February 2, 2015 - Williamson County Schools

Weekly Power Notes
Centennial High School will become nationally recognized as a student-centered, collaborative community
focused on high expectations, rigorous standards, and the development of driven, lifelong learners.
Parent Edition
Power Monday
02/02
SH Teachers-Progress Check
I/E-ACT Enrichment 9, 10, 11th
& counselors passout PSAT
Mon.
Bball @ Glencliff (4:30,6,
7:30)
Standard Schedule
02/03
NAEP Testing in Library
Junior Forum in PAC –7pm
Swim vs Father Ryan 7 pm CPAC
Tues.
Standard Schedule
02/04
CHS Winter College Athletic Signing
Day (after school in PAC);
Theatre Grand Opening Night with
Arts Showcase 7 pm
Wed.
Standard Schedule
02/05
I/E-ACT Enrichment
9th Bbal @ Summit 6 pm
Thurs.
Standard Schedule
02/06
I/E-ACT Enrichment 11th
Bball vs Summit (Senior Night
between games) - 4:30,6,7:30
Fri.
A Look Ahead:
Feb 7: Competition Cheer competes at
Nationals in Orlando! (Best Wishes!)
Feb 9: Power Monday; “Lunch with
Leigh” @ 11 am w/tours at noon
Feb 12: Prom Fashion Show (Activity
Schedule) School Board Work Session
Feb 16: No School; Teacher PD Day;
School Board Meeting
Feb 23: PTSO Meeting 7 pm
March 3: 11th ACT/10th Pareto/ 9th
practice ACT/ 12th Shadow Day
March 5: Rising 9th Night 7 pm (Parents
report to PAC, Students report to Gym)
March 11: End of 3rd Quarter
March 16-20: Spring Break
March 23: School Board Meeting
March 30: PTSO Meeting
April 3: No School; Spring Holiday
April 13-17: Prom Promise Week
April 18: Prom Night
April 20: School Board Meeting
April 21: Shining Apple Award Night;
PTSO Meeting
April 27: CHS Annual Arts Show
April 28: Awards Day; Top Ten Dinner
May 4: AP/EOC Exams Begin
May 9: WilCo ESPY Awards
May 18-21: Exam Week
May 21: 1/2 for Students
May 23: Graduation @ Lipscomb 10
This week in the Cougar Nation:
Performing Arts Center: Our school is hosting a “Grand Opening
Show” showcasing the CHS Fine Arts Departments on Wednesday,
Feb. 4th at 7 pm. We hope you will be able to join us for this fun
night of celebrating the Arts and our new Performing Arts Center.
February 2, 2015
Volume , Issue
on your sports. All are invited to come support Cougar Nation!
“Lunch with Leigh”: On February 9th I invite parents to have
lunch with me on campus, go through the cafeteria lunch line,
and discuss any topics that are on the mind of parents. After
Junior Forum: Now that junior students are looking forward to
our hour of lunch and talk, I will take interested parents
their senior year, planning college visits, and thinking about all
that comes after high school, we host a night called Junior Forum. through the building as we visit classrooms, the WiT Center,
PAC, and other points of interest around campus. This serves
On this night we will have admission representatives from UTK,
Alabama, Vanderbilt, Belmont, MTSU, UTC, and Columbia State to as an informal time to talk about any hot topics that are on
your minds. As I have toured many visitors through our buildprovide Q & A on the college admissions process with junior students and parents. We will allow time at the end of the session for ing over the last several months (WCS Ambassadors, Leadership Franklin, WCS Board Member/County Commissioner Bus
families to meet with individual admissions representatives. This
Tour, Knox County Principals, etc.), I am reminded of all the
should prove to be a very informative evening for all junior famiwonderful things our students are doing within our building.
lies. This will be held on Feb. 3rd in the PAC at 7 pm.
“Lunch with Leigh” will give me a chance to answer questions
ACT Saturday: Students registered for this Saturday’s ACT should for you while sharing these same visitor experience with pararrive no later than 7:30 a.m. at the front office entrances.
ents. We will meet at 11 am for lunch in the front office with
Students should bring their admissions tickets AND valid photo id. school tours beginning at noon.
