Letter from AHS Principal / October 25, 2021

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A Word From Dr. J 
PSAT Information for Tuesday, October 26, 2021  
Last week, Sara Johnson, Assistant Principal for Student Services sent information on our annual  PSAT testing day. Here is a quick summary of that communication: 
On Tuesday, October 26, 2021 Arcadia will be administering the PSAT exam to all 10th grade  students as well as select 11th graders who opted into taking the exam. Please review the  schedule below, and direct any PSAT questions to Ms. Johnson, sarajohnson@susd.org or Ms.  Hochstatter, khochstatter@susd.org. 
Grade Level Information: 
· 9TH Grade- Do not test—All freshmen arrive on campus  
no earlier than 11:30 A.M., period 1 begins at 11:50 A.M. 
· 10TH Grade- Do test—All sophomores arrive at the  
assigned testing room before 7:45 A.M. Students will receive  
their testing room assignments via email by Friday. 
· 11TH Grade- Do test if they signed up—Testers arrive at  
the assigned testing room before 7:45 A.M—students will  
receive their testing room assignments via email by Friday.  
Non-testers arrive on campus no earlier than 11:30 A.M. 
· 12TH Grade- Do not test—All seniors arrive on campus no  
earlier than 11:30 A.M., period 1 begins at 11:50 A.M.
PSAT Late Start Schedule: 
Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Testing Sessions 
7:45am- 11:15am

Lunch 
11:15am-11:50am 
(Includes passing time to 1st period)


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Period 1 11:50am-12:10pm 
Period 2 
12:16pm-12:36pm

Period 3 
12:42pm-1:02pm

Period4/5 
1:08-1:28pm

Period 6 
1:34pm-1:54pm

Period 7 
2:00pm-2:20pm

Buses will make two runs: the first at the usual time for test takers and the  second run will be 4 hours later. 
**Non-testers should not arrive on campus before 11:30am**


