Side Menu Ends, main content for this page begins
Back to Side Menu (includes search)

WHHHS Update

Posted on: February 2, 2024
Update

We are now halfway through the third quarter.  We have our final conference night coming up soon, so please be sure that you are checking your students’ grades in ProgressBook; our expectation for staff is that grades are updated weekly and that any phone calls or emails are returned within 24 business hours.  Please see below for some important information and updates.

Scheduling Information
This week, we met with all current freshmen, sophomores, and juniors in their English classes to discuss the scheduling process for the 2024-2025 school year.  For additional information about the scheduling process, including the information that we shared with our students the past week, please visit the Guidance Department section of our website by clicking here.  Also, at our next conference night (Thurs 2/22), Mrs. Acra will be available in the Makerspace beginning at 6:00 PM representing the Guidance Department.  She can answer any questions regarding high school graduation requirements and career options and plans.

Mandatory Meeting for CCP Students – Thurs 2/15
Registration is upon us!  We are excited about next year and all the rigorous courses our students are choosing.  This is just a reminder that if your student is looking to take a College Credit Plus (CCP) class next year, the student and parent needs to attend an informational meeting.  We have already held two meetings.  The last one will be Thursday, February 15th at 7:45 AM in the Makerspace in the High School.  There will be an attendance sheet for parents/students to sign.  You only need to attend one of the meetings—if you attended one of the previous meetings in the fall, you do not need to attend this meeting.

ACT Testing for All Juniors – Tues 2/27
Our annual in-school ACT Test for all juniors will take place on Tuesday, February 27.  All WHHHS juniors (including students attending programs on an Oaks campus or on a college campus) should report to school by 7:45 AM.  All freshmen, sophomores, and seniors will work remotely on this day.  Teachers will post assignments in their classes’ Microsoft Teams pages for students to do on this day.  We will be serving a light breakfast (packaged food only) and a light lunch on this day; students will be dismissed at the end of the testing session; standard time testing should end around 12:00 PM.  Please contact the Guidance Office with any questions.

Erin’s Law/SAVE Students Act – Information Session Mon 2/12
In December of 2022, Ohio’s 134th General Assembly enacted Erin’s Law (Senate Bill 288) which included requirements for student instruction, parent and legal guardian notification and training for school personnel on sexual abuse prevention and dating violence prevention.  The law went into effect on April 4, 2023.  Students in grades K-6 are required to have one hour of training on sexual abuse prevention annually, and students in grades 7-12 are required to have one hour of training on dating and sexual violence prevention once during their 7-12th grade years, which we will include in the High School Health curriculum.  We have partnered with the Council on Child Abuse (COCA) for this training.   

Additionally, on March 24, 2021, Ohio’s 133rd General Assembly enacted House Bill 123, or the SAVE Students Act.  This legislation called for a comprehensive approach to school safety, to meet the physical and emotional safety of students and educators.  The law went into effect July 1, 2023.  The requirements include student and staff training annually in grades 6-12, for one hour in each of the following topics: suicide awareness and prevention, safety training and violence prevention, and social inclusion.  We have partnered with the Hamilton County Education Service Center on this training, and we will be using the Sandy Hook Promise curriculum materials from “Start With Hello” and “Say Something” to cover this content with our students. 

We will be holding a parent information session on February 12th in the SLSD Activity Center Auditorium for parents of students in grades K-5 from 7:00 - 7:30 PM and for parents of students in grades 6-12 from 7:30 – 8:00 PM.  The purpose of this meeting is for parents to hear from the presenters about the content that will be included in the student presentations.  There will be an opportunity for parents to ask questions at the end of the information session. 

If parents feel that the information might cause their child to become very upset or trigger memories from a past or recent trauma, there is an opt-out letter that will be coming out prior to the student presentations.  Parents must indicate their desire to opt their child(ren) out of the presentation in writing by signing and turning in the district opt-out form to their child’s principal. 

Military Academy Information Night at Diamond Oaks – Tues 2/13
Congressman Warren Davidson’s office is hosting a Military Academy Information Night at Diamond Oaks on Tuesday, February 13, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM.  This meeting is open to all families with students 8th grade and up.  Please see the attached flyer for additional information.

High School Building Tour – Thurs 2/22
We are inviting everyone to participate in a guided tour of William Henry Harrison High School on our next conference night, Thursday, February 22.  The tour will take place at 6:00 PM.  More information is forthcoming. 

Inclement Weather
As winter progresses and the chances for winter weather increase, please make sure your contact information is current in Final Forms.  If you are already getting emails, texts and phone calls from us via the School Messenger Mass Notification system, you should be all set to receive weather-related information.  You can also check the District website (southwestschools.org) and the official District social media accounts for the most up-to-date, accurate information.  As a reminder, our doors open at 6:45 AM every morning and students should wait in the Commons.  Likewise, we need the Activity Center cleared at 3:15 PM every day after school, however, students who still need to wait for a ride may wait as long as necessary in the Commons or the lobby of the Main Building. 

SLSD Will Be Closed – Mon 4/8/24
On April 8, 2024, Ohio will experience a once-in-a-lifetime Total Solar Eclipse event.  The last total solar eclipse in Ohio happened 218 years ago in 1806.  Many parts of the state, ours included, will be in total darkness for a brief period in the late afternoon.  The rest of the state will see the sun at least 95% blocked by the moon during that time.   

