Email: sandersj@purcellps.org
Website: https://www.purcellps.org/o/phs
Location: 2020 North Green Avenue, Purcell, OK, USA
Phone: 405-442-0099
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purcellhs
Twitter: @purcellhsdrgns

PHS School Mission

Good afternoon:

My best wishes to all members of the PHS community for a happy New Year and hope you and your family have enjoyed the holiday season. The new year offers an opportunity to look ahead but also a time to reflect on our purpose and mission as a high school that serves our students and families. Our mission at PHS is to provide every student a safe learning environment with meaningful learning experiences based on trusting relationships with peers and adults. Please allow me to expand on all aspects of our mission.

Safety will always be our top priority. Providing a safe learning environment involves not only physical safety but also ensuring the social and emotional safety of all individuals. We believe individuals can only thrive when they are provided a safe learning and workplace environment. We practice regular safety drills to help our students and staff understand how to respond in the case of an emergency. We perform routine door checks to ensure our building is always secure. We have added several layers of protection including an advisory period, STOPit anonymous reporting, and Bark, our online monitoring system to provide social and emotional support to both students and staff.

We believe learning is more meaningful to students when it's a social experience based on collaboration and relationships. I've been excited to see so many of our teachers provide project based learning experiences where students build these critical "soft skills" crucial to success in the modern workplace. We believe learning is more meaningful to students when they take a leadership role in their own learning experiences. This can mean offering students more choice in their learning platforms. We are very pleased to offer students multiple pathways to success including alternative education, honors curriculum, internships, concurrent, and PAVE hybrid and virtual learning. Finally we believe students find their learning more meaningful when they can find personal relevance in their learning.

We will always prioritize the establishment of trusting relationships between students and staff. Teenagers need to learn the importance of building relationships with adults. While the middle school years are more focused on helping students learn how to safely navigate peer relationships, the high school years are more focused on helping them build strong relationships with adults. This is crucial for their successful transition to adulthood. Building a relationship with a teacher provides useful skills for future relationships in the workplace. Most importantly these relationships with teachers, administrators, counselors, and other staff members, provide teenagers a safe outlet for the social and emotional support they often need.

Thank you for allowing us to serve your student and the community as a whole. We take this responsibility seriously and want EVERY student who enters our school to have a safe and meaningful learning experience based on trusting relationships with both staff and peers. This is our mission.

Jason

cell phone number: 918-873-0354

• Please remember NO SCHOOL for students on Monday, January 2nd.
• Staff report back Monday Jan. 2nd for Professional Day
• Students return Tuesday, Jan. 3rd

Greg is a long-time Dragon who has served his school and community with distinction in many areas over the years. Greg currently serves as our PAVE coordinator. He supervises both virtual and hybrid learning for students who need or have opted for alternative paths. This includes students on credit recovery programs. He leans upon his experience facilitating students who learn more effectively outside the traditional classroom. Greg also supervises our Dragon Success behavioral intervention program.

Read what one of Greg's colleagues wrote about him:

Greg has a positive attitude every day. I see him in the hall greeting students, jokingly giving them a hard time, and jumping out to scare them, etc. His demeanor with students shows that he cares about each of them. He also cares enough about them to correct them when they misbehave. As a teacher this is a difficult balance to keep. I respect, appreciate, and admire him as a valuable resource to our school.

Congratulations Avery Wren: PHS Student of the Month. Avery is the daughter of Kevin and Angie Wren. She is active in cheer, STUCO, National Honor Society, and SAAC. Her favorite class is Internship. Avery plans to attend OU and major in nursing. Way to go Avery!!

Congratulations Luke Edelman: PHS Student of the Month. Luke is the son of Kraig & Kristi Edelman. He is active in STUCO, Football and powerlifting. His favorite class is Wildlife Management and plans to pursue a degree in Chiropractics. Way to go Luke!

We are thrilled to announce the addition of Kenzie Hay to the PHS staff. Kenzie will serve as a special education teacher. She is originally from Colorado and attended SWOSU on a rodeo scholarship. Her and her husband Kyle live in Purcell and Kenzie currently works at Purcell Intermediate School. She will officially join our staff on January 2nd. Welcome to the high school Kenzie!

Due to an equipment malfunction, picture retakes for 9th-11th grade will be need to be rescheduled. We anticipate that this will be in January but will post the new date as soon as it’s scheduled. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Yearbook: Yearbooks can now be purchased online and in the library for $45 through January 15. The price will go up to $55 and quantities are limited. So hurry and get your order in!!

