FHS Parent Weekly Update for 9/27/19

Posted on: September 27, 2019 12:00 pm

9/27/19

We have another tremendous week at FHS. Homecoming 2019 thus far has been so much fun, and we are so proud of the high quality behavior from our students at all of our Homecoming events. We will wrap up Homecoming with our Pep Rally later today, as well as our Homecoming Dance tomorrow from 8-11 pm in the FHS Gymnasium. Only tickets for FHS students will be sold at the door. If your student intends on bringing a guest from another school, they must have a guest form AND purchase tickets TODAY by 3pm.

FHS Safety Drill Tuesday October 1st:

Hopefully everyone received a copy of the Parent Letter sent home on Tuesday September 24th about our All-Day Safety Drill scheduled for Tuesday October 1st. This was also sent out on Social Media, the FCS Website, and shared with a Blackboard Connect message. If you by chance missed it, here is a link to the letter:

FHS October 1st Safety Drill Parent Letter.

We understand and appreciate some of our parents and students have questions and concerns about this drill, so we will be hosting a Parent Safety Meeting on Monday September 30th at 7pm in the FHS Auditorium. Building and District Administration will be in attendance, as well as representatives from the Franklin Police Department and Franklin Fire Department.

Start With Hello:

This coming week, in conjunction with our safety drill, we kick off National Start With Hello Week. Start With Hello is a program that raises awareness and educates students about social isolation with the goal of creating a culture of inclusion and connectedness at our school. This program is part of the Sandy Hook Promise organization, started by parents in response to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. We will have activities and discussions throughout the week addressing this issue. On Monday, students and staff are asked to wear green to honor victims of school violence. On Thursday, students and staff are asked to wear an item of clothing displaying something valuable or important to them. We will be doing an activity around this. By the end of the week we hope that students feel more comfortable reaching out to others and have made some new connections.

SWH_ParentBrochure_1-21.pdf

Registration Gateway: Many FHS Parents have not updated their student(s) information in Registration Gateway. If you have not done so already, please log-in at Registration Gateway at https://update.franklincityschools.com/.

Your child's student ID# in the username and the Mother's maiden name and student's year of birth is the password.
With field trips starting, if a student's information has not been updated and saved in Registration Gateway he/she will be ineligible to attend field trips.
Parent/guardian contact and medical information must be current for emergency situations.

Change of address or a change in custody/guardian will require proper documentation to be taken to the Welcome Center at @ 150 E. 6th Street in order complete and save your information.

If you are unable to log in to Registration Gateway please contact the High School office at 937-743-8611. The deadline to complete beginning of year paperwork has expired, so please make this a priority!

Monday September 30th-Friday October 4th, 2019

Upcoming Weekly Events ~ Homecoming week
Monday 9/23/19	Advisory Schedule Start with Hello Week Wear Green to Kick Off Start With Hello Week! Parent Safety Meeting 7pm in FHS Auditorium
Tuesday 9/24/19	Modified Bell Schedule for School Safety Drill Start with Hello Week Senior Cap and Gown Orders at Lunch in Lobby
Wednesday 9/25/19	Advisory Schedule Start with Hello Week Senior Cap and Gown Orders at Lunch in Lobby
Thursday 9/26/19	Advisory Schedule Start with Hello Week
Friday 9/27/19	Advisory Schedule Start with Hello Week
Quick Reminders	1st Quarter Ends Friday October 17th No School Friday October 18th and Monday October 21st

R.O.A.R. PRIDE:

As we kick-off the 2019-2020 school year, we have several exciting things happening here at Franklin High School. One of the many new things we are introducing to our building this year is a PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention & Supports) plan. The entire concept of PBIS is to provide students additional social, emotional, and behavioral support. Often times, this support manifests itself in providing students with as many positive interactions, experiences, and opportunities as possible. To help with this process, our PBIS committee, along with input and feedback from students and staff, created a PBIS matrix. The purpose of the matrix is to establish a common language throughout our building with regards to our behavior expectations for students. As you will find, all of the wording within the matrix is positive and fosters healthy relationships among everyone in our building. With that being said, our PBIS slogan is R.O.A.R. PRIDE! Each letter of R.O.A.R represents a word that we believe is a fundamental pillar of success. R (Respect) O (Ownership) A (Attitude) R (Responsibility). R.O.A.R. is followed by PRIDE emphasize to our students the importance of taking pride in everything they do. Lastly, we wanted to preserve our time-honored traditions and values by reminding students of the fact that they’re Once A Wildcat, Always A Wildcat!

Student Attendance and the 2019-2020 School Calendar:

To help families stay organized when planning events, here is a link to the school calendar so you know the days Franklin City Schools are in session:

FCS 2019-2020 School Calendar

Please make every effort to schedule trips, appointments, etc. outside of the school day. Attendance is a key component to students academic success!

