For Thursday, February 15
Hit the GLIC!
The Grade-Level Information Center has information that is relevant for each class.
An index and archive for this year’s weekly Mustang Minutes
Our Daily Announcements to our students
We are almost there!
8th Grade Family Night is next week!
Next Wednesday, February 21 at 6:30 p.m. we will meet in our gymnasium. You as a family will be making so many important decisions between now and the start of school next year – and the conversations start here in earnest.
Here is a link to our program for the evening, and here is a rough draft of the presentation that will guide us through the evening’s conversation. Take a look to get some background on what we will be discussing on this important evening.
Thinking about our juniors and the SAT this spring
This spring, students will be taking the SAT on their computers instead of using bubble sheets and a number 2 pencil. This is a significant change, and we want to make sure that our students are aware of a practice tool that they can access on their PCHS Chromebooks.
By opening the Bluebook™ app, students will be able to practice both math and English skills in the same digital format they will see when they take the SAT in April. Bluebook™ offers four full-length digital adaptive tests and provides scoring feedback to students. Since an entire 2-hour practice test has to be completed for students to receive that feedback, we want to encourage all of our students to set aside time at home to do this. To access the app, students need to log out of their accounts, and click the Bluebook™ icon at the bottom right of the home screen of their school Chromebooks. They will need their College Board username and password to start the practice tests. See Collegeboard.org for account information and other SAT practice opportunities.
Will there be a Grad Bash this year?
Grad Bash started here in 1986, run by parents to provide seniors a fun and safe send-off after graduation. At the moment, though, no parents have agreed to chair the event, and if that remains the case, there will not be a 2024 Grad Bash. Grad Bash is neither a school-sponsored nor a PTO event, and the chairs do not have to be parents of graduating seniors. If you might be interested in chairing this event, please contact PTO president, Julia Warner, at juliapwarner@gmail.com by March 1st.
News from the counseling office
It's official: semester one transcripts have been posted to all student and family Skyward accounts. Your student’s current transcript, along with all previous report cards and transcripts, can be found under the "Portfolio" tab in Skyward.
Senior parents, if your student needs a copy of their mid-year grades for college, please have them submit a 'send now' request in Parchment ASAP. Not all colleges require a copy of mid-year grades so they can check with the college to see if they are needed for admission.
Got questions on your student’s transcript or Parchment.com? Please reach out to your student’s counselor or our registrar Nicole Gutshall at ngutshall@portageps.org
Tutoring
Now that we are into the second semester, we wanted to remind you that we do have tutoring opportunities and opportunities to be a tutor. The links are below. Please reach out to Teresa Imus, Activities Assistant, at timus@portageps.org if you have any questions.
The last chance to catch “Mean Girls” is this weekend!
We have shows this Friday and Saturday, February 16th and 17th at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee on Sunday, February 18th at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults and $16 for students and are currently on sale. Here is the link to buy tickets: Mean Girl Tickets.
Thanks for joining us and celebrating the incredible work of our kids!
Save the dates!
Parent-teacher conferences are coming!
Tuesday and Thursday, March 5 and 7 from 3:30 to 7:15
And they are fully online through Google Meet, just as they were in the fall and last year. Watch for future issues of the Mustang Minutes, and emails from your teachers, to get all the information you need to connect with all the teachers you need. Thanks – and see you there!
Just a reminder…
Senior cap-and-gown pictures will be Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 3
To continue our tradition of taking class pictures since 1922, we will be taking pictures of each of our seniors Tues. 4/2 and Wed. 4/3 up on the third-floor bridge, and these pictures will be used for our class composites that hang down near the Activities Office.
We will have our photographer at the 3rd-floor bridge taking pictures of our students wearing caps and gowns on
● Tuesday, hours 5-7
● Wednesday, hours 1-4
Seniors, you don’t need to bring your own caps and gowns; we will have some waiting for you. Wear a nice shirt; this picture of you will be hanging on our wall for at least the next 100 years. We will be calling seniors down alphabetically. If you have an off-campus class, stop up there when it works for you; we want to make sure that we don’t miss anyone. You might have to stand in line for a few minutes, so thanks in advance for your patience. Any questions? Drop me an email anytime – and thanks!
Really excited to be meeting our future Mustang families,
Eric Alburtus
And if you want even more PC news…