They should also have their own calculators and fresh batteries.
WCS Students Prepare for TCAP Writing Assessment:
Cell phones should be left at home or in vehicles. To assist students in preparing for this week’s test, we are offering free tutor- Throughout the month of February, Williamson County stuing this week. Here is the URL to sign-up for the free tutoring this dents in grades 3 through 11 will participate in the TCAP
Writing Assessment. In this assessment, students are asked to
week: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f4cacaf28abfd0read grade-level complex texts and then write a constructed
actprep . In case of inclement weather, will post any information
about rescheduling under "Critical News and Information" on the response essay about those texts. Specifically: Students in
grades 3-5 will read two texts and write one essay that is
front page of the website.
either informational/explanatory or opinion about both texts.
Progress Reports: Friday, 2/6/15 is the last day of the 9W3 ProStudents in grades 6-11 will read two texts and write two
gress Report Period. Progress Report grades will post to Parent
essays, one that is informational/explanatory about one text
Access on 2/8/15 at 12:01 AM. Every student should have a grade and a second that is an argument about both texts.
in the 9W3 column and at least one grade in each of the categoThe structure of the TCAP Writing Assessment is similar to
ries utilized prior to grades posting.
what students experienced last year, which had evolved from
Bullying Awareness: Williamson County Schools will host a series previous years to be more like the expected Tennessee Ready
of events to promote awareness around bullying prevention and
ELA assessments in 2015-16. The two texts will include social
to share best practices for prevention with parents and interested studies or science topics in order to provide practice with
community members. Rodger Dinwiddie, Executive Director of
reading informational texts, and student responses are scored
STARS Nashville, will be the featured speaker for each of these
against a rubric addressing four components: development,
events. In addition to heading STARS, Dinwiddie also serves as
focus/organization, language, and conventions. All students
President of the International Bullying Prevention Association.
will take the TCAP Writing Assessment online through the
Next Workshop is February 12: 6:30 – 7: 30 p.m. at Summit High
Measurement Incorporated Secure Testing (MIST) application,
School.
the same one used for the TCAP Writing Assessment last year
Class Registration: Students in grades 9-11 were given their class as well as several online writing activities this year. Although
scores are not part of any student’s grade, parents will still
registration sheets last week. Early this week teachers will sign
receive individual results in late spring or early summer. For
their recommendations. Parents will be asked to sign the course
selection sheet with recommendations and return them to school more information about the TCAP Writing Assessment, please
on Wednesday to I/E classes. If a family wishes to override a class visit the Tennessee Department of Education’s website:
http://www.state.tn.us/education/assessment/
recommendation, override forms may be picked up from the
counseling office. To assist families in selecting the appropriate AP writing_assessment.shtml.
courses, PSAT test results will be passed out to students in I/E on
Credit Recovery: As a reminder, Credit Recovery is open
Monday. We recommend you view the AP night presentation
every day after school until 6 pm. If your child failed a course
materials on this link as well as review the online AP readiness
first semester, we highly recommend beginning credit recovchart linked from your students’ online test results (see PSAT
ery immediately. Credit Recovery is a $50 online program that
handout given to students Monday). See all parent night presenta- allows students to immediately recover lost credit. Students
tions here: http://www.wcs.edu/chs/parents-students/
can stay 2-3 days after school for as little as 45 minutes to
start earning back credits. Remember that WCS awards credit
Cougar Athletic Club Announcement: If you love Cougar Athby semester, so if a student fails a semester of a course, it will
letics, please join us for the next general Cougar Athletic Club
Meeting on Tuesday, February 10th, 2015 in the CHS Media Center need to be recovered. Applications for credit recovery are
available in the counseling office. Have more questions?
at 6:30 p.m. If you have an athlete that is considering pursuing
Please give the school a call and speak to your school counsetheir sport at the collegiate level, you will definitely not want to
lor.
miss Coach Brian Rector’s presentation on navigating the NCAA
Clearinghouse process. In addition, we will talk about pep rallies,
fundraising, ACT Prep, merchandise and branding standards for
our athletes. Team representatives, please come share updates
Daily Student Announcements
2015 Love the Dress 5th Anniversary Event! February 7, 2015 @ 8:00 am - 1:00 pm ; Columbia State Community College ; 104 Claude Yates
Drive, Franklin, TN
Along with the love-the-dress event on February 7th, CHS and cougar crew will be holding a dress drive from January 26-February 5. You can
bring your gently used prom dresses or cocktail dresses to Mrs. O’Connell’s room 203 any time after 7am each morning until February
5th. If you donate a dress your name will be put in a raffle for a chance to win a buy-one-get-one free deal on CHS prom tickets!
