CMHS Times

Macs of the Month is the high school's initiative to recognize our outstanding students and staff! Each month, a staff member will be recognized, voted on by their colleagues and students. Students will be recognized by their peers and staff in the categories of creative arts, kindness, academic achievement, school pride, athletic achievement, and leadership.

We proudly announce our December Macs of the Month below! Congratulations to everyone on the well-deserved recognition!

Students enjoyed a fun-filled lead-up to the holidays with a variety of pre-break activities! Friendly competition took center stage during our dodgeball and esports tournaments, while karaoke brought plenty of laughter and school spirit as students cheered each other on. These events were a great way to relax, connect, and celebrate the season together before the break. Click the links to the see the photo galleries below!

Students in Ms. Johovich's semester 1 Baking and Pastry classes competed in a bake-off championship. The cakes demonstrated amazing talent by our CM bakers. Check out the winners below!

Celebrating CSEdWeek: Canon-McMillan Students Visit Google Pittsburgh

In observance of Computer Science Education Week on December 10, 2025, Google Pittsburgh proudly hosted Computer Science students from Canon-McMillan High School.

The day was designed to be both educational and inspiring:

• Students received a tour of the Google Pittsburgh office.
• Googlers led an engaging, hands-on activity focusing on AI and Machine Learning, providing students with foundational knowledge of these cutting-edge fields.
• The visit culminated in an extensive Q&A and career panel discussion, offering students valuable insights into potential career paths in technology.

It was an enriching and memorable day for students. In addition to the visit, Canon-McMillan students are further celebrating CSEdWeek by completing Hour of AI activities throughout the week.

See photos here.

This December, in a time honored tradition, the children in the Canon-McMillan High School Preschool visited the library for a special holiday storytime. As Mrs. Julie Shuman, the high school librarian, read The Night Before Christmas, the sound of tiny hooves could be heard coming from the roof. Looking through the window, the children were amazed to see Santa, CMHS's own Mr. Scott Weiss, waving at them from above. After singing "Jingle Bells" as loudly as they could to let Santa know their location, the children finally saw him enter the library. With hugs and smiles, the children led Santa to a comfortable chair when he greeted each child with a special gift. After unwrapping "the best gift ever," the children swarmed Santa and asked questions about his work, the elves, and life on the North Pole. With some reluctance, Santa headed back to his sleigh while the children sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and got ready to celebrate a long winter break with their families.

Students in Ms. Gillis' English classes made cards to give to residents in nursing home/assisted living facilities prior to the holiday break. They learned the format for a letter, and many of them used figurative language in their cards. This activity was a writing assignment for a "kindness curriculum."

Congratulations to Team CASH MONEY members: Amanda Wheat, Lindsay McMillan, and Noah Wallace on their Stock Market Game 2nd place finish in the region (out of appx 190 teams). Student groups in Ms. Moeller's Investment Strategies course competed regionally this semester. Jake Ceklosky, Devin Ristick, Dylan Buyan and Roman Pasquarelli finished 5th in the region. Team CASH MONEY had a net equity portfolio gain of 22.983% over the fall session. Their top holdings were Apple, Nvidia, Netflix and Amazon. They will be attending a regional award ceremony on May 5th, 2026 to recognize their accomplishments.

Regional Achievement Highlights

The Canon-McMillan High School Academic Competition team demonstrated academic achievement in the recent regional competitions. The Varsity team secured an impressive fourth-place finish in the regional rounds, earning them a spot in the upcoming final competition at South Fayette, scheduled for the end of January.

Junior Varsity Team Triumph

Even more remarkable was the performance of the Junior Varsity (JV) team, who emerged as the first-place winners in their regional competition. Their outstanding achievement has qualified them to compete in the upcoming February tournament at Trinity High School. This remarkable success highlights the depth of academic talent within the Canon-McMillan High School academic program and the team's dedication to excellence.

Congratulations to both teams on your success!

A very special thank you to all of the staff and students that assisted with the Academic Competition that Canon Mac High School hosted on December 10, 2025. We hosted six area schools for the morning in fast-paced rounds of academic questions!

