May 22, 2020 Good afternoon Daniel Hand High School students and parents/guardians,
Please see below for a few updates and information.
Class of 2020 Updates and Reminders:
1. Seniors, in order for the Guidance and School Counseling Department to submit your high school transcript to the college/university you plan to attend, you need to complete the Senior Graduation Survey in your Naviance account. This is a graduation requirement and the six questions should take just a few minutes to complete. To access the survey, please: a. Log into your Naviance account; b. Click on the following: About me → my surveys → not started. c. Answer all six questions completely and then click on the "send final transcript" to the school you will be attending.
2. The end of the 2019-20 school year is in sight. Please plan to finish the year on a positive note in all of your current classes. a. Only seniors who have met all graduation requirements as detailed on page 26 of The Handbook for Students and Parents, will be allowed to participate in the graduation event. b. A senior will not graduate if they have an "incomplete" in a course that is required for graduation. In this scenario, they will not be allowed to participate in the graduation event and will not be considered a "graduate" until the course or courses with incompletes are successfully completed. c. If a senior has an "incomplete" in a course that is not a requirement for graduation, but has met all Board of Education graduation requirements, and then "graduates", that student will no longer be able to complete the course with the "incomplete" and the grade for this trimester will be recorded as an "F" and then factored into the final average of the course.
3. There are four student speeches delivered during the graduation ceremony. Three are given by the students who ranked 1-3 in the class. The fourth is titled, "Class Remarks." This student is selected each year based on a submitted essay/speech. Any senior may submit a speech for consideration. The speech should be no longer than five minutes in length. If you are interested in being considered, you must submit an essay that reflects on your time at DHHS and your experience living in Madison. Responses to the following questions should be part of your speech:
-How has your class grown? -What has your class persevered through? -What makes your class unique? -What is your message/your hope for your classmates moving forward? -What will always tie you together?
Essays need to be submitted electronically to Mr. Brine or Mrs. LaVista by Friday, June 5th. This is a hard deadline.
4. The Graduation Committee met again this morning and we are close to finalizing two options for a memorable year end event. We hope to share this information in the form of a survey in the very near future.
5. I met with the Class Advisors and Class Officers on Wednesday and finalized several plans for events that will begin in June. Stay tuned for the release of the details of these events in the very near future. We are hoping that all members of the Class of 2020 will participate.
Updates and Reminders: 1. As a general reminder, if you have any questions for the high school administration or support staff members, please send an email to initiate a conversation.
2. The Guidance Department is working closely with the faculty to finalize the underclassmen award recipients. All recipients will be recognized by a mailing that will be sent prior to the end of the school year. I am disappointed that the in-person event was not a possibility but I am excited in the fact that we will still be recognizing many impressive students.
3. The majority of students at the high school level do not use their lockers. With that being said, locker cleanout at the high school is almost complete. If a student left any items in their lockers, the items are currently secured and will be available for student pickup in the near future. I will send more information about this process once the details are finalized.
4. Many students are in possession of items that belong to the school. Chromebooks and textbooks are examples of school-issued items. Students currently in grades nine and ten will keep their school-issued Chromebooks over the summer. Additionally, some students in grade eleven who also have school-issued Chromebooks will keep them over the summer. We are currently working on a plan for students to drop-off school issued items. The details of this plan will be communicated with the school community once they are finalized. Please keep in mind that students are responsible for taking care of and then returning all school-issued items.
5. As stated on page 32 of The Handbook for Students and Parents, "Daniel Hand strives to be an ethical academic learning community." This opening statement and the additional information on page 32 is applicable in both in-person as well as virtual learning environments. Feel free to peruse page 32 of the handbook as well as page of 18 of the Code of Conduct if you are interested in additional information.
6. June 18 is the last day of school. Students should be especially mindful of due dates and the importance of work completion and submission to ensure a successful outcome in all classes.
See below for a Friday "Quote of the Day" from Betsy Farrell.
"Everything will fall into place, just be patient."
Please continue to observe social distancing expectations while making responsible and healthy decisions.
Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend and stay healthy.
Mr. Salutari
Daniel Hand High School 286 Green Hill Road • Madison, CT 06443 • (203) 245-6350 |