Dear CCHS Community,
Tomorrow we look forward to welcoming back our students and faculty for the first day of school for the 2023-2024 school year. We have been very busy meeting and working with our educators and staff members over the last two days to prepare for a great year ahead. We also welcomed our incoming 9th graders and new to CCHS 10th, 11th, and 12th graders for orientation. We are eager and excited to receive our students tomorrow morning. Much of the information below has been previously shared, but we are sharing it again for those who have not yet seen it. We hope everyone gets a good night’s sleep tonight. See you tomorrow!
Opening Day
Below is the Opening Day Schedule. Students in grades 9 and 10 should report directly to the Auditorium. Students in Grades 11 and 12 should report to their homerooms. Student homerooms can be found on the top of the matrix schedule posted in Aspen. There will also be a sign located in the dining commons and the main lobby that lists student homerooms.
Opening Day Schedule - August 30, 2023
Laptop Distribution
Students in grade 9 received their laptops during their orientation day. Students in grades 10, 11, and 12 will receive their laptops in their homeroom on Wednesday, August 30.
Student Parking
We are excited to announce that all seniors who entered the parking lottery will be able to park on campus. Please see a separate email with further information. Any student parked on campus without a parking tag or not in a student parking space (spaces with yellow lines) may be towed at the owner's expense.
Traffic Flow and Student Drop-off
Parents/guardians who are dropping their child off for school must do so in front of the school by the main office/flag pole. Parents cannot enter the area in front of the cafeteria where buses unload students. Please follow the instructions outlined on the map. We all must follow these guidelines to ensure the safety of all students and staff. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.
Cell Phones
We are tightening our expectations around cell phone access during class time in order to create optimal conditions for student learning. Cell phones have always been disruptive for students during the school day. This isn’t new. The ping of a text or buzz of a new Instagram post can derail learning. Often, the urge to check results in students leaving class for extended periods and missing important instruction (Labos, 2019). In addition to the distraction, research shows that cell phone use and social media can contribute negatively to mental health and poor sleep habits (Abi-Jaoude et al., 2020). This is exacerbated by unprecedented growth in use over the past two years. According to the 2021 Census conducted by Common Sense Media, media use among teens grew twice as much in the past two years than it did in the four years before the pandemic (The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021, 2021).
This is why our classrooms at CCHS are equipped with cell phone holders. Students will be required to place their cell phones in numbered slots when they enter their classrooms and collect them at the end of class. We believe that this will minimize distractions, increase engagement, and have a positive impact on learning. This policy also applies to flex blocks, study halls, and directed studies.
This doesn’t mean students will be completely denied cell phone access. According to PEW Research, most teens use cell phones just to pass the time, but it is still a complicated relationship (Schaeffer, K. 2019). In recognition of this, students will have access to their phones between class and during lunch. Thank you for your continued support on this.
Attendance
Students are required to attend classes regularly and punctually. Good attendance is essential to success. The school is concerned about students who cut classes, are tardy, have excessive excused absences, and/or have a pattern of absences on test days. We recognize that students will sometimes necessarily be absent from classes because of illness, unusual and important family matters, religious observances, and/or school-sponsored activities. We hope, however, that these excused absences will not be excessive so that they detract from regular classroom learning.
Attendance Regulations
A student must attend a full day of school in order to participate in any after-school activity, game, dance, etc. In extraordinary circumstances that result in an absence, the principal may rule on eligibility for participation in the afterschool activity.
According to the policies of the Regional School District, all students are expected to attend all of their scheduled classes, study halls, and activities each school day unless an administrator excuses them for one or more of the following reasons:
Student or family illness
Medical Appointment
Bereavement
Religious reasons
School sponsored field trips
College or job interviews – Approved ahead of time by the Principal
Extraordinary circumstances which are approved by the Principal
Any time a student is sick or not able to attend school, the parent/guardian is asked to call or email on the day of the absence. If the parent/guardian forgets, a note excusing the absence should be delivered to the main office the very day of the student's return to excuse the absences. The note should be delivered before the student reports to any class.
Parents are expected to call by 10:00 am to report their student out for all or part of the day. Please understand that the timeliness of the call or note is a critical piece of the attendance process. Contact Martha Hammer 978-341-2490 x7100; cchsattendance@concordcarlisle.org.
When possible, the parent/guardian should contact Ms. Hammer in advance to excuse an impending, planned absence.
Students arriving less than 10 minutes late to a class will be considered tardy.
Students arriving more than 10 minutes late to a class without a pass will be considered absent.
For additional details regarding attendance, please refer to the Student-Parent Handbook.
Late arrival to school
A student is late to school if they arrive after 8:00 a.m. If a student is tardy for an excused reason outlined above they should report to the main office and present a note signed by a parent or healthcare provider. The reasons for which the school will excuse tardiness are the same as those for which the school will excuse absences. If a student is tardy for reasons other than those considered excused they should report directly to their class. In this case the student will be marked Tardy - Unexcused by their classroom teacher.
Safety
We ask that only students with a specific reason, such as athletics, after-school help, clubs/activities, meetings, homework, transportation, etc., remain in the building after dismissal. If students do not have a specific reason to be in the building, please exit at dismissal. This will assist CCHS staff, who monitor our building, to ensure the safety and security of anyone who remains. Thank you for your cooperation.
Blank Schedule Template
The most updated schedules have been posted in Aspen. Please be sure to review this schedule as some classrooms have changed, and directed studies have been assigned. We encourage students to complete the schedule template below. Additionally, students should identify which lunch they will have on each day.
Back to School Information
You can read the entire back-to-school blog here.
Important Dates
