9/3/21

Good afternoon Stamford High School students and families,

What a great week for our students! Getting back to the routines, schedules, and demands is never easy coming out of the summer vacation, but like every year, our students and staff make it look easy!

Students are settling in nicely, freshman students are becoming more comfortable navigating the building, while sports and afterschool activities have brought us closer to a normal reality. Seeing all of the kids participating is what SHS is all about!

As we enter Labor Day weekend and Rosh Hashanah, just a few notices and reminders for families and students:

  • Parking (Drop Off and Pick Up): Starting on Thursday September 9th, we will go back to our pre-Covid routine of using the back loop around the tennis courts for drop off and pick up. This should help alleviate some of the delays parents have encountered. The front loop is still restricted so please drop students off in the rear of the building.

  • Acceptable Use Policy/Device Agreement: Please remember to log in to your parent portal account to access forms required for students to use technology here at school and the agreement for students who are seeking school issued lap top computers. Without these documents, students will not have access to their full complement of technology here at SHS.

  • U-Knighted-Nation: SHS is happy to announce a school wide initiative that will be conducting events throughout the year with a culminating event in June to celebrate all of our students. Our focus will be Academics, Athletics, Arts, and Altruism. Information coming soon on how your student can participate and make a difference at SHS!

  • Closed Campus: Parents, please remind your student that leaving SHS in an unauthorized manner is prohibited.

  • Per our Students Success Guide (Page 12) that was shared earlier this year:

  • “SHS is a closed campus and students are not allowed to leave school grounds during the school day without parent permission or during a school sponsored event.”

  • If students need to leave early for any reason, a parent or guardian must provide a note to the Main Office with a contact number for verification. They will then be issued a pass to leave. Regardless of what students may believe, leaving during the day is not permitted.

  • FOSH (Friends of Stamford High): PARENTS! If you have any interest in becoming a partner in the SHS community, FOSH is the place for you! Our parent group’s goal is to collaborate with the school team to support ALL SHS students. If you have time, expertise in a field, or just want to get involved please contact FOSH to learn more about this great organization at foshpto@gmail.com

  • SHS “Spirit Wear”: Families have asked where they can purchase hats, sweatshirts, T-shirts, etc. We will be selling spirit wear on Open School Night (September 23) and will be formalizing a central location where items can be purchased regularly.

  • Masks/Attire: Students have been great thus far wearing masks properly and with fidelity. When asked to comply when not wearing properly, students have. We are however going to ask that hoods of jackets or sweatshirts (or any garment that may have a hood) remain down while in the school building. With face coverings still present, hoods (hoodies) make it more challenging for staff to identify students if need be.

  • Teacher Removal of Mask Regulation Update (From the Superintendent's Weekly Message)

    • “In an effort to balance the risks of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a classroom and instructional needs, teachers who are fully vaccinated may choose to remove their masks when they are engaged in active instruction at the front of the classroom in which students are seated and masked provided that a separating distance of at least six (6) feet to the greatest extent possible is maintained. Mask removal may not occur in cases where a fully vaccinated teacher is a close contact of a known case and, in lieu of quarantine, is instructed to wear a mask until they receive a negative test.”

Enjoy your extended weekend and for those students and families celebrating Rosh Hashanah, Happy New Year!

Matthew W. Forker (’92)

Principal

Stamford High School