WHS Parent Newsletter
From the desk of Shannan McKenna
February 6, 2026
Happy Friday!
This week was National School Counseling week and WHS is certainly fortunate to have an incredible school counseling team. Thank you Beth Baddeley, Jess Carleton, Colleen DesRuisseaux, Christi Dunn, Blair Hess, Amanda Miller Johnson, and Carolyn Ortiz for all you do!
On Wednesday, 2/4, Quarter 2 Report Cards were made available on your Parent Portal Accounts in PowerSchool . As a reminder, Report Cards are not viewable using the Mobile App. If you have trouble accessing your Parent Portal PowerSchool Account please email: powerschool@windhamsd.org.
Finally, we are excited to welcome Ms. Jessie Griesser to the WHS community as our new school nurse.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
Go Pats!
In this edition (*new information is bolded)
- Shout Outs
- Health Office: Flu Season Reminders
- Senior Information: Yearbooks
- School Counseling Information: Career Day Volunteers Needed; Class of 2026 Scholarships; Therapy Dogs
- ELOs: Class of 2027 Apprenticeships; Marine Industry
- Community Service Opportunities
- Athletics: Winter Sports; February Weight Room Schedule
- Technology: School Messenger Text Opt-In; MyPowerHub Notifications; Parent Portal Information (PowerSchool and Schoology)
- General School: Free and Reduced Meal Options; Student Arrival and Dismissal procedures; Reporting Absences/Tardies/Dismissals; Bus Tracking App
- Free Tutoring Resource- Digital SAT® test prep; SAT and CTE offerings
- Volunteer Information
- We're Hiring!
- WHS Events: Lunch Group; Hockey; Parents' Night Out; SMILES Fashion Show; Pi Day Pi-K
- Outside Events: Lunar New Year; WBSL; Windham Youth Lacrosse; FLOW Events; Project Joy; F2FC 5K; Join the PTA; WMAA Fundraisers
Important Dates
- February 11: Early Release Day; Shark Tank at 6 pm
- February 20: Q3 Progress Reports
- February 23-27: February Break
The WHS Math Team competed in their fourth meet of the year last Wednesday. *Varsity finished in 1st place overall in Division 2 by 84 points (28 questions) & *JV finished in 1st place for their division by 33 points (11 questions). *Top Individual performers include the following students: * Sophia Haskell (for 10th graders) & TJ Rufo (for 12th graders) each earned perfect scores of 27 and are recognized as 1st place top scorers in their respective classes * Sasha Machavarapu (for 10th graders) & Noah Haskell (for 12th graders) each with scores of 24 are recognized as 2nd place top scorers in their respective classes; * Katelyn Freeston with a score of 12 is recognized as a 1st place top scoring 9th grader and Matthew Dona with a score of 9 is recognized as a 2nd place top scoring 9th grader. Congratulations to all!
- On Saturday, January 31st Ryan Kaplan was honored with the Special Achievement in Youth Theatre Award from the New Hampshire Theatre Alliance. This award is given to recipients based on the scope and depth of the impact their work has had on children and young adults in New Hampshire including creating substantial new levels of access to theatre education or other theatre resources. Ryan also was awarded with Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role for his performance in Ovation Theatre Company’s Spamalot.
- The WHS Kind Club and School Counseling Office would like to thank our students and staff for making The Great Kindness Challenge such a meaningful and successful week. Throughout the challenge, teachers nominated students after noticing genuine acts of kindness. Nominated students were seen helping a classmate, offering encouragement, or making someone feel welcome at WHS. Teachers submitted kindness cards recognizing these thoughtful actions, allowing us to celebrate the many positive moments happening every day at WHS. From these nominations, one student was randomly selected to receive a special prize.🎉 Congratulations to Will Tomasek! 🎉 Will was chosen from the teacher nominated kindness cards and is the recipient of a Wellness Basket, filled with items that support self-care and overall well-being. We are incredibly proud of all the students who were recognized for their kindness. Thank you to our teachers for taking the time to notice and celebrate these moments and to our students for continuing to make WHS a caring and supportive community. 💙
NH Theatre Alliance Awards: Ryan Kaplan
Great Kindness Challenge Winner: Will Tomasek
Yearbooks
Your graduate will treasure their senior yearbook forever! You can make it even more special and tell your student just how proud you are of them by purchasing a SENIOR RECOGNITION AD that will be featured in the yearbook.
It is hard to believe how quickly the past four years have passed. This is a great way to write a personal message to your senior that will live forever in their yearbook. The hard deadline to purchase a senior ad is February 6th. This date is determined by our yearbook publisher, Jostens, and CANNOT be extended.
To purchase the yearbook and/or senior parent ad, please go to www.jostensyearbooks.com . At checkout, you can pay in full or enroll in the Jostens payment plan with 4 monthly installments!
Therapy Dogs
As a district we will be having therapy dogs visiting the schools. At WHS these dogs visit advisories, as well as classrooms that sign-up for a visit. If you would like to opt your child out, please contact our guidance department (kkennedy@windhamsd.org). Thank you!
Interested in the Marine Industry?
Students or anyone who may be interested in the marine industry, the trades, or engineering and design - Are you working with students who are not sure what they want to do but enjoy boating, like to work with their hands, and would thrive in a small learning community? If so, The Landing School might be the perfect fit.
The marine industry needs skilled tradespeople. Students of all ages at The Landing School are career-ready in just 9 months. Financial aid, including veteran’s benefits, are available to those who qualify.
