Grand Junction High School 1400 N 5th St. Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-254-6900 1

Grand Junction High School

Principal, Meghan Roenicke

Home of the Tigers Nicole Burbank Asst. Principals Jared Burek

Josh Warinner

Table of Contents Letter from the Principal Pages 1&2

Important Dates Page 1

From the Dean’s Desk Page 1

Students of the Month Page 2

Mock Trial Success Page 2

End of Quarter

Mar 11

No School—

Teacher Work Day Mar 12

No School—

Teacher In-Service Mar 13

No School—Spring Break Mar 16-20

First day of 4th Quarter Mar 23 4

State Testing—Ltd. School

See page 5 for details. April 14 & 15

Last Day for Seniors May 14

Graduation

May 19—8:30am Stocker Stadium

Important Dates Changes Afoot Dear Tiger Families-

Congratulations to our two State Champion wrestlers, 2 time champ Dawson Collins, and 1st time winner, Kiernan Thompson! In addition, Christian Hafey had third place fin-ish to help the Tigers to a 10th place overall finish in the State Tournament. I would also like to personally thank coach Cole Allison for his years of dedication to building a great program and great young men and women. Coach Alison will be leaving GJHS to move back to the Four Corners region where he grew up.

News also just came if of the Mock Trial Team’s success in Glenwood, taking 2nd place overall and qualifying for the State Competition in Jefferson County over Spring Break. Good luck to them as they “try” hard to bring home a victory.

March of 2020 is the beginning of some big changes at Grand Junction High School. The most significant change is the schools continued move toward developing the Acade-my model which will continue rolling out as the freshmen students make their course selec-tion for the 2020-21 school year, and the incoming freshmen decide the direction they are heading. While these changes will not be reflected in the diplomas for our sophomore and junior students, they can take advantage of the courses offered, strands identified and move themselves toward college or career goals with purpose.

In addition, this will be the last newsletter appearing in this format. The April and May issues will be the trial runs for a new and hopefully more engaging newsletter using a web-

(Continued on next page)

Heath Office Notice Page 3

Concussion Mgmt Page 3

Scheduling for 2020/21 Page 3

Winter Sports Wrap-up Page 4

College Career notes Page 4

GJ Sports Apparel Page 4

Carol Sams Athletic Director

Tom LeFebre Dean of Students

March 2020

Travel Opportunity Page 5

State Testing Infor Page 5

School of Choice Info Page 6

GJHS School Rules Page 7

School Year Calendar Page 8

The Dean’s Desk Tiger Parents and Guardians:

The 3rd quarter is coming to a close and spring is coming in March. Please help your students to stay focused on finishing strong this school

year. As the weather warms, it is very important to us that students dress re-

spectfully and within the guidelines of the GJHS Dress Code found in the Student Handbook. The Handbook is available on the website at gjhs.d51schools.org under the Students & Families tab

Thank you, Tom LeFebre—Dean of Students

Advertise your

business in the GJHS

Monthly Newsletter. Dis-

tribution to over 1600

households per month at

reasonable rates.

Contact Steve Brown at

steve.brown@d51schools.org

Grand Junction High School 1400 N 5th St. Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-254-6900 2

Tigers Roar! Students of the Month

We are proud of the contributions that our outstanding students make in the classroom, as well as the way they represent themselves and their school in the community.

We would like to congratulate the students who have received the following recognitions

Kiwanis Student of the Month: Alpine Bank/CMU Students of the Quarter:

February, Kyla Heley Gina Giannangelo - Daughter of Julie & Eric Giannagelo

Daughter of Sandy & Barrett Heley Daniel Deuel - Son of Maria & Michael Deuel

based format. Please contact Steve Brown at steve.brown@d51schools.org if you are interested in supporting our student programs by advertising in the newsletter or if you have and comments on format, content, or features.

The School of Choice window is opening on March 9th, so please be sure to look through the information on page 6 of the newsletter and get your applications completed within the set timeframes.

