SWHS Principal's weekly message for September 18, 2017

Good evening, this is Mike Hettenbach, Principal of Southwest Guilford High School.

Yet another great week in Cowboy country. Thank you to all of you who continue to be a positive force in what we do here on a daily basis. Your contributions allow our staff to be more successful with the students who enter our building on a daily basis. We can't tell you how much we appreciate what you do for us.  

This Monday, we will be providing interim reports to every child for every class regardless of the grades they have earned. Therefore, please ask your child for their interim reports when they arrive home after school on Monday. If you did not receive a report, feel free to contact your child's teacher. 

The PTSA is looking for active volunteers. There is a meeting Monday night in room C130 on the cafeteria hallway if you would like to be a part of our wonderful PTSA team.

Parents of Sophomores and juniors. All Sophomores and Juniors will be taking the PSAT this year. The date is currently scheduled for October 11th.

Parent Assist should now be available.  I will attach the directions to this message for you to peruse on Facebook,Twitter or on our website under Principal's weekly updates.

Under the “Parents” tab on our Website

It will have 3 Powerschool choices

Powerschool Parent Portal Registration Information – You must go here 1^st to register for your student’s Access ID & Access Password

Powerschool Parent Portal Login – after receiving the Access ID & Password got here to Create an Account

Powerschool Parent Portal App Instructions – gives instructions on how to retrieve PS on your phone.

If you have problems contact Kristy Cline @ 819-2970

Please remind your child that if he/she is driving to school, they must have a 2017-2018 SWHS parking permit. Any cars without a visible permit in the car will be towed. 

As it relates to the weekly athletics, please feel free to navigate to the www.cowboysports.org website for detailed information. 

Upcoming Athletic schedule:

Monday, September 18

4:30 PM      Womens Varsity Golf Conference Meet hosted by SWGHS Home

4:30 PM      Womens Varsity Tennis Ben L. Smith High School Match Home

5:00 PM      Womens Junior Varsity Volleyball Wheatmore High School Away

6:30 PM      Womens Varsity Volleyball Wheatmore High School Away

Tuesday, September 19

1:30 PM      Womens Varsity Golf Guilford County Invitational @ Bryan Park Away

5:00 PM      Womens Junior Varsity Volleyball Ben L. Smith High School Match Home

5:30 PM      Mens Junior Varsity Soccer Ben L. Smith High School Home

6:30 PM      Womens Varsity Volleyball Ben L. Smith High School Match Home

7:00 PM      Mens Varsity Soccer Ben L. Smith High School Home

Wednesday, September 20

4:00 PM      Womens Varsity Golf Match vs. HPC/Rags/E. Forsyth Home

4:30 PM      Womens Varsity Tennis Parkland High School Match Away

5:00 PM      Coed Varsity Cross Country Conference Meet Hosted by W. Guilford Away

Thursday, September 21

4:30 PM      Womens Varsity Tennis Wheatmore High School Home

5:00 PM      Womens Junior Varsity Volleyball Parkland High School Match Away

5:30 PM      Mens Junior Varsity Soccer Parkland High School Away

6:30 PM      Womens Varsity Volleyball Parkland High School Match Away

7:00 PM      Mens Varsity Soccer Parkland High School Away

7:00 PM      Mens Junior Varsity Football Parkland High School Home

Friday, September 22

7:30 PM      Mens Varsity Football Parkland High School Away

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 and Twitter. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for both Twitter and Facebook. This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected.

We are... Southwest!

SWHS Principal's Weekly Message for September 11, 2017

Good evening, this is Mike Hettenbach, Principal of Southwest Guilford High School.

We had another great week on the Ranch. I want to thank everyone who has reached out to the staff at Southwest High School not only for supporting our mission but for providing us with critical information that will allow us to best serve your children.

With that being stated, the PTSA Walk the Schedule is tomorrow night, Monday, September 11 from 6 to 7:30, starting in the auditorium. For seniors and their parents, Say Yes and GTCC will be here to talk about scholarships and how to get grants and loans for college.  If you’re thinking about attending college, this session is a must!  The session is from 5 - 6 pm in the auditorium right before the Walk the Schedule event starts.  We look forward to seeing many individuals on campus for Mondays events!

One week from tomorrow, Monday, September 18th, our first interim reports will be distributed home. Each student will get a report regardless of the grades they are receiving. If you do not get a report from one of your child's teachers, please reach out to him or her to follow up on your child's academics.

Trying to decide between the ACT or the SAT?  Attend the senior seminar in the College Advising Center, Trailer 5 on Friday, September 15 from 8 - 8:30 am.

