class of 2018 students tour an art gallery during their visit to the
Valencia College East campus last week


Advanced Placement Curriculum Night
Monday, March 6 (6:00 pm to 7:30 pm) in the Performing Arts Center

Who should attend:
Parents and high school students signed up to take an AP Course in the 2017-18 school year.

Topics to be covered: 
  • Benefits of AP courses
  • Expectations of AP students and parents
  • The AP Ambassador organization
  • Frequently asked questions

* This event will be followed by a Meet & Greet with the AP teachers and current AP students in the Media Center 

 

Class of 2017: FAFSA
Free Application for Federal Student Aid

Attention Seniors:

Make sure you have completed FAFSA if you have not done so yet (see link below).
 
 
Spring Break Boot Camps
March 20-22, 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Spring Break Course Options:
  • AP Human Geography
  • US History EOC
  • SAT/ACT Prep
  • Biology EOC
  • Algebra I EOC
  • PERT
  • FSA ELA EOC - 9th

* Please see any administrator for an application

 

Author Visit
CHS students attended an event last week at Edgewater High School where they got to meet the authors of the novel, All American Boys, Jason Reynolds and Brendan Keily.

 
Saturday School
Saturday, Feb. 25
 
This past Saturday we had nearly 100 students and parents on our freshman campus attend Saturday school.  We offered ESOL classes, Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, PERT, and AP Human Geography.

 
 
 
2017 Annual Conference for ESE (ACE)
2017 Annual Conference for ESE or Ace Conference for families of students with disabilities or gifted is March 4 at Lake Nona High School.



Registration is open for the 2017 Annual Conference for ESE or ACE Conference for families of students with disabilities or gifted. This free, one-day event will be held on Saturday, March 4th, at Lake Nona High School, from 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Spend the day gaining access to service providers, local and state agencies, learning about services and supports, and attending a wide variety of multilingual breakout sessions on topics related to students who gifted or disabled. A free lunch is provided to all who register at www.ace.ocps.net Childcare is NOT provided at this event.

All students are welcome to attend sessions.

Freshman Campus
Congratulations!

 
Congrats to the freshman cafeteria team on scoring a perfect 100 on their site evaluation!   
They scored '5 oranges' . . . the highest rating!

Orange Technical College on the Freshman Campus


Digital photography students from Orange Technical College collaborated with our CHS 9th Grade Center to help freshman see themselves as 2020 graduates! 



This freshman gets her 'senior photo' taken a few years early to lend some perspective
to her future once she becomes a CHS Class of 2020 graduate! 

Agriculture Department
Petting Zoo

Last week our agriculture department had a petting zoo on campus where all students had the opportunity to meet and visit with animals here at CHS.


CHS agriculture students and their animals (Feb. 2017)

Band News

Please congratulate all of the band students who participated in this year's Solo & Ensemble festival.  These hard working students earned 27 superior ratings and 15 excellent ratings at this year's event.  Five of these events will be moving on to the state level.

 
CHS band performing during their 2017 Music Performance Assessment

The Colonial High School Jazz Ensemble received an overall Excellent rating at their Jazz Music Performance Assessment with improved scores across the board.  Their improvement from last year has been incredible!
 
Kaitlyn Campbell, Mathew Harmon Jana Jirgens, Jessie Otaiza, and Maria Picado performed extraordinarily well at their All-County concert at Winter Park High School.


CHS band director Mr. Jason Chapkin flanked by two of the students trailing their February All-County concert performance: Maria Picado and Jessie Otaiza

 
The Colonial High School Grenadier drum line participated in the Good Shepherd Mardi Gras parade this past Saturday, February 25th

Prom
Prom Fashion Show is March 15 . . .

 
Get excited because prom is almost two months away! CHS juniors and seniors will be showcasing various prom fashion at our annual Prom Fashion Show. The show will be held on Wednesday, March 15 at 6:00 pm in the PAC. Come out and support your fellow Grenadiers!
 
Prom tickets will be going on sale, the Monday that we return from spring break. Ticket sales will be online! Please remember that all obligations must be paid prior to purchasing your ticket and visitor forms must be approved by Dr. Karcinski. Students will be limited to one visitor. The visitor form and Frequently Asked Questions will be available on the CHS website and Facebook page this weekend. Please see Ms. Perkins in 1-222 if you have any questions.

Athletics



Spotlight on the 2017 Boys Weightlifting Team!
Congratulations to our boys weightlifting team on their victory over University High School last week.






CHS Social Media
 
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chs t
chs ig
CHS YT

Leadership Team

Principal: Mr. Jose Martinez [email protected]
Assistant Principal: Ms. Elizabeth Fuller [email protected]
Assistant Principal: Dr. Lisa Karcinski [email protected]
Assistant Principal: Ms. Betzabeth Reussow [email protected]
Assistant Principal: Ms. Taylor Plumblee [email protected]
Assistant Principal: Mr. Jairo Rosales [email protected]
Assistant Principal: Mr. Demond Walker [email protected]
Leadership Team Biographies: Leadership Team Biographies

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Copyright Notice
Reproduction of this material, either written or electronically, including the general layout, graphics, analyses, and content topics without the express approval of Target Performance Systems, Inc., a Florida corporation, and OCPS-Colonial High School is forbidden without written consent.  Thank you for your support of the Orange County Public Schools and OCPS-Colonial High School. Please contact Dr. Lisa Karcinski (assistant principal) at [email protected] with any questions.