Principal's Parent Letters

FPHS MISSION: To provide students an engaging educational environment, built upon proven academics and high standards, resulting in successful and contributing citizens.

FPHS VISION: Every student (100%) graduates from high school prepared to succeed in post-secondary education.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

My apologies for getting the November newsletter out a bit late. We’ve now completed Quarter 1 and are moving quickly toward the end of Semester 1. You should have received a Q1 report card in the mail. As a reminder, each passing class earns .5 credits at the semester totaling 3 credits per semester. Semester 1 ends on January 22. We are currently in the process of sending out off-track letters to families of those students who are behind in credits and off-track to graduate. Current Seniors are required to have 22 credits to graduate. Current Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors are required to have 24 credits to graduate. If your child is off-track to graduate, please make an appointment right away with his/her counselor in order to establish a graduation plan.

In addition to earning the required number of credits, all students must also pass the Math and ELA SBA exams (state exams). There has been some confusion recently about the “alternative pathways” recently released by the state for students who have not passed the state exams. I would like to provide some clarity regarding those alternative pathways. The first thing to understand is that, for the most part, each of the alternative pathways is more difficult than passing the actual state test. Here are the Graduation Pathways options:

1.       Pass the state test with the minimum score or higher. For ELA, that’s 2548. For Math, it’s 2595.

2.       Earn credit in a dual credit course (Running Start, College in the High School) for English and Math.

3.       Earn a 3 or higher on the National AP Exam or earn a C+ or higher in a Math or English AP class.

4.       Meet or exceed the graduation score on the SAT for Math and English.

5.       Pass a transition course in ELA or Math (Bridge to College).

6.       Meet the standard entrance score for military enlistment on the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery): 31.

7.       Successfully complete a sequence of CTE courses aligned with the student’s High School and Beyond Plan.

 October/November Highlights:

• ·         Thank you to all parents who attended our Fall Conferences and Financial Aid Nights.
• ·         All teachers and many additional staff participated in a full-day professional training focused on ensuring equity for all students in our various school programs.
• ·         We had a successful and spirited Homecoming Week, which culminated in our Homecoming Dance.
• ·         Three of our outstanding Leadership students presented at our monthly School Board meeting.
• ·         All 11^th graders participated in PSAT testing.
• ·         Thank you to each of our Daffodil Princess candidates, and congratulations to Lindsey Clark who was selected as this year’s FPHS Daffodil Princess.
• ·         We celebrated Nutrition Services Appreciation Week. Thank you to all of our cafeteria staff for your service to our students every day.
• ·         We hosted a well-attended Family Board Game Night.
• ·         We hosted a McDonald’s Take-Over as a fundraiser.
• ·         Took a group of about 40 students to tour the Boeing plant.
• ·         Hosted an Open Art Night for students and families.
• ·         Boosters hosted a well-attended Bingo night.
• ·         Hosted a well-received Veterans Day Assembly.
• ·         Ethnic Studies students went on a field trip to the African American History Museum in Seattle.
• ·         Congratulations to our sports teams and athletes for wrapping up an excellent Fall sports season. Way to go, Cards!

Reminders:

• ·         Each Monday is College Monday, and each Friday is Spirit Friday!
• ·         We conduct school-wide grade checks on the final Thursday of each month to determine students who will earn Choice Learning or will be placed on Academic Probation for the following month.

FPHS MISSION: To provide students an engaging educational environment, built upon proven academics and high standards, resulting in successful and contributing citizens.

FPHS VISION: Every student (100%) graduates from high school prepared to succeed in post-secondary education.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It’s hard to believe, but the first month of school has come and gone already. As a reminder, at the end of each month, we will conduct a school-wide grade check. Grade checks will determine whether a student earns Choice Learning, Learning Lab, or is placed on Academic Probation for the following month.

• ·         Choice Learning: These are students who are passing all of their classes. These students will receive independent study time in the cafeteria or library during our 30-minute Learning Labs on Mondays and Fridays from 10:05am to 10:35am. This year, we’re also offering fun, physical activities outside or in our gym during Choice Learning.
• ·         Learning Lab: These students have at least one INC/INC+ and will spend Learning Lab time with their Advisory teachers receiving extra help and study time on Mondays and Fridays from 10:05am to 10:35am.
• ·         Academic Probation: These students have 3 or more INC/INC+. They will attend regular Learning Labs for 30 minutes on Mondays and Fridays with their Advisors for guided study time and receive additional academic supports from our Academic Support Team during lunches, after school, and during school assemblies.

