Not for School, But for Life We Learn. -Seneca | |
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Good morning Menendez Nation!
We had a wonderful week here at PMHS. We had a number of great events and celebrations including the Mr. and Miss Menendez Pageant on Friday night. Congratulations to Ja'Bri Steward and Nathaniel Beese. We also want to celebrate our Theater Troupe who had a fantastic showing at the State ITS Competition. We also want to celebrate one of our student's Isaiah for being crowned King at the Best Buddies Prom earlier this month.
Check out more under our "Student Spotlight" section.
We have a busy week coming up here at Menendez High School. Please note that March 26th we will be giving the ACT for juniors. The state-funded ACT College Reportable test is an important upcoming assessment for all Juniors on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. As a reminder, the ACT College Reportable test is only for 11th graders. All 9th, 10th, and 12th graders will be allowed an at-home learning day.
High school students who are not participating in the ACT College Reportable test may complete assigned work from home or at school on this day. Assigned work will be due on Wednesday, March 27th, the day after the exam. Juniors, remember to bring your photo ID, pencil, and a calculator with you for the exam.
Any student who wants to check out after the exam, must fill out the form with this link: https://surveys.stjohns.k12.fl.us/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=pmhsdismissal# On this day, students may log into schoology and work from home. Please also note that there is no school this Friday.
SAC surveys for 2023-24 are available and close March 31st. Please complete the parent survey below. We need a minimum of 20% of our parents to respond. This will give us good information as we plan and make adjustments for the 20224- 2025 school year.
Parent Survey: https://surveys.stjohns.k12.fl.us/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=llMJ952K
We recently had a faculty and staff meeting where we discussed the four tenets that will serve as the foundation for PMHS moving forward.
- Communication
- Clarity of Standards/ Expectations
- Consistency
- Commitment
These foundational practices will help all of us as we move forward for the rest of this school year. Furthermore, we have emphasized the importance of clear and consistent standards and expectations. As the wise Hall of Fame baseball coach, John Scolinos, once said, "don't widen the plate."
Seniors, please play close attention to this newsletter and the Seniors Schoology page for upcoming events and deadlines. We are now in that time of the year where things will move quite quickly as we prepare for Prom, GradBash and Graduation.
Please make sure to read through the entire newsletter and please pay particular attention to the assessment section as we are starting the annual testing season. For senior parents, please make sure to read about upcoming events. Graduation details are being finalized and we should have details for rehearsal next week.
We were also noticing an uptick in the appearance of cell phones during class time. Please remind your child, that there is to be NO cell phone usage during class times unless specifically directed by the teacher for instructional purposes. We are committed to protecting your child's instructional time.
Please see the flyer below regarding digital IDs. These will be utilized this year for students in the media center, cafeteria, checking in and out and other school events. If your child does not have a cell phone, we do have alternative options. In addition, all students must complete the form below to access the SJCSD network and acknowledge access to the SJCSD student code of conduct.
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=V9CzsxL8P0-S9HK-boRDUeKKGqBOENVEqvS-DZFzgwNURFRJTEZEWjZVSVoxRlVaUTk1MVQ3UEo3Uy4u
Visitors to campus MUST complete a School Access Form which can be found on the SJCSD website at https://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/volunteer/.
- This clearance is for entry on campus during school hours such as a morning meeting with teachers or counselors, volunteering, or other events.
As the year progresses, the message will fill with information for our students, parents and our community. Please make sure to subscribe to The Menendez Message at the link below.
We look forward to unlocking the potential of each student and Menendez High School this coming school year. RISE UP FALCONS!
Respectfully,
Ted Banton
Principal
Pedro Menendez High School
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- March 26th - ACT for Juniors
- March 29th - No School
- April 1st - Senior Class Meeting, Cap & Gown Distribution
- April 2nd - World Autism Awareness Day
- April 8th - Solar Eclipse
- April 12th - GradBash
- April 19th - No School
- April 26th - Junion/Senior Prom
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On March 8, 2024, Best Buddies held a Friendship Ball at the Tringali Barn, a prom-like activity that promotes friendships between students with and without disabilities. Our friend, Isaiah Schulte, won a dance off to be named prom king! Our friend, Terran Smith, enjoyed taking selfies with his friends. He is pictured here with Camryn Smith, Molly Jones, and Elizabeth Hanrahan. | |
Congratulations to Troupe #6357 for winning 3 excellent ratings and 3 superior ratings at this past week’s International Thespian Society State Competition. The following students received a superior rating for their competition events:
Amelia Britten (received 2 superiors)
Isabella Casillas (received 2 superiors)
Gabriella Lepore
Natalie O’Toole
Jayna Giese
Syenna Fox
Audrey Kosobucki
Ace Wolfe
Ashton Couper
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VyStar Business Academy is Accepting Applications
VyStar Credit Union is accepting applications for student interns for the 2024-2025 school year. Students that are accepted into the program earn Honors credit for the class at school and get paid when working at the local branches. The internship requires a week of summer training in June and local branch working days throughout the summer. Any Pedro student may apply. See Mr. Davidson in the VyStar Credit Union during 4th period for an application.
