Churchill High School

Churchill Families,

The first few days of school have come and gone, and all I can say is that I am excited for this year!  The energy around campus, in halls, and in the classrooms is so much fun.  Students are reconnecting with peers, teachers, and getting settled into their classes.  Schedule changes are starting to settle down, and by next week all students should be have the classes they need and be ready to settle into a semester of great learning ahead.

Next week will be our first full week of classes, which means:  Monday and Thursday will be A Days (class periods 1 – 4), Tuesday and Friday will be B Days (class periods 5 – 8), and Wednesday will be our Early Release C Day (all class periods, plus an Advisory period).  Staff are around to remind students, and themselves, what day it is, what classes they should be attending and where to find them.  The rotating A/B/C schedule will take some time to get use to, but I say in about a week and a half, we will all have it down!

Enjoy your weekend, and welcome back to school!

Go, Lancers!

Missy Cole

Principal, Churchill High School

Calendar

• 4J High School ABC Days 2023 – 2024

Few reminders for the month of September:

Churchill Student News

Complete your online Back-to-School tasks.

All students have tasks to complete before school starts. For detailed instructions, visit the Back-to-School 2023 post on our website.

By now, all families should have completed these tasks either online or in person:

• Review your student profile and make corrections (in person only)
• Pay school fees online at SchoolPay.com.
• Annual Permissions English / Español
• Annual Notice of Legal Rights and Opt-Out Forms (optional) English / Español

If you missed any of these tasks, please complete them online or come to the office for assistance.

Students, please complete these tasks before the first day of school:

• Charge your student computer and power it on. Follow the Student Computer Startup Instructions.
  • If you see an error message saying that the clock needs to be set, or asking for an administrator password, restart the computer. You may need to restart several times.
• Upgrade your student computer (returning students only): Follow these instructions carefully: 
  • Quicksheet – Upgrade macOS 2023
    • Note: We’ve had lots of questions from families about this upgrade that are a result of not following the directions. Please follow the instructions from beginning to end. 
• Check your student email and make sure your 4J accounts are working. If you don’t know or don’t remember your username and password, please wait until school starts and ask any of your classroom teachers for help. 
  • Student Gmail (help with Gmail)
  • StudentVUE
  • 4J Google Docs (4J G Suite Notice and Permission Form / español)
  • Canvas
  • All technology support questions should be directed to the Technology Support team. Fill out a help request at technologysupport.4j.lane.edu.

Bus Passes:

It’s never too late to get an LTD bus pass or renew your pass from last year. Passes from last school year are valid through the end of September. Please come to the office to renew your bus pass or request a new one.

Student ID is required:

Every student is required to have a student ID on their person while they are on campus. If you missed Back-to-School Days, you must attend picture makeup day on September 19 to get your ID card.

Student Schedules

Counselors are still working on updating and adjusting classes this week. For the most part, classes have been set. Students can now see their schedules on StudentVue. If you have questions or need to make an adjustment — for example, you’re missing a class, you have an empty period that needs filling, or you don’t have both A and B sections to your yearlong classes — please fill out the Schedule Correction Request on our school website. Counselors will be processing these corrections as soon as possible so everything is ready for the first day of school on September 6 (9th graders) and September 7 (10th – 12th grade). For additional questions, please email your counselor.

Student schedules may continue to change as counselors balance class sizes and make other corrections. Check your class schedule the night before school starts and continue to check it through the first full week of school.

• 9th graders, check your class schedule on Tuesday evening.
• 10th – 12th graders, check your class schedule on Wednesday evening.

Schedule Changes – Students have the first 10 days of the term to change their classes by requesting a schedule change on our website. Until they see that this change in their StudentVUE accounts, all students must attend their current classes and continuously check their emails for updates and questions from their counselor. Students have the first 20 days of the term to drop a class without a withdrawal form, any class dropped after this deadline will need paperwork and result in a WD/WF being added to your student’s transcript. Please reach out to our scheduler or registrar for more information.

School Supplies

Need help with school supplies? “Mike’s Closet”, in the CHS Cafeteria, has backpacks, notebooks, binders, pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, glue sticks… and we have school clothes, shoes, and groceries. Check with any staff member, or just visit Mike’s closet in the cafeteria at lunch or between classes.

Student Computer Upgrades

This upgrade is not optional.Please take some time this week to upgrade your student computer.

Students who checked out computers at Back-to-School Days do not need to perform this upgrade task. The computer you received has already been upgraded.

Before you start: If you haven’t been using your student computer over the summer, the computer battery may have drained, and you will need to charge it and turn it on to allow the clock to update before the operating system upgrade will work. You may need to restart the computer a few times.

Follow these instructions carefully: 

• Quicksheet – Upgrade macOS 2023

This big upgrade may take several hours to complete. Do not attempt to complete this update using a cellular signal or hotspot. Make sure your computer is in a safe place where it can remain plugged in and will not be disturbed during the upgrade.