Here are a couple of items I’ve noticed so far that I’d like to share with you:

• ·         Sleep: On a daily basis, I ask students how they’re doing. Very often, I get the response, “I’m tired.” I’ll ask them what time they went to sleep, and I’ll get answers like, “1am or 2am.” Then, I’ll give them my standard lecture about teenagers needing 9 hours of sleep each night in order to perform at their best at school. They’ll usually scoff and say, “That’ll never happen.” But it’s true. Parents, please do everything you can to ensure your child is getting 9 hours of sleep per night. If you notice a dip in performance or attentiveness, it very well may be a lack of sleep that’s causing the problem.
• ·         Cell phones: In case you didn’t already realize it, we’re pretty addicted as a society to our cell phones. When I ask students why they were up until 1am or 2am, the number one response is always “I was on my phone.” If you haven’t done so already, we strongly recommend a household policy of turning-in cell phones before bedtime. Many cell phone plans will allow parents to deactivate the phone during bedtime and/or school hours. At school, we allow students to be on cell phones during lunch and passing periods. Our expectation is that cell phones are muted and put away during class time. Please, help us reinforce this message at home.
• ·         One-to-One Laptops: We’re excited about offering one-to-one laptops to all students. All teachers are maintaining a Canvas page for each class to provide easy, 24/7 access to course materials and assignments. Please, make sure to read and sign the laptop handbook that was emailed out to all parents. We also strongly encourage parents to purchase laptop insurance for $25 to cover all accidental damages.
• ·         Academic Supports: If you were not aware, we have a HW Center available to all students every day until 4pm in the library. We have three staff members available to support students in the HW Center. We also offer HW support during lunches every day. We have late buses to take students home after HW Center or extra-curricular activities at 5pm.

September Highlights:

• ·         Fall sports are off to a great start!
• ·         Every Monday is College Monday and every Friday is Spirit Friday. All students and staff are encouraged to wear college gear on Mondays and FPHS gear on Fridays!
• ·         Our clubs hosted “Club Rush” to recruit new members! We have about 30 clubs available at FPHS, and all kids are encouraged to get involved.
• ·         Thank you to everyone who attended Back to School Night! We had about 60 community partners attending with information about college, careers, trades, and industry.
• ·         We had 16 students receive the annual Elizabeth Wesley Incentive Awards—more than any other participating school in the region.

 

FPHS MISSION: To provide students an engaging educational environment, built upon proven academics and high standards, resulting in successful and contributing citizens.

FPHS VISION: Every student (100%) graduates from high school prepared to succeed in post-secondary education.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We are in the final stretch! Seniors only have about 20 school days left. If your child is a senior, please double and triple check Teacher Ease to make sure your child is on-track to graduate. If you have any questions, please reach out immediately to your child’s teachers or counselor. Feel free to call the main office to check to see if your child is on the Walking List for graduation. If s/he is not on the list, that means s/he has at least one unmet graduation requirement that needs to be addressed in order to participate in graduation.

As you have heard, there have been incidents recently of students writing threatening and anonymous messages on bathroom walls at our school and other schools in the district. Please, take a moment to have a serious conversation with your child about the importance of reporting threats immediately and help us to re-emphasize the message that we are in a position where we must take threats toward schools seriously.

In a recent training, I was educated regarding the plethora of drug, alcohol, and vape related paraphernalia that is “hidden in plain sight.” Unfortunately, many drug-related devices are geared toward kids and teens. I encourage you to visit the “Hidden in Plain Sight” website that contains valuable resources to educate parents on indicators of drug, alcohol, or vape use. Click here: http://powertotheparent.org/be-aware/hidden-in-plain-sight/

GRADUATION reminders:

• ·         Each Friday: The updated graduation “Walk List” is posted outside the main office. This is a list of all seniors who are currently on-track toward graduation. Seniors who are not on this list need to meet with their counselor asap to find out what they’re missing. If you have a senior, please ask him/her if s/he is on the list or come in to check the list yourself.
• ·         May 4: Prom. Students must be in good standing for Academics and Behavior in order to attend Prom.
• ·         May 20-22: Portfolio Presentations. This is a graduation requirement for all Seniors. If you have a Senior, please make sure s/he is prepared to present.
• ·         May 29-30: Final Exams for Seniors.
• ·         May 31: Moving Up Assembly. Final day for Seniors who are on-track to graduate.
• ·         June 5: Last chance for Seniors to meet graduation requirements. Check out forms due by 2:45pm in order to participate in the Graduation Ceremony.
• ·         June 5: Scholarship Awards Night for Seniors.
• ·         June 6: Graduation Parade. This has become an annual tradition, and all Seniors are encouraged to participate. Seniors will visit all 4 of our “feeder” elementary schools and Ford Middle School in their caps and gowns accompanied by the band in order to be celebrated and serve as role models for our younger students.
• ·         June 7: Graduation Rehearsal. This is a required event for Seniors in order to participate in the Graduation Ceremony.
• ·         June 8: Graduation Ceremony. Can you picture those Grad Caps flying through the air? Exciting day!

Thank you to all who attended our 4^th Annual Multicultural Night! What a fantastic event. Stay tuned to Facebook for a recap from our Video Production students.

 

FPHS MISSION: To provide students an engaging educational environment, built upon proven academics and high standards, resulting in successful and contributing citizens.

FPHS VISION: Every student (100%) graduates from high school prepared to succeed in post-secondary education.

 

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Spring is in the air! We’ve entered the 4^th and final quarter of the year. Please, continue to check Teacher Ease regularly to make sure your child is earning all of his/her credits toward graduation. Be on the lookout for Quarter 3 Report Cards, which will be sent out as soon as Q3 grades are finalized.

 Students have registered for their classes for next year, and we are building our master schedule based on their requests. While we will attempt to honor all course requests, courses not meeting the minimum number of students required will need to be collapsed, and students will be placed in the alternate course they selected. For courses that have too many students to place them all, we will prioritize seniors who need the course to meet graduation requirements. We are excited to offer a new course next year on Ethnic Studies, which will count as a Social Studies credit and provide an examination of how race, class, and ethnicity have shaped and continue to influence American culture. Students interested in this course should see their counselor immediately in order to register.

 As the weather gets nicer each Spring, we feel the need to mention something about appropriate school attire. While we are not the “fashion police” and leave clothing decisions up to parents and families, we do encourage modest attire at school. Parents, please be sure to monitor your child’s clothing before s/he leaves home.

 GRADUATION is right around the corner. Here are some important dates/info:

• ·         April 4: The graduation “Walk List” has been posted outside the main office. This is a list of all seniors who are currently on-track toward graduation. Seniors who are not on this list need to meet with their counselor asap to find out what they’re missing. We will update this list each Friday. If you have a senior, please ask him/her if s/he is on the list or come in to check the list yourself.
• ·         May 4: Prom. Students must be in good standing for Academics and Behavior in order to attend Prom.
• ·         May 20-22: Portfolio Presentations. This is a graduation requirement for all Seniors. If you have a Senior, please make sure s/he is prepared to present.
• ·         May 29-30: Final Exams for Seniors.
• ·         May 31: Moving Up Assembly. Final day for Seniors who are on-track to graduate.
• ·         June 5: Last chance for Seniors to meet graduation requirements. Check out forms due by 2:45pm in order to participate in the Graduation Ceremony.
• ·         June 5: Scholarship Awards Night for Seniors.
• ·         June 6: Graduation Parade. This has become an annual tradition, and all Seniors are encouraged to participate. Seniors will visit all 4 of our “feeder” elementary schools and Ford Middle School in their caps and gowns accompanied by the band in order to be celebrated and serve as role models for our younger students.
• ·         June 7: Graduation Rehearsal. This is a required event for Seniors in order to participate in the Graduation Ceremony.
• ·         June 8: Graduation Ceremony. Can you picture those Grad Caps flying through the air? Exciting day!

 FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Our 4^th Annual Multicultural Night will take place on April 25 at 5pm. All students and families are encouraged to attend and bring a food dish to share! See you there!

 

FPHS MISSION: To provide students an engaging educational environment, built upon proven academics and high standards, resulting in successful and contributing citizens.

FPHS VISION: Every student (100%) graduates from high school prepared to succeed in post-secondary education.