Finally, please get out to watch our students this month as we have our Spring Musical, “The Little Shop of Hor-rors” to begin March, and spring sports will move into full swing as the month progresses. Sincerely, Meghan Roenicke, Principal

Principal’s Letter (cont’d)

Mock Trial Success

One of three mock trial teams from Grand Junction High School came in second place this past weekend at the Western Slope Mock

Trial Regional in Glenwood Springs, earning a chance to compete at the state championship tournament March 13-14 at the Jefferson

County Combined Courthouse in Golden. Photo of the team after their regional competition . Congratulations!

Grand Junction High School 1400 N 5th St. Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-254-6900 3

With cold and flu season in our midst and with heightened surveillance for the Corona and Noro Viruses we wanted to let you all know that the best and easiest way to prevent illness and decrease the spread of germs, no matter what the illness is; is by handwashing.

When should a person wash their hands? Before eating food After using the toilet After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing After touching garbage Before, during, and after preparing food After being around someone who is sick After touching money After touching an animal or picking up animal waste

Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to remove germs from your hands. Here is the correct

way to wash your hands: Wet your hands with clean running water (warm or cold is ok) and apply soap. Rub your hands together to make a lather; friction is key and focus on fingers; scrub the fingers, cuticles, under

finger nails, between your fingers and thumbs, back of your hands, and palm of your hands. Continue rubbing your hands together for at least 20 seconds. Helpful ways to time your handwashing include:

humming the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice, or singing the ABCs one time. Ask your child what they do at school.

Rinse your hands well under running water. Dry your hands with a clean towel, turn the faucet off and the open the door with that towel.

Unfortunately not everyone will wash their hands after they have used the restroom. Using the towel prevents you from getting dirty hands before you even leave the bathroom! Wearing a mask is not statistically proven to re-duce the spread of airborn illnesses. What masks do is a reminder to not touch our nose and mouth. If good hand-washing is practiced there is no need for a mask. Masks are not recommended currently due to security reasons.

Stay Healthy

Mel McConnell RN, BSN

Radawna Clark-Bobbitt Health Assistant

970-254-6900 x24191

Health Office Notices

If your son/daughter has sustained a concussion this school year and intends to participate on any Grand Junc-tion High School sports team during the school year, he/she must be cleared by a physician in order to begin the Return to Play (RTP) process. If your child has been cleared to begin the RTP process by your Physician, you will need to contact our Certified Athletic Trainer, Erin Glavan, at Grand Junction High School to begin RTP proto-col. Erin’s contact information is 970-250-1131. Please contact the Athletics Office if you have any questions con-cerning this process.

Concussion Management

Student Scheduling for 2020/21 School Year

Families, Through the months of February and March, GJHS students are going through the process of select-

ing their classes for the next academic year. Please talk with your students about their course selections, their post-secondary goals and how those two align. If any questions arise during the process, counselors

are readily available to address them.

Grand Junction High School 1400 N 5th St. Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-254-6900 4

BOYS BASKETBALL: The boys basketball team played hard this season and is looking forward to building in the off-season for next

year.

GIRLS BASKETBALL: The Tiger Girls Basketball team ended their season in the first round of the Class 5A Basketball Tournament with a loss to Chaparral High School in Denver. This was the 20th straight year the girls basketball team has qualified for the state tournament. We are proud of the teams' accomplishments and we look forward to next season.

WRESTLING: Thanks for the support this year! Our wrestling team finished strong with a 10th place finish at the State 5A tour-nament and 2 State Champions! Kiernan Thompson won the state title at 132 lbs, and Dawson Collins claimed his 2nd state title, this time at 120lbs. Christian Hafey had an excellent finish, taking 3rd place at 160lbs. Other state qualifiers included Micah Kenny.

1st Team All-Conference selections include: Micah Kenney 120, Dawson Collins 126, Kieran Thompson 132,

Christian Hafey 160, & Junious Gooden 285.

GIRLS SWIM & DIVE: The GJHS Girls Swim & Dive team finished great season. The state finish included: 400 free relay 2nd - Delaney Kidd- Sarah Cook - Riley Pope - Nina English; 100 free - English; 4th; 100 fly - Cook 3rd; 50 free - Eng-lish 9th; 200 I.M. - Cook 6th; 200 medley relay - 7th - Kidd - Cook - Chloe Dalton - English.

