Important Upcoming Dates

In a typical school year, the schedule is modified to make-way for January exams. Enduring enough change this academic year, we decided to forego a drastic schedule change at the end of semester 1. 

We left the decision to administer end-of-semester exams up to individual departments with the understanding that any assessment would need work within the confines of a traditional schedule.  

Further, after determining what departments would offer an end of semester exam we developed a testing schedule to avoid too many assessments for students on any given day.  Last week featured science assessments and this week includes math assessments.  For specific information relative to academic assessments, please contact your child's teacher. 

For more important dates approaching, please review the dates below, and/or preview the video included.  

• January 19-22: Math Dept Final Assessments

• January 22: Last day of Semester 1

• January 25: PD Day (no students)

• January 26: First Day Semester 2

• January 28: Senior Grades Due

• February 1: All Grades Due

• February 3: Grades Post to Aspen

Upcoming Dates: Video Link

School Day SATs & Paying Tribute to the great, Dr. Martin Luther King

Dr. Martin Luther King 

There are 365 days in a calendar year, with 10 of those recognized as federal holidays. One of those 10 is set aside to celebrate the great Dr. Martin Luther King. 

When you consider the number of colossal figures who contributed to our Republic's progress since the ratification of the U.S. Constitution some 234 years ago, it is quite an achievement to have a holiday in your name. One that mandates we all pause for the day. The stock market is closed, banks are closed, federal buildings are closed, and schools are closed for the observance.

Monday, there is no school, but it is more than a day off, and it is much more than a long weekend.  Today is a day we stop to honor the great Martin Luther King. How does one attempt to honor, with words no less, one of the most significant figures of the 20th century? How does one try to honor one of the great orators in the history of humanity? 

Very few are up to that challenge, and I am certainly not one of them. Dr. King was a Baptist minister, the winner of the Noble Peace Prize, social activist, and the courageous leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. More than anything, this man represented hope. He was a beacon of hope in the face of incomprehensible racism. His prose was beautiful, his words powerful, his delivery memorable, and his message never wavered, a better future lay ahead!  

The seeds of despair are planted every night on the evening news: insurrection, extremism, terrorism, racism, needless death, destruction, and nasty political rhetoric. Knowing the trials and tribulations Dr. King faced, if he had a message of hope, how can we not? 

The students I have encountered during my time at CCHS gives me hope for our future. So let's all be hopeful for a better future, for a better 2021, and let's do our part in building the future we hope for. It starts today because today is the only thing you can control. 

Dr. King helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Today marks 58 years since he gave that speech. If time permits, take some time to listen to his speech. Don't just read the words; listen to it. It is a message of hope, and it comes with goosebumps.  

Dr. Martin Luther King "I Have A Dream"

34th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration

 SAT School Day - March 3: Register Now

CCHS is pleased to announce that we will be offering the SAT School Day on Wednesday, March 3.

To sign up for the test, please have your parents/guardians go to MySchoolBucks.com and sign up for the test.  Two test options are available:

1. SAT without the essay ($62)

2. SAT with the essay ($78)

The deadline to sign up is on MSB is Thursday, January 14 at 11:59PM.  If you are registering for a test with College Board approved accommodations, please have the SSD number ready when you sign up.

A few additional details:

• Registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis. 
• Standard-time testing will run from 8 am to about 1 pm, for students that are not writing an essay. Testing will end around 2 pm for students that are writing an essay.  For those students with extended time, the test will be completed over two days.
• You may still elect to take the SAT at another local test center on a date that is more convenient for you. This school day administration of the SAT is not a mandatory option. Please contact the College Board directly if you chose to cancel a test you were previously registered for, at 1-866-756-7346

Events of Today

I am writing in response to the events today, and I encourage you to read the important words written and sent by Dr. Hunter this evening.  In previous blog posts, I have written that one of this great country's hallmarks is that we hold an election for the President of this country every four years. Power is not seized by revolution or by a military coup, but rather a democratic process that allows all citizens of voting age in this country to exercise their right to vote. That remains true. 

We all have a voice, and although it is true that individually we can't control who wins the election, each of us can vote. What we can control is how we respond to the outcome. Our Republic has withstood much since the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and it remains the oldest written constitution still governing a country today.  

What we witnessed today is heartbreaking, sickening, disgraceful, and embarrassing. It is an intolerable attack on Democracy.  

Without the ability to adequately articulate the gambit of emotions, I invoke the words of one of the great presidents of this country, two quotes spanning two speeches from Abraham Lincoln. 

"A house divided against itself cannot stand"....." that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." I close with the critical words of another great leader, Sir Winston Churchill.  "If we are together nothing is impossible."

Regardless of political affiliation, we should begin the process of healing a fractured country, and stand firm against violence, against extremism, and stand in solidarity for the rule of law and Democracy.  

We are a school filled with caring adults ready and willing to help students who are feeling anxiety or in need of support  after witnessing the events of today.  Students are encouraged to reach out to a guidance counselor or any trusted adult if they are in need of support.  

Warmly,

Michael J. Mastrullo