Northstar Nation Updates

October 3, 2023 - Financial Aid Fact Night and College/Trades Fair

October 4, 2023 - Activities Fair

October 6, 2023 - Paige's Pajamarama, Senior Picture, Hype Rally, Homecoming

October 6, 2023 - End of 5-weeks

October 13, 2023 - 5-week reports available on School Tool

October 18, 2023 - BiMas universal screener and Homeroom

November 9, 2023 - End of 1st Quarter

November 17, 2023 - 1st Quarter report cards available on School Tool

Parents and students, we need your help. We cannot and will not accept any more food deliveries at security. Deliveries compromise the safety and security of the building. All food deliveries will be turned away as of Monday, October 2nd.

Please remember, one breakfast and one lunch are free for every student this school year.

We have put some new guidelines in place for home football games:

• clutch purses and clear bags are allowed.
• no bags (bookbags, stringbags, purses, fanny packs, crossbody bags are included). Any person carrying a bag of any kind will be refused entry.
• diaper bags and medically necessary bags will be searched.
• we will have an increase law enforcement and staff presence.
• middle and elementary school students must be accompanied by a parent/guardian and must be seated with them at all times.
• all tickets are online, no cash-www.cnsathletics.com

We appreciate everyone's assistance moving forward.

Extra help is available every morning at CNS from 7:15am - 7:30am. Below are the locations for extra help.

English - room 214

Living Environment - room 269

Earth Science - room 272

Chemistry - room 277

Social Studies - room 114

French - room 304

Spanish - room 303

Math - room 309

Spirit Week will be Monday October 2nd - Friday October 6th! We are very excited to announce our daily themes. Our students completed a survery and the top themes were chosen.

Monday, October 2nd - Neon

Tuesday, October 3rd - Adam Sandler Day

Wednesday, October 4th - Barbienheimer

Thursday, October 5th - Halloween-masks or face paint are not permitted

Friday, October 6th - Pajama day!

Our Financial Aid Fact Night and College/Trades fair will be held on Tuesday, October 3rd. This will begin with a financial aid presentation from 5:30pm - 7:00pm in the auditorium, followed by the college/trades fair from 6:30pm - 8:00pm in the large gym.

Our Annual Financial Aid Night is Tuesday, Oct. 3rd from 5:30-7pm. Cathy Hill, Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Syracuse University will be presenting the basics of financial aid. She will answer questions such as: What is financial aid, types of financial aid, how is financial need determined, what does cost of attendance mean, what is the student aid index, how do I apply for financial aid, and what are special circumstances that affect financial aid. Mrs. Hill will stay from 6:30-7pm to answer individual questions and parents will be given a copy of her Financial Aid PowerPoint to take notes on along with Cathy Hill’s email address for future questions.

This year we will have over 70 colleges and universities in and outside of New York along with 10 trades being represented. No registration is required to attend this event.

We will have our yearly activity fair during lunches on Wednesday, October 4th. We will showcase all of the activities we have available to students to join. The fair will take place in the multipurpose room and students can sign up for activities that interest them. This is a great opportunity for students to get involved!

Since 2018, the Cicero-North Syracuse High School Principal’s Cabinet has been building a strong community partnership with Paige's Butterfly Run, Inc. First supporting Paige’s annual Pajamarama event that year, the school has worked to increase support each year since. In 2021 the Principal's Cabinet received recognition for their outstanding philanthropy.

In 2019, C-NS High School and the North Syracuse Central School District partnered with Liverpool High School and that school district in a Pajamarama competition to see who could raise more money for Paige’s. The event that year earned C-NS High School the designation of “Pajamarama Headquarters” according to Chris Arnold, the CEO of Paige's Butterfly Run, Inc.

In the years since the original competition, additional school districts in Central New York have opted to join in the fundraising fun. In 2020 and 2021, the West Genesee CSD joined North Syracuse CSD to form the Star Alliance while Fayetteville-Manlius CSD joined the Liverpool CSD to create the Warrior Alliance. Last year, two more districts – Baldwinsville and the East Syracuse Minoa (ESM) CSD joined the Pajamarama competition with Baldwinsville as part of the Star Alliance and ESM as part of the Warrior Alliance. This year the alliance has again grown with Jordan Elbridge as part of the Star Alliance and Phoenix as part of the Warrior Alliance.

Jennifer Huntley, Director of Development for Paige's Butterfly Run Inc. spoke about the addition saying, ""We are thrilled to have additional schools joining in this years' friendly battle. Not only do these Paige's Pajamaramas raise critical funding to help pediatric cancer patients and their families in our community, they help bring awareness to the need for our mission. We are so very thankful to Melissa Palmissano of the Cicero-North Syracuse School District for spearheading the competition and for all of those in education throughout Central New York who join in making this annual event an incredible success."

