High School Students and Families,
Summer is quickly coming to a close, and we are gearing up for a new school year. We have many updates to share with you. This message is packed with lots of information. To help you understand and unpack it all, we will host a town hall on Thursday, July 29 at 5 p.m. in order to go through some of this information more thoroughly.
Back-to-School Town Hall: We will host a Back-to-School Town Hall on Thursday, July 29 at 5 p.m. via Zoom to go over all the highlights and major pieces of information that you need to know prior to the start of the school year. This town hall is designed for both students and parents. Click here for the meeting link information. The meeting will be recorded for those who cannot attend.
Open House Information: The high school will host a floating Open House event on Tuesday, August 3, for parents and students (both current and new) from 4-6 p.m. During this event, students can pick up schedules, meet teachers, receive supply lists, check out Chromebooks, get locker assignments, and get general questions answered.
Student Orientation Session: We will host a student orientation on Tuesday, August 3, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for freshmen, sophomores, and any new students in grades 10-12. We are inviting our current sophomores to attend this orientation event since many did not come to the building last year due to COVID. Click here for a tentative schedule of the orientation session. Parents are welcome to attend the introductory session, but the other events are primarily for students.
Mask Policy: We will be requiring masks indoors (except while actively eating and drinking) until at least August 17th which is the date of our next board meeting. Before the meeting, Ms. Bair (our Executive Director) will send out a survey to gather your opinion on the topic and present those results to the board. The voting members will then decide on a policy moving forward. Please note that we are aware of all the executive orders and legislation around the topic and will adjust as necessary.
Volunteer Help: We have lots of projects in progress here at the high school as well as some teachers who can use some student and/or parent volunteer help. If you have some spare time the week of July 26 or August 2, please contact Dr. Davis or Mrs. Riggs via email.
Schedules and Schedule Changes: Our team is diligently working to review each student’s schedule by hand during these last few days prior to the opening of school. If you have looked in PowerSchool at your schedule, please note that we are still tweaking those to make sure that courseloads are balanced and that students are getting what they need for graduation requirements. Please be patient as we work through this, and give each student our most authentic attention. We will have a chance next week for you to request schedule changes if there are issues/errors.
Athletics: Please visit the following document or the ERA Athletics website for ongoing updates to our summer activities and 2021-2022 school year planning.
Parking Passes for Student Drivers: For the upcoming school year, students who plan to drive and park during the school day will need a parking pass. The cost for the parking permit is $100 for the entire school year or $50 for the fall or spring semester. Parking passes will be sold starting Tuesday, July 27 through August 13. Seniors will get priority in their parking spot followed by juniors and then sophomores. Click here for parking information and details.
Lunches: At ERA, we do not have a typical cafeteria like most schools. Students either bring their own lunch each day or get one through a vendor we used called MyHotLunchBox. This vendor works with area restaurants to have a set menu that delivers lunches each weekday. Click here to set up an account or login to an existing account to order lunches.
Lunch Setup: Until the August 17 Board meeting, students will eat lunch in classrooms with their CATS advisory groups. This is to help minimize exposure and allow for more social distancing while students are unmasked for eating. We will get your feedback on this in the same survey as the mask policy and make a decision about how to proceed at the August meeting.
Student/Parent Dashboard: Our team is working on creating a Student/Parent Dashboard that will be a one-stop shop for all the information and major questions you may have including access to forms, athletics, the school calendar, and more.
PowerSchool: If you need PowerSchool help or assistance such as a password reset, be sure to contact our data manager, Ms. Becky Moore. You can reach her via email at bmoore@enoriveracademy.org
New PowerSchool Account: For students and families that are new to ERA, you will need to create a PowerSchool account with us in order to access grades, attendance, and other information. We will send out more information on how to do that soon. Stay tune
Medication: If your student needs to take prescription medication during school hours, please review, complete, and sign this form that lets us know all the specific information. We will also need the medication in a labeled prescription bottle in order to dispense.
Dress Code: As we shift back into traditional learning, this is a reminder that we do have a dress code policy here at ERA High School. Click here to review the policy. We will spend time during the first 10 days to review and reinforce this with students.
Fall Driver’s Ed Class: The fall session of Driver’s Ed is scheduled for August 23-September 14. Clases will be online. Students must be 14.5 to register, and priority will be given to students based on their birthdate. Click here to register.
Staffing Updates: We have several new team members joining the high school this year. We will introduce them at Thursday’s town hall meeting and also share photos/bios with you over the next few weeks. You can meet them at the Open House and another event later in August for parents.
Remind App: We have created channels to keep our students updated with what’s happening at the high school. We also have a parent group too that you can join HS Parents Channel by clicking here. For students, you can join your channel by your graduation/school year. See the links below.
School Hours Reminder: Classes at the high school begin promptly at 8:30 am. Drop off begins at 7:45 am. Please have your student remain in the car until you see gym doors open and a staff member in place to welcome them into the building. The school day ends at 3:30 p.m. Students who are in the building after 3:45 p.m. must be in a supervised activity with a staff member. All other students will be asked to exit the building.
After School Program: Our After School Program is hiring a few student workers to help for the upcoming year. If you are a junior or senior and would be interested in working with our afterschool program, you can email Ms. Heather, our ASP Director, at asp@enoriveracademy.org.
2021 Yearbooks: The 2021 Yearbooks are expected to ship the week of August 2. Once they arrive, we will send out more information to students and families about distribution for both the high school and K8 campuses.
Board of Directors Meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for August 17from 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. The meeting will be at the K8 building.
Thank you for your patience with our team this summer as we worked through some logistics and other hiccups/curve balls thrown our way.
We appreciate your grace and understanding as we wanted to ensure that all of our logistics were thought through prior to sending out communication to minimize confusion.
See you out and about the building soon!