Parent Newsletter

Email: sandersj@purcellps.org
Website: https://www.purcellps.org/o/phs
Location: 2020 North Green Avenue, Purcell, OK, USA
Phone: 405-442-0099
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purcellhs

I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of our staff to extend our thanks and gratitude to all parents and guardians for your support during the last few weeks. We fully understand the difficulties distance learning places on our parents. Many of our staff members have faced the same challenges of simultaneously juggling work, childcare, and homeschooling. Educating a student is a true partnership between school and home and we are grateful for our parents and guardians.

We are anxiously awaiting the return of our students on January 5th. As of today, all students will return to school after the holiday break. School is a lonely place without our students and we share your frustrations particularly the loss of face-to-face contact. Thriving and successful schools are built upon the foundation of strong student-teacher relationships. We all know those relationships are best achieved in person rather than on a computer screen.

However, our teachers are thankful and appreciative of your support of your school. Our job is to serve and support our students, parents, and community. We remain committed to serving our students in the best possible way regardless of the circumstances. Please read the newsletter and remember to take advantage of the free meal services and contact the school immediately if your student experiences any technology issues or needs support with internet access.

Thank you

Jason

Go Dragons!

Always feel free to call or email me if you have questions,

sandersj@purcellps.org

405-442-0099 ext 505

With our students out Ms. Testa, our Assistant Principal, had to bring in a substitute to emphasize to our students how important it is to login to your daily Google Meets with teachers!

Our staff enjoyed a fun game of Find the Hidden Elf and win a gift over the last week. It's always important to support staff morale but with our students gone it was very evident our staff needed a boost to to their spirits. WE MISS OUR STUDENTS!

Here were our winners:

This week our Safety and Wellness Committee conducted our quarterly safety meeting.

Committee Members:

Jason Sanders: Principal

Carol Testa: Assistant Principal/Athletic Director

Jack McNeely: Teacher

Roger Raper: Parent/Teacher

Krysta Matthews: Parent/Teacher

Ray Samford: Teacher

Jaclyn Miller: Healthcorp

Carlee Dismuke: Student

Hailey Carpenter: Student

We reviewed our safety drills and protocols and identified areas of needed improvement. One point of focus is increasing staff awareness and understanding of the RAVE Panic button APP that all staff members have access to. This app allows any staff member to immediately contact emergency personnel and notify administration if there is an emergency, threat to the school, etc. We practice the use of this safety feature as a regular part of our safety drills.

The safety committee has also focused upon increased awareness and support of student mental health issues. This issue has also been highlighted by our student representatives on the committee: Hailey Carpenter and Carlee Dismuke as well as by our Student Council. Our committee has committed to an increased focus on providing multiple layers of support for our students social and emotional wellness. The ongoing pandemic has only increased our focus on this area as distance learning has led to more social isolation for our students.

Our school will begin it's high school advisory program in the spring known as 3M. This program will pair each student with a staff advisor for weekly meetings. The primary objective of this program is to support student social and emotional health as well as supporting Individual Career Academic Plans (ICAP) for students. Much of our College and Career Guidance program, led by high school counselor Melissa Feroli, will be facilitated through our 3M High School Advisory Program. This includes helping students identify college and career paths after high school and aligning these paths with appropriate curriculum and programs including Vo-Tech, Personalized Learning, Concurrent Enrollment, Advanced Placement Courses, Internships, and Service Learning. We are excited about the future and our continued support of our students academically, socially, and emotionally.

Finally we introduced to our staff the new district Anonymous Reporting APP known as Stopit. This will allow our students to easily and anonymously report bullying issues, potential threats to our school or students who need immediate help. We are very excited about this added layer of support for our students. Please see below a link and message from Dr. McAdoo about this new tool that is available to all students and only requires a simple download of the STOPit app.

Jason

This week I chose to profile Stefanie Renfro. Stefanie teachers Family and Consumer Science and also serves as our Department Chair for elective courses. Stefanie is a strong advocate for students and quick to identify students who need extra help and support. She is one of those people who simply never has a bad word to say about someone else. Stefanie is a true asset to our high school and works hard to make sure her students have what they need to be successful. Stefanie exemplifies what I believe are the two most important qualities fundamental to a strong teacher: kindness and empathy.

Here are some words from one of her colleagues

Stephanie Renfro and I started at PHS together six years ago - good Lord! - and every single day working with her has been a pleasure. Stephanie has a heart for her students that reaches out across time and space. She not only teaches them skills they will need throughout their lives, but she also listens to their problems, gives them endless encouragement, and has a smile for all of us. Stephanie is one of those people that makes it easy to love them: she doesn't ask for much, is patient and kind, and checks on others. In her own quiet way, she's one of the hearts of PHS, and I'm so thankful to count her as a colleague and a friend.

