For Thursday, August 14
Hit the GLIC!
The Grade-Level Information Center has information that is relevant for each class.
An index and archive for this year’s weekly Mustang Minutes
Our Daily Announcements to our students
Thank you, incredible PC Grounds Crew and members of Berean Baptist Church!
For the past 11 years wonderful members of Berean Baptist Church come for one Sunday afternoon in August to help us get ready for school. And for more than 20 years now awesome students from our Grounds Crew weed and mulch and trim and help this campus look beautiful. And folks from both groups came out last Sunday and did incredible work – and we always have more to do.
So our thanks go out to all of them – as well as to the other student organizations that have done great work here this summer, weeding and cleaning, mulching and trimming! Just as a few examples, our waterpolo did amazing work cleaning up McCamley-Knight Field flower beds, our USITT kids cleaned and trimmed and repaired, and swimming and Chess Club and volleyball pitched in a ton too!
As always, we are blessed to be a part of an incredible Community.
We don’t have a complete school-year calendar yet…
… but we have some dates so far for some of our bigger things, like the opening days of school and student breaks. Click right here to see what we have so far, so you can start to get the lay of the land for the year ahead.
Are you trying to reach me or another PC colleague by phone and can’t get through?
Yeah… sorry. We as a district got a new phone system this summer, and there are still a few ghosts in the machine. Hopefully that will be up and running soon. In the meantime, could you drop me or others an email? And we will get right back with you. Thanks for your patience with us and the wonders of technology.
Mark your calendar for the first meeting of the school year - Monday, September 8 at 5:30 PM (PCHS, main office – staff kitchen)
All are welcome! This is a great opportunity to connect with other parents and hear updates on school happenings.
Meetings are held during the school year on the 2nd Monday of the month at 5:30 PM (location: staff kitchen in the main office). We are typically done in under an hour!
The PTO is a laid-back, fun group
The PTO would love your input on events and organizing staff appreciation activities, semi-formal dance, conference dinners, etc.
Flexible Involvement - help as little or as much as you are able
We are looking for volunteers willing to assist with staff appreciation events for the school year. Interested? Email pchsptopresident@gmail.com for more information
Not able to volunteer? Donate here: https://shorturl.at/UD88y Supporting the PTO helps fund amazing events, classroom supplies, teacher appreciation, and more. If your schedule is packed but your heart is all in, consider a quick and easy donation instead. Every dollar makes a difference.
Keep in the loop through our Portage Central High School PTO Facebook page!
Want to park at PC? Great!
Don’t forget to stop at the Welcome Center to buy your parking pass!
Please fill out the parking registration form found on the GLIC; hit this link to get all the information you need. After you have completed the online form, bring your driver's license and vehicle registration to the Welcome Center to purchase a parking permit for $20. Every car in the parking lot MUST have a permit for this academic year. (As an important aside, the funds raised from permit sales go toward paying for our Mustang RideOut and graduation each year.)
Too, all students who purchase a 2025-26 parking pass by Friday, Sept. 12 will receive a FREE PC sticker!
PC Yearbook wants your summer photos for the 2026 yearbook!
Did you travel? Hang out by your pool or on the lake? Volunteer? Condition for sports? Chill with friends and family? Work a summer job? We'd love to see what you did after school got out in June! Students can click on this Summer Fun Photos link to share their summer photos and stories! (Students must be logged into their Portageps accounts to upload content to this form.) Got questions? Email yearbook adviser Ann Alburtus at aalburtus@portageps.org.
Athletic passes are now on sale in the athletic office
Athletic office summer hours are Monday through Friday 8-2. Passes will be available for purchase during Freshman Orientation and Open House. We accept cash, check (made out to PPS) and credit cards (there is a processing fee for credit card payments). If you have any questions please call the athletic office at 323-5361.
How about one more reminder…
Final Forms and athletic eligibility
It's August and the Portage Central Athletics office is back in action. We are incredibly excited for the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Here are some important reminders:
Please complete your Final Forms registration.
Once again, RED means NO, GREEN means GO! All registration information, and parent/guardian and student-athlete signatures are required in order to go Green. Make sure to remind your student-athlete to log into their account and sign their permissions ASAP. Here is the link for the Final Forms site.
Once again, we are very excited for this upcoming school year; it's always a great day to be a Mustang!
