SWGHS Principal's weekly message for August 31

Good evening Southwest!

Tomorrow is day 11 of our first 15 days in which we continue orienting ourselves as well as our students and parents.  All of our staff should be putting their eyes on their students at this time on a daily basis as well as reaching out to those who have yet to engage. The only time during Monday through Thursday that your student may not experience live instruction is if the teacher is absent, and therefore has provided pre-recorded lessons for your student. 

There is plenty of information within this blog to help you further navigate. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if there is a particular process you are having difficultly with that you can not find within our posts and links. 

Our schedule continues to remain Monday through Thursday with a set time for instruction. 

MONDAY through THURSDAY

Time of Day	Duration	Activity
8:30am – 9:00am	30 Minutes	Breakfast
9:00am – 10:00am	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 1
10:00am – 10:10am	10 minutes	Break
10:10am  - 11:10am	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 2
11:10am – Noon	50 minutes	Lunch
Noon – 1:00pm	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 3
1:00pm – 1:30pm	30 minutes	Physical Activity Break
1:30pm – 2:30pm	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 4
2:30pm – 3:00pm	30 minutes	Advisory time, teacher “office hours”, check in on discussion boards (Students receiving Special Education and English Learner services should check teacher canvas pages)

 Advanced Placement (AP) classes will continue to use college Board resources such as AP Classroom and AP Video Lessons, as directed by their teachers. AP teachers will share these resources

FRIDAY

Staff and Students

Friday will remain the same with staff engaged in mandatory, content specific district-wide Professional Development. Staff will share specific Friday office hours for student and parent conferencing. Additionally, teachers will work with small groups, individuals, assessments, and more. Parents/students should take full advantage of Fridays to work with your student’s teachers. EC/EL teachers will meet with students on their caseloads.

All live instruction lessons will be recorded for reference at any time. In addition, there will be supplemental resources for students to access (i.e. pre-recorded instruction, discussion board posts, video links, etc.). Friday is an opportunity to get all items turned in for the week.

*We have an expectation that all communications will be responded to within 24 hours.

** Schedule subject to change

We continue to update our "how to" links to assist everyone during remote learning. Feel free to access this document ...  Remote Learning helpful links.docx

Please have your student request a hot spot if they DO NOT have internet, and do not live in any of the below areas (They have mobile bus wifi):

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdmPC3P5Fcq59XElF-E-mdCH42NlbxkEhBCYobvINgp_MaVkQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Current and proposed Mobile Bus Hot spots:

 Confirmed

•Carson Stout

•JCMorgan

Potential

•New Gate Garden Apartments

•LakeRoadApartments

If your child is in need of a laptop, please complete the Google form on the website under the Student tab or contact the media specialist Mrs. Virginia Hunt at huntv@gcsnc.com. As we begin the distribution process, we will contact parents to fill requests to inform them of the date, time, and pick up location. As we start to receive laptops, we will distribute the current ones we have based on priority needs. We have currently requested laptops from the district and will communicate once they arrive. We do plan on having devices for the entire district within 120 days. That's pretty impressive considering the high demand of electronic devices at this time.  Thank you for your patience as we prepare for our school year and remote learning. 

In the meantime, if you would like to donate any lightly used laptops, you may bring them to 712 North Eugene Street, or here to this school and we can make that delivery. More than 5,000 in Guilford County Schools students have no access to a device & consequently to education while we await delivery of 60k+ devices amidst a national backlog. Again, please consider donating a device - 712 N Eugene St. You can also donate up to $300 to the Guilford Education Alliance that will go towards purchases. As Southwest receives laptops, I can assure you we will distribute them in order of the requests received.

If you have a student who has volunteered hours, gone above and beyond to address community needs arising from Covid-19 and the ensuring economic challenges? Feel free to submit your student at spirit.prudential.com or nassp.org/spirit. The application must be received by November 20. All information related to this can be found within the link on this blog.

Student pick up of classroom materials items occurred this past week. All remaining items that your teacher informed your student to pick up will be available this coming week between 9-3 every day at the front of the school. 

If you are looking for any basic needs:  food, school supplies, housing, mental health resources or if you have any other need to assist your students, please contacts our School Social Worker, Emily Wright. She can be reached at 336-709-9537 or via e-mail at Wrighte2@gcsnc.com .  

A Canvas course for Service Learning has been created to keep you stay updated and answer any questions you may have regarding Service learning at Southwest High School. From your canvas dashboard click on the commons icon on your left side tool bar.  Search for Southwest Guilford High Service Learning, then click on the title of the canvas course. Next click import/download and you will want to download the course to your canvas dashboard.

How do you start your day?

GTCC is offering Late Start classes for students that qualify with a 2.8 UNWEIGHTED GPA. Contact your counselor or GTCC with information.

Counselors will be sending out a Senior Packet that will breakdown steps on what to do during the school year.

Please visit the updated new counseling site for remind codes, scholarship information, etc. Counselors will begin individual senior meetings and freshman focus classroom sessions soon to discuss plans after high school and graduation checklist etc.

