Two Rivers High Home Page

Principal’s Message for January, 2010

The New Year caught most of us by surprise, especially with the realization that the end of the first semester was only two weeks away after our return from the holiday break. Students and faculty have been scrambling to finish up assignments and grades as well as to prepare for new schedules and new students. Forty-seven new students will be joining our student body this month after having been referred from the other four high schools.

Regular attendance and productive participation continue to be the biggest challenges for our students, both old and new. We also struggle to meet the needs of changing students at various levels of ability, especially in math. We have recently begun to explore the possibility of competency based math programs at TRHS and have two teachers willing to start these classes at the semester. We are exploring some computer based programs to help make this endeavor more efficient.

We appreciate the Ken Garff Keys to Success program and have been rewarding students who pass all of their classes each mini-term with a key card and its prize opportunity. With over forty percent of our students on fee waiver status, they are most appreciative of this recognition and of the fun prizes.

Our PM School continues to thrive and to provide us with another option for our students. We have a fulltime PM Coordinator as well as two full time teachers each night; the week of January 25th we will start a third session of PM School. Students in PM School are there for many reasons: they may have daytime work or ATC commitments, they may have been placed there for a serious violation of our daytime school rules, or they may be there temporarily while waiting for the start of the next daytime mini-term.

We hope that the report card enclosed with this news letter shows good academic progress for your student.

Great news for our graduating seniors who would like to enroll at Weber State University next fall! WSU has announced a new program titled “Dream Weber” which will provide free tuition to students whose annual household income is $25,000 or less. Students must complete a FAFSA, the WSU financial aid application, the WSU scholarship application, and provide verification documents by certain dates beginning March 1st. There are other conditions as well, and books and fees are not included. All the information will be supplied to all graduating seniors at Two Rivers in the very near future.

Parent-Teacher Conferences: February 3, 2010
1:00 to 4:00 and 5:00 to 7:30

November, 2009

A Message from Your Principal:

Amazing things continue to happen at Two Rivers High School. In conjunction with the national Make a Difference Day, Suzanne Thompson, our counselor, created a series of lessons which focused on Service Learning. Students watched the Hallmark movie “The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler” and participated in teacher led discussions.

With the approach of Veterans Day, a school project was designed to honor the service of the 96th Sustainment Brigade from Fort Douglas. These brave soldiers are currently serving in Iraq. They will be receiving cards of gratitude hand made by our students in care packages assembled by our students and staff. Two Rivers wishes to acknowledge the generosity of the following businesses who generously donated items for the care packages: Smith’s, Hershey’s, Blistex, Costco, Sam’s Club, Shaver Mart, Albertson’s, and Famous Dave’s. There were many community members, staff, and students who have generously donated money to help cover other expenditures in the project as well. Our hearts are full of pride!

Our enrollment continues to grow as the year progresses. We welcomed forty- one new students during the last month bringing our total enrollment to 286 students. We have hired a new part time math teacher, Yen Qualls, who is now teaching three additional math classes; this has allowed us to reduce the number of students in each of our math classes.

About thirty-one students remain in or transferred into our PM School program.

Other exciting things happening at Two Rivers: Holocaust survivors gave a frank presentation of their experiences in the Read 180 classroom; a Veteran’s Day Assembly will be held on November 11th during advisory class; Mr. Burke “won” the Kiss the Pig contest and planted a big fat one on the little piglet; six of Mr. Henry’s art students participated in an art workshop at Weber State University.

As we continue to encourage our students to learn and earn credits toward graduation, we find ourselves dealing with students who struggle to attend regularly or arrive to class on time; inappropriate use of cell phones also continues to be a distraction in the classroom. Those students who are committed to being academically successful do not seem to have trouble following the rules. We would encourage students and parents to have discussions about personal responsibility in these areas and the positive impact it will have for students in the classroom as well as in the work force in the future.

Community Council /Trust Lands Report:
Many thanks to the faithful members of the Two Rivers High School Community Council! We have met twice this year at 6:30 am meetings to discuss and approve the Trust Land expenditures for school improvement. Our writing lab will soon have an additional twelve computers to accommodate our larger classes; additionally, the remaining four classrooms or learning areas in our school will soon have comparable technology equipment with the installation of ceiling mounted LCD projectors and document cameras. The council has also been able to learn about the day to day procedures of our school and to better understand the unique policies which have been implemented to keep our students safe and to help our students be successful.

At the November 4th meeting, Cynthia Summers, one of our parent members, was elected president. The committee values her input and looks forward to her leadership at future meetings and school events. Lt. Matthew Bell, from the Weber County Sheriff’s Department, has also been a faithful member and has become a valued liaison between our school and the community.

Our next meeting will be on December 2nd at 6:30 am. All interested parents are welcome to attend.

Thank you for a great start to the school year. It is my hope that your student has had a very successful first mini-term. Report cards are included in this mailing. The new mini-term started on Monday, September 28th, and will end on the 30th of October. Let me remind you that each mini-term is independent and can be a fresh start for those students who were unsuccessful in the previous one or for those students who are new to our school. The greatest impact on the success of students at Two Rivers is good attendance combined with engagement and diligence in completing the work assigned to them during class. Should it be necessary for students to miss school, it is their responsibility to interact with teachers to make up missed work. It is not always possible to make up participation points, and it is much easier to be in class and do the work when it is presented and assigned.

