And we're off!...

The 2021-2022 school year has officially been launched, and we couldn't be happier or more excited to welcome our students back to full in-person learning! As I shared in my summer letter that went out to families last month, I hope that each of you have had a splendid summer and that the transition to getting your student back into school mode, has been a smooth and successful one for you.

Our biggest hurdle as we launched this school year has been the road construction along S. College Avenue. Thank you for your patience as you've navigated these delays and impacts, which we hope will wrap up sometime soon.

In case you missed these videos we sent out before school started, here are two short helpful videos for Parent Drop-Off/Pick-Up, and for Student Drivers Parking on site.

The construction crews have been busy all summer, and it was so wonderful to see our ASB student leaders show some gratitude for their long and hard work under the scorching sun this past August. Our student leaders brought out to the workers iced drinks and snacks and made signs thanking them for their work. This show of kindness is another example of how awesome our students are, and the kind of people we strive to create with our focus on the Five Pillars of Character.

In this edition of the Hawks Happenings monthly newsletter, we'll share some information on our August Teacher Professional Development days, welcome you to our new Hawks staff joining the family, share with you some Gesa Credit Union partnership updates, provide you with updated Attendance laws and information, and much more.

Take care and Go Hawks!

Robert Aguilar, Principal

As a Principal, every August is such an exciting time as we get to engage our teachers and staffs in new learnings so they can become the very best teachers for our students! We know that teaching is an incredibly challenging, nuanced, and rewarding craft. Our teachers love to learn, and we hope that rubs off on our students in every conversation and interaction we have with them!

This year, we invited some senior students to participate in a Student Panel, led by our Assistant Principal Ms. Bryant, to share their experiences of high school so far with our teachers. We asked them to help us grow as educators, and got feedback and perspective from the very students we are here to serve. Their kindness and desire "not to hurt our feelings" combined with really honest and insightful reflections gave us the space to learn directly from the kids.

Information on our fall Open House will be sent out to families as soon as we can. We are likely to have a Virtual Format for ALL families, and perhaps, an opportunity for smaller groups of grade level families to come into the building to meet with their student's teachers. Please stay tuned.

Our athletics and club activities are active on social media. Follow us on Instagram at "cphshawks_athletics". We have many clubs and groups with similar Instagram handles. You'll see them by typing in cphshawks_

We will also post regularly on our district and athletics Facebook pages. You can find us by searching College Place Public Schools #250 on Facebook.

Our Gesa Branch Student Manager for the 2021-2022 school year is Merelin Ramirez. This summer, Merelin attended the Gesa Partnership Luncheon accompanied by Ms. Hill, our amazing Culinary teacher, and accepted on behalf of College Place Public Schools, a check for over $8,000.00. The funds help us support FBLA and other school wide endeavors, and we really appreciate the great partnership that we have with Gesa. Stay tuned for more information about opening up Gesa school accounts which we will kick-off in back to school promotions, shortly.

1 - Our Parent Advisory Council is a group composed of diverse representatives of parents from within College Place High School. This team was formed to provide the building principals insights, perspective, guidance, and/or wisdom on various topics brought to the team by the administration. We are always looking for more interested parents to join. If interested, please email me at raguilar@cpps.org.

2 - Another way to stay involved with College Place High School, is as a member of our awesome College Place Public Schools Boosters. For information on joining our Boosters program, please visit the “College Place Booster Club” Facebook page.

3 - We also have a Spanish speaking parent group called “Natural Leaders”. Natural Leaders is a group of parents representing our Spanish-speaking community to strengthen the partnership between College Place High School and our Latino families. Natural Leaders brings parents to the table with the question of "What can the school do to support our families?". If you are interested in joining, please call the main office at 509-522-3312.

Each year, CPHS sends out an updated attendance informational letter to our families in College Place. Here is the 2021-2022 CPHS Attendance Informational Letter for this school year. It includes updates to new attendance laws and impacts to students and our school.

We are deploying our 1:1 devices for students on Thursday, September 2nd. Students will be given a Chromebook or laptop for the school year. Please help your student remember to charge their device overnight, and to bring it and their charger in their backpacks to school everyday!

There are several opportunities for employment here at College Place Public Schools! Please visit our Job Openings page to learn more, and help us spread the word!

College Place High School contact information and ways to reach us.

Email: raguilar@cpps.org
Website: https://www.cpps.org/o/high-school
Location: 1755 South College Avenue, College Place, WA, USA
Phone: (509) 522-3312
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CollegePlaceSchoolDistrict/