---Liz Leonard

Please click on link below for specific information regarding distance learning. Remember all teachers are available to provide assistance during their scheduled google meet class times. Teachers are expected to keep open Google Meets during the entire hour of their scheduled Google Meet times.

Marvin Fields (our full-time Custodian) and Maria Zaragoza deserve a lot of credit and recognition for their hard work and service during this challenging year. They truly are unsung heroes of our school. The added work created by Covid-19 has been significant yet both have worked extremely hard to help keep our building clean and sanitized and our students and staff safe. Thank you Marvin and Maria!

Both our Girls and Boys Basketball seasons are in full swing. Both teams are competing in the CCS tournament in Norman and each team won their opening round game. Players and coaches are working hard and displaying amazing resilience while facing unprecedented challenges this year. We urge everyone to help our student athletes enjoy their opportunity to play by helping slow the spread of Coronavirus. We are very thankful to our fans for wearing masks to games and maintaining social distance. Thank you to Coach Raper and Coach Sikes for working hard to help give our kids a chance to play this year.

Both teams will open at home on Tuesday, December 15th vs. Lindsay. I've shared some pictures below credit of Julie Higgins. Julie takes some amazing pictures of our athletes and posts regularly on facebook. Thank you Julie.

Beginning immediately, we will now follow the CDC guidance below:

Local public health authorities determine and establish the quarantine options for their jurisdictions. CDC currently recommends a quarantine period of 14 days. However, based on local circumstances and resources, the following options to shorten quarantine are acceptable alternatives.

• Quarantine can end after Day 10 without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring.

• With this strategy, residual post-quarantine transmission risk is estimated to be about 1% with an upper limit of about 10%.

• When diagnostic testing resources are sufficient and available (see bullet 3, below), then quarantine can end after Day 7 if a diagnostic specimen tests negative and if no symptoms were reported during daily monitoring. The specimen may be collected and tested within 48 hours before the time of planned quarantine discontinuation (e.g., in anticipation of testing delays), but quarantine cannot be discontinued earlier than after Day 7: THIS MEAN THAT SOMEONE THAT TESTS NEGATIVE AT DAY 5 OR AFTER MUST REMAIN IN QUARANTINE THROUGH DAY 7, BUT ARE RELEASED AFTER DAY 7 WITHOUT REQUIRING AN ADDITIONAL NEGATIVE TEST AND ASSUMING NO SYMPTOMS ARE PRESENT.
• ​any PCR or antigen test is acceptable

• With this strategy, the residual post-quarantine transmission risk is estimated to be about 5% with an upper limit of about 12%.

In both cases, additional criteria (e.g., continued symptom monitoring and masking through Day 14) must be met and are outlined in the full text.

Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma provides a food pantry for our students at Purcell High School. We offer snacks, pantry items and frozen items for them to choose from for school and to take home. The Purcell High School pantry is very well stocked and open for use each day. Please encourage your student(s) to make use of this amazing opportunity. If your family needs additional food assistance, please visit the The Food Bank website at www.regionafoodbank.org and click on "Get Help" to learn about more resources.

Parents and students,

Library checkout will still be available during virtual days. Please email Mrs. Trumbo at trumboa@purcellps.org, and she will organize to meet the student outside with the book they would like to checkout. Students can search our library catalog at this link https://purcellps.follettdestiny.com/common/welcome.jsp?context=saas24_3500757

We would also like to feature in the yearbook what virtual learning looks like for students, and honor our students who are also essential employees. Please email trumboa@purcellps.org with a picture, and name of student.

PLEASE READ IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM MS. FEROLI!

Freshmen AND Sophomores: Please remember that OKPromise applications are available for those who may qualify for this awesome program that ensures students who meet certain income requirements are able to go to a state college tuition free. To apply, go to https://www.okhighered.org/okpromise/.

Click on the link below for important information regarding scholarships!

Parents can now access student information on Infinite Campus (our new student information system) The link to parent portal is below.

IMPORTANT: you will need an activation key to access the parent portal. You must email Kim Cummings @ cummingsk@purcellps.org in order to get the activation key

https://okcloud1.infinitecampus.org/campus/apps/portal/authentication/account-activation-key?appName=purcell&appType=parents

https://kb.infinitecampus.com/help/campus-parent-portal

upcoming events

• November 30th-Dec. 18th - All students on distance learning
• December 21st-January 1st - Winter Break - No School
• January 4th - Professional Development Day - No School
• January 18th - Martin Luther King Junior Day - No School
• February 15th - Professional Development Day - No School
• March 9th - Parent-Teacher Conferences 4-7:30 pm
• March 11th - Parent-Teacher Conferences 4-7:30 pm
• March 12th-19th - Spring Break - No School
• April 2nd - Snow Day
• May 13th - Last Day of School