Thumbnail photo credit: Academic Competition banner made by Mrs. Stauffer’s art students

The Canon-McMillan High School's chapter of the National Honor Society is happy to announce their completed service project: a Giving Tree for the Washington Area Humane Society. NHS members, HS students and staff were asked to donate gifts for the needy dogs and cats at the shelter. Ornaments with the animals' pictures and Christmas wishes were placed on the tree. Over the last 2 weeks, the gifts started coming in! The NHS would like to wish everyone happy holidays and thank everyone for participating in this worthy project!

Pictured: Mrs. Christina Hartmann (NHS Sponsor), Katie Adreon (Secretary) and Sarai Hannah Tadres (Vice-President)

Students in the Ski and Adventure Club attended our Annual Ice Skating Event at PPG on Thursday, December 18, 2025. Some students were expert skaters and others were just learning, but a fun time was had by all. For more information about how to join the CMHS Ski and Adventure Club, please contact Mrs. Bellino at: bellinom@cmsd.k12.pa.us.

It is with great pleasure that I send to you the Community Scholarship Foundation of Canon-McMillan Dollars for Scholars application. It is NOW OPEN! Click the link below to get started!

Application deadline is March 4th.

CMHS's new Academic Ambassador Program provides peer tutoring daily to all students in the library! Please see the flyer below and scan the QR code for the schedule.

If you want tutoring and the schedule does not accommodate your availability, please use this PEER TUTORING REQUEST FORM. Then, check your school email for information once you have been assigned a tutor based on your needs.

If you have any questions in regards to Peer Tutoring, please email Ms. Humbertson, humbertsons@cmsd.k12.pa.us.

Dear Parent(s) & Guardian(s),

The 2026 Graduation is quickly approaching! Don’t forget to recognize your senior’s hard work and accomplishments by creating a Senior Recognition Ad. All Recognition Ad's can be made online by using the link below. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. White.

January 16: End of 2nd Marking Period

January 19: No School; Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 20: No School; Clerical Day

January 23: Report Cards Distributed

February 16: No School; President's Day

Follow our School Counseling Office on Instagram @CMHS_COUNSELING

Every high school student is encouraged to join the School Counseling Resources group in Schoology! Resources including academic development, career development, employment, community service opportunities, scholarships and more can be found there! Students can join the group by using the following access code: DB7QW-K4WWP

Each month, the Chill Project will provide the community an evidence-based coping skill that is being reinforced at school.

We look forward to a strong partnership, and if you have any questions about the Chill room or the Chill Project, please reach out to the Chill room Facilitator, Mr. Dan Harshman, harshmand@cmsd.k12.pa.us, or Mrs. Kelsey Oberly, Special Education Coordinator, oberlyk@cmsd.k12.pa.us.

Kristen Speer, School Nurse

Email: speerk@cmsd.k12.pa.us

Phone: 724-745-1400 ext. 5013

We will be giving away 1 free parking pass for the 2026-2027 school year. The drawing will be held on May 1, 2026. To enter, all you need to do is turn in your completed 11th grade physical and immunizations turned into the nurse's office before May 1st, 2026."

All 11th graders are required to turn in a physical assessment completed by a physician. To fulfill this requirement, please complete one of the following options:

• If you wish to have your student seen by the school physician in March of 2026, pelase complete the following Physical Examination Google Form.
• If you wish to have the exam done by your family physician, you may do so at your own expense. Please have the physician complete the Physical Exam Form and return it to the school nurse.

If you have any questions, please contact Kristen Speer at speerk@cmsd.k12.pa.us or by phone at (724)-745-1400 x 5013.

To start the 12th grade, a second dose of the Meningitis A,C, W, Y vaccine is required.

Please provide the nurse with a copy of your immunization records either in person or via email at: speerk@cmsd.k12.pa.us

If you have any questions, please contact Kristen Speer at speerk@cmsd.k12.pa.us or by phone at (724)-745-1400 x 5013.

If your student needs to take a daily medication or needs to have an as needed medication available at school please use the following form . It must be completed by a doctor and signed by the parent/guardian. The medication must be brought in the original pharmacy container or unopened over the counter container that matches the paperwork.

The medication authorization form must be completed each school year by the physician and turned in to the school nurse for the new school year.

If you have any questions you can contact the nurse.

