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Weekly Announcements

HHS Principal's Weekly, September 6, 2024

Important Dates

  • 9th Grade Parent Night Tuesday, September 10 5:30-7:00
    • Please join us in the Hanover High auditorium to hear a panel of upperclass students discuss what it is like to be a 9th grader at HHS and answer audience questions. Optional tours of the building from 5:00-5:30. 
  • Senior Family College Application Night: Tuesday, September 24 6-7 PM, Zoom
    • School counselors will review the college application process. Topics include: student, caregiver, and counselor roles, the components of the college application, navigating the SCOIR and CommonApp platforms, and important dates and deadlines. 
  • Senior Paying for College Financial Aid Night: Wednesday, October 9 6 PM, Zoom
    • Hear from Granite Edvance representative about essential steps to take and resources available for funding your student’s college education. 
  • School Day PSAT (no school for grades 9, 10 and 12): Wednesday, October 23 
    • All juniors have been signed up for the PSAT. In anticipation of this test, students should create their own CollegeBoard accounts if they do not already have one, using their personal email address
    •  If your junior will not be taking the test, please email Devon Voake, Counseling Department coordinator. 
    • Here is an overview of the new digital PSAT and here is the PSAT/NMSQT Student Guide, published by the College Board.
    • 10th graders may sign up to take the PSAT. Sign-ups are on a first-come, first-serve basis, and there are a finite number of seats. If your 10th grader would like to take the PSAT, they should email Devon Voake by Friday, September 13 to sign up.

From Our Principal

Hello All,
 
I get questions each year about our safety protocols. Here is a brief overview:
 
  • On Day #1 with students, we had a safety presentation. Larry Holdsworth, our safety coordinator, gave a presentation where he went over procedure basics and we walked to our off-site evacuation site and found our advisory gathering spots.
  • Each Summer we write and edit an Emergency Operations Plan(EOP) that we send to the State.
  • We plan a drill each month, but do not inform the community of this calendar.
  • We do two lockdown drills, one off site evacuation and fire drills.
  • Fire drills are done in conjunction with the fire department. These drills are very familiar to students.
  • Lockdown drills are done with Hanover PD. We practice where to go in these drills and how to be quiet. Staff and police check to make sure rooms are secure.
  • Our off-site evacuation is done when we can not go back in the building and we go to Thompson Arena. Students gather in Advisory there.
  • Secure Campus is when we do not let people in or out of our building, but we continue our normal day inside. We did this last year and it was not a drill.
  • Our gym is fire rated if there is a fire in the building, but it is not safe to go outside. Extreme weather etc. Our stairwells are too!
  • We have a safety committee that meets monthly and we have a good relationship with the local PD and fire department. They periodically train leadership and staff.
  • We also understand that relationships matter for safety and we put significant resources towards and into Advisory, counseling services and our teaching staff.
  • If you have questions please ask, but we don’t share specific details with the wider community for safety reasons.
 
It takes a whole community. Thanks for keeping the lines of communication open with us!
 
I also wanted to share the expectations for Study/Flex for those wondering what we are doing with our 9th and 10th graders during those periods.
 
Julie
 

School News and Information

Health Office Notes

We are off to a great start. 

COVID: Let's begin by reminding all families that the 2024-25 CDC COVID protocols remain the same as last spring.

People who test positive no longer need to be isolated. Stay home when you are sick, but you may return when you have been fever free for 24 hrs. without the use of fever reducing medications such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen. However please be careful and thoughtful for 5 days after feeling better. Wear a mask around vulnerable persons if you are coughing or congested. We encourage you to wear a mask upon returning to school. Masks work and there are vulnerable persons in our schools.

Telehealth visits: We have arranged a private space for telehealth visits in the health room. There will always be a registered nurse present in the office.

Students will not miss school time and parents will not miss work. Please let us know ahead of the day and time if possible and we will reserve the room.

Lunch Program: Sign up for the lunch program if you think you might qualify.

It provides not only food but other amenities such as free athletics, senior activities, and free standardized testing. Please feel free to fill out this linked Lunch application.