Thursday, February 12th is PROM FASHION Day. You don’t want to miss this! More details soon.
Junior Forum is Tuesday, February 3rd at 7:00pm in the new Performing Arts Center. Our guest panel will include admission representatives from UT Knoxville, the University of Alabama, MTSU, Belmont, Vanderbilt, and Columbia State Community College. The panel will
field questions about the college admission process, and we will allow some time at the end of the evening for you to meet with admission reps individually as well. All Juniors and their parents are invited to attend.
This Friday the Global Diversity Council will be selling Krispy Kreme Donuts before school at the front and cafeteria entrances; as well as during lunch periods at the cafeteria entrance. The prices are: $8/dozen, $1/per single doughnut, 3 for $2.00
CHS will host FREE ACT review sessions this week for the February test. Signups will be online at signupgenius.com. Times are 2:45-3:45.
Come and get some extra help and practice before taking the ACT test. Monday, Feb 2—English; Tuesday, Feb 3—Math; Wednesday, Feb
4—Reading; Thursday, Feb 5—Math/Science
Williamson County Schools will host a series of events to promote awareness around bullying prevention and to share best practices for prevention with parents and interested community members. The next workshop is February 12: 6:30 – 7: 30 p.m. at Summit High School.
AP EXAM Registration is coming soon! Registration will be begin on-line February 23 and continue through March 6, 2015. The cost is
$91.00 per exam. A $55.00 late fee per exam will be charged after March 6, 2015 in addition to the $91.00 cost of each exam . Plan
ahead!
LACROSSE 2015 Spring Season is starting! Practice location is Centennial High School. We will be meeting in room 234 for now until the
field is ready. Practices will be Monday - Thursday from 3:30pm until dark (about 5 PM) Please bring your lacrosse equipment! For more
information please contact Coach Bay, [email protected] or Team Coordinator Amy Adams, [email protected]
YEARBOOK NEWS! Thank you to those of you who have purchased a 2015 yearbook! They will be delivered in early May. We ordered several extra copies, and we will continue to sell yearbooks until we run out. You are still able to purchase a yearbook from the website:
www.YearbookOrderCenter.com (enter School Code 373), or you can bring a check for $100 made payable to CHS to Mrs. Holden in
Room 240. Don’t miss out!!
IMPORTANT: Remember to have your parents sign your 2015-16 class choice sheet! You will turn in your class choice sheet to your IE teacher on
Wednesday, February 4
School Counselors Celebrate During National School Counseling Week
Feb. 2–6, 2015
National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), will be celebrated from Feb. 2–6,
2015, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of professional school counselors within U.S. school systems and how students are different as a result of what school counselors do. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school
counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career.
Professional school counselors are certified, experienced educators with a master's degree in guidance and counseling. The combination of their training and experience makes them an integral part of the total educational program. "School counselors work with all
students to remove barriers to learning by addressing students’ academic concerns, career awareness in post-secondary options and
personal/social skills,” said Kwok-Sze Wong, Ed.D., ASCA executive director. “Comprehensive school counseling programs help to increase student achievement and provide a much-needed resource for students, parents, teachers and administrators. School counselors
are integral to student success."
As part of its celebration for National School Counseling Week, Centennial High School will be promoting student and staff awareness
through posters, discussion of school counseling topics on the morning announcements, handing out promotional materials, hosting a
staff appreciation day, and displaying a map with students’ college selection.
Students, staff and administration, parents or community members with specific questions or concerns about school counseling programs should contact the school counselors at their local schools. More general information can also be found on ASCA's website,
www.schoolcounselor.org.