GP South High Pointes June 2019

JUNE 2019

FROM THE MOTHERS’ CLUB PRESIDENT

It’s hard to believe the last bell of the school year will be ringing soon!

Thanks to all of YOUR generosity, and that of our Community Sponsors/ donors - on Thursday, May 2 ^nd , under the direction and leadership of Paige George and Beverly Bennert, we awarded over $56,000 to 91 deserving graduating seniors! Congratulations to all of the scholarship recipients!

Our last event of the year, the All Night Party, led by Sara Fischer Hodges and Helen Srebernak is planned for the Class of 2019 after their graduation ceremony. This celebration requires many volunteers. If you are a senior parent interested in assisting with the All Night Party, please click on the link to sign up:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b094ba9af2dabf58-welcome

The Mothers’ Club has served the Grosse Pointe South community since 1928. Last year, we conducted a survey to determine enhancements in how we operate. As a result of the survey, one of the changes made was an updated the Mothers’ Club website to help offer more information at your fingertips. In addition to Mothers’ Club information, we now recognize our Community Sponsors, as their name and logo scroll along the bottom of the screen. If you would like to become a Community Sponsor, please contact Cyndi Shutter at flowernc@msn.com to discuss sponsor opportunities.

As the school year draws to a close and I reflect upon my time spent as President, I would like to thank all who have served as an Executive Board Member, Advisory Committee member, School Store volunteer, Banker and the countless volunteers that have assisted with setting up, tearing down, acquiring raffle items, packaging items, providing food for teachers & staff and everything in between. It truly does take a village to allow the Mothers’ Club to continue to offer Enrichment grants to teachers, Scholarships to graduating seniors and maintaining and preserving our historic building.

In addition to the countless volunteers, I would like to also thank Mr. Hamka, Mr. Spryszak, Ms. Parravao and Mr. Booth and all the administrative staff that has been so supportive to our organization.

I hope you all have a wonderful summer!

Wendy Bruetsch

2018-2019 Mothers' Club President

Visit The Mothers' Club Website

IMPORTANT DATES

June 5

Graduation

6:30 PM

GP South Front Lawn

COUNSELORS' CORNER

We are almost there! Summer is a fantastic opportunity to relax and recharge, but also enrich and experience. There are so many summer programs available to students on college campuses from community colleges to elite universities. We have included many on our CRC website but even a basic Google search will return massive results. Go. See. Do!

Seniors : All seniors will complete a Graduation Survey on Naviance before they pick up their cap and gown. This is the time to let us know final decisions about college acceptances, selection and where South should send the final high school transcript. This is an important step in completing the college application process.

Final transcripts are not automatically sent to colleges: it is the student’s responsibility to make such requests .

It is also the responsibility of graduating seniors to make arrangements with the College Board to have their AP scores sent to the appropriate college if they did not designate a college at the time of testing (this applies to tests taken in previous years as well as the senior year). Students can access the website, www.collegeboard.org to get full instructions and information. AP scores are not sent to colleges automatically by the school.

I recently heard a great piece of advice to consider for your 18 year old (or soon-to-be). Once they are an official adult you will not have legal access to medical or most other information. You may want to consider getting a healthcare power of attorney/HIPPA release signed by you and your student so you can get info in an emergency. There are other POA forms that may be helpful. Talk to your lawyer or connect with the counseling office for a referral.

Summer School reminder for all students in Grades 9 thru 11 : Did you know that you can replace most grades earned at South by retaking the course in summer school? You can access the Grosse Pointe Summer Learning Program information at the GP Schools Website . Students wishing to take classes for credit or grade improvement during summer school should discuss their options with their counselor. Students wishing to attend a summer school other than the St. Clair Shores affiliation with Grosse Pointe Summer School must also see their counselor for information and approval.

Note to Junior Parents :

We are so pleased that many juniors made pre-college application appointments. It was nice to see so many parents attend as well. If you or your student did not get a chance to meet with us, we recommend the following:

Complete and return to the counselor Junior Conference Information Survey found on Naviance Family Connection in the “About Me” tab
Use Naviance Family Connection to do College Matching and prepare a list of colleges where you will make your application.

We encourage you and your children to continue your college visitations during the summer months if you have not already completed your visits. Counselors will not be available during the summer months to process college applications. We will meet with all seniors early in the school year to review the application procedures and we will begin processing college applications in September. Most students will apply online to college. Seniors will submit the bulk of their college applications in September, October and November, so we ask your cooperation in observing the deadlines for submission of applications to us. As has been our practice for the last several years, we strongly encourage September applications to Michigan State University as well as September or early October applications to the University of Michigan.