 

Dear Parents and Guardians,

With the snow days and Mid-Winter Break, February has come and gone in a flash. As much as I love the snow, I hope it’s behind us for this year. It’s been my experience that this time of year, things really begin to speed up as we move toward the end of the year and graduation for our Class of 2019. In the next several weeks, we will be guiding students through our registration process for classes next year. Counselors will be visiting all English classes to guide students through the course selection process. Current Seniors and Juniors are required to earn 22 credits to graduate. Current Freshmen, Sophomores, and our incoming 8^th graders will need 24 credits in order to graduate (4 English, 3 Math, 3 Science, 3 Social Studies, 1 CTE, 2 Health and Fitness, 2 Arts, 2 World Languages or 2 Personal Pathway Requirements aligned with the student’s post-high school career goals).

•  ·       Information regarding our course offerings and post-graduations supports can be found at http://franklinpiercehighschool.fpschools.org/counseling___career .
• ·         All students with aspirations to attend college are encouraged to take advanced courses such as AP or UW in the High School. Many of our CTE courses also offer dual credit opportunities for HS and college.
• ·        Juniors and Seniors have additional opportunities to attend Running Start (potentially earning an AA degree and a HS diploma concurrently) or Pierce County Skills Center for courses with potential to move directly into the  workforce (https://www.bethelsd.org/Page/2532 ).
• ·         Students interested in hands-on science curriculum and/or agriculture are able to enroll in two classes per day at the FPS Farm. Transportation is provided.
• ·         Parents will have an opportunity to review your child’s course selections at Student Led Conferences. Our master schedule is built based on student course selections, so be sure to review those carefully as course changes after the fact will be strongly discouraged. In some cases, students will not be able to receive their first selections as classes may be full or collapsed. In this case, we will do our best to honor a student’s second choice.

 February Highlights:

•  ·      February’s Character Theme: INFLUENCE
• ·         We celebrated Black History Month to honor the accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.
• ·         We celebrated Counselor, Psychologist, Therapist, and Social Worker Week.
• ·         Congratulations to our Winter Sports Teams and individual athletes who progressed deep into division and state championships in almost every sport. Way to go, Cards!
• ·         Hosted a high-energy BMX stunt assembly to address Bullying Awareness and Prevention.
• ·         Mid-Winter Break / Presidents’ Week
• ·         Sophomore and Junior Parent Info Night

March Look-Fors:

•  ·       March’s Character Theme: RESPECT
• ·         Student Registration Prep
• ·         Student Led Conferences, Mar 19 and 20: Required for all 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th graders.

 Reminders:

•  ·         Each Monday is College Monday, and each Friday is Spirit Friday! We encourage all students to participate.
• ·         We conduct school-wide grade checks on the final Thursday of each month to determine students who will earn

 

FPHS MISSION: To provide students an engaging educational environment, built upon proven academics and high standards, resulting in successful and contributing citizens.

FPHS VISION: Every student (100%) graduates from high school prepared to succeed in post-secondary education.

 

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Winter Break and that the new year has started off well. Final Exams for Semester 1 will take place on January 23, 24, and 25. Please be sure your child is attending classes and arriving on time every day until Final Exams. Teachers will be going over Final Exam expectations, completing end of semester projects, and reviewing critical material. Our Homework Center is open and available to provide students with additional assistance in all subject areas each day until 4pm (including early release Wednesdays). A late bus is available at 5pm each day. Please, be sure to check your child’s grades in Teacher Ease and communicate any questions to your child’s teacher.

 December Highlights:

• ·         Our Character Theme for December was SELFLESSNESS.
• ·         Our Juniors and select Seniors took the ASVAB test to determine vocational aptitude.
• ·         Our Band and Choir provided outstanding concert performances.
• ·         Our Drama Club performed a wonderful rendition of The Nerd.
• ·         We held our annual Winter Wishes assembly and provided gifts for every student at Collins Elementary School. Check out the video on Facebook. It was a truly heart-warming and community-building experience for all.
• ·         We went on Winter Break and welcomed in 2019!

 Reminders:

• ·         Each Monday is College Monday, and each Friday is Spirit Friday! We encourage all students to participate each week.
• ·         We conduct school-wide grade checks on the final Thursday of each month to determine students who will earn Choice Learning or will be placed on Academic Probation for the following month.
• ·         January’s character theme is “Integrity.”