Continuing to Adjust. Continuing to Get Better.
From the world of baseball comes a quote that I shared with our staff this past week. At the start of all of this Coronavirus, Cincinnati Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart said, "We are in such a routine-driven profession that it throws that (off) a little bit. The old adage: This is a game of adjustments."
It's fair to say that we can relate! Our routines are thrown off, but we are continuing to adjust every week and every day. Like any professional athlete, our goal is to strive to be the best we can be, and that means doing everything we can for our students and families.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to any of us while we push through this uncertain time. All of us miss all of you!
Shane Hartley
Principal, Deer Park Jr./Sr. High School
hartley.s@dpccsd.org
What's New
Virtual Spirit Week
This week, we will be hosting our very first Virtual #DPSpirit Week! The themes for each day are below. Feel free to participate by dressing up for each day’s theme! To spread our Spirit Week even further on social media, let’s tag your school, @DeerParkSchools, @DeerParkHS, and @DeerParkAmity and use #DPSpirit, #H3, and #AmityFamily.
You can send us your photos through a Facebook direct message or email them to deerparkcityschools@gmail.com.
Monday: Pajama Day
Tuesday: Red, White, and Blue Day
Wednesday: Favorite Sports Team Day
Thursday: Virtual Vacation Day
Friday: #DPSpirit Day (Scarlet and Gray Day)
Grades
While consulting with many other schools around the city and around the state, our leadership worked together to decide what we felt was best for Deer Park students for 4th quarter grades. While some local schools are sticking to Pass/Fail (including Amity Elementary), we have decided to stick to traditional letter grades this quarter.
The main reason for this is to continue to help our students with college and potential NCAA grade point average consistencies. Though many universities will adjust their admission protocols, we wanted to stay as consistent as possible.
Please know that we are 100% dedicated to having all of our students thrive as much as possible this quarter. We are not out to "catch" anybody, and we are focussed on raising grades by keeping students engaged as much as possible. Please reach out to us at any time if you feel overwhelmed! We are here to help, and we will continue to communicate as a staff as to how our grades are going.
Assignments: One-Stop Shop
In an effort to streamline where our students and their families can access their assignments, we have created a spreadsheet that each teacher will put their assignments for the week. That spreadsheet will be posted to the Deer Park Jr/Sr High School webpage on the Deer Park website, on Schoology for students, and you can also click here for direct access.
To access that webpage, please click the link below.
Click here to access the webpage.
Schoology
Schoology continues to be our best resource for communication, especially for our students. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our teachers this way or through email if you have any questions about assignments or grades!
Parent Tips & Tools for Online Learning
Last week, Deer Park sent out a news release for Parent Tips & Tools for Online Learning. The information contains tips for parents, links for Homework Help, information about an online tool called Read & Write, and information for Free Internet for families. Click here to access that information!
Virtual H3 Room
As you may know, our school has an "H3 Room," which is a room for students to visit when they need to reset, recharge, and/or just take a few minutes to take some deep breaths. While we obviously don't have access to that now, MindPeace (the organization that helped us create this space) has provided some online resources as virtual H3 Mindfulness Rooms. Please click here to check it out!
Counseling Department Updates!
Our school counselors are still available for all students, and they will continue to communicate important information throughout our distance learning period.
Here's a link to this week's Counselor Corner!