HUSKY NATION NEWS
March 2022
Message from Mr. Melendrez

Husky Nation,

As we head into March we are excited to have a great second part of the semester. There are so many things to look forward to as restrictions begin to loosen. Please look closely on this addition of Husky Nation news for updates and continue to have our HUSKY attitude. Enjoy the wonderful things our students are doing at FJSHS. Go Huskies!!

If you would like to donate to the school, we could use white copy paper. Thank you!

Parent Teacher Conferences 
Our 2nd Parent Teacher Conference of the year is on Thursday and Friday, March 24th and 25th. 

All of our conferences will be set up in the Pods or outside the teacher's rooms. Each teacher will have their own table with chairs. Teachers will discuss their student’s grades, progress and behavior in class. Please pay particular attention to the gradebook in IC before meeting with teachers.

March 24th 
7th -12th Grade 4-8pm

March 25th-7:30-11:30am 
  7th- 12th Grade

From the Office
Spring semester, online classes are in full swing and students should be spending an hour a day in each of their classes. Please contact Mr. Grimes if you have any questions. pgrimes@re-2.org or (719) 784-6414 ext. 2579
Student Hours: 7:15am-3:25pm
Please have all after school messages to the Main Office by 2pm. This allows us to get messages to students in a timely manner with fewer interruptions. We have had several after school messages called in after 3pm and cannot guarantee those messages will get to your student in time. 

As we continue to combat COVID and quarantines, please remember to wear, wash and social distance. Students will have access to their work on Google classroom and if you have questions you can contact the teacher directly via email or phone.

Parents:If you currently live out of district or moved out of district over the summer, a Boundary Waiver is required. Families can print it off the district website, under the forms tab and return them to Mrs. Stage at mstage@re-2.org

Reminder-Please drop students off at the appropriate times, especially as the weather gets colder. 
Doors open - 7:00am 
First bell - 7:11am
School Day – 7:15am - 3:25pm

Boundary Waivers are Due for students residing outside of school boundaries- stop in and grab yours to turn in!
District Update

Recently the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment rolled back its COVID-19 mitigation strategies for schools. Students exposed to coronavirus at school will no longer be required to quarantine and school districts can stop contact tracing unless there is an outbreak. The new guidance will go into effect on Monday, February 28, 2022.  

Beginning Monday, February 28th, Fremont RE-2 will not ask staff and/or students to quarantine due to an exposure to COVID-19. We will no longer use contact tracing as a mitigation strategy.   

If you or your child become sick or begin to show symptoms associated with the coronavirus, stay home! Return to school once all symptoms have subsided. Wearing a mask is recommended upon return to school. If you have questions, you may call the school district nurse, Joan Borre, at 719-784-2551.

Closed Campus
Florence Jr/Sr High School is a closed campus. Students are not allowed to leave for lunch, to run errands, or be off campus without a parent physically coming into the FJSHS and checking out their child. Please do not attempt to call your child out of school. If your child needs to leave due to a doctor appointment or court appointment that can be verified by official paperwork, either an email or handwritten note, with parent signature, should be sent to the front office secretary. A student will be treated as truant if he or she leaves campus without following proper procedure.
Athletics and Activities
Hey there Husky Nation We are now at the start of our Spring Sports season. Please remember if you did not play a Fall Sport you need to have your physical form, sports registration, emergency blue card and a copy of your insurance turned in before you can attend practice.

Grades and Eligibility
There is an early warning grade pull eligibility sent out to all coaches on Tuesday for coaches to alert what student athletes are failing a class or are close to failing. On Thursday there is the final eligibility pull before 1:00 PM that is sent out to coaches. Coaches and athletes have until 7 PM to reconcile grade disputes with their classroom teachers. Classroom teachers/coachers must contact Mr. Addington Thursday BEFORE 7 PM in order to get an eligibility overturned. Students should be checking their grades on a daily basis in IC to monitor grades. Parents should not call into the admin office to dispute grades without having first talked to their student and classroom teacher.

CMAS TESTING
Our students will be taking state assessments (Colorado Measures of Academic Success or CMAS) beginning after Spring Break on March 29th.


