El cerrito High School weekly bulletin March 7th- March 13th 2016
ECHS News
EL CERRITO HIGH SCHOOL – WEEKLY BULLETIN
March 7th - March 13th 2016
SWAG – School-Wide Academic Goals
Upon Graduation from El Cerrito High School , ALL students will become:
► Independent Learners ►Problem Solvers ►Forward Thinkers
►Effective Communicators ►Self-Directed Citizens
ECHS is a mutually supportive, academic community dedicated to helping students develop pride, perseverance and purpose, in order to realize their potential.
Monday, March 7th
Boys Volleyball Salesian vs. ECHS @ ECHS 5:30-7:30pm
Tuesday, March 8th
Varsity Girls Softball ECHS Vs. Saint Patricks @ Saint Patricks's High 3:30pm
Boys Volleyball ECHS vs. Saint Mary's @ Saint Mary's 5:30-7:30pm
Wednesday, March 9th
Minimum Day
Black Student Union Meeting, Lunch, Library
West Contra Costa Unified School District Night
Swimming ECHS versus Albany @ Albany JV 4pm & Varsity 4PM
Bring your family and friends out to the West Contra Costa Unified School District Night 7:30PM
Thursday, March 10th
Filipino Student Union Meeting, Lunch, D101
Boys Volleyball Pinole Valley vs. ECHS @ ECHS 5:30-7:30pm
Friday, March 11th
Varsity Baseball Eureka vs. ECHS @ ECHS turf field 3:30pm
Saturday, March 12th
Girls Basketball Richmond vs. ECHS @ECHS 5:30-7pm
Baseball Varsity Armijo vs. ECHS @ ECHS Turf Field 11AM
Baseball JV Armijo vs. ECHS @ ECHS Turf Field 2PM
Sunday, March 13th
No events
Upcoming Dates to Remember
March 14th 2016 PTSA Meeting 6:30 to 7:30 p.m ECHS Library - Second floor Building A
March 19, 2016 5th Annual Swing Dance @EC community center 6pm-10pm Jazz Ensemble & Jazz Workshop
March 23, 2016 Sonoma State wind band invitational @ Sonoma State University ALL DAY Wind Ensemble
March 24th, 2016 Speech Showcase by Speech Team @ECHS Theater 7:00 pm
March 25, 2016 Spring Concert @ ECHS theater 7:30-8:30pm Wind Ensemble & Symphonic Band
March 26, 6 - 9 pm, Backstage Salsa Dance Party, ECHS Theater
March 28th Investing in Academic Excellence meeting 7:30pm, Career Center, next to the Library.
March 29th, 2016 End of Term three
March 30th, 2016 Minimum Day (mark report cards)
March 31, 5:30 - 7 pm, Shake Your Beauty- Multicultural Social Dance, Small Gym
April 1, 2016 CMEA Band Festival @ECHS theater TBA Wind ensemble, symphonic band & Concert Band
April 4th-8th, 2016 Spring Recess No school
April 8, 2016 SAT registration for test date May 7
April 9, 2016 ACT National Test
April 16th PROM! 7-11PM Regency Ballroom in San Fransisco
April 21, 2016 WCCUSD Jazz Festival @ De Anza High School 7pm Jazz ensemble
April 25th Investing in Academic Excellence meeting 7:30pm, Career Center, next to the Library.
May 2, 2016 Progress reports submitted
May 4, 2016 EC Spring Area Festival @ECHS Gym 7PM Wind Ensemble
May 6, 2016 ACT test registration deadline for June 11 test
May 6, 2016 Progress reports distributed
May 7, 2016 SAT test
May 7-20, 2016 Late registration for ACT test date June 11
May 16th Investing in Academic Excellence meeting 7:30pm, Career Center, next to the Library.
May 20, 2016 Registration for SAT test date June 4
May 20 & 21, 7:30PM Dance Concert, ECHS
May 23, 2016 Jazz Concert @Yoshi's Jazz Club 7PM & 9PM Jazz Ensemble & Jazz Workshop
May 27-30, 2016 (tentative) Spring Tour @Anaheim, CA ALL weekend Wind ensemble & Jazz ensemble
May 30th, 2016 District Holiday (Memorial Day)
June 3, 2016 Year-end concert ECHS theater, 7:30-9PM Wind ensemble, symphonic band, concert band
June 4, 2016 SAT Test
June 8th, 2016 Noon dismissal, End of Term Four/report card marking
June 10th ECHS Graduation 7:00 PM at the Richmond Convention Center.
June 11, 2016 ACT National test
Announcements
The Grad Nite Planning Committee would like to invite your Senior to celebrate graduation with their friends at Grad Nite 2016! What better way to celebrate than to go to Disneyland!
In addition to the previously announced, 2 day, May trip to Disneyland, there is now another, less expensive, option for Seniors who would like to go in June!
A true grad night! Seniors will be leaving on the night of graduation to travel to Disneyland, arriving when the park opens and they’ll spend ALL DAY at the park!
For $225, Seniors will get a ticket to Disneyland, food vouchers for breakfast before arriving at the park and a meal at Disneyland, and travel to and from Disneyland! Fundraising will be available, for students, from now until May to help reduce the cost of your chosen trip. To secure a seat for the June trip, a $50 deposit is due to the Cashier by February 26th; and the full amount of $225 is due by March 18th. If paid after March 18th, the price will increase slightly to $250.
More information regarding both trips will be given to Seniors at the Senior Breakfast on February 11th. Seniors will be able to pay their deposit at that time to secure their seat!
For more information, please contact Kim Walker (kyw1...@aol.com) or Liz Smith (bl...@sbcglobal.net).
