CHS Newsletter

Bobcat Nation,

As we head into our final official week before finals, we are all starting to feel that summer air excitement. AP testing continues this week, and most of our dual credit course testing is over. Please make sure that your students are well rested and where they are supposed to be as we finish out these important tests.

This past week also brought some exciting accomplishments in athletics. Our baseball team earned a huge Area playoff victory, continuing an impressive postseason run. In addition, two of our tennis athletes made school history by becoming the first tennis players from our campus to advance to the State Tournament, an incredible achievement that reflects their dedication, talent, and hard work.

We also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make Teacher Appreciation Week so special. Our staff felt celebrated, encouraged, and deeply appreciated by the kindness and support shown from students, families, and the community. We are fortunate to have such an amazing school community.

As we enter the final stretch of the school year, we encourage our students to stay focused, finish strong, and continue showing the hard work and resilience that have defined this year. We are almost there, and we look forward to celebrating all that our students have accomplished in the coming weeks. We would also like to extend a big Happy Mother's Day to all of our incredible CHS Moms! Thank you for all that you do, and we hope you have an amazing day celebrating.

For kids,

John

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.

Congratulations to our 4A Boys Doubles Tennis State Runner-Up team — Bo Young & Koushal Damacharla!

These two made Celina High School history as the first athletes to represent Celina HS at the State Tennis Tournament! What an incredible accomplishment and season for these outstanding student-athletes.

Congratulations, Bo and Koushal!

Our CHS Debate students presented and delivered an impromptu speech to defend their mom as “Mother of the Year”. What a creative assignment that teaches our students persuasive and public speaking skill AND celebrates our amazing moms!!! Congratulations to our winners and Happy Early Mother's Day to all of our wonderful CHS moms.

Congratulations to our 2025-2026 Wrestling Team Award Winners!

Calling all rising seniors! Want a FREE Elite Senior Photo Session with ALL your digital images included? CADY is seeking Ambassadors from the Class of 2027 to represent its brand nationwide. Use the link below to learn more and apply today! cady.com/ambassador #CADYSenior #classof2027

🧡 Back-to-School Shopping Event 🧡

We’re getting ready to support students in our community before the new school year begins! Be sure to mark your calendar so you don’t miss this opportunity. 🧡

📅 Event Date: August 1, 2026

🕣 Time: 8:30 AM – 1:00 PM

📍 Location: First United Methodist Church – Celina

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