Once again the district has made The Portal available for you to check on the attendance and progress of your student. This information is updated at least weekly and usually daily by our teachers.

The following steps should assist you in accessing the Portal:

1. Go to www.weber.k12.ut.us (the district web site).

2. Click on “My Weber The Portal.”

3. If you know your login information (it will remain the same from year to year and from school to school), click on “Login Now.”

4. If you need your login information, please call the school office at 801-476-3920 to request a My Weber Activation Letter. The letter will be mailed to you.

If you do not have internet access at home, your student can access The Portal during their advisory period and print copies of their progress reports, attendance, etc.

We are pleased to have had the opportunity to meet with many students and parents during our first Parent/Teacher conference. If you need to speak with your student’s teachers, the counselor, CTE coordinator, or the principal between conferences, please call the school at 801-476-3920. We also appreciate phone calls when your student is home sick or has an appointment. While your phone call does not excuse the absence, it allows us to verify that your student was not truant.

I would like to remind you of our dress code and cell phone policies. We have had to ask several of our students to change their shirts because of the no numbers policy and/or because of shirts which are too low cut. Please monitor these issues at home so that students will not miss class time while they are changing in the office. Also remember our cell phone policy…not to be seen or heard during class time. Parents are required to pick up phones after a second offense, and students will be suspended for a third or more offense in the same school year. Several students have had to serve detentions because of excessive tardies (four or more in one or more classes). These issues can be a real distraction at school, and our faculty and staff feel strongly that dress code and cell phone etiquette as well as promptness are important life lessons for teaching social responsibility.

UBSCT TESTING is scheduled for October 20, 21, 22 (11th & 12th grades only).

All students will have a full day of classes with an extended advisory schedule for testing or activities.

Notes from Suzanne Thompson, Two Rivers Counselor:

Our counseling staff is about to begin conducting SEOPs (Student Education Occupation Plan) with all of our 12th grade students. The topics covered during this 20 minute meeting will include credits needed for graduation, make up classes required, and post high school opportunities (including college or ATC). If you would like to attend your student’s SEOP, please call Two Rivers (801-476-3920) no later than Friday, October 16th, to make an appointment.

Appointments will only be available between 8:00 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. every weekday except Wednesday. If you are not able to attend, I will still be meeting with your student. Your student will be given a folder with all of the information presented to share with you.

COMMUNITY COUNCIL/TRUSTLANDS FOR TWO RIVERS HIGH SCHOOL 2009/2010

Community Council meetings at Two Rivers High School will be held on the first Tuesday of each month beginning October 6, 2009. This meeting will begin at 6:30 AM and last for approximately one hour. The schedule for future meetings will be discussed at this first meeting; it is anticipated that future meetings will rotate from early morning to late afternoon to accommodate council members. Volunteers for parent representatives were accepted at Parent Teacher conferences on September 16, 2009. If you have an interest in serving on the Community Council and were unable to attend conferences and/or submit your name for consideration, please call the school or stop by the principal’s office so that your name can be added to the list of proposed parent representatives. You may also use the write in feature of the ballot below to submit your intent to be a member. A ballot box is available in the school office; if you are unable to bring your ballot to the school in person, you may mail it. Ballots must be received by the end of October. All interested parents and potential members are welcome to attend the first introductory meeting on October 6th. We will be reviewing last year’s School Land Trust program report and updating the committee on this year’s adjusted budget and program changes. Please visit the school website (www.trhs.weber.k12.ut.us) for a link to the Land Trust web site.

Community Council parent ballot for Two Rivers High School 2009/2010

The following individuals have been nominated (vote for five):

_____yes _____no Brandon Overduyn _____yes _____no Cynthia Summers

_____yes _____no Karl Summers _____yes _____no Howard Ratcliffe

_____yes _____no Marianne Ratcliffe

write in candidate:__________________________________________________

A Message from Your New Principal

Welcome to Two Rivers High School! I am excited and proud to have been appointed as the new principal of Two Rivers High School. I am grateful for the amazing programs which exist here because of the great leadership of this school’s first principal, Elaine Jensen, and I intend to build on and improve those programs for the betterment of our students.

Two Rivers is an outstanding school created by Weber School District to meet the needs of students who have been unsuccessful in a traditional school setting. The staff and faculty at Two Rivers recognize the uniqueness of each of our students and seek to implement the school’s vision of tolerance, respect, high expectations, and social responsibility in everything that they do. Whether a student is enrolled at Two Rivers as a self referral or district referral, it is our goal to help each student be successful and make progress toward graduation. We truly believe the words of former Secretary of Education Richard Riley:

The children of this nation are seeds of greatness…
Some of them land in rocky soil,
And others land, fortunately, in fertile soil…
Our task is to help all of them grow…

If you or your student is new to Two Rivers this year, I want to reassure you that this is a safe and inspiring place to attend school. We have clear expectations for our students including the need for good attendance, productive classroom participation, and adherence to all of our rules. Compliance with our rules and good faith effort on the part of students will result in academic success at Two Rivers while noncompliance with our rules and expectations could result in disciplinary action and, regrettably, the loss of the opportunity to graduate. Please take the time to read through all of our policies and procedures, and feel free to contact our school with any questions or concerns which you may have. Let’s have a great year at Two Rivers!

Respectfully,
Pamela Drake

Important:

CHECK Out our Activities for October!!

Student parking is in the South parking lot. Parking permits are required!

To attend Two Rivers High School students must be referred by the District Office!