Parents of Sophomores and juniors. All Sophomores and Juniors will be taking the PSAT this year. The date is currently scheduled for October 11th.

Please remind your child that if he/she is driving to school, they must have a 2017-2018 SWHS parking permit. Any cars without a visible permit in the car will be towed. 

As it relates to the weekly athletics, please feel free to navigate to the www.cowboysports.org website for detailed information. 

Upcoming Athletic schedule:

Monday, September 11
4:00	Womens	Varsity	Golf	Dudley		Away
4:30	Womens	JV	Tennis	Mount Tabor		Home
5:00	Womens	JV	Volleyball	Glenn		Home
5:30	Mens	JV	Soccer	R J Reynolds		Away
6:30	Womens	Varsity	Volleyball	Glenn		Home
7:00	Mens	Varsity	Soccer	R J Reynolds		Away
Tuesday, September 12
4:00	Womens	Varsity	Golf	Page		Away
4:00	Womens	Varsity	Tennis	High Point Christian Academy		Away
5:30	Mens	JV	Soccer	Grimsley		Away
7:00	Mens	Varsity	Soccer	Grimsley		Away
Wednesday, September 13
4:30	Womens	Varsity	Tennis	North Forsyth High School Match		Away
5:00	Coed	Varsity	Cross Country	Pre Conference Meet @ Ivy Redmond		Away
Thursday, September 14
4:00	Womens	JV	Tennis	High Point Christian		Home
4:30	Womens	Varsity	Tennis	R J Reynolds		Away
5:00	Womens	JV	Volleyball	North Forsyth		Away
5:30	Mens	JV	Soccer	North Forsyth		Away
6:30	Womens	Varsity	Volleyball	North Forsyth		Away
7:00	Mens	JV	Football	Northwest		Home
7:00	Mens	Varsity	Soccer	North Forsyth		Away
Friday, September 15
7:30	Mens	Varsity	Football	Northwest		Away

                     
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 and Twitter. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for both Twitter and Facebook. This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected.

We are... Southwest!

SWHS Principal's weekly message for September 5th, 2017

Good evening, this is Mike Hettenbach, Principal of Southwest Guilford High School.

I would like to start off by saying that the first 5 days have been absolutely amazing. With that being shared, please take this 3 day weekend to enjoy your family and friends before we start right back up on Tuesday. 

As we finished 5 days of the school year, this puts us midway through the schedule changing window of 10 days. As we have mentioned before, schedules often change due to enrollment changes, under enrollment for classes, options to enroll at GTCC, etc. As a parent myself, I understand the frustrations this may cause if your child is affected, but I can assure you that we have to look at the overall best interest of all students at this school. Please be patient with us as we complete the next 5 school days as it relates to scheduling. 

Friday - we will have club day during all lunches. Please guide your child in finding a club that he/she can participate in. We strongly believe that all our students should be involved in something, whether it be a club or a sport. If your child is not already involved in any activity at school, or away from school, please encourage your child to check out our long list of clubs on Friday during the lunches.

Parents of Sophomores and juniors. All Sophomores and Juniors will be taking the PSAT this year. The date is currently scheduled for October 11th.

Parents of seniors, please join us for an informative seminar on Say Yes and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) On Monday September 11 at 5pm. This will be before we start the Walk the Schedule event which starts at 6pm.

Please remind your child that dress code is back to normal starting this week. Feel free to reference the dress code on the SWHS website under the quick links. Feel free to navigate the school's athletic website if you would like to purchase spirit wear directly from the athletic department! www.cowboysports.org. Freshmen shirts have been created as well and can be purchased through the 9th grade Assistant Principal, Mr. Miller. There will be additional opportunities to purchase SW attire throughout the year.

Go ahead and mark your calendar for the 1st semester, PTSA Walk The Schedule night, or as some of you may see it as Open House. This event will be September 11th and will start at 6:00 in the auditorium, transitioning into walking your child's schedule and ending at 7:30. Please remember to take a copy of your child's schedule with you to this event.

As it relates to the weekly athletics, please feel free to navigate to the www.cowboysports.org website for detailed information. 

