For Thursday, August 13
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
Construction on South Westnedge near PC is finished!
Yay! Thanks to the great leadership of a PC grad, and solid work by city of Portage colleagues and independent contractors, our section of Westnedge is completed. That will make practices and the start of school much easier for all of us. Still, there is construction further south on Westnedge and elsewhere in the city, so please continue to take care.
And we are watching the construction on Centre Avenue closely. So many of our students and families come to PC that way, and we have some worries that the construction might not be done before school starts. So please, start visiting as a family about what will be the safest ways for our kids to travel back and forth to school if the construction continues past August 30. We all want to make sure all our kids are safe – before, during and after school.
Attention, incoming freshmen!
Arrive at 7:45 am on Monday, August 24 for Freshman Orientation
Freshman Orientation will take place from 8 am to 11:30 am on Monday, August 24th. It will be held in the Portage Central High School Gymnasium. Incoming 9th graders should be here by 7:45 am and wait outside the gymnasium doors until they are welcomed in by our Link Crew Leaders. Parents, there will be a meeting with Mr. Alburtus at 11:00 am in the Auditorium. And after that parent meeting, there is a Code of Conduct Meeting at 11:30 am in the Auditorium. If your child is a 9th grader, or simply has not done the Code of Conduct meeting before in high school, and plans to participate in Athletics or Activities such as Archery, Debate, DECA, E-Sports, the Fall Play, Forensics, HOSA, Marching Band, Model UN, and the Spring Musical, please attend this meeting. We will send your children to you from orientation to the Auditorium.
We can’t wait to meet you all and are excited to welcome you to the PCHS family! If you have any questions about Orientation, please contact Nikki Smith, Activities Director, at nsmith@portageps.org or 269-323-5265.
Don’t forget to join us for Open House – plus have dinner with us!
Tuesday, August 25th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm is our PC Back-to-School Open House
The Portage Central High School Open House will be held on Tuesday, August 25 from 6:30 pm to 8 pm. 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, blankets, stuffed Maverick, 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!
And food trucks will be here – so skip dinner and eat with us!
Sweet Caroline’s and their amazing ice cream!
Off the Cuff with a whole variety of dinner options!
Students wishing to purchase a parking pass at Open House must first register on the GLIC (pcglic.com). The student is responsible for filling out the Google form and bringing their valid driver’s license, vehicle registration, and $20 payment to the Welcome Center. Parking passes will not be sold if the student does not present a valid license and registration at the time of purchase.
Lunch passes will NOT be sold at Open House, but parents/guardians will be able to fill out the permission form if they haven't already done so. Forms were emailed to the address listed in Skyward. Stop at the Welcome Center counter to submit the permission form using one of the available Chromebooks.
PC Yearbook wants your summer photos for the 2027 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! Got questions? Email yearbook adviser Ann Alburtus at aalburtus@portageps.org.
Outstanding fines and unserved consequences
Just another quick reminder that last week, outstanding materials and/or fines notices were sent to students entering 10th through 12th grade. They were also sent to parent/guardian email addresses that are registered in Skyward. Thank you for taking care of these outstanding issues before the school year begins. If you received a notification and believe it is an error, please encourage your student to talk to the appropriate teacher or staff member when school resumes.
For those students who have unserved detention time from a previous school year, there is still time to take care of that time with summer community service. Please reach out to Eric Alburtus (ealburtus@portageps.org) to set that up. Remember, all unserved detention time must be cleared if a student wishes to purchase an off-campus lunch pass.
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 2026-27 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 for parents to complete. 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 September lunch pass can be purchased at the Welcome Center during the first week of school, after the permission form has been submitted – and as long as the student meets other eligibility requirements.
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 am to 1 pm and during the PC Open House. We have a variety of new apparel, blankets, and lanyards. And if you prefer to shop online, we have you covered! Visit this link: https://pcschoolstore.ludus.com/. Go Mustangs!
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 first and reach out to our awesome Main Office colleagues at 323-5200.
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!
More useful information for students and families as we start a new school year…
A review of our wireless communication devices policy and one building-wide change in 2026-27
Earlier this year, when the Governor signed two bills (House Bill 4141 and Senate Bill 495) that are intended to remove distractions from the classroom, our School Effectiveness Team revisited our building-wide cell phone policy that has been in place since the 2024-25 school year. We were pleased to find that our school expectations on devices are already in line with the new state legislation! This review also led our team to adopt one revision that will improve instructional delivery across classrooms.
For those of you who are new to PC or those of you who have been here for a while, take a look at our wireless device rules below to ensure all students understand what kinds of devices are permitted or prohibited at school and/or inside classrooms during the school day.
All wireless communication devices must be silenced and out of sight during class periods, regardless of where you are located in the building (like the hallway). Devices include but are not limited to cell phones, iPads, tablets, smartwatches, smart glasses, non-PPS laptops, wireless headphones and earbuds, Chromebooks, etc.
Class periods (or “instructional time”) are defined as the periods between the start and end time of each scheduled class period.
Instructors may permit the use of PPS-issued wireless communication devices for narrowly-defined, lesson-specific curricular purposes, and may also revoke that permission at any time.
Students may use PPS and non-PPS wireless communication devices during non-instructional times. This includes passing periods in between classes, before and after school, and during lunch.
While some individual students may have brought a non-PPS laptop or tablet to a class (or classes) in the past for academic use with teacher permission, over time, our School Effectiveness Team found this is no longer practicable for a host of reasons. To support the most efficient use of class time and resources, PPS-issued wireless devices are now the only wireless devices that may be permitted for use during instructional time. This shift will help distribute our technical support effectively, it ensures equitable supervision of device use, and it will help to prevent loss or damage to personal devices at school.
Please check out the GLIC (Grade Level Information Center) for more information regarding wireless communication devices and for answers to frequently asked questions.
Be sure to move your car out of the West Student Parking lot after 3:30 pm 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 pm. 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!
From the Counseling Office…
Schedules and schedule changes for the 2026-2027 school year
We are thankful to be able to see all of our students in person very soon! We will release the student schedules in Skyward on Monday, August 24. Remember that Skyward has been updated over the summer, so it is new to all of us.
Students will start the first half day of school in enrollment rooms assigned by grade and last name on August 31.
This year, with the arrival of a new Skyward system, schedule changes will be processed exclusively by a parent-approved schedule change form. These forms are available in the Counseling Office starting on August 24. Changes will be processed beginning August 26. The completed schedule change form, along with a parent signature, is required for all schedule changes. Keep in mind that the students have the first five full days of the semester to make changes in courses, as long as there is room available in the classes they are requesting. Changes in lunches and requests for teachers are not available at this time.
An upcoming visit from the Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services Department
Technicians from the Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services Department (KCHCS) will be at our school on Thursday, September 3rd to conduct vision screenings for our freshmen. Students with corrective lenses should plan to bring them in preparation for screening. These state-mandated screenings are conducted by trained vision technicians and do not require any further action by freshmen students’ families. Students will be summoned for screening by last name via PA announcement throughout the school day. Have questions? Please reach out to Adriana Davies at adavies@portageps.org.
Can almost smell the start of the year, or maybe that’s just the burgers at Open House,
Eric Alburtus
And if you want even more PC news…