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Congratulations to FBLA students!
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Liam Taylor – Intro to Information Technology
- Caleb VanBenschoten – Intro to Marketing Concepts
- Jeff Li – Business Calculations
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Casey Chhour – Business Calculations
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Our IB seniors had a wonderful Pinning Ceremony last week where they each chose a mentor to recognize for their support. Thank you to our incredible faculty and families for attending this event and helping build up our students and program! Our next IB senior event will be the IB Diploma banquet on May 15th, invitations forthcoming. | |
The science department is currently in the process of textbook adoption. The process involves community input. We are currently looking for one parent and one community member to assist in the process. If you have interest in reviewing the resource materials for a particular science course, please contact Kristina Boss at Kristina.Boss@stjohns.k12.fl.us | |
ACT in school for Juniors/Eng 3
The state-funded ACT College Reportable test is an important upcoming assessment for all Juniors on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. As a reminder, the ACT College Reportable test is only for 11th graders.
All 9th, 10th, and 12th graders will be allowed an at-home learning day.
High school students who are not participating in the ACT College Reportable test may complete assigned work from home or at school on this day. Assigned work will be due on Wednesday, March 27th, the day after the exam.
Juniors, remember to bring your photo ID, pencil, and a calculator with you for the exam.
Any student who wants to check out after the exam, must fill out the form with this link: https://surveys.stjohns.k12.fl.us/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=pmhsdismissal#
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Standard setting took place in Summer 2023 to establish a new B.E.S.T. scale. Starting in Winter 2023, scores are being reported on the new scale approved by the State Board of Education. The scale score ranges differ by grade and subject. Achievement levels describe a student’s success with the content assessed. As required by state law, achievement levels range from 1 to 5, with Level 1 as the lowest and Level 5 as the highest. For all assessments, Level 3 indicates "on grade level" performance. Higher expectations were established with the adoption of the B.E.S.T. Standards, which are more rigorous than the previous standards, the Florida Standards. The adopted cut scores for the FAST assessments and B.E.S.T. EOC assessments set higher expectations that bring us a step closer to ensuring all our students are prepared for postsecondary success.
Because the two scales were established for two different assessment systems aligned to different standards and the B.E.S.T. Standards are more rigorous than the Florida Standards, performance comparisons should not be made.
Your student received a score for a test on the provisional scale during the 2022–2023 school year or for a fall 2023 assessment (PM2, B.E.S.T. EOC, or FAST Grade 10 ELA Reading Retake), this score will update in the Florida Reporting System and Family Portal to reflect how your student would have scored on the new B.E.S.T. scale. The previous provisional scores are being provided on the B.E.S.T. scale for informational purposes only, so that you can make “apples to apples” comparisons to see your student’s progress over time. The converted score will look different because the provisional and B.E.S.T. scales use different number ranges, and the number ranges for B.E.S.T. are lower. This does not mean that the test got easier or that the standard was lowered. The new score is simply placed on a new range of numbers (325–475) vs. the provisional range (425–575).
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Please join us in welcoming our new School Counselor, Ms. Pence, to Pedro Menendez! She is coming to us from Hartley Elementary and is transitioning between schools so she isn't here full-time just yet. She will work with students of all grade levels with the last names N-Z. To schedule an appointment with her, please contact Ms. Coll at 904-547-8667.
Students who want to leave campus 1 or more periods early next year need to have turned in the correct paperwork. If your student did not receive the paperwork needed for a modified schedule (seniors only), executive internship (juniors and seniors), or voluntary public service (seniors only), please print off the correct paperwork from the school website or send your student to ask their counselor. Thank you for your help with this!
Our counselors will be spending time at the middle schools over the next two weeks to register the 8th graders for next year's courses. If you need anything, please email and be patient while waiting for a response. For emergencies, please contact Ms. Coll.
Congratulations to all of our seniors that have been accepted into college! Make sure you are following all the required steps outlined in your admissions offers, like housing deposits and residency verification. Final decisions on which school you are attending are due to the colleges by May 1st. Final transcripts will need to be requested from Menendez in May.
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DUAL ENROLLMENT INFO
Registration for summer classes at SJR opened this week. Make sure your student has scheduled an appointment with their counselor if they intend to take classes this summer thru the college! This needs to be done by Spring Break.
