April 21, 2020
Dear APHS Students, Parents and Guardians,
Mother nature continues to keep us guessing with the weather; hang in there! We will continue to work collaboratively as a school, regional, and global community to get through this together. If there is anything we can do on the school end, please feel free to let us know.
Sincerely yours,
Mr. Quiles, Mrs. Mein and Mrs. Leach
Attention Seniors
Please check your email for a message from Mrs. Leach. She has a fun challenge activity planned for you to do as a group! Look at your emails from 4/16/2020.
Some Fun Activities
- Click here for more than 1000 online events and activities for kids, teens, and families
- The Franklin Institute has Digital Fun and Science ready at your fingertips!
Try this Brain Teaser: Start your own neural network by connecting one neuron’s axon terminal to another neuron’s dendrites. Add more neurons to build your network and watch how the signals travel as they light up!
Seven other enticingly delightful brain interactives are also available for your entertainment.
- Belmont Library in Massachussets has some free activities for teens. Click on the link to check them out…https://belmontpubliclibrary.net/2020/03/18/free-online-activities-for-teens/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=free-online-activities-for-teens
- The Smithsonian is also providing free resources and activities for kids and teens https://www.si.edu/kids
Class Cancellation Update
Averill Park Central School District buildings will remain closed through May 15 per Governor Cuomo’s new Executive Order to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under this order, our school district must continue to provide online learning, meals for students and childcare for essential workers every weekday. The state will reassess whether to extend the statewide school closures past this date. We encourage families to continue to check their email and our website for additional information related to this pandemic.
Contacting Us
Even though the APHS Main Office is physically closed, we are checking the main office voicemail (Please call 518-674-7002). If you need assistance please leave a message with a good contact phone number and someone will return your call. Thank you.
Workload Expectation and Guidelines
During the school closure the APCSD has provided guidelines for the amount of time students should be actively spending on learning activities each week as folllows: Gr. 9-12: 3 hours per credit bearing course per week. Please reach out to your child’s teacher should they regularly spend more than the recommended allotted time on a given class. We are working hard to ensure a manageable student workload during the school closure.
We recognize that some students are employed and have continued to work during the closure. Below is some information for you.
Balancing employment and academics:
The working teen has many responsibilities. Developing a practical and reasonable work/academic schedule will help promote a balance between work, school, and family life.
Some things to consider:
- How does my work schedule impact my class schedule?
- What do I do if I cannot attend my on-line class as scheduled due to my job?
- How do I let my teacher know?
- Can we come up with an alternate/back-up plan?
- What do I do if I am starting to feel burned out? What can I do about this, and are there resources/people at school to help me with this? (Yes there are)
The school has resources to help you in any of these areas. Whether it is an individual teacher, school nurse, case manager, counselor, or teacher aide, we are here to help in any way we can. Start by contacting your individual teacher, who will assist you in developing a reasonable plan/approach to match your individual needs.
If you have any health related questions or questions about what you should do to protect yourself while at work, please check the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and/or the World Health Organization (WHO) for the latest guidelines and recommendations. Our school nurses are also a good resouce as well (Mrs. Miller or Mrs. Everett).
We know things are tough right now. Life sometimes gives us a test before we’ve had a chance to study the lesson. We know you’ll succeed. Keep on keeping on. We are so proud of you!
Grading in the 4th Quarter
We have now started the 4th quarter, students will not receive a number grade while we remain out of school. Students will continue to receive a P (Pass) or F (Fail), along with a comment. As we learn more about the extent of our closure, and get more guidance from NYSED, we will be able to better assess what may happen as we continue to move through the 4th Quarter. If you have questions about any grades, please contact your student’s teacher directly via email.
APHS Chronicle 4.19.2020 Edition is Available
The latest edition of the Chronicle is out! Read this to catch up on what student journalists have to say. Chronicle
News for Students
YEARBOOK ORDERS ARE STILL BEING TAKEN: Your yearbook link is: http://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A05290700
NEW COURSE OFFERING FOR SENIORS: College Readiness & Research Skills – College Credit Course available to Seniors in the Fall
Juniors have already signed up for their fall classes. However, there is a new addition to the Fall lineup of courses. A 1-credit elective called College Readiness & Research Skills has been added for Seniors in the Fall. It is a 1 semester course being offered in the Fall semester. As with all college credit courses, there is a fee of apropox. $60, but financial adjustments can be made in cases of hardship.
