Dear Emmaus High School Families,
Thank you for your continued support as we approach the fourth marking period. In this newsletter, you will find information regarding a number of timely topics including scheduling, proms and graduation. As always, should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us by phone or email.
Sincerely,
Kate Kieres, Principal
Emmaus High School
Marking Period Four Updates
Thank you for responding to our final 20-21 commitment survey last week! Students who changed their designation from remote to hybrid learning for marking period four will begin attending on April 8th (the first day of the fourth marking period) and will continue to attend 2-3 days per week with their alphabetical cohort. The shift calendar is available HERE for your reference.
As a reminder, the revised Health and Safety Plan includes updated mask guidelines that went into effect on 3/29. They are listed below:
DO choose masks that:
- Have two or more layers of washable, breathable fabric. Disposable masks that meet the guidelines are fine as well.
- Completely cover your nose and mouth
- Fit snugly against the sides of your face, without any gaps
- Have a nose wire to prevent air from leaking out of the top of the mask
NOT permitted:
- Are made of fabric that makes it hard to breathe, such as vinyl
- Have exhalation valves which allow virus particles to escape
- GAITERS or BUFFS
- A face shield is not a substitute for a face mask
2021 Schedule Update
Course Verification forms are available to students and parents in PowerSchool. Students in grades 9-11 should review them with their parents and teachers. Requests for changes can be made via email by parents to the counselor on or before April 2. This is the final opportunity to request changes before the master schedule is built.
Reminder: Our Block Schedule Will Change in 21-22
The semester block schedule, which was implemented this year only due to COVID-19, will no longer be in place in 21-22.
Instead, we will be implementing an A/B block schedule. In an A/B block schedule, students attend a maximum of four classes per day, which are longer in duration than on a traditional schedule. Students attend half of their classes each day, on an A/B rotation. One credit courses run for a full year. Half credit courses run for one semester (two marking periods). Quarter credit classes run for one marking period. A few courses receive more than 1.0 credit – these meet for a double period on some days to complete in-depth lab activities.
Below is a sample of what a student’s schedule would look like under this model. Note: Not shown here is a periodic (1 or 2 times per week) remediation/enrichment period that may be added when we finalize our bell schedule.
National Honor Society Induction
Congratulations to an additional 19 new senior members of the Emmaus High School Chapter of the National Honor Society, who were inducted in a live Zoom ceremony on Tuesday, March 23rd!
Proms and Graduation
Below is updated information regarding the status of these events.
Proms
The planning for a prom begins years ahead of time, when our class officers and advisors select venues and make financial deposits to secure them.
The Class of 2022 selected DeSales University in Center Valley as its venue for Junior Prom. Unfortunately, ongoing gathering limits in Pennsylvania prevent us from being able to host this event. However, we look forward to planning and executing a very special senior prom for the Class of 2022 next year.
The Class of 2021 selected The Steel Stacks in Bethlehem as its venue for Senior Ball, and the venue is able to provide an enormous outdoor, tented space that will allow us to host this event! The Senior Ball will be held on the evening of Friday, June 11th. Some aspects of the ball will be different than in years past, but it will be a formal event and a night to remember with music, food, games, photo ops and most important, friends. We can only have the event if we have enough potential attendees to make it viable, so your class officers ask seniors to respond to this interest survey by Wednesday, April 7th at noon: https://forms.gle/2jXzUSEGCPJsXdjx5
Graduation
Graduation remains scheduled for Sunday, June 13th at the PPL Center. Based on current event occupancy guidelines, we will have two, identical live, in-person ceremonies that day in order to accommodate all of our graduates. Both ceremonies will be live-streamed via the internet and students who may prefer to attend virtually due to health concerns will have their name read aloud during their assigned ceremony. The number of guests who may accompany each graduate will be limited and based on the occupancy guidelines in place at that time. More information regarding graduation will be sent to seniors and their families next week.