Kidd, Cook, Pope, & English were all named 2nd Team All-State

English, Pope, Dalton, Kidd, and Cook were all named 1st team All-Conference.

Winter Sports Update

GJ Sports Apparel

Start the new year with some sharp GJ wear! Stop by the Ath-letic Office at GJHS and check out the Tiger apparel. New t-shirts and sweatshirts are available along with lanyards, baseball caps, visors, pop sockets and other apparel. Purchases can be made with cash, check, or credit card.

Procrastination Day! April 2nd will be our Procrastination Day for seniors. Any senior that needs to do or finish applications for col-lege, finish financial aid, or complete any next steps should come down to the library. We will be available start-ing at study time through the rest of the day. Plan on attending during your release, but if needed Mr. Little can excuse you if needed.

Noche con Mesa! Join us on the evening of April 2nd at 6pm for our Noche con Mesa. This event will entirely be held in spanish and for spanish speaking families. There will be an info session and then questions and answers. All high school grade levels are invited to attend.

Community Hospital Trip On March 27th we are visiting Community Hospital. If you have any interest in the medical field please at-tend. See Mr. Little for permission slip and more information.

Junior/Senior College Visitation Trip

Grand Junction High School 1400 N 5th St. Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-254-6900 5

Travel Abroad to the Galapagos!

Join us June 2022 in traveling to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands! This is an amazing opportunity for students to experience another country, practice speaking Spanish, and earn high school or college credit while they’re doing it. The first informational meeting will be April 14th at 5:30 p.m. in the GJHS library.

Contact Señora Henao at sarah.henao@d51schools.org for information or go to the website at www.explorica.com/Henao-1425.

ATTENTION TIGER FAMILIES: Important information regarding state testing

The state of Colorado requires annual testing of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. These assessments are designed to

give schools and teachers information to improve instruction as well as identifying academic strengths, which can lead to poten-tial scholarships. For a successful testing season, we value the partnership with all Grand Junction High School parents and families. Should you have questions, please feel free to contact us and let us know how we can best support the needs of your stu-dent.

Test dates for 2020 will be April 7- 9 and April 14 and 15, with all tests being free of charge.

Freshmen and Sophomores will take the PSAT 9 and PSAT 10 respectively. This assessment measures a stu-dent’s college and career readiness success and gives students valuable exposure to concepts of the SAT, which is administered in their 11th grade year.

Juniors will take two tests; CMAS science and SAT. Colleges and other post-secondary educational institu-tions use these results as part of their admission process; both assessments serve as Colorado’s only common measurements for students, helping teachers, and parents understand whether their students have mastered con-tent they need to know by the end of each school year.

The expectation is that ALL 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students participate in these assessments.

Additionally, please remember that in order for students to meet graduation requirements, students must

demonstrate proficiency as part of the D51 Performance Based Policy (adopted in 2004). While these are not

the only assessments students can take to meet this proficiency requirement, it is one of the main pathways for stu-dents to demonstrate proficiency.

An explanation of this policy is in the Student Handbook on pages 16-19, linked on the Grand Junction High School website: https://gjhs.d51schools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_77543/Image/Students/Student%20Handbook%202019-20.pdf.

Please mark your calendars for April 7 - 9. Juniors will have the opportunity to participate in the CMAS Sci-

ence assessment during advisory class. Students that attend WCCC or Career Center during advisory will be

granted an alternative test schedule, which supports their instructional time.

On April 14 and 15, regular classes will be cancelled to accommodate the test schedule for SAT and PSAT 9

and 10. School busses will run on their normal schedule on these days. We ask that you are thoughtful when making appointments during these posted dates, as the alternative for

students not available on these specific dates, would require them to be pulled from other classes during the school week so they may participate in make-up testing.

We encourage discussion with your student(s) the importance of using these tests as an opportunity to “show what they know.” Equally, it is important to recognize that these tests should not cause undue stress or anxiety.