This semester course is divided into 2 sections for the college-bound student.
Section 1 is College Readiness. It covers such topics as college application process & deadlines, FAFSA process, career exploration, how to find the right college, college supports for all students, college supports for students with special needs, college life & first year expectations, etc. Naviance will be integrated in this portion.
Section 2 is Library Skills for Research and provides an introduction to library research and information literacy. Content will focus on how to create a research strategy for finding, retrieving, using and evaluating information in print and electronic formats, including the Internet. Also covered will be many of the academic, legal and ethical issues relating to information. Skills gained can be applied to research papers, projects, professional and personal information needs. This section provides a full college credit
If you are interested in taking this course, please contact your guidance counselor via email and discuss fitting it into your schedule for the Fall.
If you have any questions regarding this course, you can email Mrs. Yost.
We encourage you to continue to remain connected. There are several ways that you can accomplish this:
- Students, please check your APCSD email daily. Your teachers, counselors and administrators will be using this as the primary means for communicating with you! Teachers have all established daily “office hours” that they are available to you. These hours are located within their folders on the Online Resources page: https://sites.google.com/apcsd.org/onlinelearning/home. Take advantage of this time with your teachers to stay connected.
- A Message from the Faculty and Staff. Click on the link below to see messages from APHS faculty and staff. The video can also be seen on our “Averill Park High School Administration Connections” Google Classroom. If you are not a member see below on how to join. A Message from the Faculty and Staff
- Speaking of staying connected, students, to stay connected with us, the APHS Leadership Team, by joining our Google Classroom “Averill Park High School Administration Connections”. All you need to join is the following code: whh5oj2 Many of you have already joined, our goal is to have ALL of you join to stay connected with us. We have received some questions from parents about being able to join as well. Please note due to privacy regulations, this Google Classroom is only open to students. Parents, we encourage you to review the Google Classroom with your student(s) to see what Mr. Quiles, Mrs. Mein and Mrs. Leach have posted.
- One way to not feel overwhelmed and to keep on a routine is to follow your regular schedule. To help you with this, here’s the A/B day line up for this week: Monday, 4/20=A-day; Tuesday, 4/21=B-day; Wednesday 4/22=A-day; Thursday, 4/23=B-day; Friday, 4/24=A-day
- For students looking to get some SAT, ACT & AP Prep in, Kaplan is offering free SAT, ACT and AP Prep online resources. Just click Free Kaplan resources to find out more.
News for Parents & Guardians
- Here’s an opinion article from EdWeek about how the Coronavirus impacts teens. Click here for the article.
- From our counseling team, they have a free resource from Samaritan Counseling Center. Click on the link for this resource on parenting your way through the quarantine.
- Please help support your child(ren) with their virtual learning by monitoring if they have connected with each of their teachers. All teachers have set ‘office hours’ that they are available for students. The Student Support Team (SST) is working collaboratively to monitor student connectivity and continue to be in touch with folks that the SST team determines to be needed.
- You can also work with your child(ren) to set up a daily schedule, following the A/B day schedule. This week’s schedule is as follows: Monday, 4/20=A-day; Tuesday, 4/21=B-day; Wednesday 4/22=A-day; Thursday, 4/23=B-day; Friday, 4/24=A-day
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if there is anything you need. This can be done via email, or by calling the high school at 674-7002. This line will be monitored daily, and you will receive a call back within one business day.
Our emails are as follows:
Mr. Quiles (High School Principal)- quilesh@apcsd.org
Mrs. Mein (Assistant Principal, Grades 9 and 11)- meinc@apcsd.org
Mrs. Leach (Assistant Principal Grades 10 and 12)- leachr@apcsd.org
Stay safe and stay well!
Mr. Quiles, Mrs. Mein & Mrs. Leach