CHS Newsletter
Love Kids; Drive Rigor
Principal's Note - Sunday, November 23rd
Bobcat Nation,
As we wrapped up the last week before Fall Break, our students worked hard to finish strong ahead of the six-week grade check. We appreciate their effort and dedication as they continue this semester. This coming week gives all of us the chance to pause, recharge, and spend meaningful time with friends and family. As we head into Fall Break and the Thanksgiving season, I want to express how grateful we are for our students, our staff, and the families who support our school every day. Your partnership and encouragement make such a positive difference on our campus.
We hope everyone enjoys a safe, restful, and joy-filled Fall Break. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we look forward to welcoming our students back refreshed and ready for the weeks ahead.
For Kids,
John
CHS/CISD Events
Our Football team won the Area Round Playoff game against Eastern Hills with a score of 70-22. We are proud of the way they play and their hard work! Find the next round details below.
Our basketball teams are full swing into their seasons. Both teams participated in tournaments this weekend, and they both play in games this Monday. Come to CHS at 10:00 am and 11:30 am to support our Girls JV and Varsity teams at home!
Thank you to Bell Salvo (12) for some awesome pictures of our Boys Varsity Team!
This break is a great time to clean out those closets to make room for your new Black Friday shopping additions! As your clearing out your closets, please save any gently used or new Winter items to bring to school and donate to children in needed of good Winter wear. Student council is taking donations in a box by the counseling suite.
🌟Student Spotlight🌟
Preparing for Matilda
The Wick / Stella's Ice Cream
Student Interviews
Basketball with Coach Buckner
Club Focus
Mind4Youth
As part of Mind4Youth’s mental health awareness initiative, our members created posters, and the top poster was designed by Elissa Leigh Hernandez. This artwork highlights that mental health isn’t about being perfect; it’s about learning how all our experiences fit together. Just like a puzzle, every piece matters.
Also, for students who want to join Mind4Youth, here is our Google Classroom code: 5wtovxqk
Las Gatitas
Support the Bobcats in style with fresh spirit wear for playoff games and the holidays! Don’t miss your chance show your Celina spirit all season long. Proceeds support the Las Gatitas Drill Team.
Emergent Bilingual Parent and Families Newsletter
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.
Counseling Corner
Please join us on December 10th for our Dual Credit and Advanced Academics Information Night! Come learn about all of the advanced academics options CISD has to offer.
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
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