FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

You might think that since we were only in school for 3 weeks during January, not much happened. But this is Canyon and our students and staff are amazing! Therefore, a lot of great things did happen this past month. We were recognized for our outstanding achievement on the 2025 AP tests, our Counseling Department received national recognition, our athletic teams won a CIF Championship and a few League Championships, an art student received a high honor and we even found time to entertain over 1,000 visitors at Open House. Below you will find more information on our great success in January along with some previews of upcoming events in February.

Canyon held its 2026 Open House Showcase on Wednesday, January 28th. We had a GREAT TURNOUT as not only our parents, but many 8th grade parents took advantage of the opportunity to see all of the great things Canyon High School has to offer. Our staff did a great job of showcasing our programs and welcoming our visitors. Below are a few pictures from the event.

For the second straight year, Canyon High School has been awarded the AP SILVER AWARD by College Board for outstanding achievement in our AP program! College Board looks at three areas: College Culture, College Credit and College Optimization. Your lowest rating in the three areas is your overall award. We received Platinum in College Optimization, Gold in College Credit and Silver in College Culture. We were 2% away from receiving Gold in College Culture which would have given us the Gold Award. CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR AMAZING STUDENTS AND STAFF for helping Canyon receive this National Recognition.

Our Science Olympiad Team began competition in January. They are off to a Great Start! On January 17th, they finished 10th out of 90 teams at the USC Invitational! On January 24th, they competed in the Highlander Invitational at UC Riverside. In addition to bringing home 10 individual medals, they also brought home a team trophy taking 4th place out of 50 teams! These students work very hard to prepare for these competitions so CONGRATULATIONS on your success!

Please click on the attachment below to learn more about our great IB program by viewing their February newsletter.

Canyon Engineering students in Mrs. Chandrasekar's class recently had an amazing opportunity to visit SpaceX on January 24th. This field trip was an exclusive invite The students got to see incredible technology and engineering first hand. Hopefully, we will see some of these students working for SpaceX in the future!

On Friday, January 30th, the ASB held it's Winter Pep Rally. The theme for the Rally was "Star Wars". Winter Sports Teams were recognized, our Song and Dance Company performed while students participated in Class Competitions.

Our annual Top of the Tribe Ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, February 24th from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the MPR. Top of the Tribe recognizes students who received a weighted GPA of 4.0 or higher during the first semester. Students and parents can come to pick up their certificate and get their picture taken. Students who can't attend will be able to pick up their certificate the following day in the Quad during lunch. Students who qualify for the award will be receiving an email / letter in the next week or two.

CONGRATULATIONS to Penelope Coulston. Penelope's artwork titled "Celestial Divinity" was selected for the OC Arts for All County Wide Student Art Showcase. How big of a deal is this? Her artwork was the only one selected in the entire county! Penelope will be recognized at a the 2026 Orange County Music and Arts Awards Ceremony in March. Below is a link to her work. Congratulation to Penelope and her teacher Mrs. Rose.

CONGRATULATIONS to our VARSITY CHEER TEAM and HEAD COACH DANIELLE CARROLL! On Saturday, January 24th, they won the C.I.F. Division 1A Championship! After losing by .1 points two years ago, the girls captured their first well deserved C.I.F. Championship. This is only the 3rd year that Competition Cheer has been a C.I.F. Sport so it is clear that our girls are quickly becoming a power house.

CONGRATULATIONS to Blake Hartfelder and Ellie Nguyen for being selected as C.I.F. Champions of Character. This is an award that recognizes athletes not only for their talent on the field, but also their leadership both on and off the field. Both seniors, Blake is a member of the Varsity Football and Soccer teams and Ellie is a member of the Varsity Girls Volleyball and Beach Volleyball teams. Blake is ASB President and Ellie is ASB Commissioner of Activities. Both are also EXCELLENT Students in the classroom. Congratulations to Blake and Ellie on receiving this honor!

CONGRATULATIONS to our Boy's Varsity Soccer Team who won a League Championship on Friday, January 23rd with an exciting 1-0 win over Sunny Hills! The Boys, coached by Billy Higuera, are currently an amazing 14-1-2 will automatically qualify for CIF!

CONGRATULATIONS to our Girl's Varsity Wrestling Team and their Head Coach Davis Barr. The team won their THIRD consecutive League Championship! In a sport that is still fairly new, our girls team is becoming a dynasty! The girls are having a great year and competed in the CIF Team Championships on Saturday, January 31st.

CONGRATULATIONS to our Girl's Varsity Soccer Team who won a League Championship on Thursday, January 29th with an exciting 2-0 win over Foothill. The Girls, coached by Billy Higuera, are currently an amazing 13-3-2 and will automatically qualify for CIF!

Congratulations to Coach Sara Brown and our Varsity Girls Basketball team. They have faced adversity this year in the way of injuries and a very tough schedule. They have overcome it to finish in 3rd place in league and qualify for the C.I.F. Playoffs starting the second week of February.

Congratulations to our Girls Water Polo Team and Coach Steve Anderson on qualifying for C.I.F. They have an overall record of 19-9 and will finish in 3rd place finish in a very tough Crestview League. They will begin playoffs starting this week.

Congratulations to former Canyon Baseball Player Troy Melton. A 2019 Canyon High School graduate and current Major League Pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, Troy was added to Canyon Baseball's Wall of Honor at a ceremony in January.

For all the athletic schedules, please visit the Canyon Athletic Website

The Canyon H.S. Counseling Department has been named a Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP). This is the HIGHEST NATIONAL DISTINCTION awarded to school counseling programs that demonstrate excellence in implementing the ASCA National Model. Only approximately 1% of the High Schools in California currently have this recognition! This was a multi-year process that required the development of data-driven systems, aligned curriculum, outcome-based interventions, and consistent program evaluation. The counselors spent two years building, collecting, and refining our program components, before they formally submitted their RAMP application in October 2025. Earning RAMP certification will validate the comprehensive counseling services they provide to students and reinforce their continued commitment to our students. The recognition is for 5 years and then we can re-apply.