SCIENCE AP BOOT CAMP
AP Boot Camps have started . Dates and times are posted in Google Classroom. Please encourage students to attend as this will dramatically increase their chances of passing the AP exam in May. Food will be provided. Additionally details will be shared on Google Classroom and via email. Please reach out to Ms. Shapiro at kshapiro@re-2.org if you have any questions.
Knowledge Bowl
All students 9-12 are welcome to participate. We will begin again next fall in the new school year.
Summer School-2022
Reminder that summer school and credit recovery opportunities for 7th-12th grade levels will be available to students during the summer of 2022. Summer school has been tentatively scheduled for 8 weeks with Colorado Digital Learning Solutions (CDLS) from June 6th-July 29th. Specific interventions assist students with closing achievement gaps by allowing for annual growth and/or catch-up growth. These interventions target credit recovery, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension math and writing deficiencies. A strategic summer program and online curriculum will help overall achievement and grade recovery moving forward. Students who need credit recovery will need to pay the CDLS rate for classes that need to be retaken. 

LUNCH MENU
PROM!!!!
Prom will be Saturday April 23rd at the Pathfinder Events Center from 8pm-11pm. Prom is open to all juniors and seniors and their dates.
Math
Tutoring available after school from 3:30 - 4:30. Students should report to the math department immediately after school. 
Jr./Sr High STUCO
 March 1, 2022 - Students Council will be providing Concessions at the Jr. High Wrestling meet.

March 14th - March 17th Spring Break

March 22, 2022 - March Madness Spirit Day: Students can wear their basketball jerseys or sports apparel to school that day in support of March Madness. When students come in the front door at the student center they can get a basketball bracket and fill in the teams that they think will make the championship of March Madness. At the end of the day, when students go to leave they can turn in their brackets to the Student Council members by the doors. During Lunch there will be basketball themed games for students to play.

April 4, 2022 - March Madness Championship Spirit Day: Students will wear the two Championship teams colors or sports wear. We will have a Championship lunch & games and the student that has the closest brackets will win a prize on April 5th after the Championship game.

The Student Council will be creating a Kindness Board to put in the front office

AG and Art
The FFA had a very successful FFA Week celebration! We want to thank each and every one of you who participated. We had great week full of spirit, fun and community. The highlight was our first annual Ag Olympic Assembly, congrats again to the seniors and 8th grader who won the show. 
Is your student interested in getting more involved? Have them come to CDE practice on Friday Mornings from 9AM-12PM. At these practices we review contest materials and build career skills so your student can compete at District and State FFA Career Development Competition. This is a great way for them to learn more about a future career option and get involved in our chapter!
At the beginning of the month we traveled to Otero Junior College to compete in FFA District Leadership Development Events! They have been preparing for months for this day, the results are in and their hard work paid off!!

Creed Speaking: Adalina Yeager - First Place! Continuing to State Competiton
Prepared Public Speaking: Ava Hale - 3rd Place
Quiz Bowl: Bodie Taylor, Gage Grisenti & Addy Yeager
Extemporaneous Public Speaking: Kaiya Smotherman - 7th Place
Conduct of Chapter Meetings: Tucker Anderson, Henlee Smotherman,Abby McFerrin, Trevor Wrast, Brylee Wellborn, Molly Devine, Etta Cockrill - 2nd Place! Continuing to State


It’s a busy month in Art!

First, we have our Scholastic Gold and Silver key student’s work being displayed in the Chancery Art Space in Downtown Denver. If you’re passing through, maybe you can stop in and enjoy the winners from around the state. 

Second, this month is the Fremont County Arts Center’s “Students of Fremont County Schools” show. 22 of our students were selected to be shown in this show and it will be there for the entire month of March.

Last, the Jr High 3rd quarter Art show is taking place on March 9th from 6 to 7:30 in collaboration with the choir concert that evening. Please join us and help to judge the art show then stay for the wonderful music performance.




We have an exciting month ahead of us! Winter Percussion and Winter Guard practices are all meeting this month. Winter Guard is Mondays and Fridays, Winter Percussion is on Wednesdays. We have many people coming to work with all of our bands this month! All current 8-11th grade choir members interested in going on our Disney Trip need to turn in the first payment to Ms. Benker ASAP or email Mr. Woods/ Nelson your plan to pay at a later date. Below are our student’s events, bolded and underlined dates are required attendance

3/5 Chaparral Guard Competition
3/12 Monarch Guard Competition
3/22 Current 8th Grade and High School Parent Meeting @ 6 P.M. (Marching Band Show reveal and Disney Trip information)
3/26 Loveland Guard Competition
3/29 7th and 8th Grade Band Concert @ 7 P.M.
3/31 High School Concert Band and all Jazz Bands Concert @ 7 P.M.


