JANUARY NEWSLETTER

Happy New Year! I hope this finds all of our students enjoying their 3 week break and getting ready for the second semester. For our seniors it will be their final semester and graduation will be here before you know it. Below you will find a recap of a few things that happened in December as well as a list of some important dates coming up. Have a great rest of the break and we look forward to seeing our students back in school next Monday.

We would like to invite all of our families as well as families of prospective students to attend our Open House Showcase on Wednesday, January 28th. All of our teachers and coaches will be on campus to share great information about our academic and extra-curricular programs. We will also have performances from some of our Performing Arts groups during the evening. The showcase will be from 6:00 to 7:30. Look for more information and details coming in a separate email next week.

The week before break, Mr. Heck held his AP English Lang Classes in the library where they took part in debates. Students were placed on teams and had to take a for or against position on such topics as if college tuition should be free, should schools switch to a 4 day week, AI ruins human creativity, and others. They were very professional and based on my observations, we definitely have some future lawyers and debaters in those classes.

During December, Ms. Nicole Buechler's Careers in Education students worked on creating their own e-Portfolio websites based on the topics and projects that they covered throughout the semester. Each website they created included 6 tabs including tabs about themselves as well as College and Career Readiness Planning. The purpose of this semester-long project was to encourage students to take ownership of their learning while effectively using technology in the classroom.

Throughout the semester, students completed a variety of career readiness projects. All of their activities and projects were designed to help prepare them for life after high school (relating to the field of education) and to get them ready for their spring internship at Imperial Elementary.

Our Interior Design Class, under the direction of teacher Ms. Sandy Manich, created a Holiday exhibit in her classroom for the month of December. They had drawings and sketches that were extremely impressive and made some 3D models of "mansions" that they had on display. The goal next next year is to find a room on campus that they can use to put their interior design skills to work and decorate.

Join the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program! 🌎

🗓️ Mark Your Calendars, 10th Graders!

• January: We visit your AP Euro class with program details.

• Next Steps: Sit down with Mrs. Vargas to build your 2-year plan.

• February: Official scheduling begins with your counselor

Don’t just take classes—build a program that works for you. 💡

Questions? Please contact Mrs. Georgina Vargas at gvargas@orangeusd.org

There were a lot of activities going on during the month of December to help students and staff get into the Holiday Spirit! ASB held activities during lunch and nutrition. The ever popular Corn Hole Tournament was held during lunch. During the week before break, ASB worked hard to promote the Villa Park Basketball Game with dress up days and a fundraiser for CHOC that involved throwing "pies" at our Varsity Basketball Players. They also served Hot Cocoa Cocoa during nutrition on Tuesday, December 16th.

Canyon Robotics has jumped into the Vex Robotics competition season with both feet! They once again have three competitive teams and all three have already competed in local tournaments, with both their Team A and Team B bringing home trophies! Their Team A traveled to Tennessee this fall. With over 100 teams competing at this event, they placed 1st in their division, 1st in the tournament skill division, received the Amaze Award and came home being placed 1st in the Vex Robotics World Standings of over 4000 teams plus an automatic invitation to the World Robotics Championships in April. A truly impressive feat and a first for the robotics program! The robotics season is only at the halfway mark though. We continue to root on all our teams and wish them all good luck as they travel to Colorado in February to compete in the Pike's Peak Robotics Signature Event!

Our Amazing Choir was very busy during December. In addition to combining with our Instrumental Program to put on an Amazing Holiday Concert, they also did a lot of caroling. In addition to going to our local elementary schools to entertain students, they found time to entertain staff and students at Canyon H.S. The week before break they went to the offices and a few classrooms to entertain students with a song or two. They even got up early one morning to perform at our Staff Holiday Party.

On Nov 22nd, the band and color guard competed in the invite-only Arcadia Band Review competition. The Color Guard placed First in their class and 3rd overall out of 37 schools.
They have now begun their Winter Guard season where they will compete in indoor competitions. In April, they will head to Dayton, Ohio to compete for the first time at WGI World Competition.

After performing their Fall Show before Thanksgiving. Our Amazing Dance Company performed at the Santa Ana Festival on Friday, December 5th.

