Principal's Message
August 1, 2023
Dear Student and Family,
Welcome to McKinleyville High School for the 2023-2024 school year! I hope that you are coming off a well deserved summer break and we are excited to welcome our students and staff back. We have been working hard this summer to prepare for the new school year and the campus looks beautiful. This letter/email is designed to provide you with updates on the start of the 2023-24 school year, information on our schedule as well as important times and dates for the next few weeks amongst other information. Finally I want to say thank you to our ladies in the front office and our custodial staff for all their efforts this summer to help get us ready, they did a tremendous job. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Bell Schedule and Block Schedule for the 2023-24 School Year: This year, as a district, we are implementing a new bell schedule that will feature rotating blocks on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Attached to this letter is a bell schedule with the times for each period and break. Here is the breakdown of how the schedule will work.
Two important things to note:
- School starts at 8:30 am
- Tuesday-Thursday we will have Study Hall right before lunch and it will be held in the students’ 2nd and 4th Period classes.
Here are some important dates and times: We recognize that the start of the school year is busy and can feel overwhelming in terms of dates, times and events. To help here is a quick reference guide for the start of the school year.
Communication: Communication is now more than ever very important to ensure that students and their families have the best possible experience at MHS and I encourage you to let us know when you need anything. We will work to keep in constant communication throughout the school year and will do so through email, phone and our website. If we do not currently have your email or phone number or you need to update either please call Amanda Anderson at (707) 839-6404 or email her at [email protected] with that important information.
Phone: Please call anytime @ (707) 839-6400.
Schedules: Counselors have been hard at work putting together the best possible schedules for our students for the upcoming year. 10th-12th grade students’ schedules have been included in this letter.. You may also access it through StudentVUE (http://studentvue.nohum.org) starting on August 14, 2023, if your student is an incoming 9th grader they will receive their schedule during our Freshmen Orientation. Please note that schedules are subject to change as we continue to try and balance schedules.
If your student is having trouble accessing StudentVUE please call or email Amanda Anderson at (707) 839-6404 or [email protected]. If your student would like to speak to their counselor prior to the start of the school year to discuss their schedule please call Amanda Anderson at (707) 839-6404 to set up an appointment. Before the start of school, counselors will be giving first priority to students with incomplete schedules and will work into the first week of school to make schedule changes.
ParentVUE & StudentVUE: This system is linked to our database and students and parent/guardians can access it to monitor student academic progress and attendance. Teachers update the ParentVUE/StudentVUE (http://studentvue.nohum.org) at least every three weeks. Included in this mailer is both student and parent login information and instructions for ParentVUE and StudentVUE that will remind our returning students/parents and guardians of how to log in and for our new and incoming students/parents and guardians will be able to log in for the first time and access their information.
Staff Email: Staff email addresses are listed on our website. Addresses are the first letter of the first name and the last name spelled out in full followed by @nohum.k12.ca.us – for many staff this is the easiest way to make initial contact.
Web: We encourage all of our students and families to go to our website at https://mhs.nohum.org/ for general information, school news and contacts. If you have not already please go check it out.
In Touch: This is our auto dialer program which is set up to send out phone calls, emails and text message reminders. It complies with all FCC guidelines. Simply by having your student enrolled you should be receiving our communications. If you are not receiving any information from us please contact Amanda Anderson to make sure we have all the correct information and please know that you can opt out any time from these communications.
Technology Update: Our school and district will continue the policy of BYOD (bring your own device model) for this school year. What does that mean:
- If your student has a laptop/chromebook at home we are asking that they bring that device with them to school each day.
- If your student does not have a laptop/chromebook they may check one out through our school library during their English class on either Thursday or Friday of the first week of school.
- If you are a returning student and have a chromebook from the 2022-23 school year and you did not already recheck it out this past spring please bring it to the Library during your English class on either Monday or Tuesday of the first full week of school to recheck it out.
All students with their parent/guardians must complete the Student Acceptable Use Policy digitally in order to continue to access their student email/account. This form can be filled out at the following website: https://mckinleyvillehighschool.nohum.org/apps/pages/online-forms
Freshman Orientation: Freshman will receive their class schedules during the Frosh Orientation on Tuesday, August 22. FROSH Orientation is designed to assist students in making the transition to high school. Junior and Senior student leaders have volunteered to not only participate in this day but to also mentor freshmen throughout the school year. If you are a new student to MHS as a Sophomore, Junior or Senior and would like to be part of the orientation day please contact our LINK coordinator Ms. Karen Myers at [email protected].
Freshman parents please join us on LINK Day at 5:30 in the Library for your Orientation, followed by a barbecue for students, their families and MHS faculty in the Quad afterwards hosted by Panther Partners, our booster group.
After dinner you are invited to tour campus and visit classrooms to meet your student’s teachers for the year. Classrooms will be open from 7 pm to 8 pm.
Athletics: Fall Sports are set to start on August 7th. Please check our website’s front page and click on the link “Fall Sports Information” for specific start times and coaching contacts. All Athletic forms can be picked up in the attendance office or printed out from our website. If you have any sports related questions please contact our Athletic Director, Jeff Landry, at 707 839-6406 or at [email protected] for information and to help contact coaches.
Parent/Guardian Involvement: We encourage all of our parents and guardians to be active in their students' education while at MHS. There are many ways to get involved. If you are interested in participating on our School Site Council, our Athletic Advisory Committee, in our LCAP meetings or as part of our Booster Club, Panther Partners please contact me at (707) 839-6405 or at [email protected]
More information will be shared with you as we begin the school year. In the meantime please review the enclosed materials and call or email me if you have any questions. I am excited about the beginning of the school year and proud of the excellent opportunities and support that our high school provides our students and community.
Sincerely,
Dustin Dutra
Principal
707-839-6403