Even though we still have 4 1/2 months left in this school year, February is when counselors work with students to register for classes for next year. To help with this process, your student needs to start thinking about what next year might look like. If they need advice, talking to current teachers is always a good place to start. As always, scheduling classes is a fluid process and students can change courses at Taking Care of Business should they change their mind. Here are some key dates:

CLASS OF 2027

• Counselors do class presentations February 2-3
• Counselors do 1 on 1 meetings with students February 17 - 20

CLASS OF 2028

• Counselors do class presentations February 6 and 9
• Counselors do 1 on 1 meetings with students February 24 - 27

CLASS OF 2029

• Counselors do class presentation February 10 -11
• Counselors do 1 on 1 meetings with students March 3 - 7

Congratulations to Mr. Alex Graham on being selected as Canyon's Teacher of the Month for January. Mr. Graham is our Film Ed Teacher. This is his 18th year at Canyon H.S. His program has received many awards over the years as he's had the privilege of teaching some amazing students. Mr. Graham also teaches a night class in film at Chapman University. This is a well overdue recognition for his contributions to the lives of our many students over the years.

Congratulations to Ms. Nicole Collins on being selected as Canyon's Employee of the Month for January. Ms. Collins started at Canyon as our front desk receptionist. She is now our ASB Bookkeeper and works closely with our ASB. She is also responsible for managing all of the ASB financial accounts, selling dance tickets, parking passes etc. Even though this is only her 3rd year at Canyon, she has already made a big impact on our school!

SAVE THE DATE: Our PTSA has two outstanding events coming up in February that we would like to invite you to.

Transportation for students has changed over the past few years and the popularity of the E-Bike continues to grow. There have been changes in the laws regarding these types of bikes and there has been concern over the safety of their riders. Canyon PTSA, in conjunction with El Rancho's PTA, will be offering a FREE Family E-Bike Workshop on Tuesday, February 10th. It will be held in the Canyon H.S. Library from 6:30pm - 7:30pm. There will be a special guest, SRO Wardle from the Anaheim Police Department presenting.

In addition, starting in the 2026-2027 school year, Canyon High will be requiring a "E-Bike Permit" in order to park on campus. Part of the requirement to obtain this E-Bike permit will be attending a safety workshop. This workshop can be used to satisfy that requirement for next school year, so don't miss this opportunity to satisfy the requirement early. This event is open to all Canyon families, all El Rancho families and any other interested community member, so please feel free to share this information.

On Saturday, February 28th from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, the PTSA will be sponsoring it's annual Campus Care Day. We usually have plenty of students to help but we can always use more parents to help supervise our students as they paint, rake and clean up our campus. It is a great team bonding event if sports teams are looking for something to do. If you can help, please reach out to Sandeep Baweja at (714) 222 - 4967.

It is hard to believe that our Senior are just 5 months away from Graduation! Graduation is scheduled for Thursday, June 11th at 7:00 PM at Fred Kelly Stadium. A lot of information will be going out over the next few months about Senior Activities as well as Graduation so please be on the look out for that important information. Students should have already purchased their cap and gown. If not, they can contact Jostens. See the link below.

The Deadline for purchasing Senior Tribute Ads in the yearbook is FEBRUARY 17th! Please see attachment below for more information.

During the week of February 17th, our Seniors will be taking "The Climate Survey" in their Government or Econ Class. For more information on the survey as well as how you can opt your student out, click on the link below. The deadline to opt your student out of the survey is FEBRUARY 12th.

In June 2022, the Governor & State Legislature voted to pass the largest funding increase for home-to-school transportation in recent history. (See California Education Code Section 39800.1.)

OUSD is eligible to receive approximately $3.88M for the 26-27 school year. To receive grant funding, we are required to update our Transportation Plan and obtain feedback regarding transportation for our students. We are asking families to take a short survey. All grade level participation is encouraged! The survey will close on Friday, 2/6/26. The Transportation Plan will be approved at the March board meeting, and data from the survey results will be included in the plan.

Every morning at 7:30 AM, we offer Math Tutoring in Room 139. Mr. Joe Svoboda is available to help any student who is having trouble with Math. No appointment is necessary. This is a great opportunity for those who can't get help outside of school to come before school and get help with Math. Due to Faculty meetings, there is no tutoring on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month.

The National Honor Society has tutoring from 3:30 to 4:30 Tuesday through Thursday in room 101.

The American Chemical Society Club offers tutoring sessions across all levels including Regular, Honors, and AP Chemistry.

Tutoring sessions are held every Tuesday and Wednesday from 2:00–4:00 PM. On even days, tutoring will take place in Ms. Nguyen’s room (129), and on odd days, it will be held in Mr. Brierly’s room (134).

Wednesday, February 4 - Athletic Signing Day @ 1:10 PM in the Gym

Thursday, February 5 - PTSA Meeting @ 9:00 AM in the CHS Library

Monday, February 9 - CHS Foundation Meeting @ 7:00 PM in Room 114

Tuesday, February 10 - PTSA E Bike Presentation @ 6:30 PM in the CHS Library

Friday, February 13 and Monday, February 16 - NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, February 24 - Top of the Tribe from 4:00 to 6:00 PM in the MPR

Saturday, February 28 - PTSA Campus Care Day from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM

To View more events at CHS, the Canyon Master Calendar Please Click Below

https://www.canyonhighschool.org/resources/mastercalendar

The Canyon High School Website is a great source of information. Please click on the link below to visit it.