Want to go off campus for lunch? No problem... as long as you have parent permission
Parents/guardians will receive an email within the next 2 weeks with a link to the Google form (make sure to submit a form for each student). Please note that permission does not carry over from the previous year. Paper copies of the permission form will be available at the Welcome Center during Open House. Students will need parent permission before they are allowed to leave the building for lunch, which starts the first week of school. In order to purchase a $2 lunch sticker, students must present their school ID. The August/September lunch pass can be purchased at the Welcome Center during Open House after the permission form has been submitted.
An important note about keeping medications at school
We always recommend that medications be kept at home if possible. We understand, though, that this may not always be possible. If a need to keep or carry medication at school arises, please understand that, to keep our students safe, any prescription or non-prescription medications (like Advil or Tylenol), vitamins, herbal remedies, or nutritional supplements a student possesses at school (or at any school-related activity) must have a medical authorization form on file. Even if the medication is locked in your car or locker, an authorization form to possess medication on campus (or to school related events off-campus) is still required.
Completed forms must be submitted to the Main Office the first time you bring the authorized medication onto campus. In other words, if you need to carry a medication on the first day of school, please submit your completed authorization form to the Main Office on the first day of school. Here is a copy of the medication authorization form. Paper copies are available in the Main Office prior to August 25 during summer office hours and will be available at Open House. If you don't have a need to keep medication at school now, but you have a need later, this form can be found on the GLIC. Possessing any medication on school grounds, even if it is over-the-counter medication, without a form on file is a code of conduct violation that has school consequences. If you have questions about medication authorization, read through the form closely and reach out to our awesome school nurse, Mrs. LaForest, with those questions.
And don’t forget…
Freshman & transfer students orientation this coming Monday, August 18th
For those of you who have a 9th grader entering Portage Central High School this fall or a student who is transferring from another school, August 18th is really important.
For Freshman parents, you are asked to drop off your 9th grader for Freshman Orientation no later than 8 a.m. at our Gymnasium. The purpose of this Orientation is to make your child’s transition from middle school to high school a positive one. Seniors and juniors will be serving as Leaders and mentors. Large and small group activities are designed to address the needs and concerns of Freshmen students in an enjoyable way. We will have plenty of signs directing you to where you need to go. They will also be given paper schedules for this year, but if they lose it, no worries. They can also access it in Skyward.
We ask that all students wear comfortable clothes, wear tennis shoes and/or gym-ready shoes, and no shoes with heels or hard soles. You should also bring a water bottle. Please leave those cell phones at home, because you won’t need them. Travel light!
Then we are hoping you, as parents/guardians, will return at 11 am to our Auditorium to get more information from our principal, Eric Alburtus, and our assistant principals, Aja Kaylor and Tama Salisbury. Then, if you and your student need to stay for a Code of Conduct meeting, please stay in the auditorium, and we will bring your children to you from Orientation at 11:30 a.m. Code of Conduct meetings are required for all new student athletes and performers. Once you have attended one Code of Conduct meeting, you are not required to attend another one for your entire high school career.
For those families with a transfer student, please join us at 1 p.m., in the school Auditorium, to find out more about Portage Central High School, meet upperclassmen who will be there to help you throughout the school year and get a tour of the school.
Lastly, Chromebooks for all freshmen will be available at the Welcome Center desk from at 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, August 18th. If the line is too long or you are not here on that day, Mr. Marusek, our Chromebook guru, will be available Tuesday through Friday of next week, so you can come back during school hours to pick one up.
If you have any questions at all about this event, please contact Nikki Smith, Activities Director, at nsmith@portageps.org or 269-323-5265. We are so excited to welcome you all to Portage Central High School!
Some useful instructional videos for our freshmen!
Want to know how to navigate the lunch line? Easy – hit this link! Need to leave early sometime? No worries: learn how to get an early dismissal by clicking right here. And don’t forget: keeping this place clean is important; click here so you are confident about what that means.
All these instructional videos were made by our amazing PCTV students, and you will see more in the weeks to come!
Don’t forget to join us for Open House!
The Portage Central High School Open House will be held on Wednesday, August 20th from 6:30 pm to 8 p.m. There will be an Activities Fair in Centennial Park, weather permitting (otherwise it will be held in the Commons), so students can get club information before school starts. Too, we will be selling parking passes and this year’s yearbook, and we also have raffles for free stuff, like t-shirts, athletic passes and parking passes! There will also be an open Meet and Greet to get to know your students’ teachers and other staff, find your lockers, classes, purchase Athletic passes, and visit the Corral, our school store!
