Each school year brings new changes and a chance to start anew. Over the summer, construction crews worked on the $1.3 million roof renovation project. Students and staff had limited access to the building, but many back to school events took place. While students and staff may have already noticed the building’s physical changes, some notable academic and extracurricular programs will also see changes.

PASS  

This year, a third day of PASS will be added to the fourth week of each month. The extra day will be utilized for school-wide and non-academic activities. Last year, PASS was introduced as a 37-minute study period, two days a week on Wednesdays and Thursdays, for students to catch up on schoolwork. Although staff members liked PASS, many were frustrated that other things were being scheduled during PASS, which took away from its purpose of “Promoting Academic Student Success”. “I think that if they can fit the activities they need to once a month, then it’s fine,” junior Jack Pearce said. There were discussions about adding an extra day of PASS each week, but the plan was nixed since some classes would be adversely affected by losing classroom time. “I would like to see more PASS if both the teachers and students are willing to work,” Pearce said.

Activities Bus

In addition to PASS, there will be an activities bus beginning on Sept. 25 to aid academic success. The bus will leave at 3:25 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. It will make all of the stops on the regular bus routes. Principal Greg Schwab said the plan encourages students to stay after school and receive help from teachers if needed. “I will take advantage of (the activities bus) because it will help me become a better student and help my transcript,” sophomore Ali Shah said. “There shouldn’t be an excuse because now there will be an activities bus.”

Senior Project choices

A college application project option has been added with definite deadlines mirroring the college application process. Students can also choose to do a career exploration project or create a project to enter the Intel international science fair. “I am thinking about doing a career exploration project, making a CD, or directing a jazz combo,” senior Kandin Neri said. “Or I might do a project in the engineering field.” He’s also considering doing the college application project, which Schwab has deemed to be “rigorous”. In previous years, there have been five types of senior projects to choose from including designing a product, service or system; event/activity planning; investigation; learning a new skill/improving an existing skill; or research. Seniors can still choose from the original five options or choose one of the new options to fulfill the graduation requirement. Tabetha Sheppard, senior, already had her senior project proposal approved in June, well before she found out about the new options. “I am shadowing the psychologist at Fort Lewis for the FOCUS project, doing an informational seminar about post traumatic stress disorder and the wounded warrior project, then selling yellow ribbons for PTSD awareness as a fundraiser for the wounded warrior project,” Sheppard said. Schwab and Career Center Coordinator Erika Spellman were instrumental in developing the new senior project options. “We want to do more as a school to promote post-high school opportunities,” Schwab said. The senior project will continue to be embedded within senior English classes.

Tardy Policy  

A more stringent tardy policy will be put in place this year. A tardy is defined as not being in the classroom when the bell rings. The first three tardies, discipline will be handled at the classroom level. After the fourth tardy, discipline will be referred to administration. Schwab said he believes staff will enforce the policy after numerous tardiness issues last year.