Greetings parents, partners and friends of San Miguel High School. February was a quick month that saw us celebrate Catholic Schools Week and the birth of our school’s namesake, San Miguel, on Feb 9. We also held our first parent/teacher con-ference of the semester and the students had a little down time as they participated in a Valentine’s Dance.

The major focus of many of our teachers and administration has been working on next year’s master schedule and course offerings. For the first time in San Mi-guel’s short history, we will offer self-contained honors courses for the 2011-2012 school year. Please see the enclosed letter which gives more details about the courses, the expectations for students and parents and the list of newly created course offerings. The primary point I want to emphasize about these new courses is that they will not be the only place where

Greetings From The Principal

MARCH NEWSLETTER March, 2011

Volume 2, Issue 3

From The Registrar’s Office

April lunch menus due on Thursday, March 17, 2011. No late menus ac-cepted. The Registrar’s Office is responsible for student transcripts and re-cording student attendance/absences. Please contact Ms. Miranda if you have any questions related to these matters...294-6403 x1112.

March Calendar 2

Counselor’s Corner 2

Advancement Office 3

About Us 5

Dean’s Office 3

Student Life 4

Inside this issue:

high expectations are held for students. Regardless of whether a student is in a regular or an honors/AP course, the rigor and expectation will remain high and stu-dents will be exposed to a college-ready curriculum.

As you look through this issue of our newsletter, you will notice our newly ap-proved San Miguel logo. The logo reflects our affiliation with the Cristo Rey network while the star & Signum Fidei (Sign of Faith) pay homage to our Lasallain roots and the mission we have of serving the poor.

For those of you who will have students returning to San Miguel next year, you should have received the re-enrollment packet in the mail with your student’s pro-gress report. Please contact the our regis-trar if you have not received this informa-tion.

God Bless.

Counselor’s Corner: Ms. Janae Renteria & Mrs. Luci Paz (P) 294-6403 x1208

College Awareness Week March 14th through the 17th will be College Awareness week! The counseling department will be hosting a vari-ety of fun activities to help students get excited about college! On the 17th all students and faculty are encouraged to wear their favorite college tee shirt!

ACT/SAT & PCC Testing Juniors will be signing up for ACT and SAT testing. The ACT exam will be on April 9th and the SAT will be on MAY 7th. The exams will not be on San Miguel Campus. Each student is allowed to choose their testing site. Please be sure to coordinate with your student the most conven-ient testing site. Sophomore students will be taking the Pima placement exam for dual enrollment on March 16th and 17th at San Miguel. Please encourage your student to review study material at http://www.pima.edu/assessment/Sample Questions.shtml

March 2011 Volume 2, Issue 3

Page 2

Highlights For the Month of March

Mar 4 — 3rd Annual Tal-ent Show. Show starts at 6:30 PM in the Click Fam-ily Student Center. Free Admission!

Mar 9 — Ash Wednes-day...Parents are invited to participate during the Liturgy w/ashes. Liturgy will be in the Click Center starting at 9:45 AM.

Mar 11 — Re-enrollment packets...packets were sent on with progress reports in mid-Feb.

Mar 12 — SAT exam. Please encourage your students to get a restful Friday before reporting to the test site on Saturday.

ARCE Testing — ARCE Testing for Juniors will take place the week of Mar 13 instead of the week of Mar 20.

Mar 18 — No school. Mar 26 — The admissions

office will be offering the final entrance exam of the school year on this day from 7:30 AM to 12 PM. Pass the word to friends and families who are interested in enrolling a student at SMHS.

Summer Programs The counseling office has an extensive list of available programs. Many have scholarships available or are free of costs. Please encourage your student to apply for sum-mer programs!

Summer School & Repeating Courses Any student that has failed a course is required to attend a pre-approved summer school pro-gram. If your child has failed any first semester classes please make preparations for them to attend sum-mer school. We will be releasing pub-lic school summer dates as soon as they become available. Also be aware that all pre-approved pro-grams range in price from $120-$245.

“You still have time to support San Miguel students... without it costing you anything at all!

Through the Catholic Tuition Support Organization (CTSO), you can recommend that San Miguel receive your contribution and know that your tax dollars are supporting education right here in Southern Arizona. To give through CTSO, please visit www.ctso‐tucson.org or call (520) 838‐2558. If you would like to support a specific student at San Miguel, please designate your tax dollars through the Institute for Better Education (IBE). For additional details about rec‐ommending a student, please visit their site at www.ibescholarships.org or call (520) 512‐5438. Give before April 15th through either CTSO or IBE and your support ‐‐ whether $50, $100, or $500 (up to $1000 for a couple filing jointly or $500 for an individual)‐‐ can be‐come a tax credit on your Arizona 2010 tax return, as long as it doesn't exceed your an‐nual state tax liability. Take advantage of this opportunity to support San Miguel and receive a dollar‐for‐dollar tax credit on your 2010 state taxes—give by April 15th! If you have any questions about how to support San Miguel, please contact Nicola Hart‐mann at (520) 294‐6403 x1308 or hartmannn@sanmiguelhigh.org.” ATTENTION ALUMNI “The Alumni Relations Committee at San Miguel is seeking volunteers to come to‐gether to assemble care packages for our alumni on Wednesday, April 27th at 3:45 pm in the Fernandez Conference Room. The Alumni Relations Committee is a new collabo‐ration of staff, faculty, alumni, and other supporters who will organize efforts to engage and support our alumni. In our first project, we will be putting together small reminders of our support to send to our alumni in anticipation of finals and another successful year at their respective colleges. Please contact Nicola Hartmann at (520) 294‐6403 x1308 or hartmannn@sanmiguelhigh.org with questions or to sign up as a volunteer.”

