Plans for next year, final days of school, and watch for a survey in a separate email

[prin...@sethigh.org]

Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians:

• New teachers and classes (Performing Arts)
• New vape detectors in bathrooms have stopped bathroom vaping
• End of the year surveys going out in a separate email
• Let us know if you're not returning so we can let students in off the waitlist
• Finals next Wed and Thu (6/3 and 6/4), release @ 12:30
• Graduation Rehearsal next Thu (6/4) @ 12:30 in the den
• Graduation next Fri (6/5) @ 9AM.  School is at Balboa Park that day
• Final grades, report cards, transcripts, and diplomas will be available on Monday, 6/15
• 2026/27 Calendar is now published

 

New teachers and classes (Performing Arts)

We're excited to announce that we will be adding Performing Arts classes to our curriculum next year!  We don't have the exact names of the classes, yet, but we will be supporting all things Drama Related ranging from script writing, to acting, to sketch comedy, and to possibly voice and dance.  The two teacher candidates who we have tentatively hired (pending no credentialing issues) taught a stellar demo lesson last Friday, and it was clear to all of us who observed that this is the correct choice for our students.  Not only were the teachers excellent, but the content really brought the best out of our students.  We will introduce you to the new hires when we are sure that they will not have any issues getting their credentials.  We are certain that we will be having Performing Arts classes either way, though, so that is why I'm announcing the new classes today.  The teachers are going to be job sharing since they are professional actors and will need to cover for each other when they are either filming or cast in live shows.  This is a true win, win, win solution that will work for any actor-teachers and students going forward.

Thank you to the students who helped us with the interviews.  Your feedback was invaluable! 

New vape detectors in bathrooms have stopped bathroom vaping

One of our Community Service Day projects was installing the new vape detectors in our bathrooms that the student SET Senate petitioned for this year.  The SET Senate helped us find the very best ones that detect everything (including attempts to mask vape), and after the first eventful day of catching some of our culprits, I'm pleased to report that bathroom vaping is no longer a problem at SET.  Our primary goal was to stop having the vaping be in everyone's face, and now that it's not, hopefully over time it will be easier for more of our students to avoid getting addicted to nicotine.  It has always been a small group of students who do it, but when done publicly and openly (from the student perspective; they're obviously not doing it front of staff), the vaping becomes a perpetual affront to the students who don't want to smell it and are rightfully indignant that it is happening in a school setting.  The bathroom re-model that we did last summer got rid of most of the problem (along with other bathroom antics), and now the vape detectors have helped us get the rest of the way there.

In case anyone is wondering why it took us so long to get here, vape detectors by themselves are not enough.  It is the combination of the vape detectors and the bathroom remodel that actually solved the problem.  We were hopeful that the remodel would make the vape detectors unnecessary, but we discovered this year that we need both.  We're probably the only school that has taken this two-prong approach, and I'm pretty sure that this is the only solution to a nation-wide problem.  Thank you everyone for your patience as we figured out how to finally crack this nut.

End of the year surveys going out in a separate email

Every year we survey our students and parents to see what we can improve upon.  You'll be receiving a separate email tonight with a survey specific to your group (parent or student).  Please be sure to fill out the survey over the next couple of days.  I will need to analyze the results so will close the survey on Friday (6/5) at midnight.  Thank you!

Let us know if you're not returning so we can let students in off the waitlist

We have a waitlist in all grades for next year, so please let us know immediately if you are not planning to return to SET so that we can relieve some of the stress for the families who are hoping to attend our school.  Please do not make this decision lightly because with the waitlists we can no longer guarantee that students can return if they wind up regretting their decision.  We'll do everything that we can to find a space for you, but unfortunately we can no longer guarantee that it will work out.  We love the make-up of our school right now, so we hope that everyone will stay if you're not moving out of town.

Finals next Wed and Thu (6/3 and 6/4), release @ 12:30

Finals for 1st and 2nd period will be on Wed, and finals for 3rd, 4th, and 5th will be on Thu.  On both days, students will be released at 12:30.

Graduation Rehearsal next Thu (6/4) @ 12:30 in the den

Seniors, there is a mandatory Graduation Rehearsal at 12:30 right after school next Thu.  It will take between 30 and 45 minutes.

Graduation next Fri (6/5) @ 9AM.  School is at Balboa Park that day

Here is a repeat of what I said about graduation in the last email:

Graduation is on Fri, 6/5 at 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Spreckels Organ Pavilion (it usually ends by 11:30)

Our graduations are open to all and since it is on a school day, we hope to have most of our current students in attendance.  Our graduation ceremonies are always amazing celebrations of our individual seniors, and one of the common refrains from graduating parents is that they wish they knew how special our graduations were so that they could have attended earlier ones.  Here is your invitation!  Don't have any regrets.

Also know that since we do the graduations at the Organ Pavilion, there is plenty of seating.  Graduates do not have a limit on the number of people they bring, and there really aren't any bad seats at that venue, so don't stress about needing to get there early to get the best seats.

This year is the first year that we have to deal with the new Balboa Park parking fees.  Make sure that you "buy" your free permit early if you haven't already, or pay for the discounted parking at the Organ Pavilion lot.  The Organ Pavilion lot is considered level 1 parking and will cost residents $5 for the half-day pass that you'll need.  There is free parking close by if you don't mind walking.  Either way you'll need to apply for the permit to prove that you're a resident.  Have fun learning how to navigate the super confusing website here: https://sandiego.thepermitportal.com/?home=Y  In case you want to learn from my mistakes, when you purchase a permit ahead of time, you have to select the date in the Permit Tentative Start Date field.  Worst case, you can just purchase the full price parking permit when you arrive.

Final grades, report cards, transcripts, and diplomas will be available on Monday, 6/15

Teachers have until Wed, 6/10 to finalize grades, and then it takes us a few days to store and validate grades.  We should be able to hand out the diplomas and final transcripts on 6/15.  Report cards will be available in Core on Saturday, 6/13.

2026/27 Calendar is now published

It's on the Parent Portal on our website.  The direct link to the Parent Portal is here: https://sethigh.org/parent-portal/

The most important date is the first day of school which is August 10th next year.

 

Thanks everyone!

Dr. McCurdy