August 6, 2023 - New Families

Good evening, New Dons!

Making the shift to high school (or to a new high school) can be anxiety-inducing, so I'd like to take a moment to bring families 'up to speed' with some important start-of-the-year information:

The Main Office remains CLOSED until Tuesday, August 15th. 
With construction and professional development meetings, we are not able to host incoming families in the office on a drop-in basis until the afternoon of August 15th.  We will be working hard to support all students and teachers in beginning-of-the-year instruction and activities, and request that families please CALL IN ADVANCE to schedule an appointment or speak to a counselor.

Counselors are in the office (and sifting through their email) beginning on Wednesday, August 9th
I have received a few emails from families with questions about counselors and when they will receive information back about their students.  Our school counselors begin the school year just five days prior to our teachers and will report on Monday, August 7th.  Counselors will participate in trainings and meetings their first two days back - they will be AVAILABLE VIA EMAIL BEGINNING AUGUST 9th.  School Counselors will begin to go through their email, return calls, and check to ensure that all students are enrolled in their graduation requirements and appropriate-level courses on August 9th.  Please be patient as we work through this process!

Orientation & JumpStart events are for students :)
When my son was getting ready for high school, I was excited and nervous for him to take those first steps at school without me.  If this is your first student transitioning to high school, it's important to know which events are parent-friendly, and which events are not.  Orientation for Freshmen and Transfer Students on Thursday, August 10th is an event geared for STUDENTS ONLY - we have a small army of continuing Aragon students who will run Link Crew team-building activities all morning, and this is a great opportunity for students to meet new people and reconnect with familiar folks.  At the event, students will get:

• Course LIST (actual schedules with period assignments, teacher names, and room numbers will be available at the second part of Orientation / JumpStart on the first day of school)
• School Picture / ID Card - students will need their ID Cards to get school meals, check out books, sign in for FlexTime, and get tickets / entry to school events.

The Principal's New Family Welcome is for the parents & guardians of new AHS students!
I'm looking forward to meeting you all and supporting the adults in this community as they navigate the high school years - and continue to find ways to connect to each other and support this community.  YES - we need parent & guardian involvement at the high school, and we'll talk about how you can participate in this dynamic community at this event.  And we'll have ice cream, too!

Your student CAN'T make it to Orientation or JumpStart?
That's okay - we know that summers are busy some families won't be able to join us the week prior to the beginning of school.   Here are a few tips to help your student connect:

• Link Crew Leaders will host tours, tech support, and schedule distribution to all 9th grade and new-to-Aragon students from 8:30-9:50 on the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.
• Make-up picture day: August 24, 2023.

Students within the SMUHSD get TWO FREE MEALS DAILY!  
Did you know that the State of California is continuing to support ALL students with two meals a day at school?  This includes 1 complimentary breakfast (either before school or at brunch) and 1 complimentary lunch at lunch time.
We do NOT allow food delivery services on campus.  Beginning this year, all delivery food discovered by administration will be confiscated and discarded.  The use of DoorDash, PostMates, and other food delivery services may not seem like a big deal - until you find delivery drivers wandering through classroom hallways looking for their drop-off locations.  We do the best we can with security on campus and require all visitors to check in through the main office, but delivery drivers don't readily follow these guidelines and should not be invited to campus by students or families.

Morning Drop-Off:
Students should be dropped off in front of campus on Alameda de las Pulgas or in the parking lot off Woodland.  With construction taking over the parking spaces on the access road (the road that leads up to the main office), we are offering different drop-off locations from August through January.
DO NOT ENTER THE ACCESS ROAD FOR MORNING DROP OFF!  This is a continuous request as we strive to limit congestion exiting through the north end of campus.  Please refer to this map for parking information.

Student Technology Use & Support
We are a Google and ChromeBook site - and we have enough ChromeBooks for every student to check one out and use it on campus!  Additionally, we are staffed to support students with this technology and our teachers plan lessons that are geared to the equitable use of ChromeBook technology.  Please be advised that we are NOT staffed to support student personal devices, and strongly suggest that students leave personal laptops at home.

Thank you so much - and I look forward to seeing you and your students soon!
Valerie Arbizu, Principal