CHS Newsletter

Bobcat Nation,

It was another awesome week at CHS with much to be proud of. Most of our Spring sports and academic seasons are underway, and our clubs and organizations have been competing and representing us well. Friday marked the end of the 3 week grading period for this quarter, and we officially have 6 weeks left of the 3rd 9 weeks.

Spring is a busy time for all of our staff and students, so it is a good idea to make sure students are checking their emails and grade Google Classrooms for any important information. Make sure you scroll all the way through so that you don't miss out on required information about our Spirit team tryouts, the yearbook deadline THIS WEEK, and some awesome fundraisers coming up.

Weather updates and information are always sent by text and email and posted to the district social media pages. We hope you stay safe and warm and enjoy an extended weekend!

For Kids,

John

Tryouts for Las Gatitas are just around the corner! Don't miss your chance to be part of a legacy. There is a mandatory parent interest meeting on February 17, 6:00 pm in the CHS Cafeteria. A parent or guardian must attend this meeting for the candidate to be eligible for tryouts. We’ll cover important details regarding costs, schedules, and expectations.

CHS ASVAB Sign up - due January 30th

Are you interested in learning more about your skills and interests? Would you like to find out more about what you might want to do after high school?

Before choosing a career, it is helpful to spend some time finding out about yourself. Whether you are planning to go to college, a vocational school, or the military, or you're just not sure what you want to do yet, the ASVAB can provide you with great information to help you get on the right path toward a satisfying career.

If you are interested in taking the ASVAB on February 3rd, sign up using the link below or use the QR code on the flyer. Flyers are in the counseling office with Ms Windon. You must be logged into your school google account to fill out the form. Check your email for important instructions the week before the test.

*Must be in grades 10, 11 or 12 to sign up.

📣 Student Section Energy Calling all Bobcats 🐾📣 Theme night + basketball = electric atmosphere Girls & Boys tipping off at 🕔 5:00 | 🕡 6:15 | 🕢 7:30 Pack the stands. Rep the theme. Protect the Den 🔥

Scores are in for Academic Decathlon! While this was not the most traditional experience due to cancelled events, the team made the most of it and had an incredible first year experience.

CONGRATULATIONS to Xavier Gillespie - who earned a Gold medal in Essay at the Varsity Level and Sanjay Gopikavasanthan - who earned a Bronze medal in Essay at the Scholastic Level. All our students competed at the Medium School Division and deserve a huge congratulations for participating in one of the most stringent academic competitions.

Make sure you check out our online School newspaper run by our Journalism students for incredible stories about various things at CHS!

1/30 will be your LAST CHANCE to buy your yearbook on sale. Don't miss out on this opportunity to buy your yearbook!!!!

The deadline for senior and business ads is February 1st! The link will close after the deadline!!!

Show your support for UIL Academics! Long sleeve tees are now available for order. Use the Hometown app or click the button to order by January 30th.

Click the link below to order from our Baseball team shop!

Volunteer, Accredited Speech & Debate Judges Needed! Must be 18 years of age or older. Let's help our Speech & Debate students argue their way to victory. Sign up now! Let's not lose this round! Thanks for your support of Speech & Debate

Debate T Shirts NOW on sale through Hometown App.

Inspirit AI is a 25-hour live online program taught by Stanford and MIT graduate students that introduces students to foundational artificial intelligence concepts by building impactful projects such as Safe autonomous vehicle navigation. Spring applications are due by January 31st.

For entry into CISD events, we are using the HomeTown app to make it easy to purchase tickets. You can scan the QR code below to download the app.

Join us for the 2025-2026 Lunch n Learn Series! Brittany Cortez is a College and Career Counselor from Collin College and will cover a variety of college related topics throughout the year. The sessions will start at 12pm via Zoom. No sign up is required, just grab your lunch and click on the Zoom link in the flyer. Each of these topics will also be offered to all students to attend throughout the school year.

Helping Hands of Celina

Community Action Team (CATS)

Our CATS is our parent organization that helps to support all 1500 students and 135 staff throughout the year with bake sales, selling the official Homecoming t-shirt, and providing goodies/luncheons for our staff. Please join to add a layer of support for our kids and our staff. You can join through your School Cafe account and look for CATS (HS PTO) Membership '25-'26.

