For Thursday, February 12
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
The last chance to catch “Newsies” is this weekend!
The show continues this weekend on Friday, February 13th and Saturday, February 14th at 7:30 p.m and Saturday, February 14th and Sunday, February 15th at 2 pm Tickets are available at https://pchsboxoffice.ludus.com/admin/shows.php Adults - $18 and Students - $16
PC students, want to save some money? There will be a student show tonight, Thursday, February 12th @ 7 pm Tickets for this performance are $5 for students and cash only at the door. Thanks for joining us! And, if you want to see a snippet of this amazing show, click on the link: Newsies Preview
Are you interested in earning the Community Service Award?
The deadline for the 2025-2026 Community Service Award is approaching. A specific date has not yet been chosen, but it will be sometime in the first half of April. This gives you about two months to complete your 50 hours for the yearly award or the 200 hours for the four-year award for seniors. Keep an eye out for future updates, and keep up the good work!
In case you missed it…
Thinking, planning and getting ready for this spring’s SAT, PSAT
A lot has changed over the past half dozen years in so many areas of our lives – and the SAT is one of them. The tests that can be so important for the college-application process, that we took as parents 20+ years ago, are very, very different from what our kids experience today – and what our kids will take this spring is likely very different from what some of their old siblings took even a handful of years ago.
For one thing, the SAT is fully online these days. Too, for nearly 20 years we had an awesome and free way for kids to get a lot of practice. College Board (the makers of the SAT) has added hurdles to our kids’ ability to use those resources, for a variety of reasons. (If you want to hear the longer story anytime, let me know.)
So we are working on new processes for our kids, and colleagues will be working particularly with our juniors to support their success on these assessments. This presentation is part of our work together. So in the next few weeks, can I ask for some help?
Take a look at the presentation, created by our colleagues, just to get a sense of things.
Ask your daughter or son to do the same.
Set aside some time for her or him to work on the exercises and practice tests, just to see what the test feels like and to see the other ways they can prepare.
The more our kids try these resources out, the more comfortable they feel. And when they are comfortable, they tend to perform better.
To be clear, the SAT is not the end-all, be-all; our kids show their huge range of talents and abilities in an enormous variety of ways – and we are grateful. And if a student does well on the SAT, some additional doors can open – financially, in their choices of colleagues and universities, in their power to make the best decisions for themselves. So thank you for any support and help you can give to all our kids.
A Veterans Affairs benefit potentially for our kids
Children of 100% P&T disabled veterans are eligible for up to 5 additional months of VA Chapter 35 payments while full time high school students (in addition to the 36 month benefit for college and trade school).
PC is now an approved school and can certify students whose parents meet the VA requirements (must be a fully service connected disabled veteran—100% p&t)
The benefit is paid directly to the child (or their guardian) and can be used for school related expenses or saved for future needs. It is the dependent’s benefit.
The current tax free monthly benefit amount is $1574.
The dependent can receive up to five months while in high school without taking from the current 36 months of post high school benefits.
Accessing this benefit only requires a request to the VA for the student’s Certificate of Eligibility and a form filled out to the school.
The extra five month high school benefit is being discontinued after this school year.
Questions? You can contact the VA at 800-698-2411 (choose options 5, 2, 4 to get to the education line). Mr. Alburtus can also connect you with a family who has already completed the process to help you apply.
So none of us forget…
Please join us at the 8th Grade Family Night on February 24!
There are a lot of important decisions that families need to make to prepare their 8th-grade daughters and sons so they are ready to make the jump to high school. This event – coming up on Tuesday, February 24 at 6:30 pm in the auditorium – starts all of those conversations. Hit this link right here to look at the program for the evening; it is full of information about each of our departments and classes that we offer. And hit this link to see a rough draft of the presentation. The more you read now, the more you will be prepared for the decisions ahead. We all want all our kids to start high school off well – and this event is a big part of that effort. Thanks for joining us!
Seniors, especially, don’t forget!
Semester one transcripts have been posted to all student and family Skyward accounts!
Your student’s current transcript, along with all previous report cards and transcripts, can be found under the "Portfolio" tab in Skyward.
Senior parents, if your student needs a copy of their mid-year grades for college please have them submit a 'send now' request in Parchment ASAP. Not all colleges require a copy of mid-year grades so they can check with the college to see if they are needed for admission.
Got questions on your student’s transcript or Parchment.com? Please reach out to your student’s counselor or our registrar Nicole Gutshall at ngutshall@portageps.org
Upcoming events for CHS Bands
HS Pre-Festival Concert -- PC Bands will be holding our annual Pre-Festival Concert on Thursday, February 19th at 7:00pm in the Auditorium. Featured will be the Winds & Percussion, Concert Band, and Symphonic Band. The concert is free and open to the public. This concert is our opportunity to perform the music for our community as we prepare for the following week's MSBOA Festival performance. There will also be a special guest performance by the Western Michigan University Wind Symphony.
MSBOA District 11 Band & Orchestra Festival -- PC is excited to host this year's festival on Wednesday, March 4 and Thursday, March 5. Performances will happen in the PCHS Auditorium, and Sight Reading will be held in the CHS Band Room. All performances are open to the public and are free. See the schedule here. We would love to see many family members and community members come to support the PC Bands and Orchestras and local area ensembles.
Big Band Bash -- On Friday, April 10th, CHS will be hosting the Big Band Bash in the Commons. Tickets are $5 each and are available at the door or thru Ludus, available soon at this link. This year's BBB will be featuring Portage Northern HS Jazz Band, Central HS Jazz Band, as well as the WMS/CMS William Short Rock/Jazz Ensemble. Cost of tickets also includes a beverage and dessert. Come and join us for a night of fun and live jazz music!
Attention, parents and students attending DECA State
Congratulations on earning your spot to compete at DECA State in Detroit, March 5 -7! Please mark your calendars for a mandatory parent and student meeting in the PCHS Auditorium on Thursday, February 26th, at 6 pm Additionally, we still need two (2) parent chaperones. If you have any questions, reach out to Mrs. Mayfield at imayfield@portageps.org.
Tutoring
Now that we are into the second semester, we wanted to remind you that we do have tutoring opportunities and opportunities to be a tutor. The links are below. Please reach out to Teresa Imus, Activities Assistant, at timus@portageps.org if you have any questions.
Glad to be healthy again and to see some sun lately,
Eric Alburtus
And if you want even more PC news…