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The college application season is in full swing and our School Counselors are here to help! The first step is for seniors to make a free account on www.commonapp.org where they can fill out one application that gets sent to multiple colleges which saves quite a bit of time and effort. Once they have done that, please have them make an appointment with their School Counselor to go over specifics with transcripts, letters of recommendation, and test scores, so we can make sure they have everything they need in a timely manner. We highly recommend all applications be submitted by November 1st as this is when most of the schools have set their priority deadlines. Check out www.naviance.com if your student doesn't know where they want to apply yet or is an underclassman looking for general information for the future - every student has a free account, they just need to log in with their S# and password - we can help get them logged in at school their first time if they need assistance.
The PMHS School Counselor Office looks forward to serving the academic and social needs of the students of PMHS. More information on services and supports can be found at https://www-pmhs.stjohns.k12.fl.us/guidance/
Stephanie Toffaletti
IB Coordinator
stephanie.toffaletti@stjohns.k12.fl.us
Meredith Masiak
Early College Students and Students with the last name A-E
meredith.masiak@stjohns.k12.fl.us
Kathy Hamill
Students with the last name F-M
kathryn.hamill@stjohns.k12.fl.us
Dalene Pence
Students with the last name N-Z
dalene.pence@stjohns.k12.fl.us
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The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) opened at the end of December - if your student is planning on attending any postsecondary institution after graduation, your family must complete this in order to be eligible for financial aid from the government! Mrs. Toffaletti is constantly posting scholarship opportunities on the Guidance Schoology page, so ask your senior to show you those if they haven't do so already. For additional information regarding Financial Aid for college, see the flyer below.
Financial Aid Info
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Registration
Please see the following information regarding registration dates for the upcoming school year.
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General New Student Enrollment for Early Childhood, VPK, Kindergarten and all other grades will open on March 1st
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Hardship Waiver / Employee Transfer Form will also open on March 1st
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Re-Enrollment option only (no change of address or transfer) will open on March 1st
- The following forms will be open simultaneously beginning March 1st:
- •New Student 23/24 and 24/25
- •Early Childhood 23/24 and 24/25
- •Hardship Waiver / Employee Transfer 23/24 and 24/25
- •Re-Enrollment/Transfer/Change of Address 23/24
- •Re-Enrollment ONLY 24/25
- Returning Student Verification will open mid-April.
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Come to the Media Center and vote for the top book on this year’s Florida Teen Reads list! 15 books are competing to be top dog in the state, which one will the Falcons choose? Voting will be open until April 4th. | |
Parents, you may have received a letter recently regarding overdue books. Please return any library or textbooks owed. | |
Parents/guardians may limit what their own students can check out from the school library by filling out the Parental Choice Library Book Restriction Form. Restrictions from middle school are no longer valid. A new form must be filled out and returned to the high school to meet new state requirements.” | |
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Medication Given in School
Per school board policy, all medications must be brought into the clinic by a parent/guardian, not the student and requires the Medication Authorization Form to be completed (see below). Please include a Medical Management Plan if applicable (see below).
New bottles must be brought in by parents for each refill. Medication cannot be given from an old bottle.
All medication must be in their original containers, labeled with the student’s name, dosage, frequency of administration and physician’s name.
Medication should not be transported between home and school daily. Separate containers should be kept at home and at school.
Parents will be responsible for delivery and retrieval of medication to and from the school nurse.
Student Authorization to Self-Carry Medication
Per Florida Statue 1002.20, The Medication Authorization Form allows the student to carry their own emergency medication (Epinephrine Pen, Auvi Q, Glucagon or Inhaler) if and only if the parent and physician sign in the Florida Statute box on the Med Auth Form. This form must be returned to the school nurse before the student is allowed to carry prescribed self-administered medications.
Over the counter medications may be taken/given at school. They must be in the original container and be within the current expiration date. Please complete an Over-the Counter Form found below.
If you have any questions regarding medication to be taken/given at school, please contact Mrs. Parrey, RN, at 904-547-8672 or Rosemary.Parrey@stjohns.k12.fl.us. Additional medical forms can be found on our website under Clinic.
Medication-Authorization-form-
Allergy MMP2023-2024
Asthma-Medical-Management-Plan-MMP (2)
Over-the-Counter-Non-Medical-Form (1)
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The FFAA (Bright Futures) Application is now open. The FAFSA is scheduled to open at some point in December. Click here for more information on changes to the FAFSA and the reason for the delay in release. Please be mindful, that you must complete these applications in order to be evaluated for postsecondary financial aid eligibility.* | |
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All Senior YBK Dedication / ADS:
Please go to:
www.Yearbookordercenter.com
School Code: 15723
Complete directions for ADs
Full Page: $300; ½ Page: $200; ¼ page: $100
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All yearbooks: Price goes to $85 on 2/1/24
A Coupon code to save $10 starting 2/1/24 is: FALCONS
Please order at: www.yearbookordercenter.com
School Code: 15723
Supplies are limited.
