• Our annual Dinner and a Game/Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony will take place on Fri, Feb 2, 2024 -- Click Here for Event Details. Dinner is from 5-7pm in the HS cafeteria and Varsity Games begin at 5:30pm. Dinner tickets are available in the HS main office until Friday and at the door on Friday until sold out. Many thanks to the SCCS Boosters and The Inns of Aurora for their support of this amazing event. We hope to see you there!
• 2024 SC Jr/Sr (grades 6-12) Hardcover Yearbook, orders due Apr 1. inter-state.com, Code: 83345W. Cost is $45. Sr HS yearbook questions, please contact Mr. Bakija via bakijap@southerncayuga.org 
• 2024 SC Jr HS (grades 6-8) Softcover Yearbook, orders due May 1. Cost is $10. Order forms were distributed to students last week. Jr HS yearbook questions, please contact Mrs. Howell via howellm@southerncayuga.org  
• SCCS Musical 2024… The SpongeBob Musical. Mar 15 & 16 at 7pm; Mar 17 at 2pm in the SCCS Auditorium. Tickets will go on sale starting Mar 1 and may be purchased via https://sccsdramaclub.ludus.com/ or at the door. We hope to see you there! 

Sr HS Guidance Office Update

• Senior Scholarship applications are now available on Naviance.  Students with questions should stop into the Guidance Office.
• 2024-25 Student scheduling… 
  • February 12: Scheduling meetings begin with all 10th grade students & families. Info letters were mailed home Tues, Jan 23. 
  • March 18: Scheduling meetings begin with all 9th grade students & families. Info letters will be mailed home Fri, Feb 16.
  • For additional information, please visit https://www.southerncayuga.org/973 

Athletics Update

• Please see our sports schedule here. 
• Championship season will begin shortly for our varsity teams. Information on digital ticketing will be posted on the Athletics website.
• Spring Sports sign-ups will begin in early February. Registration will take place on Final Forms.
• All students who are planning to participate in spring sports need a physical on file within one year of the first day of practice. Please contact our school nurse, Anne Reynolds, at reynoldsanne@southerncayuga.org with any questions.

Southern Cayuga Scholarship Foundation (SCSF) 2024 Campaign
Over the past 32 years, the Southern Cayuga Scholarship Foundation (SCSF) has made 341 scholarship awards, totaling over $306,000 in financial support to SCCS students and graduates. Every dollar of SCSF scholarship has been raised by generous members of this community who believe in the value of continuing education for our district’s youth.
On Thurs, Feb 1 from approx 5:30 to 8:00pm, the Foundation will hold its annual Phonathon fundraiser. The SCSF Phonathon is held at the Southern Cayuga Jr./Sr. High School – powered by our volunteer student operators, calling hundreds of district residents to enlist their financial support for the scholarship award program.
You may also visit the SCSF website: (https://southerncayugascholarship.org) or SCSF Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/southerncayugascholarships) for additional information. If you have not been contacted in the past and would like to support the SCSF this year, you may securely donate online at https://southerncayugascholarship.org/donate. If you have questions about the SCSF, please contact Marian Brown at mbrown@wells.edu.   

Luke A. Carnicelli, Principal
Southern Cayuga Jr/Sr High School
Ph. 315.364.7111 x2103  -- www.southerncayuga.org/648

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December 21, 2023

Dear Grade 6-12 Families,

A final update prior to the holiday break. A reminder that we have our Annual Early Dismissal Drill tomorrow, Dec 22 (Grades 7-12 & Pk students dismissed at 1:45pm, Grades k-6 at 3:00pm). On January 3, school resumes and it’s the start of Modified Winter Sports session 2. 
In-class midterm exams will take place from Jan 9-19. 

SC Grade 6-12 Midterm Exam Schedule 2024

Starting in January we will begin 2024-25 student scheduling. Our January schedule in below and additional scheduling times will be included on the HS guidance office website.

Also, a few announcements...

• Dec 27/28: Cay Co Basketball Tourney at CCC. Details on the event can be  found here… Click Here for the Schedule --  T-shirts will be sold during the tournament for $20 each.
   
• Honoring Ana Marsh, SCCS Class of 2023. Celebration of Life Ceremony. Details on the event can be  found here… