For Thursday, April 10
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Our Daily Announcements to our students
No school tomorrow – Monday, April 7
Well, it has been an eventful 17 hours here at Portage Central. Below I am going to give you the details, but the sum of them is one thing: Spring Break has been extended for one more day – with no school tomorrow, Monday, April 7. (I think I can almost hear the cheering from our students as they read this.)
All the facts
We store our golf cart (the one that our Bus Guys use after school to help manage bus traffic, and that we give community members rides on at our events) in the custodial bay, like we have for about 20 years now.
The golf cart caught fire in the custodial bay sometime after 11 last night.
The fire department responded swiftly. (As they always do; those folks are awesome.)
Because of the work that the fire department had to do, and our own fire-suppression system, we had a good deal of smoke and some water in the custodial bay and in that back hall of our building last night.
Today folks have done incredible work.
The insurance adjuster drove down from the Grand Rapids area on his day off, and he was wonderful: helpful, clear and supportive.
The Servpro guys (including one PC grad!) are doing a great job of cleaning this place up and making sure everything smells nice and clean.
The Vanguard guys are installing the new sprinkler heads in the custodial bay, to replace the ones that had to do their jobs last night.
And Steve Phelps, our facilities director, and Marti Phelps, his wife and fellow friend and colleague) have been here with me all day, helping to get everything right again. (I have worked with them both for more than 30 years, and they are incredible. I am blessed with so many good folks.)
Still, there is more work to be done, with cleaning and making sure all is back in working order. Sorry about the late notice. As always, if you have questions or thoughts, reach out anytime.
One last reminder…
SAT and PSAT testing is the week after Spring Break
Here’s the schedule again:
Student Schedule | ||
Wednesday, April 9th | Thursday, April 10th | |
9th grade | PSAT for all 9th grade 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Students who need to use the morning bus for transportation will need to stay in the Commons prior to testing. Lunch available PPS Buses provide transportation home at Noon ONLY. | No school during morning testing. Students will work from home on an assignment for their 4th hour to be turned in between 7:40 AM and Midnight. |
10th grade | No school during morning testing. Students will work from home on an assignment for their 3rd hour to be turned in between 7:40 AM and Midnight. | PSAT for all 10th grade 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Students who need to use the morning bus for transportation will need to stay in the Commons prior to testing. Lunch Available Regular PPS Buses provide transportation home at 2:40 ONLY. |
11th grade | SAT with Essay for all 11th grade 7:40 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Lunch available PPS Buses provide transportation home at Noon ONLY. | ACT WorkKeys for all 11th grade 7:40 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Lunch Available Regular PPS Buses provide transportation home at 2:40 ONLY. |
12th grade | No school during morning testing. Students will work from home on an assignment for their 3rd hour to be turned in between 7:40 AM and Midnight. | No school during morning testing. Students will work from home on an assignment for their 4th hour to be turned in between 7:40 AM and Midnight. |
Please note that students with extended time due to accommodations that have been documented and approved by College Board may start earlier than 8:30 and/or run later than 11:30. We will be reaching out to all students with their specific times /dates.
We are asking students not to share private information in the SAT/PSAT testing app or sign up for the College Board’s Connections services on testing days. We recommend that you check out the benefits and privacy issues associated with this service and make a decision as a family whether to share additional information with the College Board. Students have access through the Blue Book app on their Chromebooks and through their College Board accounts.
On the “Work from Home” days it is critical that students turn in the work electronically on the day assigned in order to be marked present. This is a state rule that we don’t have any wiggle room on. If a student is not able to turn the work in by midnight on the day assigned, they will be marked absent (which can be excused by a parent or guardian, but does count against credit in the course and towards the student’s lunch pass). If a student needs to be at school for internet access or other reasons, we can absolutely provide a supervised location for them. Please contact your student’s Assistant Principal to make arrangements.
Hopeful that everyone had a chance to rest and connect last week,
Eric Alburtus
And if you want even more PC news…