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The Spanish Club is collecting gently used eyeglasses as part of the Lions Clubs International eyeglasses recycling program.
Please help us contribute to this wonderful, worldwide program by bringing gently used eyeglasses that you don´t need any longer. Nonprescription sunglasses and over the counter reading glasses are very appreciated as well.
Look for the yellow collection boxes in the Media Center and the Guidance office.
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The Menendez Athletic Department utilizes an online paperless registration system, AthleticClearance.com. The registration process is attached. Additional Menendez Athletics information, including coaches’ contact information, can be found at www-pmhs.stjohns.k12.fl.us/athletics/. Our expectation is that every athlete will be registered by their parent/guardian before their desired sport’s start date.
Athletic Clearance Instructions
Please ensure the following when completing the online process:
1. Student ID should be entered WITHOUT a preceding “S”. Numeric ID only!
2. Scan and upload physical as ONE document.
3. Ensure that student information is complete on page 4 of the physical (EL2).
4. Ensure that the MD has checked “Medically eligible for all sports without restriction” AND signed and dated page 4 of the physical.
5. Ensure that student and parent signature/date is completed on bottom of page 4 of the physical.
The only type of physical we accept is the FHSAA EL2 physical form. The updated physical form is 4 pages. Starting the 23-24 school year, the old EL2 form WILL NOT be accepted.
Please keep in mind that the FHSAA requires all student athletes to view free video courses on concussions, heat illness, and sudden cardiac arrest (see instructions below). Signatures on the EL3 form indicate that your athlete has completed these three video courses. The FHSAA also requires that all student athletes have at least a 2.0 unweighted GPA to be eligible for participation.
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Fall Sports Start Date - 7/31/23
Bowling
Cross Country - Boys
Cross Country - Girls
Dance
Football
Golf- Boys
Golf - Girls
Swim
Girls VB
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Falcon Pride Store
Baker’s Sports has an online store open again for Menendez Merch. Click the link below to see what’s available. Ships Directly to your house.
https://bakerssport-falconpride.itemorder.com/
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Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for (audience)? Why should they care (benefit)? What do I want them to do (call-to-action)?
Create a great offer by adding words like "free," "personalized," "complimentary," or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take action, so consider inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining!"
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Looking to get your Learner’s Permit? Sign up for the Driver Education Program at Pedro Menendez High School. The program consists of classroom lecture designed to assist a student preparing to obtain a Learner Permit. The classes will be conducted prior to school from 8am-9am for a total of 10 consecutive school days. On the last day, students will be administered the Learner Permit Knowledge Exam that is required to obtain a Learner Permit. Parents may sign up by visiting the Tax Collector website and clicking on resources, or there is a link to driver ed on your school’s home page. Students may take this course if they are at least 14 ½, to prepare for a learner license that may be obtained at 15 years old. The cost is only 30.00, and that includes the DMV Test on the last day. Please see Mr. Tisdale in Portable 2 for more information. | |
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Solar Eclipse
A total solar eclipse—an event that occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun— will occur on April 8th. Here in Northeast Florida, the eclipse will begin at approximately 1:48 PM, and will reach its maximum at 3:05 PM. Due to our geographic location, the sun will only be about 70% eclipsed at its maximum, which means the sun may only appear slightly dimmer than usual.
It is not safe to look directly at the sun without specialized eye protection for this event. Here are some safety tips for viewing the Total Solar Eclipse:
• Only look at the sun through certified eclipse glasses which can be purchased online or a handheld solar viewer at any point during the eclipse. The following website provides information on selecting and using eclipse glasses: https://preventblindness.org/solareclipse-glasses/.
• If you are planning to go outside during the event, you may be outside for an extended period. To prevent skin damage, sunscreen, a hat, and protective clothing are recommended.
Suggested Resources: • 2024 Total Solar Eclipse (NASA): https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/futureeclipses/eclipse-2024/ • NASA’s 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Broadcast (NASA): https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14520 • "What is a solar eclipse?" (NASA lesson): What is a Solar Eclipse? | MyNASAData
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Each year St. Johns County School District updates and revises the Student Code of Conduct. We would like your thoughts and suggestions during this process. Please take a few minutes to complete the Student Code of Conduct Survey to help us prepare the 2024 Student Code of Conduct. The survey will remain open until April 1, 2024.
It would be helpful to you if you have a copy of the current Code of Conduct with you as you respond to these questions. View the current Student Code of Conduct.
Thank you for your feedback,
St. Johns County School District
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600 State Road 206 West
St. Augustine, FL 32086
Main: (904) 547-8660
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