November RACHS News

Greetings everyone,

November brings us to the end of the first marking period already along with fall sports wrapping up, winter sports kicking into gear soon, and our holiday concerts in full swing before we know it. Our students are working hard and accomplishing some impressive things in and out of the classroom.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we are thankful to all our staff who go the extra mile, the parents and guardians who generously volunteer their time and support for school activities and our students who consistently demonstrate kindness and respect to their peers and teachers. There’s lots to be PROUD about, including a great turnout for the Fall Blood Drive that we hosted!

Also, we'd like to give a big thank you to all who have served our nation. We extend our deepest gratitude and honor their bravery, sacrifice, and the commitment they and their families have made to protect our freedoms. They are true examples of courage, and we hope they feel the immense appreciation they deserve on Veteran’s Day!

Please see below for information about Marking Period 1 Report Cards, HS Schedule Committee, and highlights from the past month.

2025-2026 Student Handbook

Marking Period 1 ends this Friday! Report cards will be sent through ParentSquare on the following Friday, 11/14. Please encourage your student to check their class grades in Schoology and to submit any missing assignments before the end of the week!

We are forming a committee to consider changes to the high school schedule. The charge of the committee will be to look for ways to optimize the schedule so that students are able to access the most educational programming opportunities available to them.

The committee will meet on the Wednesdays listed below from 5:00-6:00pm starting on November 19, and will run through the end of February. We would love to have participation from staff, students and parents/guardians on this. If you are interested in serving on this committee, and can commit to being at the meetings during this timeframe, please complete this form by November 12. We will be in touch with more details for those that express interest in participating.

Meeting Dates:

11/19
12/3
12/17
1/14
1/28
2/11
2/25

Students attended the 4th annual ROC With Your Hands event that was held in the CIty of Rochester on 10/7/25.

The event included hands-on demonstrations, interactive displays, and information on
careers in Advanced Manufacturing, Skilled Trades, Automotive Technology, and Heavy Equipment.
Lunch is also provided free of charge!

Our November Students of the Month:

Derick for 9th Grade:

Team 9 has selected Derick Pardo Rivera. His strong work skills and the way he role-modeled what is expected in class made Team 9 choose him as the Panther of the Month, highlighting his self-control.

Sam for 10th Grade:

10th grade team has selected Sam Dohse as our student of the month! Sam is an incredibly respectful and driven student-athlete that demonstrates outstanding work ethic. Sam is a great addition to every class and team she is a part of, helping maintain unity through her positive attitude and hard work!

Jocelyn for 11th Grade:

Jocelyn Marshall is a wonderful student who works hard in every class she is in. She has an outstanding work ethic. She holds high standards for herself, and is a willing helper to those around her. She is dedicated to her studies, and is a role model to those around her.

Chloe for 12th Grade:

The 12th grade team is PROUD to announce Chloe Ith as the October Panther of the Month. She demonstrates a consistently respectful character in the classroom and is detail oriented which highlights her outstanding abilities as a student. Chloe shows unity toward her peers by accepting the differences inherent in her classmates and is driven by asking clarifying questions to make sure she has a concrete understanding of topics and task expectations. Congratulations, Chloe!

On Thursday, October 23, 2025, students had the opportunity to attend the 3rd annual Career Mentoring Day co-sponsored by ACCES VR and Monroe County.

Students had an opportunity to choose the top 3 locations they’d like to tour with the goal of giving them a better idea of the jobs they are potentially interested in. The tour locations included:

Airport
Department of Human Service
Information Technology/Services
Monroe Community Hospital
Parks & Recreation
Public Defender's Office
Public Safety
Weights and measures
Water Treatment plant
Zoo

Auditions for All-County occurred last month. Students learn an audition piece and sing for a judge on their part(Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass). They also sing a short sight reading piece that they see for the first time at the audition.

They are scored in 5 different categories with a point total from 0 to 40. A cutoff score is set, so that the final group can have balanced parts. The chorus this year will have 88 members(23 sopranos, 24 altos, 21 tenors and 21 basses. We had 9 students audition this year and 6 were selected, the highest number we've had in many years.

If you see the following students, please take a moment to congratulate them:

Soprano-Grace Gill

Soprano-Jos Erhardt

Alto-Katie Shutts

Alto-Sophie McLaren

Tenor- Wyatt Goosey

Tenor-Liam Sennett

They will be attending the All County Festival and concert the weekend of January 23 and 24 at Lyons HS.

The trip to Barcelona and Paris in 2027 will be doing its first fundraiser in November. Please contact Mrs. F-N (kfarquhar-nelson@gananda.org) if your student would like to participate to earn money towards their trip. I will keep track of the money earned by each participant and will pass along this information to Passports so they can apply it to the participant’s account.

There are two payment plans available for the trip:

PAYMENT METHODS:

E-Z PAY BILLING

Automatic monthly withdrawals deducted

from either your checking account or credit card

(4% fee for credit card)

NO deposit

30-day final payment deadline (3/3/2027)

More time to pay means lower monthly

payments!

CONVENIENCE BILLING

Pay when you choose, as long as you pay in

full by the final payment deadline

$495 deposit

110-day final payment deadline (12/13/2026)

Pay by check mailed to the passports office

or by credit card online (4% fee for credit card)

Please let me know if you have any questions! Mrs. F-N

SchoolTool Log-In

The 2025-2026 District Calendar and Building Events Calendar are posted to the Gananda Central School District Website. In addition, the Instructional Color Day Calendar and Block Schedule for our building can be found on the RACHS website under Our School/HS Information HUB.

You can also click on the buttons below that will take you directly to the Instructional Calendar and Daily Schedules.

Please note that school is NOT in session on November 11 (Veterans Day) and November 26-28 (Thanksgiving Break).

RACHS Instructional Calendar

RACHS Daily Schedule and Half-Day Schedule

Health Forms and Information

The district uses ParentSquare as its main communication tool for getting information to parents. District newsletters, emergency communication, and Gananda Central School District event news, as well as classroom news and updates will be communicated through ParentSquare. Families can download the ParentSquare app to their smartphone for ease of use.

If you have not received an invitation to join ParentSquare from your students school, please contact the main office of their building.