FEATURES IN THE COLLEGE APPLICATION PROCESS:

Students will use the Naviance Family Connection program to track all college applications, transcript requests, letters of recommendation, and admission decisions.
Please note that all transcripts can be requested very easily through the Naviance Family Connection program, but students must follow up with written Status of Application Notification submitted to the College Resource Center. This form is available in the CRC and on the website.
Letters of recommendation for teachers and counselors will also run through the Naviance Family Connection program. We remind students to first make sure that a letter is required from a school, then talk to teachers face-to-face and finally follow up with the online request via Naviance.

All Students

The only Schedule Changes we are allowed to complete are those that fit one of the following criteria:

1. Scheduling errors due to computer errors. For example: two tutorials in the same semester, both English classes in the same semester, less than the required six credit hours appearing on the schedule, etc.

2. Necessary adjustments to schedules because the June failure in a course prerequisite, because a failed course needs to be repeated to fulfill a graduation requirement, or because of successful completion of a summer school program which dictates course changes.

3. Balancing classes to facilitate and improve student-to-teacher ratios which may involve (a) assigning a student to a different, existing class section with a reduced class size; or, (b) assigning a student to a newly created class section with a reduced class size. These adjustments will take into account the disruption to a student’s overall schedule and will only be carried out in those instances where the disruption is critical to the efficiency of the Master Schedule.

We will not be able to accommodate requests for class period changes, teacher changes, lunch hour changes, tutorial changes, or additions to classes that are closed.

We wish all of you a wonderful summer!

2019 ANNUAL CAMPAIGN

Thank you to our generous 2019 Annual Campaign donors who contributed over $6300 so far to support South's students and community and reinforce our shared commitment to educational excellence. Funds raised through the Annual Campaign, along with membership dues, revenue from the School Store and events, and other donations, will fund scholarships for South seniors , enrichment of South classrooms and organizations, and preservation of South's historic building.

Scholarships . This spring, through The Mothers’ Club scholarship program, over $91,000 in need and merit-based scholarships were awarded to South seniors from Mothers’ Club funded scholarships and from community and family funded scholarships. These scholarships invest in South's legacy by supporting our South students as they head off to college.

Enrichment . To underwrite educational enrichment activities school-wide, The Mothers’ Club granted over $21,000 in enrichment requests during this school year. Funding extra educational elements such as the Tower final edition, PBIS mentoring program, teacher training, visiting vocal clinicians and DSO musicians to work with our choir and band students, equipment for Adaptive Physical Education classes, dissection specimens, and field trips help South achieve and maintain its excellence as a renowned high school.

Preservation . With continued financial support, South's beautiful historic building endures as a source of pride for the Grosse Pointe community. Restoration and refurbishment of Cleminson Hall's original windows and doors, South's clock mechanism, and the creation of a conference room are a few examples of preservation projects completed with funds raised by The Mothers' Club.

We truly appreciate all contributions to this year’s Annual Campaign. For more information on our projects and mission, please visit The Mothers’ Club website at www.mothersclubgps.com .

It's not too late to show your support - click here to donate

SCHOLARSHIP

Scholarship Awards Night

Nine-one graduating seniors were awarded over $57,000 at the Mothers’ Club annual Scholarship Awards Night on Thursday, May 2nd. This amount includes nearly $31,000 in community and family scholarships, as well as $26,000 in Mothers’ Club funds raised through our fundraising efforts such as Date with the Devil , the School Store, and out annual appeal.

Mothers’ Club Executive Board members presented the awards along with representatives from the various community groups and families. Paige George, Vice President of Scholarship and Beverly Bennert, Vice President of Enrichment, reviewed applications, conducted interviews, and worked with South Administrators, counselors, and teachers to ensure the most qualified candidates were selected. The recipients and their families were invited to this special evening.

We are so thankful for our community and family partners who supported our students in our scholarship program. For a complete listing of our partners and 2019 scholarship recipients please visit our website www.mothersclubgps.com .

ENRICHMENT

Mothers' Club Alumni Membership

Do you know someone who is a former South student

or a parent/legal guardian of a former South student with no current students at South?

Invite them to become an Alumni Member of The Mothers' Club.

Alumni Membership Dues support enrichment , preservation, and scholarship for South. Alumni Members receive a copy of the student / alumni directory, invitations to Mothers’ Club events, a monthly email of the High Pointes Newsletter, and other emails showcasing what is happening at South. Alumni Members may attend and vote at monthly membership meetings.

To become an alumni member go to http://www.mothersclubgps.com/ (Alumni Membership information is at the bottom of the home page) or contact Julie Mathews Schuetze (jmschuetze@sbcglobal.net).

SOUTH SCHOOL STORE

Class of 2020

Class of 2021

Attention Class of 2021 parents, we are looking for a float house and other volunteers for the upcoming year's homecoming. If you are interested in helping out this fall, please click here to fill out your information. We will be in touch!

Thank you! - Mrs. Caralis and the Class of 2021.