· The Mountain Biking Team serves a broad cross-section of teenagers from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, regardless of prior experience, gender, or even ownership of a bicycle. The Team has a small fleet of loaner bikes that are provided to students who can't afford to purchase their own. Your donation of either a sturdy mountain bike in good condition, or a street bike in good condition, will enable students who would otherwise not be able to ride with the Team to experience the joys and challenges of mountain biking and all the personal development that goes with the sport. (Some bikes will be provided as loaners to kids, others may be sold to generate funds that will be used to purchase loaner bikes for kids.) If you can donate a mountain or street bike in good working condition please e-mail Patrick Ford <ford...@mac.com>, or call Patrick at (510) 558-8755. Your donation is tax-deductible.
· The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) opened on January 1st and families should complete and submit as soon as possible. EVERY family, whether or not they think they may qualify for aid, should complete the FAFSA. Some colleges administer aid on a first come, first serve basis, others use the FAFSA to determine merit aid options, so fill out your FAFSA application and submit as soon as you can. Help with the application is available: https://fafsa.ed.gov/.
· Don’t forget to check in with the ECHS Wishlist at ECHSwi...@gmail.com to find out what supplies are needed in the classrooms.
Principal’s Message
ECHS History was made over the weekend when the Boys Basketball team, led by Coach Booker, won the North Coast Section Division 2 Championship for a second year in a row. This is the first time in school history that any athletic team has won an NCS title in back-to-back seasons. The team now moves into the NorCal tournament where they will host a second round game on Saturday night at 6 PM at El Cerrito High School. The team is four wins away from a State Title so please come out and show your Gaucho Pride on Saturday night.
Great News!!! The West Contra Costa Unified School District will be paying for all Advanced Placement exams this year. All students that were enrolled in a class this year will automatically be registered for the exam. If your student did not take an AP class but feels they are prepared to take an AP exam they can also sign up for free. If you would like to sign up for an exam, but you were not enrolled in that class, please sign up with the cashier this week.
Speech & Debate Team has team members that were finalists at the state qualifier tournament.
Charlotte Diamant qualified in Lincoln Douglas Debate and Lindsey Lam qualified in Dramatic Interpretation. They will move forward to the state championship tournament. Also congrats to speech team State alternates Gabi Meacham, Hummd Alikhan, and Eli Holmquist! The IE team was also recognized with a 4th place sweepstakes award for overall success over the course of the year.
Congratulations to Gwennie Gilbert-Snyder for being named a Finalist in the 2016 Competition for National Merit Scholarships. This is an academic honor for the top students around the Country.
The Annual Investing in Academic Excellence Teacher of the Year award nominations will be available this week. Please take a moment to nominate a teacher that had an impactful influence on you or your student’s education. Anyone can nominate a teacher. Forms will be available in the main office or on the school’s website (link will be attached here when available). The award will be announced at the Underclassmen Awards Ceremony on April 28th.
Congratulations to Alice Johnson for being selected as one of four students in the District to be invited to the University of Chicago as an Ivy League Connection winner for this upcoming summer.
Congratulations to teachers Lawrence Pang and Helene Burks as being selected as two of the five teachers in WCCUSD this year being recognized with the Ed Fund’s Teaching Excellence Award. We are very proud of both of these great teachers.
Congratulations to our mathletes who once again outscored Berkeley High to finish in second place at the February Mathletes competition. To help the ECHS Mathletes team reach first place in March, contact Gwennie Gilbert-Snyder.
I am proud to announce that one of our staff members, Ron Driskell has received the “You Make a Difference Award 2016” for making outstanding contributions to the lives of students with special needs in West County.
Juniors should start to narrow down specifics about college and post-high school plans over the next couple of months. Please reference the junior checklist in the college handbook on the website to see what you should consider having completed by the end of this school-year.
All seniors planning to attend a four-year college or two-year college should start the FAFSA completion process as soon as possible. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The majority of our students qualify for all or some form of aid so it is extremely important that these applications are completed. The counseling team will be checking in with seniors and providing a variety of supports to ensure everyone that is eligible completes the application. The absolute deadline for FAFSA applications is March 2nd but we recommend that students and families plan to have applications done by February 15th. Don’t forget that on the school website you can always check The College Application Handbook if you have questions or need to know how to find other resources.
If you missed College Night you can access the Powerpoint on our school website under the counseling tab.
The graduation date for the class of 2016 has been set!! I am happy to inform everyone that the 2016 graduation ceremony will take place on Friday, June 10th at 7:00 PM at the Richmond Convention Center.
Did you know that your student may be eligible to receive FREE dental services at our school health center, the James Morehouse Project? Services include dental exams, cleanings, x-rays and fillings and are provided by Contra Costa Health Services. If you would like your student to receive dental services at the JMP, please call Luisa Arguello-Mendoza at 510-965-5313. That phone number is 510-965-5313, or have your student contact the JMP directly for more information.
I would like to remind everyone of a couple of important school policies. Students should have ID’s with them at all times. ID’s not only help support the safety of the campus, but they are also required in the cafeteria for students to receive free and reduced lunch. It is also important to remember that El Cerrito High School has a closed campus policy so at no point should a student leave campus during the school day without being signed out of the main office. This also means that students are not allowed to leave campus during lunch. Please remind your student of these policies as we would like to avoid students missing instructional time for not meeting these expectations.
Please help keep our school and community looking beautiful by not leaving trash laying around on campus or when you are walking through the community. We are extremely fortunate to have such a beautiful facility, but it takes all of us working together to ensure it stays that way.
Sincerely,
Principal Luongo
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*Please note if you would like something added to the calendar or know of an important event coming up please email echs...@gmail.com to have it added to the weekly updates! Thank you