On December 13th, The Canyon High School Choir and Instrumental Programs combined for an Amazing Concert to help celebrate the Holidays. These students worked hard to prepare for a 2 hour show that they performed twice on one day! The MPR was packed for both shows and the music performed was amazing! We have some talented singers and musicians in this school!

Our Winter Sports Teams are off to a great start. Most have wrapped up their pre-season schedules and are beginning League Play. At 8-1-2, the Boys Varsity Soccer Team is having a great season as they began league play with a 4-0 victory over Villa Park! Our Boys Varsity Basketball team also had an exciting victory over Villa Park on December 19th. Having not played them for a few years, our students were ready to renew the rivalry and showed up in a big way to support our team in a game that was played at Sonora High School. We packed our side of the gym and our fans were not disappointed as we came away with a 65-58 win! Our team, having played a very challenging schedule, is currently 11-6 going into League Play which started Tuesday night at Crean Lutheran. Our other winter sports teams include Girls Basketball, Girls Water Polo, Girls Soccer and Boys and Girls Wrestling. As of January 6th, all have winning records and look to be potential CIF playoff teams.

Baseball season might still be a few months away but our Baseball program is doing is doing a couple of fundraisers that all families might be interested in. The first fundraiser is the Last of the Comanches Spirit Wear, created by American Casual in honor of Canyon High School and our retiring mascot. The collection includes Nike and other brand options, and includes shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, sweatpants, shorts, hats, and ladies styles. All proceeds from this fundraiser go directly to supporting Canyon Baseball. The second fundraiser features our commemorative Last of the Comanches warm winter blankets. These blankets are extra large (60" x 80"), cozy, and have been very well received. We have a limited number remaining. Once they are sold out, this design will not be produced again. Both links to order are below.

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

In case you missed it, below is the link to the Counselors December Newsletter.

You might remember that we used to have several very old, ugly looking portables in the back of our campus that were used for classrooms. With the renovations that took place thanks to Measure S, those were removed during the summer of 2024. In December, we were able to renovate the area and add sod to create a very nice looking, extra field space. Once the sod settles and takes root, we will now have an extra practice field for our lacrosse and soccer teams. We will also have a place for students to burn off energy during nutrition and lunch. Our goal is to open this area up in early March.

It is that time of year again when we need your help! We need parents, students and staff to take the LCAP Survey (The Local Control Accountability Plan). This is a critical tool for gathering feedback from key stakeholders—students, families, and staff—on district priorities, programs, and services.

Responses help shape the district’s goals and actions to improve student outcomes and ensure accountability. To take the survey, scan the QR Code.

SAVE THE DATE: On Tuesday, February 10, 2025 at 6:30 pm the PTSA will be sponsoring a workshop for e-bike safety. This is open to parents and students. If your student has or will be getting an e-bike, this is a great 2 hour course that we would highly encourage you to attend.

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.

An email went out in December regarding purchasing Senior Tribute Pages. In case you missed it, please see the attachment below. THE DEADLINE FOR EARLY BIRD PRICING HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17TH.

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.

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY TUTORING

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).

The State of California mandates vision and hearing screening for students in public school. The screening for Canyon High School students will be conducted on Monday, January 26th and on Tuesday, January 27th , by the school nurse on both even and odd days to include all the 10th graders. The exam consists of visual inspection of the eye, along with a visual acuity test. Hearing testing consists of your child responding to sounds by raising their hands to sounds in the conversational frequency tones produced by an audiometer via a headphone in a soundproof truck.

Parents will be notified by mail if their child’s vision or hearing screen shows a need for further medical evaluation. If you have any questions, call the Health Office at (714) 523-8000 ext. 3767 or email the school nurse.

If you Do Not wish to have your child participate in the above screening; a written note by parent/guardian will be required to be on file. Please send the note to the health office prior to the date of testing.

Monday, January 12 - Foundation Meeting in Room 114 at 7:00 PM

Monday, January 19 - No School

Monday, January 26 - Sophomores Vision and Hearing

Tuesday, January 27 - Junior Vision and Hearing

Wednesday, January 28 - Open House Showcase at 6:00 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.