Upcoming Athletic schedule:

Tuesday       5:00 and 6:30       Women's JV (at Cornerstone) and Varsity Volleyball(Dudley) 
                     5:00                      Coed Cross Country at home vs. Eastern, Cornerstone, HP Christian
                      4:30                      Women's varsity Golf at Mt Tabor
                      5:30/7:00             Men's Soccer at Northwest HS
Wednesday  4:00                      Women's golf at home at East Forsyth
                      4:30                      Women's Varsity Tennis home vs. Asheboro HS
Thursday      4:00                      Women's Varsity Tennis at home vs. Western
                       5:00 and 6:30       Women's JV and V Volleyball at home vs. Western
                       5:30 and 7:00       Men's JV and Varsity Soccer at home vs. HP Central
                       7:00                      JV Football at Ragsdale
Friday            7:30                      Men's Varsity Football at home vs. Ragsdale 
                     
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 and Twitter. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for both Twitter and Facebook. This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected.

Please enjoy your Labor Day weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday.

We are... Southwest!

SWHS Principal's Message for the week of August 28, 2017

Good evening, this is Mike Hettenbach, Principal of Southwest Guilford High School.

Tomorrow is your child's first day of the year at Southwest Guilford High School. The staff at Southwest is very excited to see and welcome your child. Please make sure you guide your child to locate their homeroom tomorrow morning. Homerooms will be posted on the main hallway for grades 10-12. Freshmen homerooms will be posted inside the freshmen gym as well as in the hallway of the freshmen gym. Students will receive their schedules in their homeroom tomorrow morning. Homeroom will occur the first 3 days of school to assist with basic managerial tasks. Thursday will start with 1st block. Students who believe their schedule is wrong when they receive their schedule should fill out a schedule change form which will be available outside the main office as well as outside Ms. Compton's office after school on Monday. The only time a student should report to a counselor on the first 3 days of school is if he/she does not have a location to report to based on their schedule. The window for schedule change request is the first 10 days of school.  Any students who have Weaver classes the first day of school will report to Weaver as expected. Students who are enrolled in GTCC classes as their first location should report to GTCC and report to SWHS thereafter. He/she can pick up their schedule on the first day from the main office once they arrive to school. 

At this time, all students should have finished their summer reading. The summer reading expectations have been posted on the SWHS website. Please remember, if you end up getting English scheduled in the 2nd semester, you can reach out to your assigned spring teacher and set up a time to take your summer reading test right after school starts. 

Dress code has been modified this year, allowing SWHS spirit shirts any day during the week. Please check the school's website for the updated version of our Student Dress Code that includes some other modifications as well. This was approved by the school's leadership team. If you have already been shopping based on the previous year's dress codes, your child will still be within the parameters of the code, however, you and your child will find that we have eased up on some of the expectations while also providing clarity. The first week of school, students are allowed to wear homemade CLASS shirts showing their pride of their graduating year. Additionally, feel free to navigate the school's athletic website to purchase spirit wear directly form the athletic department! www.cowboysports.org. Freshmen shirts have been created as well and can be purchased through the 9th grade Assistant Principal, Mr. Miller. 

Go ahead and mark your calendar for the 1st semester, PTSA Walk The Schedule night, or as some of you may see it as Open House. This event will be Septemberstart at 6:00 in the auditorium, will then be led into classrooms according to your child's schedule and then end at 7:30.   

You can always access the weekly athletic schedule on the athletics website as well as on the school's weekly Principal's message located on the school's website.

Upcoming Athletic schedule:

Monday        4:30                      Women's Tennis at home vs. Mt Tabor
Tuesday       5:00 and 6:30       Women's JV and Varsity Volleyball at home vs. Parkland
                     5:00                      Coed Cross Country at home
Wednesday  4:00                      Women's golf at home vs. Grimsley and Page
Thursday      4:00                      Women's JV Tennis at home vs. HP Christian
                     4:30                      Women's Varsity Golf at home
                     5:00 and 6:30       Women's JV and V Volleyball at home vs. Mt Tabor
                     5:30 and 7:00       Men's JV and Varsity Soccer at home vs. Ragsdale
Friday           7:30                      Men's Varsity Football at home vs. High Point Central 
                     
As it relates to athletics, any questions should be addressed directly to the coaches related to the sport in question. Additional questions can be directed to our Athletic Director Coach Brindon Christman. The athletics department has a wonderful web site for you to navigate. Please feel free to access it at www.cowboysports.org 

Our athletic season has already started and it's been a pleasure to see so many of you out supporting our student athletes. Please help us in representing Southwest in the most respectful manner when attending our events. Sharing this with your child is extremely important as well as we want to be models around the county in demonstrating positive character. Last, please make sure your child is communicating to you in order for he/she to be picked up in a timely manner directly after the ending of the athletic contest. 

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 and Twitter. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for both Twitter and Facebook. This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected.