Marijke Lucia

Secretary of Student Affairs

mailto:luciam@cmsd.k12.pa.us

Phone: 724-745-1400 ext. 5009

Fax: 724-745-4490

All forms are linked below. You can also access the forms on the high school's website under School Forms, linked here for your reference.

Attendance:

If a student is not seated in their first period class by 7:45, they will be considered absent (shown as IUn in PowerSchool). Prior to the end of 2nd period, an attendance rollover will take place and those students still marked as absent will be marked absent for all 9 class periods. That evening you will receive both a phone call and an email from our BlackBoard messaging system alerting you of your student's absence.

Please send your student in with an excuse within three (3) days of their last absence. You can either provide us with a parent note, an email, or complete the form, linked below. Parent notes can be placed in the absence excuse bin in the Student Affairs Office.

Each student is allocated 15 absences (for any reason), per school year, before a doctor’s excuse is required. Any absence over 15, that is not accompanied by a medical excuse, will remain unexcused.

Tardies:

If your child is going to be entering the building late, they must first go through the Student Affairs Office to receive a late pass. Please provide your student with an excuse. Acceptable forms are a parent note, doctor's excuse, email or an online form submission found here: Tardiness Form. If they enter with an excuse, their absence will be changed to an excused tardy (TEx.) If they do not have an excuse, they will be entered as tardy unexcused (TUn.) If your child is marked as tardy unexcused, that evening you will receive both a phone call and email from our BlackBoard messaging system alerting you of their tardy. Each student is allocated 4 tardies, per semester (parent note or online submission) before a doctor's excuse is required. Disciplinary action will be taken for excessive tardies. There are no half days at the High School. Students must be present a minimum of 3½ consecutive hours in order to participate in an after school activity or a game or practice for a sport that is in season.

Early Dismissals:

If your student will need to leave the building prior to the end of the school day (2:40pm), you must provide them with an early dismissal note. This can be a parent note, email or online submission found here: Early Dismissal Form. A student is allocated 13 early dismissals per semester. All early dismissals require BOTH written and verbal confirmation. Please call Mrs. Lucia in the Office of Student Affairs (724-745-1400, ext. 5009) to confirm your child’s early dismissal. All early dismissal requests must be made by 9am. If you are requesting an early dismissal after 9am, please allow 20-30 minutes for your request to be processed. Once both forms are received, a pass will be sent to your child and they may leave at the time of their dismissal. If you are picking your student up, they will meet you outside, if they are a driver, they are free to leave and drive themselves. If you choose, you can come into the main office to sign your student out. No student’s will be permitted to leave until both forms of confirmation are received. All early dismissals will be entered as ER in PowerSchool. If your child has medical documentation for their early release, please provide us with this information and we will change their ER to a medical early release (MER.) Medical early releases are not counted in attendance reports. There are no half days at the High School. Students must be present a minimum of 3½ consecutive hours in order to participate in an after school activity or a game or practice for a sport that is in season.

The Student Affairs Office is closed daily from 12:30-1:00. Students may leave during the closure IF their early dismissal request was submitted and confirmed prior to the closure. If you did not submit a request and you need your child to be released during the office closure, please come to the main office to sign them out.

CTC (Western Area & Parkway):

Please note that if your child attends WACTC or Parkway and is absent from school, you must provide 2 excuses (parent note or medical excuse). One will need to be given to Mrs. Lucia in the Student Affairs Office and one will need to be given to WACTC/Parkway. No copies will be made of a student's excuse and forwarded to another location.

Pre-Planned Trips:

The pre-planned trip form, linked below, must be submitted no later than two weeks prior to the start of your trip. Please note that students will only be given one day, for each day they are absent, to make up their work, and they are highly encouraged to make arrangements for their work prior to their trip.

Standing Medical Notes:

If your student has a standing medical note, please note that we will need an updated copy for this school year. Medical notes are only good for one school year and must be updated annually.

Ms. Brittany Taylor - High School Principal

Ms. Jenna Handra - Academic Principal

Mr. Thomas Orr - Assistant Principal

Ms. Jamie Hopkins - Assistant Principal

Follow CMHS on Instagram @canon_mcmillan_high_school