Week 1 Recap

This past week, we had the pleasure of welcoming nearly 2,000 students onto our campus as we kicked off the 2021-22 school year. It has been a great joy to welcome back familiar faces and to say hello to some new ones as well. 

 

 

Carpool

As those of you who have children who have attended large high schools in the past know, carpool during the first week of school can be the source of many headaches. We were not immune to this either as we got our first taste of what it feels like to have a full student body. That being said, each day, things improved significantly—particularly with the implementation of some new morning carpool procedures linked here. If you are a morning carpooler, please be sure to review this information. Also another friendly reminder—please do not drop off or pick up students in the student parking lot, the faculty lot, or on Roberts Road.

 

Please know that we will continue evaluating this and making necessary adjustments to improve traffic flow and safety. We remain so grateful to each of you for your patience and understanding as we all work to get everything sorted out with this.

 

 

Student Parking

 

Student parking spaces are still available—and are now available to sophomores, as well. Students should allow 24 hours for the application to be processed and can pick up the parking pass on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 7:00 am - 7:20 am in Student Services or during the first 10 minutes of each lunch period. Passes will NOT be given our during class time. Please visit our school website (link) to apply and pay for a student parking tag. 

 

 

Bus Transportation

 

In reference to bus transportation, we are happy to report that we are getting to the point at which all buses are arriving and departing on time for the most part. In fact, on Friday alone, we had improved afternoon dismissals so much that we were able to send off our last double-back bus nearly 20 minutes earlier than we had been able to do the first few days of school. Despite shortages in bus drivers—as is the case across the district—our transportation team has been working tirelessly to get our students to and from school safely and in a timely manner, so please join us in thanking them for their work if you have the chance. 

 

 

Lunch Changes

 

As was shared a couple of weeks ago, we have adopted a three-lunch bell schedule for the first 20 days of school to reduce the density of gathered students during meal times when students are most likely to be unmasked. This change has fared nicely as we have been able to provide quite a bit of space and seating options to reduce crowding within the cafeteria or other areas.

 

To provide more space, however, in light of the current COVID-19 metrics within the county, we recently opened additional outdoor spaces for students during lunch. We shared this with students through advisory and will continue to share information about these available spaces. Please assist us in sharing this information with your children as well and by encouraging them to take advantage of all available options. We have also developed plans for inclement weather, which we will communicate to students as the need arises.

 

 

Virtual Meet the Teacher

 

To accommodate as many members of our school community as possible, we will conduct a virtual Meet the Teacher in which families will be able to learn about the courses their children are taking through teacher-recorded videos that we will post on a special Meet the Teacher section of our website on Wednesday, September 8.

 

 

COVID-19 & Returning to School

 

As a reminder, students must stay home if they are sick. Furthermore, individuals experiencing any symptom of illness not related to an already documented medical condition will be sent home, even if they don’t have a COVID-19 diagnosis. Students are also required to stay home and quarantine if someone living with them is diagnosed with COVID-19. 

 

If your child or a member of your household has tested positive for COVID-19 or has been exposed, please email our COVID Coordinator (Mr. Darren Williams) via email at dwilliams7@wcpss.net. This communication is critical for us to reduce the potential for further exposure and spread. Furthermore, please be sure to reference important WCPSS health guidance for coming/returning to school when sick.

 

For details on when it is appropriate to return to school, please reference the following site: https://www.wcpss.net/whentoreturn

 

 

PSAT on October 13

 

Green Level High School will be offering the PSAT to any interested 9th-11th grader that attends Green Level High School on October 13, 2021. Students who wish to take the PSAT on this date will need to register starting on Monday, August 30th through Friday, September 3rd. Students will be able to register during all lunches in the cafeteria.

 

Payment ($18) is required at the time of registration. Students can pay with cash, check (made out to Green Level High School), or online using the Online School Payment site. In the past, WCPSS has waived PSAT payments for any student who has a certain GPA or higher. This GPA cutoff has not been shared yet, so all students will need to submit payment when registering. Once the district releases the GPA requirements, if your student has the qualifying GPA, your payment will be reimbursed. If you have any questions about this, please contact our testing coordinator, Katie Hailey, via email at khailey@wcpss.net. 

 

 

Postponement of Gator Gala

 

Out of an abundance of caution, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the Gator Gala dance that was previously scheduled for Saturday, October 2. As we continue to examine ways to decrease opportunities for COVID spread, this was the right decision at this time. Once it is safer to resume activities of this kind, we will re-evaluate the possibility of rescheduling this event, as it is certainly something that we are all looking forward to.

 

 

Schedule Change Requests

 

Last week, counselors met with students for Counselor Conversations in which students had the chance to discuss concerns they had with their first and second semester schedules. On Monday, August 30th, our schedule change review committee will meet to consider all requests that were shared during these meetings and decide which requests can be accommodated. All changes that are able to be accommodated will be reflected in PowerSchool by Tuesday, August 31st. While we certainly wish that we had the ability and resources to honor every request, this is not realistic given the size of our school and all the components that go into scheduling students in their courses. Please understand that all decisions made within the scheduling committee are final and not able to be appealed.

 

As such, if your child’s request is not granted, we kindly ask that you continue partnering with us by reminding your child that things will be okay and by encouraging them to work with available supports (e.g., teachers, counselors, etc.) to develop appropriate plans to assist them in being successful.

 

 

Senior Activities Committee Meeting on 9/1

The Senior Activities Committee (SAC) will meet on Wednesday, September 1 at 6:00 pm in the auditorium. Seniors, senior families, and staff are invited to attend!

 

 

Vacancies for CNS, IAs, and Bus Drivers

As numerous news and media outlets have publicized, WCPSS is currently experiencing a record shortage in bus drivers, instructional assistance, and child nutrition services staff. These individuals are critical to the overall function of a school. For example, at this time, we have three vacancies within our cafeteria staff alone, which further contributed to the decision to schedule three lunches in order to reduce the size of the food service lines. As such, if you know of anyone who is interested in any of these positions, please have them contact the main office. 

 

 

From the PTSA

Join the Green Level HS PTSA: Thus far in the year, 106 families have joined as annual members. If you haven’t had a chance to join PTSA, please consider joining to assist the PTSA as it supports Green Level High School. Membership information is available here.

 

Monthly Newsletter: Hot off the press—click here to access and share the PTSA’s monthly newsletter that includes updates for families.

 

 

From the Gator Club (Athletic Booster Club)

Gator Gallop: Registration is now open for the first ever 5K race on Green Level's campus.  Join us on Saturday, September 25th at 9 am for the Gator Gallop!  Details and a link to registration can be found on the Gator Club's website.  Sign-up early to be guaranteed a race shirt. Registration Link:  https://runnc.com/event/gator-gallup-5k/

 

Legacy Brick Fundraiser: Our Gator Club is running their Legacy Brick fundraiser. It allows any member of our school community to create a custom brick to be installed on campus this Winter. The first Legacy Bricks were installed in the stadium this summer and they look great. For additional details about the Legacy Brick program, visit the Gator Club website.