Pajamarama will take place on the same day, Friday, October 6, for all eight school districts. All schools in the NSCSD will participate in Pajamarama on that day. Students are encouraged to wear their pajamas to school on October 6 when bringing in a donation for Paige’s Butterfly Run, Inc.

Online donations can also be made by going to https://form-renderer-app.donorperfect.io/give/pbr-cnscsdpajamarama to support Cicero-North Syracuse High School and the North Syracuse Central School District as part of the Star Alliance.

We will be having a Hype Rally on Friday, October 6th in the morning. We will show case our co-curricluar activities and fall sports.

On Friday, October 6th, students will be released 15 minutes earlier at 10:11am so we can test our annual Early Dismissal Plan.

Even if your child chooses to bring their own lunch, or goes to a school where all students receive free lunch, filling out the form is very important! It ensures that your school gets all of the funding and benefits available to support teachers and students. In addition, even if your child does not eat school lunch, students who qualify for free lunch also can receive other benefits like:
Discounts for your family on utilities and internet service
Reduced fees for SAT and ACT tests and college applications
Reduced College Application Fees

Is the Information I Submit Confidential?
The information you submit on the Free and Reduced application cannot be shared by the Food Service Department.
Personal information submitted on the form is not shared with the state or federal government: only the number of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch is shared.
Principals and teachers are not told which students qualify for free or reduced lunch benefits.
NSCSD does not share information with other organizations that provide benefits. But if your child does qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, you may use the eligibility form provided by NSCSD to qualify for other benefits through providers like Spectrum Cable and National Grid.

Application: https://www.nscsd.org/tfiles/folder1211/Application%2023-24.pdf

CNS is continuing the weekend snack pack program this year! The bags are sent home discreetly every Friday and contain non-perishable food items. If you are interested in receiving a snack pack for your child, please reach out to their school counselor.

House One Counselors:

Ms. Scott, secretary - (315) 218-4107

Ms. Mack - smack1@nscsd.org - (315) 218-4126

Ms. Heffron - sheffron@nscsd.org - (315) 218-4120

Ms. Nappi - cnappi@nscsd.org - (315) 218-4127

House Two Counselors:

Ms. Feidt, secretary - (315) 218-4207

Mr. Breindel - ebreindel@nscsd.org - (315) 218-4214

Ms. Kwilos - ckwilos@nscsd.org - (315) 218-4212

Ms. Scarcella - mscarcella@nscsd.org - (315) 218-4211

House Three Counselors:

Ms. Frey, secretary - (315) 218-4307

Ms. Catera - scatera@nscsd.org - (315) 218-4312

Ms. Murphy - dmurphy@nscsd.org - (315) 218-4311

Ms. Wilson - awilson@nscsd.org - (315) 218-4203

In our continuing efforts to support the well-being of all our students, we will be administering a universal assessment of social, emotional and behavioral health this fall and spring to all
10th and 11th graders. The assessment consists of a brief rating scale that is going to be completed by your student’s classroom teacher. In addition, students over age 12 may complete a self-rating. Together, this information helps us to understand the needs of all our students and make effective plans at the whole school, class, and individual level. We are always working to support the needs of our school community, including school-wide programs such as positive behavioral interventions and supports and our social-emotional learning curriculum. It is important that your child feel that academic learning is their focus at school and that the adults they work with each day are doing all they can to create a safe and supportive environment.

If you would like more information about the universal assessment and the other supports we have at our school, please call Kimberly Rice, C-NS Interim House 3 Principal. There is also the option we present to all families for their child not to participate in the screener. If that is your choice, you can request to opt-out by contacting the main office

at C-NS High School at (315) 218-4002. Deadline to opt-out is Friday, October 13, 2023.

This year, one of our goals at CNS is to improve our graduation rate by increasing our overall attendance rate. During the 2022-2023 school year, our overall chronic absenteeism rate was 29.4%. That means approximately 530 students were absent 18 times or more throughout the year!!

Students who are having difficulties getting to school can expect parent phone calls home, attendance letters, parent/teacher conference requests, home visits.

There are significant benefits from on-time school attendance:

• sleeping and eating patters are stabilized with good effects on health.
• A predictable schedule builds the child's confidence at home and school.
• Children know what to expect in the classroom because they were there the previous day.
• Children recognize they are part of a community;their peers and teacher expect and include them and miss them when they are gone.
• Ongoing, extended conversations and learning are able to be built upon.
• Children learn to increasingly control their emotions simply by being in a consistent environment and on schedule every day.
• Teachers spend less time "catching them up" and more time building on what they learned the day before.

Important Times:

7:15 - 7:30: Student arrival

7:35: Instruction begins

2:00: Dismissal

2:10 - 3:00: Extra help after school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Attention Juniors! Applications are still available if you would like to be part of the Class of 2025 Executive Board. This Board will be making decisions for the Junior Prom as well as other Junior Class activities. Applications are due back by October 2nd to room 113. If you have questions, please see Dr. Reed (113) or Mrs. Leach (007).