Contact:
Steve Parello
Admissions
The Landing School of Boatbuilding & Design
286 River Rd
Arundel ME 04046
207-810-2288
www.landingschool.edu
sparello@landingschool.edu
Community Service Opportunities for WHS Students
WHS students have access to a wide variety of community service opportunities in our community. These experiences help students give back, explore interests, and build skills that will benefit them beyond high school.
Opportunities are updated regularly and can be found here:
👉Current WHS Community Service Opportunities Folder
Please remind your student that volunteer hours should be logged in x2VOL through Clever within 30 days of completion.An accurate email address is required for hour verification. Hours are verified & approved before they can count toward graduation requirements.
Encourage your student to get involved—volunteering is a wonderful way to grow, connect, and contribute!
Any questions or want some assistance, please email us!
Kimber Leuteritz & Laura Boyd
School to Career Office
MyPowerHub
Instructions for adjusting parent notifications in MyPowerHub are available here.
We are proud to introduce a new parent platform, MyPowerHub. This platform enables our district to utilize a centralized platform from PowerSchool, consolidating the flow of information from schools to parents and guardians. In MyPowerHub, parents/guardians can:
See their child’s progress in one place
See school, classroom, club, and district communications in one place
Get direct messages from teachers and staff
Submit forms
View fees
Sign up for parent/teacher conferences
View transportation information
If you have not logged into the platform yet, please follow the instructions below to log in:
Parent Portals
PowerSchool Parent Portal
- Used to view your student's
- Report cards
- Course and assignment grades
- Lunch balances and other school fees
- Attendance
- Schedules
- Need to Sign in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal for the first time? Follow these instructions to activate your account. Please complete this process on a laptop or desktop for the best results! If you encounter any difficulties, please complete the Parent PowerSchool Account Support form.
- App vs. Website: Here is a helpful guide comparing when to use the PowerSchool app versus when to use the website.
- Questions?
- If you need assistance in viewing a student’s information, please contact PowerSchool@windhamsd.org and include your student’s name and grade level.
- If you need assistance signing into your PowerSchool parent portal, please contact PowerSchool@windhamsd.org.
Schoology Parent Portal
- Used to view your student's
- Courses
- Upcoming, current, and overdue assignments
- Daily/weekly student agendas
- Set up weekly notifications within the platform
- In order to gain access, all parents (K-12) will need to log in and use the password Changeme1 the first time they access their Schoology Parent account this year. Please make sure to follow the instructions on how to reset your password after logging in.You will need to use the same email from your PowerSchool Parent Portal Login. Please read through the instructions carefully in order to successfully activate your account. The login link is provided within the instructions. We recommend you complete the reactivation/set-up on a laptop/desktop for the best user experience.
- Questions?
- If you need assistance in signing into your Schoology, please contact PowerSchool@windhamsd.org.
- If you need assistance in viewing a student’s information, please contact PowerSchool@windhamsd.org and include your student’s name and grade level.
- If you have questions about the classroom page content, please contact your student's teacher directly.
Free and Reduced Meal Options
We understand that some families may be affected by the upcoming changes to assistance programs beginning November 1, 2025. In the event of a prolonged shutdown, November’s SNAP food benefits may not be issued until federal funding is restored. Families participating in the SNAP program are considered Directly Certified and are unaffected by the shutdown through NSLP. Federal workers who are not being paid or have been laid off and need assistance should complete an application.
We want to remind families that applications for free or reduced price meals are available for any family who wishes to apply. Applications are sent to each household at the beginning of the school year and are available throughout the year at each school cafeteria, at the SAU office, and online.
Student Arrival and Dismissal
The first bell rings at 7:47 a.m., and students are considered tardy after 7:52 a.m. Students are dismissed at 2:17 p.m. All parent pick-up should take place behind the school building. Please do not pick up in front of the building or in the Visitor Parking lot at the front of the school. This causes safety issues in an area where students are walking and buses are operating.
Reporting Absences, Dismissals, and Tardies
We will continue to utilize PickUp Patrol as the preferred method for reporting student tardies, absences, and early dismissals.
Changes can be entered into the system from a smartphone or computer days, weeks, or months in advance, and at any time up until 1:20pm on the day of the change. After 1:50 pm, changes will not be accepted except in the case of an emergency. Such changes can be made via phone directly to the main office. The end of the school day is a busy time, so to ensure the safety of all students, please plan accordingly and limit these exceptions to emergencies only.
Alternatively, you may use the attendance email, whsattendance@windhamsd.org, or call the main WHS line at (603) 845-1558, Option 1.
If you need any assistance with PickUp Patrol, please reach out to Mr. Keshigian (mkeshigian@windhamsd.org).
Bus Tracking App
Top 10 Facts
How it works...
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Interested in Volunteering?
Our volunteers are a critical component of our school district's success, and we appreciate and thank them for their time and commitment! Beginning in late August, returning designated volunteers will receive notifications from the online training system. If you are interested in volunteering or are new to our district, please follow the process outlined on our website. If you have any questions about this process, please email hr@windhamsd.org.
Where to find us
Location: 64 London Bridge Road, Windham, NH 03087, USA
Phone: 603-845-1558
Email: smckenna@windhamsd.org
Website: https://whs.windhamsd.org/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/WindhamHighSchool
Twitter: @WHSJaguars