Banks High School Winter Update

Regular attendance is the single most important factor indicating success in high school. Regular attendance is recognized as being present 90% or more in their classes. To reach this level, students should not miss more than one day of school every two weeks. To celebrate those students who have maintained regular attendance so far this year, we hosted a free pizza party for all students in the high school with 90% or better attendance. This happened on Friday before Winter Break. 262 students have 90% or better attendance so far this year, 60 students have 85-90%, and 27 students have 80-85%. A majority of our students have regular or close to regular attendance so far this year, thank you for prioritizing regular attendance at school.

Banks High School will be piloting a new program this year for Sophomore students in advisory classes in February. The program is called Project OTY (Outstanding and Talented Youth). This program will help students develop a roadmap for their future, set goals, and recognize personal strengths. We are excited to start this program with our students to help build plans for their futures and help students start thinking about next steps after high school. If you are a parent of a sophomore student, I encourage you to discuss this with your student.

More information is available at https://www.projectoty.com/education-schools/

On Tuesday, January 16th we will have a presentation called Ending the Silence at the BHS Cafeteria. Please pre-register if you plan to attend. There will be many topics on supporting mental health that will be covered in this free presentation. The QR code links to an Eventbrite page, where people can register for free. Here's a direct link as well: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ending-the-silence-in-banks-oregon-tickets-770658057997

The Banks School District School Board is comprised of five board members. These five community members volunteer their time to help support and direct the Banks School District. They attend monthly meetings, serve on committees, and attend workshops throughout the year. These five people are Ron Frame, Dan Streblow, Corissa Mazurkiewicz, Leslie Sipp, and Will Moore. Thank you board members for your service to our students, staff, and community.

The Oregon Department of Education has extended the waiver of the Essential Skills graduation requirement until the 2027-2028 school year. The Essential Skills graduation requirement meant that students had to demonstrate knowledge and proficiency in Reading, Writing, and Math in order to earn their diploma. The class of 2028 and grades beyond will be required to demonstrate proficiency in Math, Reading, and Writing through state or national standardized tests or local work samples. For the graduating classes of 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027, these students must earn 24 credits in very specific areas to demonstrate their knowledge.

Although passing the state test is not a graduation requirement this year, we are still required by the state to offer state tests to all Juniors this spring. These state test scores provide valuable academic information for our teachers, students and families. These scores are one of the ways to track which skills students have attained and possibly lack in the areas of Math, Science, and Language Arts. We encourage all students to do their best on these tests this spring. State testing in high school is only for 11th grade students and will begin in March and be finished by the end of April. A state testing schedule will be sent to all students and parents soon.

Throughout this year there are several activities that all students at BHS can participate in for School to Career learning opportunities. These activities are sponsored by the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce. A variety of jobs and careers will be spotlighted throughout the school year. Students will be able to meet with industry professionals and ask questions about the field of work, visit local businesses, and sign up for job shadow opportunities. See Mr. Rice or Mrs. Vandecoevering for more information. The next event is on January 18th, and is a Business/Marketing Career Exploration event. All of the activities are free for any student at BHS.

Congratulations to the following students for being selected as the Students of the Quarter for Banks High School. These students were recognized at our fall student recognition assembly. Each of these students were nominated by their teachers for their outstanding academic achievement, positive attitude, citizenship, improvement, and school involvement.

Freshmen - McKay Grossnickle and Maia Levinson

Sophomores - Cole Wilson and Keiauna Prevost

Juniors - Eli Walker and Shaelynn McDonald

Seniors - David Smith and Jocelyn Janececk

We will recognize more students in early February for our next students of the quarter.

The end of the first semester is Thursday, January 25th. There is no school on Friday the 26th, teachers will be here entering grades and finalizing student report cards. These final grades will be added to student transcripts the following week. To be on track to graduate on time students should have earned the following credit amounts or more after this semester to be considered “on-track” for on time graduation.

Freshmen - 3.0
Sophomores - 9.0
Juniors - 15.0
Seniors - 21

Students will be given their 2nd semester schedules this month, please check your student’s schedule to make sure that they have the correct classes. Students can start meeting with their school counselor to make any 2nd semester schedule changes now so that their schedule is set by the start of 2nd semester on January 30th.