Save the Date: The Class of 2025 Junior Prom is on May 17th from 7-11 pm at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center. Tickets will be on sale in April. Stay tuned for details.....

Yearbooks cost $70 now until December 31st. If you want to pay CASH or CHECK students can go to room 318 before school until December 21st.

If you would like to pay by CREDIT CARD, go to www.balfour.com

The price of the yearbook will increase on January 1st.

Please do not rely on there being extra yearbooks to purchase at the end of the year. We do not hold them for seniors or anyone specifically, they are sold on a first come, first served basis and when they are gone, they are gone. Your best bet is to order them during the pre-sale period.

IF YOU WANT TO SAVE TIME AND MONEY, senior yearbook portraits will be taken by Upstate Images for free, and they are booking sessions now for their new studio location in the plaza next to CNS. Of course, you may also purchase one of their professional portrait packages if you so choose. (see the attached page from Upstate Images) For anyone who is unable to schedule a portrait session before autumn, Upstate Images will be coming to CNS Monday 10/23 through Friday 10/27 to take the remaining senior portraits.

If you want to have your photo taken with a professional photographer other than Upstate Images, THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT YOUR PORTRAIT IS OCTOBER 2nd. If your senior portrait is not submitted by the October 2nd deadline, you will still be able to have it taken by Upstate Images in school in October.

In order for Balfour, our yearbook publisher, to achieve strong reproductions, the photographs are required to be of professional quality. While we want to offer you flexibility in choosing your senior portrait photographer, we also need to maintain the consistency in quality. If you choose to go to a different professional photographer, these are the requirements that your photographer is required to follow:

- Photos must be in color

- Your photographer should use standard blue/grey background

- No backlighting or special effects

- NO props, hats, cats (or any other pets) in the photos

- NO photos from cell phones and no candid photos

- Must be a .jpg format at 300 dpi

- Your photo file must be saved with the file name: Last Name_First Name (example: Doe_John).

- You must submit your photo file to Dropbox using the following link or click the GREEN BUTTON below:

https://www.dropbox.com/request/YoQbhIwQk4iGQrx8SvzC Be sure to give your photographer this link or code!

* If UPSTATE IMAGES is taking your portrait, they will take care of submitting your portrait and therefore, you do not have to submit it.

GIVE THESE REQUIREMENTS TO YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER IF YOU DO NOT USE UPSTATE IMAGES

It is the responsibility of the senior to make sure the photographer (if you use one other than Upstate Images) has the link above so he/she can submit the photo to CNS Yearbook. Also, it is the responsibility of the senior to check to see if their portrait was received by CNS Yearbook.

You can get as many casual shots for your own personal use with your photographer; however, we require the traditional head and shoulders portrait for the senior section of the yearbook. If there is space, we may include a section for the non-traditional shots like standing by a car or a fountain, etc. for you to submit in addition to your portrait, but that all depends on the available space in the yearbook.

Once again, we will be providing senior portrait sessions for you with Upstate Images. If you do not attend the spring/summer portrait sessions with Upstate Images, you will be able to sign up with your English teachers for the in-school photo session as the date approaches. Again, this is a FREE service and is provided to give you a high-quality portrait, which will be unified with the rest of the senior portraits in the yearbook, but you may also purchase a photo package if you choose.

To submit senior picture, click here: https://sites.google.com/a/nscsd.org/cns-yearbook/senior-pictures

The senior clothing sale store will reopen at the end of October with some new items added. Information will be on our class website and messages will be sent through Parent Square when the store officially opens.

There will be one final fundraiser this fall for our seniors. This will be our last effort to cut costs for all senior events this year. Information will be on our website and announcements will be sent out through our Google Classroom page, Parent Square, and morning announcements.

Finally, our bottle and can fundraiser continues until the end of the year in June. Bring any bottles and cans from home to the Cicero Bottle and Can Return at 6195 Route 31 (plaza behind Walgreens near the high school). This ongoing fundraiser has already earned the class $1000 which is put towards class expenses.

