For Thursday, August 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
Don’t forget to stop at the Welcome Center to buy your parking pass!
Please fill out the parking registration form found on the GLIC; hit this link to get all the information you need. After you have completed the online form, bring your driver's license and vehicle registration to the Welcome Center to purchase a parking permit for $20. Every car in the parking lot MUST have a permit for this academic year. (As an important aside, the funds raised from permit sales go toward paying for our Mustang RideOut and graduation each year.)
Topo, all students who purchase a 2024-25 parking pass by Friday, Sept. 13 will receive a FREE PC sticker!
Just a reminder…
PC Yearbook wants your summer photos for the 2025 yearbook!
Did you travel? Hang out by your pool or on the lake? Volunteer? Condition for sports? Chill with friends and family? Work a summer job? We'd love to see what you did after school got out in June! Students can click on this Summertime Photos link to share their summer photos and stories! (Students must be logged into their Portageps accounts to upload content to this form.)
We are also looking for photos of the aftermath of May’s tornadoes. Families and students can click on this May Tornadoes Photos link to upload photos and details.
Got questions? Email yearbook adviser Ann Alburtus at aalburtus@portageps.org.
Thank you for your thoughtful questions about our new cell-phone policy!
We pulled together these Frequently Asked Questions so that we can make sure we all understand what we are doing and why and so that we can keep the healthy conversations going. If you have additional questions, please reach out to me anytime. Thanks!
How about one more reminder…
Final Forms and athletic eligibility
It's August and the Portage Central Athletics office is back in action. We are incredibly excited for the start of the 2024-2025 school year. Here are some important reminders:
Please complete your Final Forms registration.
Once again, RED means NO, GREEN means GO! All registration information, and parent/guardian and student-athlete signatures are required in order to go Green. Make sure to remind your student-athlete to log into their account and sign their permissions ASAP. Here is the link for the Final Forms site.
Attention all new athletes, you must submit a baseline concussion test for the upcoming school year.. It's a 30-minute at-home test using a desktop or laptop computer. Chromebooks are able to be used. We are looking for completion of this testing no later than the first official contest for each student-athlete. CLICK ON THIS LINK TO TAKE YOU TO THE TESTING INFORMATION.
Once again, we are very excited for this upcoming school year; it's always a great day to be a Mustang!
And don’t forget…
Freshman & transfer students orientation this coming Monday, August 19th.
For those of you who have a 9th grader entering Portage Central High School this fall or a student who is transferring from another school, August 19th is really important.
For Freshman parents, you are asked to drop off your 9th grader for Freshman Orientation no later than 8 a.m. at our Gymnasium. The purpose of this Orientation is to make your child’s transition from middle school to high school a positive one. Seniors and juniors will be serving as Leaders and mentors. Large and small group activities are designed to address the needs and concerns of Freshmen students in an enjoyable way. We will have plenty of signs directing you to where you need to go. They will also be given paper schedules for this year, but if they lose it, no worries. They can also access it in skyward.
We ask that all students wear comfortable clothes, wear tennis shoes and/or gym-ready shoes, and no shoes with heels or hard soles. You can also bring a water bottle if you want. Also, please leave those cell phones at home, because you won’t need them. Travel light!
Then we are hoping you, as parents/guardians, will return at 11 am to our Auditorium to get more information from our principal, Eric Alburtus, and our assistant principals, Aja Kaylor and Tama Salisbury. Then, if you and your student need to stay for a Code of Conduct meeting, please stay in the auditorium, and we will bring your children to you from Orientation at 11:30 a.m. Code of Conduct meetings are required for all new student athletes and performers. Once you have attended one Code of Conduct meeting, you are not required to attend another one for your entire high school career.
For those families with a transfer student, please join us at 1 p.m., in the school Auditorium, to find out more about Portage Central High School, meet upperclassmen who will be there to help you throughout the school year and get a tour of the school.
Lastly, Chromebooks for all freshmen will be available at the Welcome Center desk from at 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, August 19th. If the line is too long or you are not here on that day, Mr. Marusek, our Chromebook guru, will be available Tuesday through Friday of next week, so you can come back during school hours to pick one up.
If you have any questions at all about this event, please contact Nikki Smith, Activities Director, at nsmith@portageps.org or 269-323-5265. We are so excited to welcome you all to Portage Central High School!
Don’t forget to join us for Open House!
The Portage Central High School Open House will be held on Wednesday, August 21st from 6:30 pm to 8 p.m. There will be an Activities Fair in Centennial Park, weather permitting (otherwise it will be held in the Commons), so students can get club information before school starts. There will also be an open Meet and Greet to get to know your students’ teachers, find your lockers, classes, purchase Athletic passes, and visit our new and improved School Store!
Yes, the Corral is open!
Show your Mustang Pride in style with some new gear. The Corral (located in the Commons at PCHS) will be open during Freshman Orientation from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and during the PC Open House. We have some exciting 2024-25 school year changes, including an online store. Go Mustangs!
Just a reminder…
Be sure to move your car out of the West Student Parking lot after 3:30 p.m. on specific days
Our Portage Central Marching Band uses the surface of the West Student Parking Lot on all Monday and Wednesday evenings for their rehearsal, in addition to the evenings of any home football games. On those nights, we ask for all vehicles to be moved from the lot by 3:30 p.m. Any student involved in after-school activities and practices should park in the East Student Parking Lot. If a vehicle is left in the West Student Parking Lot, it will be towed and the owner will be responsible for the cost. Thank you for your help and support of the Portage Central Marching Band!
Take a look at the Student Handbook, the Welcome Guide and Senior Guide!
So many colleagues put countless hours into these two important resources:
The Student Handbook. This handbook has been used and revised and improved on for more than 25 years now, and it has tons of important information about issues as varied as the attendance policy, and expectations for how we are to treat and to work with one another, student rights and everything in between. These handbooks are available online; they are no longer being printed.
The Welcome Guide. This is built to support freshmen and new students, and their families, to get a sense of our culture and values, and to help them get involved in the tons of activities that we are blessed to provide our kids.
The Senior Guide. So much happens during the senior year, from college apps to senior pictures; it can be overwhelming to keep track of. This senior guide can help seniors and their families stay on track throughout this important year.
Schedules and schedule changes for the 2024-2025 school year
We are thankful to be able to see all of your faces very soon, and will release the schedules to students in Skyward on Monday, August 19. Be sure to check your child's Skyward account for the high school schedule for the 2024-2025 school year. Students will follow this Skyward schedule on the first day of school. Please note: Students are expected to start the first day of school in enrollment rooms assigned by grade and last name. Schedule-change request forms will be available in the Counseling Office starting on August 26. Schedule changes will be processed beginning August 27. The completed schedule change form, along with a parent signature, is needed for schedule changes. The students have the first five full days of the semester to make changes in courses, as long as there is room in our courses.
We are almost there, to starting a great new year,
Eric Alburtus