Homecoming Schedule 
Homecoming will take place next week, October 25-29. Additionally, please review the lineup of  events for next week.  
● Throughout the week Homecoming tickets will be sold via the bookstore for $25 for  presale. Students may still purchase tickets at the dance on Saturday, 10/30 for a fee of  $30 (cash ONLY).  
● Thursday, October 28, 2021 
○ Homecoming Guest Permission Slips/Guest COVID Waivers are due to Student  Services by 3:00 PM 
● Friday, October 29, 2021 
○ Homecoming Assembly for students during 2nd period
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○ Homecoming Parade, 4:00-5:00 pm (open to the public). Please see the parade  route below. 
○
○ Homecoming Football Game, 7:00-9:00pm at AHS Football field 
● Saturday, Oct 30, 2021 
○ Homecoming Dance, 7:00-10:00pm at AHS Main Gym 
○ Presale tickets are on sale at the bookstore for $25, tickets are $30 at the door ○ Guest Forms can be picked up from the front office or Student Services and must  be turned in before Thursday, October 28 at 3:00pm 
Next Coffee With the Principal Zoom Information: 11/10/2021, 9 am & 5 pm 
Please consider joining us for Coffee With Dr. J, which occurs every three weeks. This is  an opportunity to learn more about Arcadia High School, share feedback, and make new friends. Join Zoom Meeting 
https://zoom.us/j/96203700508?pwd=SENadVFRU3Z6eTRqRjdDMXBXS0lvdz09 A Word From Mrs. Pinto 
Senior Information 
Senior Checklist  
● Order Cap & Gown Extended deadline is November 1, 2021
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● FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) opened October 1, 2021. We  will host FAFSA nights for families both in English and Spanish. More information  will be sent later in the month. 
● Senior Scholarship Questionnaire - ASAP 
● Portraits (Prestige Portraits) - make-up dates are set for November 2 - 3, 2021 ● ASVAB - Click on the link to sign up - Test is on November 4, 2021 ● Yearbook Senior Ad Deadline is December 31, 2021 
● Check college application deadlines (early acceptance is October & regular  deadlines are November - January depending on the university/college) ● Recommendations for college applications (academic or counselor) - ask for  them 3 weeks prior to deadline 
● Transcripts official copies are $5 per transcript 
● College Visits - on campus in the College and Career Center 
● Remind text messages from College and Career Center - SENIORS text "pmyn"  to 81010 
● SAT or ACT - sign up  
● Scholarships - via Naviance (apply for November - January; watch for local  deadlines February - May) 
● Senior Survey (TBA) 
● Cap, Gown & Graduation Ticket Distribution (TBA) 
● Senior Honors & Awards (TBA) 
● Senior Breakfast (TBA) 
● Senior Parade (TBA) 
● Send FINAL TRANSCRIPT to college/university 
● Graduation - Arcadia Field - May 25, 2022 
● Project Grad - May 25, 2022 - Immediately following the Graduation Ceremony 
Senior Parent Group  
Fill out the form if you are interested in joining a senior parent group that will  meet at least once monthly to plan senior events, discuss senior issues and  support one another during your student's last year at Arcadia! 
504 Information:  
My assistant, Lisa Richards, is scheduling 504 review/initial meetings for the 2021-2022  school year based on their review date. If you want to schedule a meeting, please  contact her. 
Important Dual Enrollment dates for 2021-2022 
● Spring 2022 Deadlines:
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○ 2/11/22 - Deadline to submit Enrollment Steps Form 
○ 2/25/22 - Deadline to pay tuition 
Athletics: A Word From Mr. Sherren 
On 8/17/21 the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board voted to reinstate a mask  requirement indoors on all SUSD properties with the exception of those engaged in physical  activity. This indoor mask requirement has been extended for at least two weeks after return  from fall break. As a result, Student-Athletes, Coaches, Officials and Spectators will be  required to wear a mask indoors at all times at Arcadia, Chaparral, Coronado, Desert  Mountain, and Saguaro. Athletes warming up, or involved in the game, may remove their  mask but are required to wear them while on the bench. We appreciate your understanding  and support during these challenging times. 
Upcoming Events: 
★ Homecoming and AIA game of the week is 10/29/2021 
★ Winter Sports Begin 11/1/2021 communications on tryouts will be forthcoming. 
Any student athlete participating in tryouts, practices, or offseason workouts needs to be  coded “ready for tryouts” in Register My Athlete. 
Athletes and families should communicate with coaches about offseason workouts. 
All tickets for sporting events will be sold through GoFan again this year. No cash will be  accepted. 
Activity passes can be purchased through Intouch or at the Arcadia bookstore. 
A Word from Ms. Johnson  
Testing 
The 2021-2022 testing calendar can be found here. 
Civics Exam (Senior Update) 
If you have a senior who has not taken or passed the Civics Exam you received an email  from Ms. Johnson with information on how to take the exam. Here is a link to that letter. 
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Please note that passing the civics exam is a requirement for graduation in the state of  Arizona. A 60% passing rate (60 out of 100 questions) is necessary to meet this graduation  requirement. If you would like to schedule an appointment to take the exam independently  please contact Ms. Hochstatter, khochstatter@susd.org, or Ms. Johnson,  sarajohnson@susd.org.  
Test Prep Opportunities 
Arcadia is partnering with our friends at Revolution Prep to provide our students with the  opportunity to practice taking college admissions exams. A proctored practice exam is  the best way to get a real-time snapshot of testing performance in order to create a testing  plan. Please see below for a list of our test prep opportunities for the fall semester. Please  register here for any test prep sessions. 
ARCADIA HIGH SCHOOL TEST PREP ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Please note that all events are virtual unless otherwise indicated as in person. Each event requires registration.  You may register at this link: https://www.revolutionprep.com/partners/14468/

Fall Semester Events

Test/Presentation 
Date 
Time 
Cost

Insider’s Guide to College  Admission Testing 
Parent Presentation Event
Wed, November 17, 2021 
6:00 p.m-7:30 p.m. 
FREE

Practice SAT/ACT Exam 
Sat, November 6, 2021 
9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. 
$10.00

Practice SAT/ACT Exam 
Sat, November 13, 2021 
9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. 
$10.00

PSAT/NMSQT®, Now What?  Parent Presentation 
Tues, December 14, 2021 
6:00 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. 
FREE