I hope you continue to have a great summer and I look forward to seeing all of our students on the first day of school, Monday, August 28th!

We are... Southwest!

SWHS Principal's message for the week of August August 20th

Good evening, this is Mike Hettenbach, Principal of Southwest Guilford High School.

I hope this message has found everyone enjoying their summer and ready to go for the 2017-2018 school year one week from tomorrow. Please pay careful attention to this information. Please remember this can be accessed on the school's website under Principal's weekly message if you wish to review anything you may miss along the way.

Parents, if you happen to receive a district wide connect-ed about a back to school bash, please know this does not relate to the High Point schools, If you do wish to attend the High Point event, it is currently scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, from 11am to 1:30 pm at the Carl Chavis Memorial YMCA. There will be light refreshments and live entertainment. Pre-Registration is required. You can contact the YMCA at 336-434-4000 if you are interested.  Additionally, you will also need proof of High Point residency, identification and a report card from a High Point School to receive a ticket. 

As a reminder, all students should have started and are now close to completing their summer reading. The summer reading expectations are posted on the SWHS website. Please remember, if you end up getting English scheduled in the 2nd semester, you can reach out to your assigned spring teacher and set up a time to take your summer reading test right after school starts. 

Please check the school's website for the updated version of our Student Dress Code. This was approved by the school's leadership team. If you have already been shopping based on the previous year's dress codes, your child will still be within the parameters of the code, however, you and your child will find that we have eased up on some of the expectations while also providing clarity. The first week of school, students are allowed to wear homemade CLASS shirts showing their pride of their graduating year. Additionally, feel free to navigate the school's athletic website to purchase spirit wear directly form the athletic department! www.cowboysports.org

As it relates to schedules, we are still working on not only student schedules but the overall scheduling matrix due to the daily ongoing enrollment changes. Please remember that schedules that can be viewed online are not always accurate and are subject to change. The only communication that should be occurring to counselors at this moment about schedule changes should be a request for one of the new classes being added to the fall. Please reach out to your child's guidance counselor if both you and your child agree on requesting any of the newly added electives I have mentioned in past messages. Students will receive their schedule when he/she arrives to campus on Monday August 25th and reports to homeroom. Homeroom assignments will be posted in the main hallway on Monday morning. Homeroom will occur the first 3 days of school. Students who believe their schedule is wrong when they receive their schedule should fill out a schedule change form. The only time a student should report to a counselor on the first 3 days of school is if he/she does not have a location to report to based on their schedule. The window for schedule change request is the first 10 days of school. More information related to that will be forthcoming. Any students who have weaver classes the first day of school will report to Weaver as expected. Announcements in the morning will assist them. 

Students who are enrolled in GTCC classes as their first location should report to GTCC and report to SWHS thereafter. He/she can pick up their schedule on the first day from the main office once they arrive to school. 

Go ahead and mark your calendar for the 1st semester, September 11th, from 6:00 pm to 7:30pm, SWHS's PTA Walk the Schedule Night or as some of you may see it as Open House.

If you are friends with any parents or guardians of rising freshmen, Thursday, August 24th is the Freshman Orientation. All Freshmen are expected to be present from 8:30-12:30 that morning while all parents will be attending that evening from 6:30 to 8:00. Shirts will be available for purchase that evening.

As it relates to athletics, any questions should be addressed directly to the coaches related to the sport in question. Additional questions can be directed to our Athletic Director Coach Brindon Christman. The athletics department has a wonderful web site for you to navigate. Please feel free to access it at www.cowboysports.org 

Our athletic season has already started and it's been a pleasure to see so many of you out supporting our student athletes. Please help us in representing Southwest in the most respectful manner when attending our events. Sharing this with your child is extremely important as well as we want to be models around the county in demonstrating positive character. Last, please make sure your child is communicating to you in order for he/she to be picked up in a timely manner directly after the ending of the athletic contest. 

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 and Twitter. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for both Twitter and Facebook. This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected.

I hope you continue to have a great summer and I look forward to seeing all of our students on the first day of school, Monday, August 28th!

We are... Southwest!

SWHS Principal's message for the week of July 31st

Good evening, this is Mike Hettenbach, Principal of Southwest Guilford High School.

As we are just four weeks from the start of the 2017-2018 school year, we want to refresh all of you on some important upcoming dates and reminders.

Please make sure you have started your summer reading. The summer reading expectations are posted on the SWHS website. Please recall if you end up getting English scheduled in the 2nd semester, you can reach out to your assigned spring teacher and set up a time to take your summer reading test right after school starts. 