Information for Seniors:

• The School Counselors presented to the senior English classes on Sept. 13th & 14th to discuss applying to colleges, making an account on the Common Application, and using their Scoir account for searching for careers and/or colleges. Each senior was given a Cheat Sheet for College Applications that lists step by step going through the Common Application and the application process so they can get started on their applications.
• Starting Sept. 19th the School Counselors are meeting individually with each of their seniors to discuss their specific post-secondary plans whether they will be going into the workforce, military, trade school, or some kind of college. Each senior will be given a senior packet (it is on blue paper) that the counselor will review with each senior about their anticipated diploma, how many credits they have & need, required courses and/or regents exams needed, and their future plans. The rest of the packet has information regarding step by step instructions on the college application process, tasks to be completed in Scoir, information regarding SAT/ACT dates, financial aid websites and dates, and where to look for scholarship information.
• C-NS’ Annual College/Trades Fair and Financial Aid Night on Oct. 3rd. See attached information regarding this night!
• The Counseling Dept. has How To videos on our website to help with the common app and with searching for scholarships.
• 4-year college applications are due to be submitted to colleges by Friday, Nov. 17th. Please make sure to check for earlier deadlines if applying Early Action or Early Decision. 2-year and Community College applications are due to be submitted to the colleges by Dec. 21st.
• Seniors planning to go into the workforce should put their resume together. The Career Center will assist them if they need some help.
• Seniors interested in serving in the military, should check the Career Center website for the calendar of our military visits. Military representatives will be down in Cafeteria 1 in the Student Center for any students who are looking for information.
• Scholarships can be found on the Career Center website under Scholarships. Seniors should be checking that list weekly for new scholarships being added throughout the year. Make sure to keep an eye out for the Dollars For Scholars Scholarship!!

Information for Juniors:

• C-NS’ Annual College/Trades Fair and Financial Aid Night on Oct. 3rd. See attached information regarding this night!
• Juniors interested in serving in the military, should check the Career Center website for the calendar of our military visits. Military representatives will be down in Cafeteria 1 in the Student Center for any students who are looking for information.
• Scoir is a web-based career and college searching tool that we have all our students use. If you student has not logged in yet, have them touch base with their counselor and we can re-invite them to set up their account. Right on the first page of Scoir, there is a link to ‘Discover best fit careers for you’ just click on the Your Assessments button. Students can click on both the PrinciplesYou Assessment and the Career Interest Assessment. Both will help discover careers that are a good fit for your student based on their interests, talents, personality, and tendencies. This is a good place to start exploring career options for after high school. If college is needed for their career interests, then students will then click on the Discover tab from the Home screen to search for colleges based on major, location, size of college, sports/clubs, etc.
• PSAT is Oct. 14th at C-NS H.S. This is just a practice SAT for students to experience taking an exam like this Registration is closed at this point. If you were not able to register for this PSAT, no problem, go to www.collegeboard.org and there are practice materials on the website through Khan Academy.

Information for Sophomores:

• Entering a new building is a big transition – each student has a school counselor who will be with them for the three years they are at C-NS H.S. The School Counselors had a short introduction to their 10th graders in a large group on the first day of school, and through the Fall we will be slowly working through trying to meet them individually. We are their support system in the building. School Counselors will meet with students for counseling sessions when needed, to listen when needed, give advice when needed, be a resource, and be a support to help our students succeed throughout high school, graduation, and beyond. We want to work with you these next 3 years, please feel free to contact us! (see our alpha split and contact info below)

College/Trades Fair and Financial Aid Night!

• C-NS H.S. Auditorium/Large Gym
• Tuesday, 10/3/23 5:30-8pm
• Financial Aid Presentation – 5:30-6:45pm – Auditorium – Presenter: Cathy Hill, Assistant Director Financial Aid at Syracuse University
• College/Trades Fair – 6:30-8pm – Large Gym – 80 colleges and 10 Trades represented. Full listing on C-NS Career Center webpage, https://sites.google.com/nscsd.org/cnscareercenter/college-visitsfairs-information

• In person college visits have begun and will continue throughout the fall months held in the Career Center at 10:45am and 11:45am. These visits will be 30 minutes each. Students can sign up in the Career Center and through their SCOIR accounts. The schedule can be found on the Career Center website.
• In person military visits are scheduled Mondays through Thursdays. These visits take place during lunches in the Student Center in cafeteria 1. The schedule is posted on the Career Center website.
• The CNS College and Trades Fair is scheduled for the evening of October 3rd, 6:30PM to 8:00PM in the CNS Large Gym. Find the current list on the Career Center website.
• The CNS Job Shadow Program begins October 1st and will run through April. See the Career Center website for more information.
• The ASVAB Career Exploration Assessment Program will be available to all CNS students on October 17 at 8:00AM and October 18 at 11:45AM in the CAREER CENTER. Students can register for ONE of the dates by stopping by the Career Center or emailing Mrs. Deaver at edeaver@nscsd.org. More information about the assessment can be found on the Career Center website under CURRENT EVENTS or check out the programs website at www.asvabprogram.com.
• The Career Center is sponsoring a field trip to Onondaga Community College’s Open House for SENIORS and JUNIORS, on Friday, October 20TH. Permission slips are available in the Career Center and will be on a first come; first serve basis.
• Check out the Career Center website for the Virtual Career Presentation Series, schedules, events, resources and more for your CNS student! https://sites.google.com/nscsd.org/cnscareercenter/home .