From The Advancement Office Ms. Nicola Hartmann, Ms. Elena Ruiz & Ms. Marty Esparza (P) 294-6403 x1308

March 2011 Volume 2, Issue 3

...every dollar you

give comes back to

you as a tax credit.

Page 3

From The Dean: Mr. Moskal

Dress code violations, es-pecially among freshmen girls, seem to have in-creased this past month. Please make sure that your child is wearing the proper footwear - black or brown, shine-able shoes. Jeans or form-fitting ("skinny pants") pants continue to be a problem. If there is a fi-nancial problem concern-ing proper clothing, please contact me directly. Please strive to get your child to school on time in the morn-ing. Morning tardiness is always a problem at San Miguel.

I am making more phone calls and email to parents to keep them informed about any problems at school. You may always contact me via email (ljmoskal@gmail.com) or by school phone (294-6403 ext 1420).

From Student Life: Ms. Husband

March 2011 Volume 2, Issue 3

Page 4

TALENT SHOW

The 3rd Annual Talent Show will be held on Friday, March 4th at 6:30 PM in the Click Family Student Cen-ter. Please join us for fun and memorable evening as we celebrate the wonderful musical talents of our stu-dents. Admission is free and all family and friends are welcome!

On Feb 11, San Miguel High School said good-bye to a wonderful man and a faithful servant...Arthur “Art” Fer-nandez. For years Art had volunteered at SMHS, build-ing the technology capacity and taking care of student, teacher and staff IT needs. He was tireless in his efforts and spent eight hours a day, five days a week for years on end helping make SMHS a better place to work and learn. He will be missed.

San Miguel High School, a Catholic, Lasallian learning commu-nity empowering youth from underserved families, nurtures a Christian spirit and integrates rigorous academics with practical experience, thereby transforming students to be prepared for col-lege and career. San Miguel High School opened in 2004 in order to create a learning community where students from families of limited financial means have the opportunity to develop to their full potential. San Miguel is lo-cated in Tucson’s economically depressed south side where 50% of adult residents do not have a high school education and 42% of San Mi-guel’s neighbors earn less than $25,000 per year. At San Miguel, students take a full college preparatory course load while simultaneously holding internships, working in corporations and earning nearly sixty percent of their school tuition. The Corporate In-ternship Program (CIP) at San Miguel gives students the opportunity to form new identities as citizens and professionals who have a bright fu-ture.

San Miguel High School 6601 S. San Fernando Rd. Tucson, AZ 85756

Phone: 520-294-6403 Fax: 520-294-6417 E-mail: principal@sanmiguelhigh.org

Web Address:

www.sanmiguelhigh.org

M A R C H N E W S L E T T E R

CIP Partner Luncheon, Feb 18, 2011.

San Miguel High SchoolSan Miguel High SchoolCatholic, College and Career Preparatory

6601 SOUTH SAN FERNANDO ROAD · TUCSON, ARIZONA 85756 · (520) 294-6403 · WWW.SANMIGUELHIGH.ORG

Feb 28, 2011 Dear Parents & Guardians of San Miguel Students, I am writing to inform you of changes in course offerings at San Miguel High School. Starting with the 2011 ‐ 2012 school year, San Miguel will offer self‐contained honors courses in grades 9 through 11. We are very excited about these new courses as they will allow eligible students to participate in coursework that is challenging beyond the normally rigorous classes your student is already attending. I want to be absolutely clear that the normal courses offered at San Miguel will continue to meet the standard of providing students a "college ready" curriculum. Regardless of whether a student at San Miguel is enrolled in a regular, honors or AP course, he or she will be challenged in a way that will prepare them for the demands of university level classes. In the coming weeks, eligible students will be given an opportunity to select courses for the 2011 ‐ 2012 school year. The criteria for participation in honors/AP courses includes teacher recommendation, prior grades in selected content area, determination to stay enrolled in honors/AP course, student agreement to meet projected coursework/homework demands and parental agreement to support the honors/AP standard. While our ultimate goal is to offer honors/AP courses to all students who are willing to accept the challenge, in our first year we will have limited available seats in each course and at each grade level. I want to reiterate that regardless of whether a student is enrolled in an honors course or a regular course, they will participate in coursework that will fully prepare them for college. Honors/AP courses that will be offered during the 2011 ‐ 2012 school year: * First Time Offerings

Freshmen Sophomores Juniors Seniors

Algebra I (H)* Geometry (H)* Algebra II (H)*

English I (H)* English II (H)* English III (H)* PCC Writing 101

Spanish I (H)* Spanish II (H)* AP Spanish

Dual Enrollment Spanish

World History (H)* AP US History

Biology (H)* Chemistry (H)*

AP Art*

At San Miguel High School we will continue to work to meet the expectations you have of us providing your student with a quality education that embraces Lasallian principles and the tenants of the Catholic Church. I invite your questions and comments and look forward to working with the entire San Miguel community as we move our school, and our students, to new heights. With Warm Regards, Richard Reyes Principal