Yes, the Corral is open!
Show your Mustang Pride in style with some new gear. The Corral (located in the Commons at PCHS) will be open during Freshman Orientation from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and during the PC Open House. We have some 2025-26 school year changes, including an online store. Go Mustangs!
Students with CTE classes and your families, this is really important to read
This week, students enrolled in a CTE class likely received information about their CTE class from KRESA. Included in that information was the start date of CTE classes at the new Career Connect center, which is Monday, August 25. This is also the first half-day of school for all Portage Public Schools students.
During this half-day, students follow an abbreviated bell schedule at PC that is quite different than our typical, full-day bell schedule; an “enrollment room” takes place during the first hour-and-a-half or so of the school day allowing them an extended period of time at the beginning of the day where important school-year announcements are made, critical information is discussed, and enrollment expectations are shared. Following enrollment room, they will also attend all of their Portage Central High School classes and meet their teachers.
Students who are enrolled in morning CTE classes often choose to attend their PC classes on the first, half-day of school so they don’t miss enrollment room, and so they don’t miss the opportunity to navigate their schedule and meet their teachers on day one. If your student plans to remain at PC on August 25, they should email their CTE teacher to let them know that they will remain at their home school that day.
Oppositely, if your student would like to attend their morning CTE class on the first half-day of school, please call or email the PC attendance office to let us know they will not be in attendance. Students who miss the first day of school are responsible for making an appointment with the Main Office by the end of the first week of school to read through the important information they missed on the 25th, pick up and sign necessary forms, and more. These students should also check in with their PC teachers for any classroom policies and expectations they missed on day one for which they will be held accountable. The morning Career Connect shuttle bus will depart from Portage Central High School at 7:25 a.m. and return at 10:23 a.m.
If your student has an afternoon CTE class and chooses to attend that CTE class on August 25, a shuttle will depart from PC at 11:08 a.m. and return to PC at 2:08 p.m. Since August 25 is a half-day of school, buses will not be available to take students home after they return to PC at 2:08 p.m. that day. Please make advanced arrangements for your student so that they can get back home at the end of the day if they plan to attend their CTE class instead of remaining at PC.
Just a reminder…
Be sure to move your car out of the West Student Parking lot after 3:30 p.m. on specific days
Our Portage Central Marching Band uses the surface of the West Student Parking Lot on all Monday and Wednesday evenings for their rehearsal, in addition to the evenings of any home football games. On those nights, we ask for all vehicles to be moved from the lot by 3:30 p.m. Any student involved in after-school activities and practices should park in the East Student Parking Lot. If a vehicle is left in the West Student Parking Lot, it will be towed and the owner will be responsible for the cost. Thank you for your help and support of the Portage Central Marching Band!
Take a look at the Student Handbook, the Welcome Guide and Senior Guide!
So many colleagues put countless hours into these two important resources:
The Student Handbook. This handbook has been used and revised and improved on for more than 25 years now, and it has tons of important information about issues as varied as the attendance policy, and expectations for how we are to treat and to work with one another, student rights and everything in between. These handbooks are available online; they are no longer being printed. By enrolling your student in Portage Public Schools, you are entering into an agreement with our school-community that your student is subject to district policies and the expectations outlined in the current version of the Student Handbook and Student Code of Conduct. Have any questions about that, give me a call anytime. Thanks!
The Welcome Guide. This is built to support freshmen and new students, and their families, to get a sense of our culture and values, and to help them get involved in the tons of activities that we are blessed to provide our kids.
The Senior Guide. So much happens during the senior year, from college apps to senior pictures; it can be overwhelming to keep track of. This senior guide can help seniors and their families stay on track throughout this important year.
Schedules and schedule changes for the 2025-2026 school year
We are thankful to be able to see all of your faces very soon, and will release the schedules to students in Skyward on Monday, August 18. Be sure to check your child's Skyward account for the high school schedule for the 2025-2026 school year. Students will follow this Skyward schedule on the first day of school. Please note: Students are expected to start the first day of school in enrollment rooms assigned by grade and last name. Schedule-change request forms will be available in the Counseling Office starting on August 25. Schedule changes will be processed beginning August 26. The completed schedule change form, along with a parent signature, is needed for schedule changes. The students have the first five full days of the semester to make changes in courses, as long as there is room in our courses.
