This Week at GHS: February 3

February 03, 2012 | Posted by Steve Lodes

Good Afternoon:

The excitement was high at our annual winter pep rally today. The above picture shows members of the Marching Band and Poms squad getting ready for the crowd. Our winter dance, SnoBall, is this Saturday from 8:00–11:00 p.m. Students, parents, and the school all worked together at Homecoming to set high expectations for our students at our dances and it was a great event – fun, well-attended, safe, spirited and appropriate. We expect more of the same this Saturday. We do have one request: please do not drop-off students much before 8:00 p.m. as we will not be ready to open the doors and receive students before the published start time. Thank you for your cooperation with this.

We are firmly in the throes of the registration process for next school year and registration for our current ninth graders seemed to go well this week. Our goal is to make it a simple process and we have created a ”one-stop shop” for all things registration, click here. Please see below to see what is ahead for course registration for the 2012-13 school year. Please be ready to support your student when it is their week to register online.

Thank you for your support of our school and have a great weekend with your families.

Students Hold Third Annual Benefit Concert on February 10
Students in the Greendale School District invite you to attend Music to Feed the Hungry, a benefit concert to raise proceeds for Sophia’s Heart – a charity that aims to improve the lives of children who are suffering because of “poverty, sickness, disease, broken families and broken dreams.” The charity helps inspire children and keep dreams alive through community outreach, music and the arts.

The completely student-organized event will be held on Friday, February 10 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Greendale High School Auditorium, 6801 Southway. Come and enjoy a concert of exciting performances by musicians from the Greendale Schools. Admission to the concert is $2.00, but additional donations are appreciated. The Greendale School District students would appreciate your attendance and support to make this a successful event. For more information, go to the website at: http://greendale.info.

Parents as Partners Conference
The Parents as Partners Conference will be held on Tuesday, February 7 from 6:00-8:30 p.m. at Greendale Middle School. Sessions include Technology Bootcamp for Parents, Parenting with Love and Logic: Birth to Age 6, Leap into Learning, Understanding the Impact of Social Networking, Raising a Healthy Child, Did You Know We Had That Class at GHS?, Using WISCareers for College/Career Readiness, Parenting in the Middle, From Stress to Strength for Parents, Is My Child Gifted?, Conversation with the Superintendent and Understanding Your Child’s EXPLORE Test Results.

There is no cost for this event and free childcare will be provided to children who are potty trained. For more information, please click here. To register, click the button below.

Youth Risk Behavior Survey
During the week of February 6, Greendale High School will be conducting a Health and Wellness survey for a random group of students in grades 9-12. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey created by the Department of Public Instruction, is one of several surveys given throughout the state and the nation to assess the strengths and needs of our children. In assessing these assets and at-risk behavior areas, we will obtain information that will enable us to move forward as a district and help us meet the needs of our young people and our community. To ensure complete confidentiality, no student will be asked to identify him/herself in any way (name, address, phone number, etc.). The survey will take approximately 25 minutes to complete and is taken online. Included with this Weekly is a Passive Permission Slip and information sheet. The permission slip only needs to be returned to the GHS office if you do not want your child participating in the survey. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to call John Weiss, Greendale Assistance Program Administrator, at (414) 423-2800.

Course Registration Process For 2012-13
In February, our current eighth through eleventh graders will register online, through PowerSchool, for next year’s classes. Having all students register online is a second-year venture for the high school and we have been busy trying to learn from our successes last year in order to further simplify a complicated process. What I hope will be good communication surrounding this important process starts with this general overview, but there will be specific SchoolMessenger emails sent to parents by specific grade level, counselor visits into classrooms to work with students and a special section on our webpage to help.

Basically, each grade level gets a dedicated week, as follows:

9th to 10th: COMPLETED
8th to 9th: Beginning February 7
10th to 11th: Week of February 13
11th to 12th: Week of February 20

Be aware that the scheduling portal is open for only a short period of time (Monday and Tuesday) and then we set the counselors into action working with students and families. This is what worked well last year, but please know that we can change course requests and work with you the whole month of February before selections begin to get more final in the construction of our schedule.

For full details, please visit our very informative Registration webpage at:
http://www.greendale.k12.wi.us/GHS/course-registration.html

PowerSchool Parent and Student Mobile Apps
PowerSchool has released two mobile Apps. With PowerSchool Student and PowerSchool Parent you can now see live attendance, assignments, scores, grades and more, right from your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. You can view a video demo of the Apps here: goo.gl/UKvvb. Both the Parent and Student versions of the App are available for download from the App Store.

The PowerSchool Apps give parents or students real-time access to:

Attendance
Assignments
Assignment Scores
Teacher Comments
Final Grades
Standards Scores
Fee Transactions

College Goal Wisconsin
If your child is presently a senior and is planning on going to a post-secondary school after graduation, you are probably aware of the importance of filling out the Financial Aid Forms at www.fafsa.ed.gov. If this seems like an overwhelming task, you should consider attending College Goal Weekend. This is a free program designed to help families fill out the FAFSA forms. There will be numerous financial aid representatives at each location, ready to help answer any questions they may have. Visit www.collegegoalwi.org for more information and instructions on what to bring and what to do beforehand.

GPABC Casino Night
Join other parents and coaches on March 31 for the sixth annual GPABC Casino Night at Tuckaway Country Club. Don’t dismiss this fun event if you aren’t into the gaming part of it. The food is great, the atmosphere lively and the dealers will teach you any game you need help with. For more information, call Melissa Bychinski at 414-807-8653 or please click here http://www.greendaleboosterclub.org.

Spring Sports Meeting
The Spring Sports Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 1 at 6:00 p.m. in the GHS MPR. Parents/guardians of all student-athletes who will be participating in spring athletic programs are required to attend this meeting. If there are any questions, please contact Greendale High School Athletic Director Shane Hansen at 423-0110 x4333 or at shane.hansen@greendale.k12.wi.us.

Mark your calendars for a few things in February:

Saturday, February 4, SnoBall Winter Dance
Friday, February 10, Early Release Day (10:35 a.m.)
Monday, February 13, GHS Band Soundtracks Concert
Wednesday, February 15, Honors Pancake Breakfast
Saturday, February 18, Pops Concert
Thursday, February 23, Parent/Teacher Conferences (4–7:30 p.m.)
Friday, February 24 & 27, No student attendance

Check out dates and times for many great athletic events at: http://www.greendale.k12.wi.us/GHS/calendars/WinterAthleticsCalendar.html

For all date questions, please use our online calendar. Please click here to view.

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