Please check the school's website for the updated version of our Student Dress Code. This was approved by the school's leadership team. If you have already been shopping based on the previous year's dress codes, your child will still be within the parameters of the code, however, you and your child will find that we have eased up on some of the expectations while also providing clarity.

As it relates to student schedules, schedules that can be viewed online are not always accurate. Counselors are currently working on all school schedules throughout the summer. Please understand that moving teachers and classes are necessary due to ongoing enrollment changes. Therefore, the only communication that should be occurring to counselors about schedule changes should be a request for one of the new classes being added to the fall. Please reach out to your child's guidance counselor if both you and your child agree on requesting any of these newly added electives:  Beginning Band, Dance, Advanced Dance, Advanced Physical Fitness with a concentration on Yoga, Zumba, and more! Honors African American Studies, Digital Media and Advanced Digital Media!  We are very excited about diversifying the elective options for your child. Again, please reach out to your child's guidance counselor immediately with any interest. 

Final student schedules will be delivered in hand in homeroom classes the morning of the first day of school. Homerooms will be posted in the halls that morning. We will provide 10 days for the first day of school to have schedules adjusted due to legitimate reasons. 

Students who are enrolled in GTCC classes as their first location should report to GTCC and report to SWHS thereafter. He/she can pick up their schedule on the first day from the main office once they arrive to school. 

Go ahead and mark your calendar for the 1st semester, September 11th, from 6:00 pm to 7:30pm, SWHS's PTA Walk the Schedule Night or as some of you may see it as Open House.

If you are friends with any parents or guardians of rising freshmen, Thursday, August 24th is the Freshman Orientation. All Freshmen are expected to be present from 8:30-12:30 that morning while all parents will be attending that evening from 6:30 to 8:00.

As it relates to athletics, Fall practices and try outs officially start on July 31st. Please reach out to the individual coaches or our athletic director for more information. Also - feel free to navigate through our athletics webpage @ www.cowboysports.org 

As usual, we thank you for your ongoing support! Enjoy your summer. Please know I will send weekly messages only as I feel it is appropriate.

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 and Twitter. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for both Twitter and Facebook. This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected.

I hope you continue to have a great summer and I look forward to seeing you on the first day of school, Monday, August 28th!

We are... Southwest!

SWHS Principal's July Message

Good evening, this is Mike Hettenbach, Principal of Southwest Guilford High School.

First and foremost, I hope you all are having a relaxing summer! I want to update with some important items so you all can be better prepared for the start of school in only 6 weeks. 

Please check Facebook or the school's website for the updated version of our Student Dress Code. This was approved by the school's leadership team. If you have already been shopping based on previous year's dress codes, your child will still be within the parameters of the code, however, you and your child will find that we have eased up on some of the expectations while also providing clarity.

As communicated in my last connect ed message in June, we knew there was a possibility of the PowerSchool program being accessible prior to the start of school. As everyone is aware, schedules are still being worked on throughout the entire summer. Any schedules viewed at this time should be ignored until counselors have completed their tasks by the end of the summer. Working on scheduling and continuously making adjustments to the scheduling matrix is necessary due to ongoing enrollment changes. Students and parents can reach out to counselors as it relates to enrollment in any of our new courses. These newly added courses include Beginning Band, Dance, Advanced Dance, Advanced Physical Fitness with a concentration on Yoga, Zumba, steps, and more! Honors African American Studies, Digital Media and Advanced Digital Media! 

Go ahead and mark your calendar for September 11th, from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. This is for SWHS's 1st semester PTSA Walk the Schedule Night or as some of you may see it as Open House. Speaking about the PTSA, if you are interested in assisting this group, feel free to send me an e-mail and I will connect you with Mrs. McGuire, our PTSA president. She can be reached directly through e-mail at michele.mcguire1424@gmail.com 

Last, if you are friends with any parents or guardians of rising freshmen, Thursday August 24th is the Freshman Orientation. All Freshmen are expected to be present from 8:30-12:30 that morning while all parents will be attending that evening from 6:30 to 8:00.

As it relates to athletics, Fall practices and try outs officially start on July 31st. Please reach out to the individual coaches or our athletic director for more information. Also - feel free to navigate through our athletics webpage. 

As usual, we thank you for your ongoing support! Enjoy your summer. Please know I will send additional messages only as I feel it is appropriate.

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 and Twitter. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for both Twitter and Facebook. This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected.

I hope you have a great summer!

We are... Southwest!