Flu Clinic:  We will be having our annual student influenza vaccine clinic on 10/24/24. The parent permission form will be sent online. (wahoo) Stay tuned and sign up when we send it out.

Candace Nattie
Lynn McRae
Jen Swabowicz
HHS Nurses

Council Summary- Council met for the first time on Wednesday, September 4th to set the agenda and establish committees for the coming year. Excitingly, Council Executives have been invited to a November conference by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) to speak about Council’s history and Hanover High School’s status as a democratic school. 
 
We encourage anyone interested in school proceedings to come and share their voice in the direction of the school. Meetings are open to all, and important topics, including the new cell phone policy implemented across all classes in the school, will be discussed by the body as we enter another academic year. 
 
As always, Council meets from 11:10-11:50 on Wednesdays in the HHS Chorus Room. View the full agenda and minutes of Wednesday’s meeting. 
 
-Martin Mosdal (Council Secretary)

Counseling Department Updates

Advisory is our HHS social emotional learning program. Advisories are small grade-level groups that meet twice each week, once for lunch and once for curriculum. Students move through their high school years together with their Advisories, celebrating milestones and supporting one another as they navigate challenges along the way. Our four-year Advisory curriculum teaches the CASEL social emotional learning framework. The sequence and pacing of our curriculum is designed to honor the evolution in trust and connection that Advisory groups experience over time. This week in Advisory, 9th grade groups learned about the universal Advisory norms and set some norms of their own. 10-12th grade groups reviewed and updated their norms from last year, and recommitted to their group’s shared expectations.
 
Upcoming Counseling Department Dates & Events
 
9th Grade Parent Night Tuesday, September 10 5:30-7:00
Please join us in the Hanover High auditorium to hear a panel of upperclass students discuss what it is like to be a 9th grader at HHS and answer audience questions. Optional tours of the building from 5:00-5:30. 
 
In-class Senior College Application Workshop: Wednesday, September 11
School counselors will review college application procedures with seniors. Topics covered include completing the FERPA waiver, creating Common App profiles, and adding colleges to applying” in SCOIR. Here is the overview of the College Application Process for the class of 2025
 
Senior Family College Application Night: Tuesday, September 24 6-7 PM on Zoom
School counselors will review the college application process. Topics include: student, caregiver, and counselor roles, the components of the college application, navigating the SCOIR and CommonApp platforms, and important dates and deadlines. 
 
Paying for College Senior Financial Aid Night: Wednesday, October 9 6 PM on Zoom
Hear from Granite Edvance representative about essential steps to take and resources available for funding your student’s college education. 
 
School Day PSAT (no school for 9th, 10th, and 12 graders): Wednesday, October 23 
All juniors have been signed up for the PSAT. In anticipation of this test, students should create their own CollegeBoard accounts if they do not already have one, using their personal email address.  If your junior will not be taking the test, please email Devon Voake, Counseling Department coordinator, at devonvoake@hanovernorwichschools.org. Here is an overview of the new digital PSAT and here is the PSAT/NMSQT Student Guide, published by the College Board.
 
10th graders may sign up to take the PSAT. Sign-ups are on a first-come, first-serve basis, and there are a finite number of seats. If your 10th grader would like to take the PSAT, they should email Devon Voake at  by Friday, September 13 to sign up.
 
Upcoming College Visits  Week of 09/09/2024 
Tuesday, 9/10      12:00           Pitzer College
Tuesday, 9/10      2:15             Miami University (Oxford)
Wednesday, 9/11 10:15           Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute  
Thursday, 9/12     2:15             Saint Michael’s College
Friday, 9/13           11:10           Wheaton College (MA)      
Friday, 9/13           1:30             Skidmore College
Friday, 9/13           2:15             Endicott College

Volunteer Opportunities

We have a wide-range of volunteer opportunities available both during and outside of school hours throughout the district.  Please take a minute to fill out this brief questionnaire to let us know what activities you would be interested in learning more about for the 2024-25 school year.  Teal Parker, our Coordinator of Volunteers, will be in touch with more details as events/activities arise.  

In addition, if you are interested in volunteering but have not yet gone through the background check process, please fill out this form and we will be in touch to get the process started for you.