If you are unable to complete the upgrade at home, please exchange your student computer at Back-to-School Days. 

From the College & Career Center

The College & Career Center is off and running scheduling events to help students succeed. Each week we will publish events we sponsor as well community based events and resources.

Upcoming college visits:

• Friday, September 15th – University of Mississippi
• Monday, September 18th – University of San Francisco
• Wednesday, September 20th – Lane Community College
• Thursday, September 21st – Oregon Institute of Technology
• Friday, September 22nd –  Linfield University

**All visits are at lunch in room F36

Students – Watch your 4j email for notifications, listen to or read the announcements and check out the TV screens in the College & Career Center and the student lounge near the coffee cart for important information about visit and other College & Career happenings.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SENIOR FAMILIES: THE APPLICATIONS TO APPLY FOR FEDERAL AND STATE FINANCIAL AID ARE CHANGING

You many have heard that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Oregon Student Aid Application (ORSAA) will be changing for 2024-25. Due to the intense behind the scenes programming, the FAFSA will not open until sometime in the month of December. ORSAA will open as soon as possible, but most likely in December as well. Stay tuned as we will share further information and details as we get them.

You can still create your FSA ID (username and password) now so you are prepared once the FAFSA opens in December. It’s very important to create an FSA ID for each FAFSA contributor PRIOR TO completing the FAFSA. Families who attempt to create FSA IDs at the time of FAFSA completion will not experience the benefits of the simplified FAFSA.It takes three days to verify the identity of FSA ID applicants, which means that individuals who have yet to be verified will have to complete additional questions by hand.

• CREATE AN FSA ID HERE

Student Attendance: Reporting an Absence

Is your student missing school today? Make sure to contact us to let us know. If your student is coming to school late or needs to be pulled from class early, call the front office at 541-790-5100. If your student is going to be out for the whole day, make sure to call our attendance line at 541-790-5102.

Call anytime day or night: 541-790-5102

To excuse by email: chs_attendance@4j.lane.edu

• Please inform the attendance office each day that your student is absent.
• Absences need to be excused within 2 school days.
• Pre-planned absences of 3 or more days may be excused if arranged in advance by filling out the pre-arranged absence form available in our front office or on our website at chs.4j.lane.edu/forms.

When a student needs to leave school during the day for an appointment or other reason: Parents should send a note with the student on the morning of the absence. The student should turn in the note at the front office. Office staff will send a note to the classroom teacher to excuse the student from class at the appropriate time.

We know that appointments and illness can come up unexpectedly. For these unexpected events, please call the front office before coming to the school to pick up your student. This gives us time to send a note to the classroom so that the student is ready to leave when you arrive. Please understand that there may be a delay if you do not notify us in advance.

ParentVUE and CANVAS

These two accounts collectively give you access to your student’s attendance, grades, class schedule, homework assignments, and more! If you need help with setting up these parent accounts, please reach out to our registrar, Dorothy Catanese, and she can send you your own unique codes along with easy-to-follow steps to activate each account. The best way for her to share this information is via email so please send requests to catanese_d@4j.lane.edu. If you need assistance in person, please call her at 541-790-5108 to make an appointment before coming to the school.

Canvas for Parents

Visit https://www.4j.lane.edu/canvas/ for links and tutorials to help you create your Canvas account and connect to your student’s classes.

Canvas is an online classroom platform where teachers share lessons, materials, and assignments for their students. Parents can see student grades and progress on class assignments.

ParentVUE

Login at https://pv.4j.lane.edu/. Parents receive an activation key from the school registrar to set up this account. If you are having trouble signing in to ParentVUE, please email Dorothy at catanese_d@4j.lane.edu.

In ParentVUE, parents can see student schedules, attendance history, and grades.

Grading Policy Change: No ‘Pass/No Pass’ Option for Core Classes

Starting this school year, all core-credit classes will not be eligible for a Pass/No Pass grade. Teachers will only give out the following letter grades: A, B, C, D, and F. The only exceptions are the following classes: Advisory, Aides, Access Center, Academics Unlimited, Work Experience, Life Skills, and Algebra Success. These classes are only eligible for a Pass/No Pass grade. If this changes, we will share this information with families as soon as possible.

Fall Play Auditions

Auditions for CHS Thespians’ fall play, William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” will be held on Tuesday, September 12 at 4:00 PM in the CHS Auditorium. Students need to prepare a 30 to 60-second memorized monologue. Something from Shakespeare is preferred but not required. If you have any questions, please email the director, Mr. Patton at: patton_a@4j.lane.edu or, if you are a student, come see him in Room H8. Any and all current CHS students are encouraged and welcome to audition. Break a leg!

Audition Flyer: The Tempest

4J Community News

• Student Computer Upgrade Reminder«

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