Dear Parents and Students of Voorhees High School,
I hope that you are having a relaxing and rewarding summer. It has been a busy summer at Voorhees in on our preparation for the new school year. Enjoy the remaining weeks, and we look forward to seeing you.
Please take a moment to review the following information:
Opening of School
All students will report for a regular day of school on Thursday, August 23. An upcoming email will be sent to inform you when you can print student schedules from Aspen, our student database system.
Our guidance staff has made extraordinary efforts to personalize each student’s schedule. Long hours have been spent planning, assisting in course selections, and refining conflicts. This process should have effectively addressed any of your scheduling concerns. Please realize the amount of effort already expended and the constraints of course availability, class size, and room availability.
School Administration
Last year, Voorhees High School moved to an assistant principal model for supervision of students and subject areas. The following are the areas of responsibility:
Mr. Maslonka: Class of 2019, English and Guidance
Mrs. Hammerstone: Class of 2020, Math, Science, and STEM
Mrs. Kieffer: Class of 2021, Child Study Team and Special Education
Mr. Simpson: Class of 2022, Business, Fine and Practical Arts, Social Studies, and World Language
Mr. Baumann: Athletics program and Health and Physical Education
Senior G.A.I.N. Time
Please note that with the new Rolling Drop-Block Schedule, during the lunch blocks, seniors will be assigned to a designated classroom for the study hall portion of the block. This study hall is not considered G.A.I.N. Time, and students must report to and remain in the designated classroom. This is because we cannot accommodate the entire senior class in the eating areas during the lunches. G.A.I.N. Time will be for the 55 minutes regular block study halls.
Student Parking
Seniors should have already received information concerning registering for parking. Please be check your email for the information. Any questions can be sent to Mrs. Pennucci at mpennucci@nhvweb.net.
Chromebooks
Students in grades 10-12 who turned in their Chromebook at the end of the school year may pick-up their Chromebook August 6th through August 10th in the Technology Resource Center (Room 236) from 8am to 3pm. If students do not pick-up their Chromebooks, they can pick it up during Health/Physical Education class on the first day of school in the TRC.
TEACHNJ Act
One of the requirements of the TEACHNJ Act is that teachers, with approval from their principals, set Student Growth Objectives (SGOs) for their students at the start of the year and are assessed on whether those objectives are met at the end of the year. National, state, or district-developed assessments should be used where available to identify the measurable goals for each objective. Teachers also may use collaboratively developed assessments for SGOs, including portfolios of student work. Teachers are required to set at least two SGOs for the 2018-2019 school year.
Please understand that due to these requirements our students may be given pre-assessments in their classes during the first weeks of school. These pre-assessments will be used as a formative tool to measure growth and will not affect the student’s grade.
Parent/Student Handbook
The Parent-Student Handbook and calendar are available on the Voorhees website. Most of the information disseminated to you will be online. If you do not have access to the Internet, please inform us so that we may arrange to mail materials to you. We encourage you to become familiar with the information contained in the handbook and mark the dates of important school events throughout the year. Some of the dates to note are listed below.
Important Dates
Last Day for Schedule Changes Friday, August 31
Back to School Night* Thursday, September 6
Fall College Night* Thursday, September 13
Mini College Fair 1 Thursday, September 27
Mini College Fair 2 Tuesday, October 9
P.S.A.T. Wednesday, October 10
*All evening programs begin at 7:00 PM
Required Summer Reading
All students will be assessed on their summer reading during the first week of school.
Student Activities
One of the many strengths of Voorhees High School is the large number of students involved in co-curricular activities. Students who become involved in the school broaden their experiences and increase their enjoyment of high school. Whether it is athletics, theatre, music, clubs or student government, I encourage you to participate in one or more student activities. Not only will you find the experience to be rewarding, but you also help make Voorhees High School a better place. Our Director of Student Activities is Mr. McGeehan who can be reached at mmcgeehan@nhvweb.net.
I look forward to seeing you on August 23rd.
Sincerely,
Ronald J. Peterson
Principal