Counselors' caseloads are as followed: Ms.Graves A-D 10th-12th, Ms.Campbell E-L 10th - 12th, Ms. Graham M-R 10th - 12th, Mrs. Hudgens S-Z 10th - 12th, Ms.Compton 9th grade counselor

Remind Codes: Text 81010 with the messages

  

      Ms. Graves

10th grade Last Name: A-D @swghs2023

• 11th grade Last name A-D @swghs2022

  12th grade Last Name A-D @swghs2021

  Ms. Campbell

  10th grade Last name E-L @cowgirl23

  11th grade Last Name E-L @cowgirl22

  12th grade Last Name E-L @cowgirl21

  Ms. Graham

  10th grade Last Name M-R @graham2023

  11th grade Last Name M-R @graham2022

  12th grade Last Name M-R @graham2021

  Mrs. Hudgens

  10th grade Last Name S-Z @hudgen23

  11th grade Last Name S-Z @hudgen22

  12th grade Last Name S-Z @hudgen21

  Ms. Compton 9th grade 

  Class of 2024 STUDENTS

  Rmd.at/g7g87g

  Class of 2024 PARENTS

  Rmd.at/4g3d7b

* Pre-Covid 19 picture - social distancing/masks were not required

Documents to peruse as we continue to navigate.....

Student Symptom Screening 

Hygiene and Cleaning Protocols 

Within this blog is a link regarding the required immunizations for Kindergarten, 7th and 12th graders, Please reach out to our school nurse, Jennifer Conrad conradj@gcsnc.com if you have any questions pertaining to these immunizations. 

• Kindergarten Flyer 
• Seventh Grade Flyer 
• Twelfth Grade Flyer 

Just a friendly reminder that Lifetouch is still accepting scheduling appointments for seniors to be photographed. The link is embedded.   Lifetouch Scheduling 

Any seniors who are interested in purchasing Senior shirts, you can visit the Spirit Store at www.cowboysports.org

As it relates to Athletics, Coach Christman, the Cowboys Athletic Director will keep us up to speed. In the meantime, you can look at the revised schedule from the NCHSAA in how sports will run this year.

Southwest, I am so proud of the growth I am seeing from everyone involved in the remote learning. I continue to see so many barriers overcome, students, parents and staff taking advantage of the help that is out there. Please continue to reach out with any needs you have during this remote learning period. 

Remember, you are always able to access this message on our school website under School News and titled Principal's Weekly Message or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected. 

We are in it it together. We got this. We are... Southwest!

SWGHS Principal's weekly message for August 24th...

Good evening Southwest!

Tomorrow is day six of our 1st fifteen days in which we are still orienting ourselves as well as our students and parents.  All of our staff should be putting their eyes on their stents at this time on a daily basis as well as reaching out to those who have yet to engage. The only time during Monday through Thursday that your student may not experience live instruction is if the teacher is absent, and therefore has provided pre-recorded lessons for your student. 

There is plenty of information within this blog to help you further navigate. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if there is a particular process you are having difficultly with that you can not find within our posts and links. 

Our schedule continues to remain Monday through Thursday with a set time for instruction. 

MONDAY through THURSDAY

Time of Day	Duration	Activity
8:30am – 9:00am	30 Minutes	Breakfast
9:00am – 10:00am	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 1
10:00am – 10:10am	10 minutes	Break
10:10am  - 11:10am	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 2
11:10am – Noon	50 minutes	Lunch
Noon – 1:00pm	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 3
1:00pm – 1:30pm	30 minutes	Physical Activity Break
1:30pm – 2:30pm	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 4
2:30pm – 3:00pm	30 minutes	Advisory time, teacher “office hours”, check in on discussion boards (Students receiving Special Education and English Learner services should check teacher canvas pages)

 Advanced Placement (AP) classes will continue to use college Board resources such as AP Classroom and AP Video Lessons, as directed by their teachers. AP teachers will share these resources

FRIDAY

Staff and Students

Friday will remain the same with staff engaged in mandatory, content specific district-wide Professional Development. Staff will share specific Friday office hours for student and parent conferencing. Additionally, teachers will work with small groups, individuals, assessments, and more. Parents/students should take full advantage of Fridays to work with your student’s teachers. EC/EL teachers will meet with students on their caseloads.

All live instruction lessons will be recorded for reference at any time. In addition, there will be supplemental resources for students to access (i.e. pre-recorded instruction, discussion board posts, video links, etc.). Friday is an opportunity to get all items turned in for the week.

*We have an expectation that all communications will be responded to within 24 hours.

** Schedule subject to change

We continue to update our "how to" links to assist everyone during remote learning. Feel free to access this document ...  Remote Learning helpful links.docx

What a wonderful opportunity we will have at Southwest High....We will have learning centers starting on August 31st. They will be supervised rooms while following health and safety protocols so students can use GCS connection and desktops to complete their remote learning. It will be Monday to Friday from 9am-1pm.  Parents will need to provide transportation.  Cafeteria breakfast and lunch are available and will be free for students who qualify. Students can register either by completing the REGISTRATION LINK (which can be done on a smartphone), or by filling out a paper copy and returning it to the school.  Paper registration forms are available in multiple languages.  Parents will receive a call confirming their child’s registration on August 27 or 28.  

