CHS WELCOMES YOU, AND SORRY IF THAT SCHEDULE CHANGE DID NOT HAPPEN

From Columbia High School:

Hello and Happy Almost the Start of School!

On behalf of the CHS Administration, I hope you have enjoyed your summer and are ready to start the 2015-2016 school year. Soon the halls will be buzzing with chatter about summer vacations, jobs, volunteer experiences, and more. We will embark on another year of learning, development, and discovery. To get things started, here is some important information about your official schedule(s).

• The Power School Parent Portal will open TONIGHT at 6:00pm.
• Final Schedules are available to view at that time.
• We will not be distributing paper copies of schedules. Schedules are being shared ELECTRONICALLY.
• Please print out your schedule and bring it with you on the first day of school.
  • If you are unable to print your schedule, Ms. Goldsmith, guidance secretary, will be available to assist you.  Students unable to print their schedule should visit the guidance office on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, (8/31, 9/1, or 9/2) from 8:30 – 10:30 and 1:00 – 3:00 to obtain a paper copy.

• We are committed to starting the school year with students in classes ready to learn.
• If you are in need of information regarding your login to Power School Portal, please email Mrs. Voorhees at rvoorhee@somsd.k12.nj.us prior to 3:00 on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
• Students interested in signing up for an independent study should see Ms. Goldsmith in the guidance office between Tuesday, Sept. 8 and Friday, Sept. 11.  Sign up forms should be signed and returned to her no later than 3:30 on the 11^th.

We feel strongly about the first day of classes representing students’ academic program for the year. We appreciate all of your cooperation with guidance staff over this summer to accomplish our scheduling goals. Thank you for your support and flexibility throughout the process.

All changes that were possible within the limitations of the master schedule have been made.  Should you find that your final schedule has an error, such as a duplicate class, a missing class period, or a class you have already taken, please email your assigned guidance counselor and they will address the correction.

The following requests do meet the criteria for change:

• Teacher change
• Elective course change
  • When a requested elective does not appear on the schedule it is result of scheduling constraints that prohibit enrollment.
• Lunch period change
• Preferred start time (period 1 vs. period 2)

• Physical Education course change
• Level change
  • All level change requests should be directed to the content area supervisor or department chairman.  Contact information is available on the CHS homepage.

We certainly understand that schedules do not always meet students’ desires. We are proud of the diversity of CHS course offerings and know that over a four-year high school experience your student should be able to take advantage of a wide variety of those offerings.

So, as the summer rapidly comes to a close, we hope all students are gearing up for a happy and health school year. We are eager to see their smiling faces, hear their social chatter, and share the 2015-16 school year with them.  Please note the following first day details:

• 9^th grade students (Cougar Cubs!) will begin their year on Thursday, September 3^rd at 8:00 am in the Auditorium. 
• All 10^th -12^th graders will report to CHS on Friday, September 4^th. 
• Reporting time is 7:20am for Period 1 and 8:15am for Period 2.
• Please remember that only our main front door is used for morning bell entry.

See you next week.