For Thursday, December 18
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
Here are some good wishes for the Holidays from our awesome kids at PCTV
Click right here for smiles and good cheer!
Want money for college? Of course!
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is open!. Go to studentaid.gov and click "Create Account" in the upper right-hand corner. Determine if or which parent is considered a Contributor for the FAFSA. You will need the following information to create the ID: full name and social security number as they appear on social security card (if applicable), date of birth, valid email address and phone number, immediate access to your email account, and your residential address.
Please note: If you have a sibling who attended college before you, your parent or guardian may already have an FSA ID.
A reminder about other money, money, money…
Holiday break is a great time to look for scholarships!
Seniors, don't forget to check out all the scholarship information on our scholarship website; hit this link to take a look!
In particular, the PEF (Portage Education Foundation) scholarships on this site are available only to PPS seniors; go to this site for more information or scan the QR code in the Counseling Office. The deadline to apply for the PEF scholarships is Feb. 14.
Yearbook Senior Memory Ads
Just a reminder that if you’d like to purchase a Senior Memory Ad for your Class of 2026 Graduate, all ad designs are due by midnight on December 21, 2025. Purchasing and designing your Senior Memory Ad is easy! Just visit www.yearbookordercenter.com and use code 3604. Scroll down and click Start Your Ad.
And don’t forget to order a yearbook! It makes for a great gift during the Holidays!
If you have any questions, reach out to adviser Ann Alburtus at aalburtus@portageps.org.
It’s Not Too Late!
Holiday Shopping at the School Store
Buy a gift for your favorite Mustang this holiday season! Stop by the store or order online at pcschoolstore.ludus.com. Online orders can be picked up at the PCHS Welcome Center during school (7:40 am - 3 pm) or shop in person during lunch (11:22-12:47 pm) before December 22nd! We have plenty of Mustang apparel and small gift ideas that will make great holiday surprises!
Just a reminder…
First-semester final exams are coming soon
Exams take place Tuesday through Friday, January 13th-16th. And for our kids preparing for those exams…
And to get on your calendar…
Link Crew Cocoa and Cram on Saturday, January 10 in the Commons
This will be held in the Commons at Portage Central from 9 am to 1 pm and is open for any student that needs assistance preparing for exams, 9th through 12th. There will be coffee, hot cocoa and donuts. Tutors will be available to work with students. Students do not need to schedule a time to come; they just drop in with their materials, and we will find someone to work with them. Also, if students want to work with a group of peers on preparing for exams, they can work here quietly together. Please encourage your students to attend or to sign up to tutor other students during this time. They will receive service hours and also truly help others. Cocoa & Cram Tutoring
Want to learn more about the Career Connect Campus?
Click right here to get an overview of the programs at the new career and technical education campus. Students will learn even more on Tuesday, January 27th as CCC colleagues present in our English classes. Then, families will decide if they want their daughters and sons to attend a tour of the campus on Friday, February 6th from 9:30-10:30 am. (Students will likely leave PC about 9:15 for the ride over, and they will likely return to classes here at 11. So they will miss parts of 2nd and 4th hours, and all of 3rd.)
In order to attend the tour here are the steps ahead for each interested student.
Talk it over with your family.
Anytime between now and Thursday, January 29th at 3 pm, this link to sign up.
Also, anytime before Thursday, January 29th at 3 pm get these things completed:
download this permission slip, and print it;
ensure your parents or guardians have given their permission and signed it;
and return it to the Counseling Office.
The first 45 students to return the slip are guaranteed bus transportation to and from the CCC for the tour.
If we have more than 45 folks sign up, we will work with our Transportation district Department to see if they can provide more buses
If we cannot provide additional buses, parents can drive their own sons and daughters to the CCC for the tour. Just let the Attendance Office know if you plan to do this. Sorry, students cannot drive themselves.
And remember, as with all field trips, you have to be passing all your classes the week before the trip in order to participate. So stay focused on your success!
Last call!
Buy a brick for McCamley-Knight or Mustang Field, or a tile for the new pool! Great Holiday Gifts!
So many families and community members purchased bricks at the new McCamley-Knight and Mustang Fields and tiles at the new pool — to leave their mark in these spaces where so many great kids, parents, families, and community members celebrated and where so many more will celebrate decades into the future.
This sale continues until Graduation Day this spring. So if you are considering a brick at the new McCamley-Knight or Mustang Field, click here. If you would like a tile at the new pool, click here. Thank you — again and again — for all that you have done!
And our thanks also goes out to Hounds and Co.!
Hounds and Co. provides delicious (at least Toby thinks so; I have not tried myself) and very nutritious food for our counseling dog. We simply could not provide our counseling dog, Toby, with everything he needs without their help. We are so, so grateful.
Our goal continues to be the same: to raise $10,000 -$12,000 to pay for the next counseling dog, long after I am gone – and we are so close! Only $400 left to go, to guarantee this support for our kids for years into the future.. If you would like to help, you can hit this link anytime, and we would be so, so grateful – for a long time ahead.
Final thoughts for this year…
Please have a wonderful, safe, family- and friend-filled Holiday break. Thank you. So, so much, for all that you do for your own kids and for all our community’s kids.
And Merry Christmas to you all.
Deeply grateful to be a member of our community, for a good and long time now,
Eric Alburtus
And if you want even more PC news…