If you do not have a School Cafe account, you can click here to set up one and this will allow you to join CATS, purchase the official Homecoming t-shirt designed and sold by our CATS, set up a lunch account, and order other items like paying for parking spots and dues for various classes.

School Lunch

Free and reduced lunch applications can be found in the following link: https://www.schoolcafe.com/CELINAISD The grace period will end September 26, 2025, so please take time to complete your application.

For our new families, you can create school cafe account using the link above, you can send money with your child, or you can have your child bring their lunch. In School Cafe, you can monitor your child's account and place restrictions on their meal accounts if you would like to do so (e.g., your child can only buy one ice cream).

For those who were in Celina ISD last year, any balance that you have in School Cafe rolls over from the previous school year. Please add funds to your account before the first day of school.

GPA Update beginning for Class of 2026

Please click this link for the GPA update for the Class of 2026.

GPA Update beginning for Class of 2029

Please click this link for the GPA update for the Class of 2029.

2025-2026 Attendance Goal = 98%

We achieved 95.1% attendance last year so 98% is a very bold and ambitious goal! Furthermore, the more students are here, the more connections and positive relationships that they have, and the more that they learn!

Attendance-Truancy Tribunal

Chapter 25 of the Texas Education Code details the attendance requirements for students in Texas. Students must be in attendance for 90% of their class in order to receive credit for the class (remember that our goal is 98%). In addition, there is language in this code that directs schools/school districts to take action when a student accumulates a certain number of unexcused absences (including tardies - 3 tardies = an unexcused absence) and this includes filing truancy charges on the parent. Celina ISD wants to partner with our parents in order to prevent truancy charges from being filed. Therefore, when a student accumulates 7 unexcused absences/tardies, we will send a summons to the parent and student to attend a Truancy Tribunal Hearing in order to develop a plan to improve the attendance of the student. The Truancy Tribunal process has proven to decrease unexcused absences, decrease failed classes, and decrease discipline incidents of students. We are proud to implement the Truancy Tribunal Hearings and we know that this will benefit our kids and our families. If you have questions about the Truancy Tribunal process, please reach out to me via email or phone call at the information in my signature

Student Code of Conduct

At CHS, we start with the knowledge that we have the best students and parents on the planet! As such, we hold the highest standards for our kids because we know that they will live up to these standards. Likewise, we hold ourselves the to the highest standards to support our kids and our parents. We want to make sure that you have all of the information needed regarding our dress code and the passage of the new "cell phone ban" HB 1481. The dress code and standards of conduct are contained in the link above. The dress code is addressed on pp. 58-59 so please take a moment to familiarize yourself with CISD standards of dress and decorum.

HB1481 Device Ban

The major change for this year is the passage of HB 1481 that prohibits personal communication devices. Celina High School will strictly enforce this law/policy between 8:45-4:10. Prior to 8:45, students should turn off and put any prohibited devices in their backpack. This will prevent any prohibited devices from being seen or heard and will allow students to form relationships with other students and teachers and focus on learning. If you need to contact your child, you can send a message to their school email account and if there is an emergency, you can contact our front desk and we will assist in getting the message to your child(ren).

Although HB 1481 does not go into effect until September 1, 2025, CISD has chosen to implement this law beginning Wednesday, August 13, 2025. Our staff will continue to only use their personal devices for professional use only during the work day and because we receive emergency notifications and we send emergency notifications through our personal devices.

Prohibited personal communication devices include, but are not limited to:

• Smartphones
  

• Laptops and tablets
  

• Smartwatches
  

• Earbuds and earphones
  

• Smart eyeglasses

• Portable gaming devices

Contact Information for Administrators and Counselors

Administrators

• Dr. John M. Burdett (Principal) - johnburdett@celinaisd.com
• Kristy Carr (Student last names A-Gan) - kristycarr@celinaisd.com
• Greg Sherwood-(Student last names Gar-N) - gregsherwood@celinaisd.com
• Dr. Adam Washburn (Student last names O-Z) - adamwashburn@celinaisd.com

Counselors

• Carrie Crane (Student last names A-Gan) carriecrane@celinaisd.com
• Denise Moore (Student last names Gar-N) denisemoore@celinaisd.com
• Karen Pelkey (Student last names O-Z) karenpelkey@celinaisd.com