School Safety: We are working hard every day to make FHS safe for all stakeholders. Thank you to everyone’s flexibility and patience as we work through the kinks related to our parking and traffic structure at drop-off and dismissal. Included below is a copy of parking lot map to provide a visual for our parking and traffic structure at FHS.

FHS Parking Lot Map

FHS Student Handbook:

Below you will find links to our handbook, and an abbreviated list of changes for the 2019-2020 school year. Please take time to review both of these links, as well as review them with your student(s).

1920 FHS Student Handbook.pdf

FHS Handbook Updates 1920.pdf

Please pay close attention to the changes we have made to how we will address the issue of vapor instruments (a.k.a., vapes, electronic cigarettes, juuls, etc.). The consequences are more strict and they can be found on page 15 of the student handbook. These documents have also been shared with students via email, reviewed during Advisory, and are posted on the Franklin City School Website: FHS Student Handbook for 2019-2020

Follow FHS Administration Social Media Outlets:

Facebook: AdminsFHS
Instagram: @adminsfhs
Twitter: @AdminsFHS

We are using all of these social media sources as communication tools and a way to communicate with stakeholders.

GUIDANCE UPDATE

Friday, September 27

Please encourage your student to check their Franklin email on a daily basis. Important information is relayed to them via email and we don’t want them to miss any opportunities.

Seniors: Counselors have been working to meet with each senior individually to review graduation information and discuss future plans. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) opens on October 1. All college-bound seniors will want to fill out the FAFSA with their parents, the earlier the better. We will host a FAFSA Night for students and parents in October. The counselors will also hold Naviance parties during Advisory for students who need help filling out college applications, requesting transcripts, requesting letters of recommendations, etc - Naviance Party dates: October 1 and November 12.

Juniors: The counselors held a Junior class meeting during Advisory last week. Juniors received information about the PSAT (optional, first come/first served), the ACT, college visits, college fairs, Naviance, community service, etc. Students also received a copy of his/her current transcript. Registration for the PSAT is going on now. Students must register and pay $17 in the Guidance by October 11.

Advanced Placement (AP) Testing: Registration forms for AP testing will go home in students’ AP class next week. Forms and money are due to the Guidance Office by November 1.

Advisory: Social Emotional Learning will take place at least once a week in Advisory (25 minute period). Students will learn something new every Monday. Next week is Start with Hello week at FHS, sponsored by the Sandy Hook Promise. Students will run through activities every day during Advisory, as well as at lunch. Please click here for more information - https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/startwithhelloweek. The rest of the month of October will focus on test anxiety and time management.

**If you have any questions for the guidance staff, please contact your child’s counselor.

Students with last names starting with A-K, please contact Kelly Sells at ksells@franklincityschools.com, and students with last names starting with L-Z, contact Haley Arlinghaus at harlinghaus@franklincityschools.com.

UPCOMING COLLEGE VISITS

(all visits 9:00 am during advisory)

Northern Kentucky University – Oct. 7

University of Mount Union – Oct. 7

University of Cincinnati – Oct. 8

Miami University, Regionals – Oct. 8

Wright State University – Oct. 10

Earlham University – Oct. 15

Ohio Northern University – Oct. 15

University of Toledo – Oct. 16

Muskingum University – Oct. 17

Saint Mary’s College – Oct. 17

Miami University, Oxford – Oct. 22

Kent State University – Oct. 28

Seniors & Juniors may attend these in-school visits

From the FCS Department of Technology:

It has come to our attention that some students are frustrated with the level of web-filtering on their student machines. The district's web filtering system is called SecURLy. Web filtering is a mandatory federal requirement for schools. It is tied to several funding sources that we receive. Franklin City Schools utilizes the Southwest Ohio Computer Association (SWOCA) as our Internet provider (also called our ITC). We (through SWOCA) have partnered with SecURLy to provide this required web-filtering.

While we appreciate your communication and understand your frustration, the Chromebook that you are using belongs to Franklin City Schools. It is district property. There are circumstances where we may need to adjust our levels of filtering for various reasons. Please refrain from emailing the department of technology with your frustrations. They will not be responding to these emails. ~FCS Technology Department

Mental Health Support: Warren County has support for students and families dealing with issues related to mental health and addiction. Sometimes, the first step is the hardest. Below is a link to resources available in Warren County. If you feel you or someone you know is in crisis, please contact the Warren and Clinton County Crisis Hotline at 877-695-NEED (6333). Mental Health Crisis Services - Warren County ESC

Upcoming School Events: (Through Thanksgiving)