Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians:
I knew that that subject would get your attention!
Ms. Geis and I have our very first conversation about the impact of the cell phone ban in LA Unified schools and the possible ban being proposed for San Diego Unified schools. If you want to hear how we grapple with these complicated decisions, we do it live on-air in Episode 4 of Nicky and Me. The podcasts can now be found on the SET High website under What's New. The direct link is here: https://sethigh.org/nicky-and-me-podcast-reflections-from-set-highs-principals/
Note that we are independent from San Diego Unified so their policies influence us but do not mandate things for us.
If you have strong feelings about this topic, listen to the full podcast first, and then let us know your thoughts. I can't do justice to 45 minutes of nuanced conversation by summarizing it here, so please listen to the full discussion before expressing strong views. We'll be deciding on the changes (if any) that we'll make to our cell phone policy as a staff and board once we're all back together in August.
This is the last call to have students help with the yearbook. We have all of the photos and we have the software. Ms Farias volunteered to help students do the yearbook; not do it herself. If students want a yearbook this year, this is the last opportunity to make it happen. Students, please reach out Ms. Farias if you are serious about helping. It is a lot of work, and I know that students are busy with summer travel and work, so don't feel guilty if you can't do it or don't want to do it. Just know that those of us who are still working this summer have a million things to do to prepare for next year, so without substantial student involvement the yearbook will not happen.
We're pretty confident that there are students who will want to be involved with yearbook next year, and the ASB president ran on a platform of ensuring that there would be a yearbook, so this shouldn't be a problem going forward. We'd all love to see a yearbook this year as well, though, so hopefully some students will volunteer to step up.
I hope you are all having a wonderful summer! I'll communicate again in the beginning of August as we finalize plans for orientation (it will be virtual again) and the first days of school (Aug 12th!). This will probably be my last email that includes our departing students. Congratulations Seniors! Stay in touch! Remember that the official on-campus summer hours are 9AM to 1PM, so if you are picking up diplomas or just coming for a visit, make sure you come during those hours.
Dr. McCurdy