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Student Clubs and Activities Updates 
You may visit our school website to find a list of our current clubs, here is a direct link.  Please note that new clubs may be added throughout the year and students are welcome  to join clubs at any time.  
Counseling Update  
● Our freshman & sophomore evening will be held in person on Wednesday,  October 27th at 6pm. Due to numbers, this is a parent-only event.  
● Now that the first quarter is complete, please be sure to check your student’s grades  in ParentVue. We strongly encourage any students who are failing one or more  classes, or who have grades lower than desired, to attend FAST (Free After School  Tutoring) or a Saturday Catch-up session. FAST is held Monday through Thursday,  2:30-3:30, in the library and all are welcome. The next Saturday Catch-up session  will be held this Saturday, October 23rd.  
● Seniors who are completing their college applications through the Common App  or Coalition App need to select their application due dates in the system they are  using. If they need a recommendation letter from their counselor, they need to  inform their counselor as soon as possible. We require the completion of a rec  letter questionnaire and a minimum of three weeks notice prior to the due date to  write a recommendation letter. 
● We are now well past the deadline for schedule changes. Any class change will  now result in an F being entered on the transcript for the dropped class, regardless  of whether or not the student was passing the class at the time it was dropped. No  credit will be earned for the new class.  
Social and Emotional  
Our school district, in an effort to continue to be data driven, is asking that every campus  administer the Fast Bridge screener to help us better understand the social and emotional needs  of our Arcadia students. For high school students – the students can take the screener themselves.  We are planning to use the Arcadia News Network time during 2nd hour on October 28th to take a  short 1-3 minute questionnaire. 
Across all content areas (reading, math, other academic areas, physical health, etc.) educators use  assessments to determine strengths and needs so they can plan how to best teach and support  their students. Just as in universal screening for these content areas, SEL screening provides an  indicator of strengths and needs.
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Screening is a proactive approach in that it: 
· Identifies universal strengths and needs (Tier 1) 
· Informs strategy decisions for Tier 1 instruction and multitiered supports for higher levels  of need 
· Provides data to make informed decisions within a system aiming to improve student  outcomes 
Screening can help answer the following questions: 
How are our students doing? Are there certain groups whose needs are not being addressed?  What do we need to do to improve our educational system for all students? (e.g., materials,  scheduling, professional development). 
SUSD statement on Fast Bridge 
This social emotional screening program, which the Board voted to adopt, is used to evaluate  students’ overall general behavior, including, but not limited to, social, academic and emotional  behavior. Screening is typically completed within three minutes, with results available  immediately to parents and staff. These findings enable our teachers, social worker and guidance  counselor professionals to help identify students who may be in need of additional support and  intervention programs and to make that support available as early as possible. 
This screening tool is optional and one that parents have the choice to authorize for use with their  children each school year. 
Notwithstanding this, SUSD’s initial parent acknowledgment form incorrectly stated that the  FastBridge screener might ask for personal information about income, family matters, medical or  family medical history, mental health history and other categories of private information. 
To be clear, the FastBridge screener does not and has never sought this information. The  waiver form that initially appeared in ParentVUE as part of parents’ annual  acknowledgements was a standard waiver form that had not yet been properly tailored to  SUSD’s use. The form has since been amended to reflect the information that is actually collected. We apologize for this oversight and offer our assurances that SUSD does not  support, endorse or collect any family personal history information through FastBridge. 
Our first responsibility as a school district is to protect the safety and well-being of our students  and staff. We have been reminded during the pandemic that students are sensitive to the events  going on around them, especially those events that require us to alter our daily routines. This  past year and a half, particularly, has been a stressful one for them. 
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We also recognize that students do not fully engage in their learning when they do not feel safe  or secure. Further, in two years of Hanover surveys, SUSD parents have stressed to us how  important it is for schools to support their students’ social emotional learning. 
Our sole goal in acquiring FastBridge is to be able to support the whole child and offer help to  students sooner when we see that academic and behavioral issues in the classroom are limiting  their opportunities to learn and grow. To learn more about the FastBridge program, we invite  you to visit https://www.fastbridge.org/saebrs/. 
For any questions, comments, or concerns in regards to the Fast Bridge screener, please contact  Shannon Cronn at scronn@susd.org or Mathew Lins matthewlins@susd.org 