Emergencies, student cell phones and crisis communication
Portage Public Schools is always actively looking for ways to best keep our students safe. High school students are often away from their school building for numerous reasons, including for off-campus classes, appointments and for lunch.
In the unlikely event of an emergency, PPS would like to communicate with high school students in a timely and effective manner to warn them of a dangerous situation at their high school. For this reason, we are giving parents the opportunity for their students to opt-in to emergency texts to their personal cell phones.
Your student’s cell phone number would be securely stored solely in the District’s emergency alert software that is accessed only by administrators and would qualify as student information protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Students would only be contacted directly using the emergency alert system in the event of a dangerous situation where it is unsafe for them to return to campus. Follow-up messages would provide updates and give the all-clear when appropriate. You will receive the same communication.
We hope we never need to contact your student using this emergency system. But, having the ability to contact students in a timely and efficient manner is another way we can work to keep our school community safe. Thank you for your consideration.
Please complete this form by Sept. 12, 2025, to have your student’s number included in the system.
Link for Google Form sign-up: https://forms.gle/JxzonjeoYLxTK1Ka9
Food Facts from the Mustang Café
Due to the ongoing budget process in Lansing, funding at this time for the Michigan School Free Meals for all students has not been determined for this coming school year. There will be free meals for students until September 30, 2025, which is when the state of Michigan’s fiscal year ends. Beginning on October 1, 2025 families will have to begin paying for their students breakfast and lunches. Meal prices will be determined once we are closer to the September 30th date. Meal Prices are as follows UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30, 2025
Secondary Breakfast - $ 0
Ala Carte second breakfast - $ 1.60
Secondary Lunch - $ 0 (depending on the station)
Ala Carte second lunch - $3.50 / $3.75 (depending on the station)
Ala Carte Entrée - $3.50 / $3.75 (depending on the station) – meal presented at register does not have all required components.
Extra Entrée - $1.75 - $2.00 (depending on station and with “purchase” of a full school lunch)
Milk - $ .60
All meals will still require students to have at least ½ cup of fruit or vegetable when they go through the register. Students will also be able to purchase ala carte items as long as they have money in their food service account. No charging of ala carte items into the negative is permitted.
Breakfast is served at all PPS schools every day school is in session. Breakfast will be served on the first day of school, Monday, August 25th.
School meals are healthy, affordable, and deliciously convenient! Did you know that your student might qualify for free or reduced-price meals? The application only takes a few minutes to complete. Your information will be kept safe and confidential and will only be used to determine your students’ meal eligibility. Education and Nutrition Benefit applications are now available for this school year and benefits from the previous school year will expire on Oct. 7th. Parents are encouraged to apply online at https://portage.familyportal.cloud to avoid long delays in processing of applications.
Are you hungry and want to see what’s for lunch? Need carb counts? Want to know how many calories your favorite school lunch has? Have a food allergy and need to find a safe meal? Then check out Portage’s exclusive Nutrislice website! https://portageps.nutrislice.com or download the app to your smart phone and have the info at your fingertips each day before lunch!
Low Balance Email Alerts – tired of last minute texts or emails asking for lunch money? Sign up for our low balance email alerts. When your student’s balance falls below $5, you will receive an email that lets you know you need to replenish funds on their account. You can sign up at https://portage.familyportal.cloud .
Lunch Money – Yes, your student can pay cash for his or her ala carte items each day, or they can bring in a check or cash to put on account, but did you know you can add money to your student’s lunch account electronically? Simply sign on to https://portage.familyportal.cloud, setup your account (you will need their student ID number—also known as their “Other ID” in Skyward), and then you can add funds, see their order history, set up email low balance alerts, and even transfer funds if you have more than one student.
Looking for a part-time job that fits into your student’s school schedule?
The food service department is hiring. Apply online at careers.compass-usa.com, search by location of Portage, Michigan.
Speaking of lunch money…
Meal Charge Policy
Ala carte entrees, extra entrees, beverages or snacks are never allowed to be charged into the negative. Students must pay off any negative balances that carried over before being allowed to purchase ala carte items.
Negative Balance Policy
Negative balances are required by law to be paid to the Food Service Department by the end of each school year. At the end of the year all outstanding negative balances will be forwarded to the district Business Office to begin collection proceedings.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Susan Livingston, Director of Dining Services at 323-5155 or via email at slivingston@portageps.org.
We are almost there, to starting a great new year,
Eric Alburtus
And if you want even more PC news…