Here is the link to order online:

https://www.balfour.com/oklahoma/purcell/purcell-high-school

• We will conduct a FIRE DRILL ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 6TH. We will also practice a verification of all students once we have relocated all students outside the building. This will add some time to the drill but provide us an opportunity to practice accounting for all students and cross-checking against a list of all students known to be absent that day.
• We will also send a message via Remind to all students who are either Concurrent, Internship, or Work Experience students. This will alert students who may be off campus that we are currently in the process of a drill. This simulates an actual emergency when we would alert off-campus students to NOT come to the school.
• Thank you to all parents and visitors for obtaining a visitor pass if you are visiting our school and moving beyond the front office.
• Our Safety & Wellness JET Team has focused on safety themes for the upcoming year. Each month we will highlight and raised awareness of issues relevant to the Safety & Wellness of Staff. This month we focus on Mental Health Awareness. I've highlighted two resources available to all individuals: Stopit, our anonymous reporting tool and the 988 suicide & crisis lifeline. I've also attached a short video for parents reminding them of the purpose of the Stopit APP.

Please be sure to check the regularly updated Counselor's Corner Newsletter linked below. Ms. Feroli has added important information for each individual class. PLEASE SEE UPCOMING DEADLINE FOR FEBRUARY ACT DATE.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE OF UPCOMING ACT TEST DATES.

The next approaching deadline for ACT registrations is January 6th for the February 11th Test. Remember all juniors will take the ACT on campus next April.

Our winter Map testing window will open on Jan 4th and run through Jan 13th. All freshman and sophomores are tested in both math and reading. Students are tested through their Math and English classes. The Map assessments measure learning growth, provide schools and parents valuable data, and help predict future ACT scores. PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENTS TO DO THEIR BEST ON THESE ASSESSMENTS. Teachers will assess students in their individual classes on dates most suitable to their respective classes. All students must be assessed during the window.

Please reach out to your student's math or english teacher if you have any questions.

I'm thrilled to announce we will have after school tutoring available to all students during the spring semester. Our tutoring will most likely begin in mid-January. I will share specific time and dates as soon as available. This important after school program provides not only academic support but also snacks and access to PHS staff. We had over 160 students (many repeat attendees) attend after school tutoring in the fall. We are excited to be able to continue to offer this layer of added support for students

We will continue to emphasize how important it is for students to attend school everyday. An absence should be rare. Good attendance is a positive habit that translates across all levels of life. Students with good attendance in grade school are more likely to read well by the end of third grade. Students with good attendance in high school are more likely to graduate. Employees with good attendance are more likely to be successful in their careers.

A few reminders about attendance:

• 10 or more unexcused absences per semester will result in No Credit grade
• All absences other than activity absences count towards semester test exemptions.
• Students absent more than 10% of days are considered chronically absent. This means students absent (for any reason) 9 or more days per semester.

Please see press release copied below for more information or click on link below. This learning opportunity is available to current juniors and seniors.

https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDAsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMjEyMDcuNjc4NDAxMDEiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL29raG91c2UuZ292L1BhZ2VzL0luZGV4LmFzcHgifQ.GCh0WrXljxibUbIDuEeMyG1QXW0n8xIjlof_77fVZ4M/s/997437802/br/149813758768-l

PHS Basketball Homecoming is January 27th. Boys play first at 6:30 then the girls. STUCO is selling HOCO shirts through 1/18. Get your shirts and be a part of this special season for PHS BBALL. email Krysta Matthews @ matthewsk@purcellps.org

Lady Dragons and Dragons both win championships @ Madill Tournament
Kenna Esparza: MVP
Kobe Freeman: MVP
Malachi Evans: All -tournament
Toney Cooper: Coaching award
Roger Raper: coaching award
Purcell High School: Sportsmanship Award

Please contact the high school if you are unable to access Parent Portal. This allows students and parents to access real-time grades 24/7, attendance information and update personal information. I include a parent/portal link for all parents/guardians on every Parent Newsletter. This link is located immediately below this message. It's very important all parents have access to parent portal.

Please complete this form linked here if you are need of a Parent Portal Account:

https://forms.gle/kcw4yFh9UghpFKW76

If you have any problems accessing Parent Portal please contact the school directly: (405) 442-0099