Parent Tips: How to Help Your Child Prepare for Standardized Tests, is a good resource for having conversa-tions with your student about how to feel confident and prepared.

State Testing Information

Grand Junction High School 1400 N 5th St. Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-254-6900 6

School of Choice Acceptance and Denial Letters for the 2020-2021 school year

will be emailed on April 10, 2020

School of Choice

Although the Board of Education has endorsed a neighborhood school concept based upon structured attendance areas,

it recognizes and has determined that students should be given the option to attend a school or participate in a school

program located in an area other than that of their assigned school. In conformity with Board policy JCA/JFBB and

regulation JCA/JFBB-R , parents/guardians of students may apply for School of Choice or a Transfer Request, as out-

lined in JCA/JFBB-R.

While students residing within a designated attendance area shall have priority, such applications, if timely, made in

accordance with the policy and regulation, shall be granted if space is available in the requested school, requested grade

and the requested school program. Priority among applicants will be determined by the date of the application on a

space available, first come, first served basis.

Procedures for applying for the School of Choice option are as follows:

1. The School of Choice Application will be available starting at 10:00 am on March 9, 2020, and will be accepted until 4:00

pm on March 27, 2020. The application will be available thru ParentVUE in electronic form only.

If you have a ParentVUE account, log in prior to School of Choice window to confirm your access.

If you have a student enrolled in District 51 and do not have a ParentVUE account, please go to your student's school and

register.

If you are a parent of a non-district 51 student and wish to apply for School of Choice, you will be able to create an account as

of February 28, 2020. Click here to set up an account.

Access School of Choice forms by clicking on the button located on the bottom of this page (available on March 9 at

10:00 am)

Complete the application and submit. Applications will be marked with the date and time upon submission of the elec-

tronic form.

All students wanting to attend an out of area school for the 2020-2021 school year must submit a School of Choice appli-

cation unless the student is continuing in the same school in which a School of Choice was granted last year and space is

still available.

If you do not have access to the internet, please go to the main District Administrative Building at 2115 Grand Avenue,

7:30 am — 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. You can also fill out the online form at your child's school office.

PLEASE NOTE: Transportation will NOT be provided for students who live out of the attendance area and attend

school under School of Choice.

Once the applications are received, prioritized waiting lists will be established for each school. The criteria for place-

ment in your school of choice are space availability and date of application. Each school in the District has established

a capacity for the total school, for each grade level, and for programs in the school. Consequently, a school may have

space available at one grade, but not at another, or there may be space available in one program but not another at any

given school. There must be space available in both a grade level and/or a program in the school to accept an applicant.

After the March 27, 2020, deadline, the building principal will notify the parent/guardian by email of their application

status (acceptance or denial), all emails will be sent on April 10, 2020. If the parent/guardian receives notice of ac-

ceptance, they must sign and return the letter of commitment no later than April 30, 2020, to be accepted into the re-

ceiving school.

Following all School of Choice windows closing, a parent/guardian may utilize the option of requesting a transfer un-

der the criteria outlined in Policy JCA/JFBB and Regulation JACA/JFBB-R.

School attendance area boundaries are subject to change each year. Continuing students should plan on being served by

the same elementary, middle and high school as last year. If the attendance boundaries for a school are changed, you

will be notified. Students who are new to School District 51 or who have moved within the District during the summer

may locate their attendance area by calling the Office of Resolution and Support 970 -254-5323 or by accessing

the School Locator .

School of Choice Information

Grand Junction High School 1400 N 5th St. Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-254-6900 7

At

Grand Junction

WE ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME.

WE ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN LEARNING AND

COMPLETE WORK WITH INTEGRITY.

WE LISTEN TO, ACKNOWLEDGE, AND RESPOND

TO ONE ANOTHER.

WE USE TECHNOLOGY (I.E., CELL PHONES)

POLITELY AND RESPONSIBLY.

WE USE APPROPRIATE AND PROFESSIONAL VERBAL

AND PHYSICAL BOUNDARIES.

WE MAKE SAFE, HEALTHY, LEGAL CHOICES.

Grand Junction High School 1400 N 5th St. Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-254-6900 8