Banks High School National Honor Society students are offering after school tutoring and homework help as the semester comes to an end! Students will be providing help in Science, English, Math, and other subjects from 3:15 - 4:15 pm in Room 7. Students may stay after school on any of the following days:

Monday, 1/8/24

Tuesday, 1/9/24

Tuesday, 1/16/24

Wednesday, 1/17/24

Monday, 1/22/24

Tuesday, 1/23/24

The winter weather has been pretty mild so far this year. The first snow of the year is in the forecast for the end of next week. If the weather changes and we end up with dangerous road conditions the notifications for school closures and delays will be sent out through the School District’s FlashAlert system. You can sign up now to get these notifications on http://www.flashalert.net

The Winter Formal dance is for all Banks High School students in 9th - 12th grade. This year’s Winter Formal dance will be held Saturday, January 20th from 7:00 - 10:00 pm at the Banks High School Community Gym (Barn). Dance tickets must be purchased in advance, and all guest passes must be filled out and submitted no later than Wednesday, January 17th. Tickets will go on sale on Monday, January 8th at the high school office.

• Boys Basketball - Record 4 wins, 8 losses. They have won their last 3 contests and are now entering league play.

• Girls Basketball - Record 9 wins, 3 losses. They are currently ranked 5th in the state.

• Boys Wrestling - The boys wrestling team is strong again this year and looks to once again qualify a lot of wrestlers to the state meet and bring a trophy home again.

• Girls Wrestling - We have 6 girl wrestlers out this year. Each year the girls wrestling team continues to grow under Coach Speer’s direction. They hope to have several members of the team qualify for the state meet and hopefully place.

• Swimming - This is the first year we have had a swim team for over a decade. Our one team member is Sophia Mazurkiewicz. She practices with Forest Grove but competes as a Banks Brave at various meets and invites.

• Dance Team - Our dance team is now preparing for the winter competitive season. They are looking forward to the State Dance and Drill meet in March.

Spring Sports official first day of practice is Monday, February 26th. All athletes playing baseball, softball, track, and golf need to have all paperwork (Physical Examination, Extracurricular Contract and Insurance and Consent Form) on file as well as the Pay to Play fee paid before practice starts. The Pay to Play fee is $150 unless you are on the Free and Reduced Program and then it would be $50.

FAD - The Fabrication and Design (FAD) Broadcasting team has begun live streaming some of our home basketball games.They plan to stream six more of the upcoming home games live on the Banks Braves Youtube Channel. At these games, students will also be running the FAD store, which showcases products they have made. They will be selling a wide variety of Banks Braves gear, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, water bottles, mugs, and even custom orders! Come support the basketball teams by attending the games and the FAD club by grabbing some gear!

FFA - Next Chapter meeting is on January 10th in the Ag classroom at 6:30 pm. Students are preparing for the District Convention at Sherwood High School on February 3rd. Students will compete in events such as Public Speaking, Job Interview, Parliamentary Procedure, and more.

Music - Our middle school and high school music classes performed in a standing room only high school cafeteria for their Winter Concert on December 7th. There will be several festivals and competitions this spring that students will have the opportunity to participate in.

Leadership - Students are hard at work starting their Community 101 projects, planning Winter Formal and Prom, and finding regular ways to engage their peers in fun monthly activities throughout the school.

National Honor Society - Banks High School’s NHS chapter is hosting a fundraiser at Chick-fil-A in Tanasbourne from 5-8pm on Wednesday, January 24th. 15% of all sales during that time go to NHS for future leadership opportunities and events. NHS members will also be there running a prize wheel to raise additional money through cash donations. Grab something to eat and support the students!

Our Banks High School Life Skills class started a new business this year. The Braves Beans is a coffee cart that takes orders each morning for staff across the district. They make custom coffee's, mochas, lattes, etc. and deliver them each morning. Our students are learning important entrepreneurial skills and the staff love it. Thank you Life Skills teachers and students for bringing this idea to life.

1/11/24 Seniors Mock Interviews

1/12/24 PCC Preview Day Field Trip 8:30 - 1:30

1/15/24 No School - Martin Luther King Jr Day

1/18/24 Business/Marketing Career Exploration 9:30 - 11:30

1/20/24 Winter Formal 7-10 PM @ BHS Barn

1/26/24 No School - End of Semester 1 - Grading Day

1/29/24 No School - Grading Day

2/19/24 No School - Presidents’ Day

3/25-3/29/24 No School - Spring Break

We will be sending out Newsletters each month, but for more frequent updates you can follow our Social Media accounts on Facebook and Instagram. We post live updates and share many of the positive activities our BHS students are involved in throughout the year.