Dear Harrison High School families,

As we finish up week four, we have had many successes and also many learning moments. Students and staff alike have done a great job wearing their masks, social distancing and washing their hands.  Overall it has been a great start to the school year.  It is important to understand that, during this pandemic, we are having to modify some of the traditional ways that we are handling students who are ill.  Please know that if a child comes to the clinic and presents with symptoms that are a part of the COVID-19 guidelines from Hamilton County Public Health, we are likely sending the child home.  Parents have been great about this, and we thank you!  In addition, if your child is ill, please ask them to call you using the office phone. All students that are ill will need to see the school nurse before they leave.

Quarantined Students

We are requesting that our students who are quarantined, communicate with their teachers using Microsoft Teams. Students are familiar with this platform and teachers will post assignments, notes and additional information on Teams to help keep your student caught up.  Encourage your child to send questions to their teacher through Teams. Please understand we are working on this process of communication with students that are quarantined for an extended period of time. We thank you for your patience.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

High School Parent-Teacher Conferences will be next Thursday, October 8^th  from 3:30 - 8:30 PM. Conferences will be virtual using Microsoft Teams video meetings. We are using this virtual platform to reduce the number of people in the building, so there are fewer points of contact and possibilities of COVID spread.  Below are the steps you will need to take:

• To schedule your conference, please click HERE to sign up using Pick-a-Time.  
• On the date of the conference, parents will need to have their child log onto Teams, using their child’s school computer, at the designated conference time.
• Go to the Teams calendar and look for their child’s name and assigned time slot. Teachers will log in and meet you at this time as well.  Please understand that there may be a 1-2 minute lag in connection as the teachers are finishing up their previous conference.  On this note, please be courteous of other parents’ time – please be on time for your scheduled conference, and try to keep your conferences within the allotted 15 minutes.  
• We understand that some of you may have a child that has practice or an activity after school, and may not be around to help you log in at this time.  To accommodate that, we will be holding conferences until 8:30 in the evening.  Please do your best to schedule your conference when your child is at home. If this is not conducive, and your child is unable to be with you when you are available to conference, please have them show you how to log on to Teams prior to October 8^th.
• If you have additional questions for your child’s teacher, feel free to email them or check your child’s grades via Progress Book.

We thank you for your help and understanding as we work through this new process.

Virtual Students and Families

We are now starting to settle into a pretty good groove with our virtual students.  Our families and students have done a great job setting up schedules, working hard, and learning to ask for help.  Great job!

For our virtual students, make sure you check Microsoft Teams each day and see if your teachers have any announcements for you.  This will help with communication for many different items. It is also important for virtual students to work on all classes during their school day and to be on line for their scheduled Teams check-in times with the teacher who is monitoring their progress.

MAP testing

This week was the start of our MAP assessment.  These assessments will help us have a data point to see where our students have grown and where they need specific supports in Reading and Math.  This is important as we look to determine what academic losses may have occurred during the quarantine.

Our face-to-face students have taken this during the early part of the week, and our virtual students will take it later in the week.  This will look a bit different with us having virtual students, but we look forward to the challenge.

Stay Connected

Please click HERE for a handy graphic showing ways to stay in touch with Harrison High School, including our phone number, website, and social media channels.  We encourage you to follow us on all of the listed social media platforms.  These are the official school accounts, which will always provide you with the latest, most accurate information on social media.  If you have questions about something you see online, please email the teacher/coach/advisor in question, or call the school office for more information.

FAFSA

Seniors will be shown the following slide show to familiarize themselves with the FAFSA process and other financial aid information.  The slide show is posted on the Harrison High School website under the Guidance section.  This year, audio was added to most slides to help virtual and Diamond students understand the information better since they will not be attending the presentation in person.

Transcripts

Any senior applying to college can request their transcripts on Naviance. See your guidance counselor with questions. 

Have a great remainder of the week.
Matt Lindley
Principal WHHHS