SENIOR Graduation Checklist!
Create Scholarship Application Inventory and track progress for applications
Graduation checklist- cap and gown ordered? PIctures to Mrs. Beneker and Ms. Salizar?
Passing all or your courses? Volunteer hours checked with Mrs. Henker?
Making final preps for year end decisions?
Next Year 7th grade parents- March 10th Husky Nation will be up at your elementary school to meet with your 6th grader to go over preparations for transition to 7th grade. Please look for upcoming dates for Parent Orientation to 7th grade by March Parent/Teacher conferences.
New CDIP Pilot Program Courses coming Fall 2022!
Florence Junior Senior High School is now offering independent study classes to help our students graduate with both a high school diploma and a FREE industry credential of their
choice. Graduating with both will jumpstart your career or college success. You could gain a credential in career pathways such as IT, financial services, business operations and creative fields like graphic design. These courses will be housed within each program, talk to a counselor or Mr. Gifford today to learn more!


Scholarships! Scholarships!
Parents of seniors and juniors- come in and check out the scholarship boards for both local and national scholarships available for students. Lots of money is available not just for college but for many other post secondary programs after graduation. Please help your students out with their applications! Allow two weeks for letters of recommendation and mark your calendar accordingly!
Class Selections for upcoming 2022/2023 school year to begin no later than the End of March.  
Dec 13- ASVAB Scores Explained 10:30- 11:30 in the Library for all juniors and seniors who took the test back on Nov. 04. Military recruiters will be explaining the many aspects of career exploration available to juniors and seniors and how their test scores and their category breakdown scores can help students discover strengths and career pathways best suited for them for college degree or CTR pathways.  

Dec 10th- PCC Friday Courses will be complete for this Semester
Please check with your student that they have prepared for their Final exams in these courses and check in the counseling office if they wish to sign up for additional PCC Friday Courses to begin in January. 

New Graduation Requirements- 
Community Service- grades 9-12
All grade levels of students are being asked to complete, within the year, 10 hours of community service or work-based learning. Newly updated forms will be emailed to students or can be picked up in the counseling office. Please see Mrs. Henker for opportunities to serve in the community to complete the required hours as a list will be posted.

Demonstration of Competency- 12th grade
Many parents and students have questions regarding this new requirement. Many seniors have already met their competency as it will be reflected in their transcript report listed as Dem of Comp- Math and Dem of Comp- Eng and the student receiving .5 credit for each added to their credits. The counseling department has been making phone calls home and meeting with seniors/parents to create an option plan of how to achieve this new requirement if it has still not been met. Please see the district website, handbook or the counseling page for full descriptions and options to meet this requirement. If you have further questions please feel free to call the counseling office 

ACT Work Keys test- Offered to all Juniors and Seniors
ACT WorkKeys is an assessment that tests students' job skills in applied reading, writing, mathematics and Essential Skills. Scores are based on job profiles that help employers select, hire, train, develop and retain a high-performance workforce. This test will also help seniors and juniors meet new graduation requirements with qualifying scores. Please check the district Calendar for the Future date in late January or Early February.  



https://fhs.re-2.org/en-US/counseling-fbc65c4f
PaICE
We have a good number of students that are getting set up to start internships for the Spring Semester. If your student is interested in a second semester placement please send them to the Counseling office to see Mrs. Henker. We are still adding and updating business partnerships to increase opportunity for students. Interested students should contact the College and Career Coordinator, Mrs. Henker, in the FJSHS Counseling Office. 

CHOIR

The Junior High and Senior High Choir Concert will be on March 9th at 7:00pm. All students currently enrolled in Blue Choir, Gold Choir, Concert Choir, and Chamber Choir are required to attend. Students will need to be at the school by 6:00 pm to warm up. 

All current 8-11th grade choir members interested in going on our Disney Trip need to turn in the first payment to Ms. Benker ASAP or email Mrs. Farus your plan to pay at a later date.




NEWSPAPER

A student-led, FJSHS-centered Newspaper committee has formed, and it can be read now at https://sites.google.com/re2students.org/husky-herald/newspaper ! This news committee strives to provide another access point into the world of Husky life, and it does so through cooperation of the current outlets such as Husky Nation and the Yearbook Program. Please enjoy its stream of updates that the FJSHS student-body works to provide!

Additionally, the committee is now in the process of creating and distributing QR codes all across the school that link directly to the newspaper website. Be on the lookout for this quick and easy point of access when in the building!

YEARBOOKS

Yearbooks are officially on sale! To purchase, go to the Florence Junior Senior High School Website, fhs.re-2.org, and order using the yearbook link! The price is $35 until March 1st! 


PARENT PORTAL

If parents or guardians need to update their phone number and email address you can log into their parent portal and make those changes. For any other household information change, please contact the school and we will have you fill out the Household Information Update Form. Parents will need to sign this form.