Este Programa de Diagnóstico Socioemocional, el cual la Junta votó para que se aprobase,  se emplea para evaluar en general el comportamiento total del estudiante, incluido, pero no  limitado al: comportamiento social, académico y emocional. Normalmente, el diagnóstico se  completa en tres minutos, con resultados disponibles de inmediato para los padres y el  personal. Los resultados les permiten a los maestros, al trabajador social y a los consejeros  profesionales ayudar a identificar a los estudiantes que pudiesen tener la necesidad de  apoyo adicional y programas de intervención y hacer que tal apoyo esté disponible lo más  antes posible. Esta herramienta de diagnóstico es opcional y es una que los padres tienen la  opción de autorizar para usarla con sus hijos cada año escolar. A pesar de esto, la hoja  inicial del Distrito, en que los padres aceptan el programa, establecía incorrectamente que  el diagnóstico FastBridge pudiese pedir información personal sobre ingresos, asuntos  familiares o historial médico, historial sobre la salud mental y otras categorías de  información privada. Para aclarar, el diagnóstico FastBridge no pide o nunca ha pedido o  solicitado esta información. Esta hoja de exención que originalmente apareció en  ParentVUE, como parte de aceptación anual de los padres, era una hoja estándar de  exención que todavía no se ha adaptado apropiadamente para el uso del SUSD. La hoja ha  sido, desde entonces, modificada para que refleje la información que se recopila  actualmente. Les pedimos disculpas por este descuido y les aseguramos que el SUSD no  apoya, promociona o recopila ninguna información del historial personal de la familia por  medio de FastBridge. Nuestra principal responsabilidad como distrito escolar es proteger  la seguridad y el bienestar de nuestros estudiantes y el personal. Se nos ha recordado  durante la pandemia que los estudiantes son sensibles a los eventos que se suscitan a su  alrededor, particularmente los eventos que hacen que tengamos que alterar nuestras  rutinas diarias. Esta año pasado y medio, en particular, fue estresante para ellos. Además,  reconocemos que los estudiantes no participan a plenitud en su aprendizaje cuando no se  sienten seguros o confiados. Asimismo, en los años de las encuestas de Hanover, los padres  del SUSD nos enfatizaron cuán importante era para las escuelas que se apoyase el  aprendizaje socioemocional de sus hijos. Nuestra única meta en obtener el FastBridge es el  poder brindarle apoyo al niño en su totalidad, y ofrecerles ayuda a los estudiantes lo antes 
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posible cuando veamos que los problemas académicos y del comportamiento en el aula les  limiten sus oportunidades de aprender y desarrollarse. Para enterarse más acerca del  Programa FastBridge, los invitamos a que revisen la página web:  
https://www.fastbridge.org/saebrs/. 
Whitney Hess MSW 
Arcadia High School Social Worker 
Mrs. Mynars - College and Career Center 
Upcoming College Visits: 
Monday October 25th - Loyola University Chicago, Washington State University, New York  Film Academy and Seattle University. 
Tuesday October 26th - Clemson University, Eastern New Mexico University, University of  Colorado Boulder and University of California. 
Wednesday October 27th - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Scottsdale Community  College. 
Thursday October 28th - US Air Force and Swarthmore College. 
Scholarship Opportunities:  
(You can find the list of all current scholarships on the Arcadia College and Career Website.) 
The AZ Milk Producers Reel Moments Video Scholarship Contest 
Simply create a “Reel” Milk Moment video, lasting 30 seconds or less, featuring your favorite real  dairy product(s). $18,000 in college scholarships: 1st Place-$8,000, 2nd Place-$6,000, 3rd Place- $4,000. 
Contest deadline runs through November 7th, 2021 
For more details visit: az.milk.co/contest 
AZ School Counselor Assoc. High School Scholarship 
The Arizona School Counselors Association awards three high school seniors a $1,000.00 non renewable scholarship to assist with post-secondary education costs. 
Eligibility: 
○ Must be a high school senior attending a public or private secondary school in the state  of Arizona.
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○ Must be a permanent resident of the state of Arizona. 
○ Must plan to attend a post-secondary institution during the 2022-2023 school year. ○ Must have a school counselor employed by your school who is an Arizona School  Counselors Association member. (Arcadia's counselors are all members of this  
association.) 
○ 500 Word Essay 
Deadline: November 12, 2021 @ 11:59pm 
To apply, click here 
Cooke College Scholarship 
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation 
The Cooke College Scholarship Program is an undergraduate program available to high achieving high school seniors with financial need.  
Eligibility: 
Graduate from a U.S. high school in spring 2022 
•Intend to enroll full time in an accredited four-year college beginning in fall 2022 •Earn a cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.5 or above 
•Demonstrate unmet financial need. We will consider applicants with family income up to  $95,000. Last year’s cohort of new college scholarship recipients had a median family income of  approximately $35,000. 
Deadline to apply: November 18, 2021 at 11:59pm 
For more information click here. To apply, click here. 
Understanding FAFSA: 
Q: Why is the FAFSA application important? Do I need to fill it out? 
A: The FAFSA (or Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is important because completing this  form is the only way to receive state and federal financial aid. 
Completing the FAFSA is the single most important step that you can take to get financial aid. By completing the FAFSA, you are applying for most types of financial aid. 
Completing the FAFSA does not obligate students or parents to accept student loans or any  other form of financial aid. 
The FAFSA can be a bit complicated and most students will need help from a parent in order to  complete the form. 
The best way to complete the FAFSA is online at www.fafsa.ed.gov
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By completing the FAFSA online you will have access to help when you need it and you can cut weeks off the amount of time it takes to process the form. 
Although tax information from last year is required to complete the form, you do not have to  wait until you and your parents have filed your tax returns. The FAFSA allows applicants to  estimate the information and correct it once taxes are completed. 
The FAFSA Application opens on October 1st each year. Students do not have to wait to apply  for financial aid until they have been accepted for admission to the college. 
Students should not assume they are not eligible for financial aid. The FAFSA is necessary for  many scholarships and student loans as well. Most families can qualify for federal financial aid  regardless of income or assets. Everyone should apply. 
Student Government 
CURRENT PLANS: 
● Homecoming Week 10/25-10/29 
● Homecoming Assembly 10/29 
● Homecoming Parade 10/29 @ 4pm 
● Homecoming Dance 10/30

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