The timing of the total eclipse has created a tricky situation for school districts in the totality zone, as it is supposed to occur right around our dismissal time.  The issue will not be the darkness, but instead, the amount of traffic in our area, as the Ohio Emergency Management Team anticipates an extremely large number of visitors to our area to view this historic event.  It is estimated that an additional 139,000-556,000 travelers will be coming to this part of Ohio, creating gridlocked traffic conditions and travelers stopped all along our roadways.  More information and guidance from the Ohio Emergency Management team can be found here: https://ema.ohio.gov/media-publications/ohio-total-solar-eclipse

Due to the safety concerns regarding travel conditions, Southwest Local Schools have decided to close on Monday, April 8, 2024.  Several other districts in our area have already done the same:

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/several-tri-state-school-districts-announce-closures-on-april-8-as-total-solar-eclipse-travels-over-ohio

We will be providing solar eclipse glasses to all of our students and staff members so they may view the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse safely.  Those will be sent home with students during the previous week.  School will resume as normal on Tuesday, April 9th.

2024 Prom Attendance Requirement
As we did with our 2023 Prom and with our most recent Coronation, we will have an attendance requirement for Prom in April.  To be eligible to attend Prom, a student can have no more than six (6) UNEXCUSED absences from school from 1/8/24 – 4/5/24.  Absences with appropriate medical or other third-party documentation do not count as unexcused absences.  Please contact the office with any questions.  We addressed this with the juniors and seniors in our grade level assemblies this past Wednesday.

Tutoring is Available
The National Honor Society has started their weekly tutoring sessions.  Every Tuesday and Thursday starting at 7:15 AM, the National Honor Society students will be available for free tutoring for anyone who needs help.  There’s no need to sign up in advance, just show up to Room 104 (Mrs. Siemer’s room), and let the NHS students help you with any subject you need.  Please reach out to Mrs. Siemer if you have any questions.

Check Out The Paw Print – Harrison’s Online Student News Site
Mrs. Evanson’s Journalism class has been working hard, and they have launched an online news site entitled “The Paw Print.”  Please be sure to check it out at https://harrisonpawprint.org/.

School Fees
School fees are now posted to our students’ accounts.  Directions for how to log on and pay student fees can be found here.  Thank you for your attention to this information!

Junior/Senior College Information
Seniors received instruction on how to complete transcript requests in Naviance on Thursday, August 31st during Advisory.  The slide show is available for viewing on both the Guidance page of the school’s website and on the Class of 2024 Teams page. Students at Diamond Oaks/Scarlet Oaks received the same instruction during their individual meetings when their Harrison counselor visited.

Juniors and Seniors interested in visiting a college campus can sign up on that college’s website. We need a parent note stating the day and time of the visit. Please bring this note to the guidance office several days prior to your visit.

Senior Scholarship information
All seniors have access to Naviance. There is a scholarship section where the guidance office frequently uploads scholarship applications. We encourage all seniors to review the scholarships available and apply. If you have any questions, reach out to connie.acra@southwestschools.org

Senior FAFSA Information
There have been recent changes with FAFSA and it looks like it should be ready around December 31st.  You can get ready for the launch of the new FAFSA by going onto FAFSA.gov and registering for an FSA ID if you do not already have one.  Every student will need their own FSA ID to apply for FAFSA as well as anyone that is considered a “contributor”.  A “contributor” would be a spouse/parent/guardian of the student.  In the past only one parent had to get an FSA ID even if the parents were married, now married parents BOTH must have their own FSA ID. (If the parents are not married/living together, then the parent that provides the most financial support must be the contributor) You must have different email addresses and phone numbers to register for the FSA ID, you cannot use the same email address or phone number when registering.  By having your FSA ID registered and ready, the student and parent/guardian can immediately fill out and submit the FAFSA.

Athletic Booster Sport Stag – Thurs 2/22
Harrison Athletic Boosters is excited to announce its annual Sports Stag, featuring Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman and host on Chatterbox Sports, Thom Brennaman. This event will be February 22, 2024 from 6:00 -11:00 PM at Harrison Blue Note.

For tickets or sponsorship information go to harrisonathleticboosters.com or email harrisonathleticstag@gmail.com.

Harrison Night at the Cincinnati Cyclones – Sat 3/23
The Harrison Jr. Sr. High PTO is hosting Harrison Night on Saturday, March 23!  The Acapella group and the Sign Language will be singing/signing God Bless America, and the Band Boosters are doing the Split the Pot!  A portion of each ticket sold through our link is donated to our PTO!  Buy your tickets here:  Cincinnati Cyclones

PTO/Booster Organizations
We would like to invite you to join the Harrison Junior/Senior High PTO as well as our Booster organizations.  You can visit https://harrisonjrsrpto.membershiptoolkit.com/home to join the PTO, https://harrisonwildcats.membershiptoolkit.com/Home to join the Athletic Boosters, https://www.harrisonmusicboosters.com/ to join the Music Boosters and the Harrison CAT Boosters’ page to support the Vocal and Drama programs.  

UPCOMING DATES
MON 2/12: PARENT INFO SESSION: ERIN’S LAW/SAVE STUDENTS ACT 7:30 – 8:00 PM
FRI 2/16: NO SCHOOL/CONFERENCE RELEASE DAY
MON 2/19: NO SCHOOL/PRESIDENTS’ DAY
THURS 2/22: CONFERENCE NIGHT 3:30 – 8:30 PM (SIGN-UPS OPEN WEDS 2/14)
THURS 2/22: BUILDING TOUR 6:00 PM
TUES 2/27: ACT FOR JUNIORS (9/10/12 REMOTE)


Please feel free to contact us with questions.  Thank you and have a great weekend!

Go Wildcats!

Joe Pollitt
Principal
William Henry Harrison High School

Military Academy Night