Please have your student request a hot spot if they DO NOT have internet, and do not live in any of the below areas (They have mobile bus wifi):

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdmPC3P5Fcq59XElF-E-mdCH42NlbxkEhBCYobvINgp_MaVkQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Current and proposed Mobile Bus Hot spots:

 Confirmed

•Carson Stout

•JCMorgan

Potential

•New Gate Garden Apartments

•LakeRoadApartments

If your child is in need of a laptop, please complete the Google form on the website under the Student tab or contact the media specialist Mrs. Virginia Hunt at huntv@gcsnc.com. As we begin the distribution process, we will contact parents to fill requests to inform them of the date, time, and pick up location. As we start to receive laptops, we will distribute the current ones we have based on priority needs. We have currently requested laptops from the district and will communicate once they arrive. We do plan on having devices for the entire district within 120 days. That's pretty impressive considering the high demand of electronic devices at this time.  Thank you for your patience as we prepare for our school year and remote learning. 

In the meantime, if you would like to donate any lightly used laptops, you may bring them to 712 North Eugene Street, or here to this school and we can make that delivery. More than 5,000 in Guilford County Schools students have no access to a device & consequently to education while we await delivery of 60k+ devices amidst a national backlog. Again, please consider donating a device - 712 N Eugene St. You can also donate up to $300 to the Guilford Education Alliance that will go towards purchases. As Southwest receives laptops, I can assure you we will distribute them in order of the requests received.

Student pick up of classroom materials items will occur this upcoming week. We will hold two sessions for picking up of these materials. Students' teachers will reach out to their students if they have items they must pick up. Please enter the student parking lot off Barrow Road. Signage will assist everyone during these days. We look forward to seeing everyone who has to pick up items either Tuesday evening from 5PM-7PM or Friday 10am-1PM. 

Also, we have another live helpdesk session for this week, this evening Wednesday night from 6-7 pm. Here is the link to attend: LINK . 

 A few things to know:

1. Very easy to log into from a computer or phone
2. Participants do not have audio or video capabilities
3. Questions are not public until we publish
4. You really need two people per day to make this successful
1. Producer - In the background controlling what the viewer sees
2. Presenter(s) - Live on-screen personalities
5. The video is available pretty much immediately for download as well as the Q&A report

If you enrolled in complete virtual (E-Learning Academy) and have not heard from your counselor, reach out to them asap to begin your new/revised schedule.

If you are taking an online class, you must complete the contract in which your counselor will e-mail you with.

If you are wishing to remove your student from the self-paced virtual enrollment / E-Learning Academy, please Click on the unenrollment process link within this blog. Students cannot unenroll mid semester. Only at the end of the semester or the end of the year?

GTCC is offering Late Start classes for students that qualify with a 2.8 UNWEIGHTED GPA. Contact your counselor or GTCC with information. 

Counselors will be sending out a Senior Packet that will breakdown steps on what to do during the school year.

Counselors are currently working extremely hard and long hours so please allow time to reply to emails and calls. Our contact information is listed on the website, email is preferred for faster response.

Counselors' caseloads are as followed: Ms.Graves A-D 10th-12th, Ms.Campbell E-L 10th - 12th, Ms. Graham M-R 10th - 12th, Mrs. Hudgens S-Z 10th - 12th, Ms.Compton 9th grade counselor. 

* Pre-Covid 19 picture - social distancing/masks were not required

Documents to peruse as we continue to navigate.....

Student Symptom Screening 

Hygiene and Cleaning Protocols 

Within this blog is a link regarding the required immunizations for Kindergarten, 7th and 12th graders, Please reach out to our school nurse, Jennifer Conrad conradj@gcsnc.com if you have any questions pertaining to these immunizations. 

• Kindergarten Flyer 
• Seventh Grade Flyer 
• Twelfth Grade Flyer 

Just a friendly reminder  that Lifetouch is still accepting scheduling appointments for seniors to be photographed. The link is embedded.   Lifetouch Scheduling 

Any seniors who are interested in purchasing Senior shirts, you can visit the Spirit Store at www.cowboysports.org

As it relates to Athletics, Coach Christman, the Cowboys Athletic Director will keep us up to speed. In the meantime, you can look at the revised schedule from the NCHSAA in how sports will run this year.

Southwest, after the first 5 days, while we still have some struggles, I have seen so many barriers overcome, students, parents and staff taking advantage of the help that is out there. Whether we want to believe it or not, the remote learning approach is not going anywhere any time soon, so we must embrace it with a positive attitude.   Those of you who have gotten to know me over a longer period of time know I am a firm believer that great things come out from tough times like we are currently experiencing.  It is my hope that we all continue to work well together, understanding the barriers, while also communicating to us with your needs. Thank you in advance!

Remember, you are always able to access this message on our school website under School News and titled Principal's Weekly Updates or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected. 

We are in it it together. We got this. We are... Southwest!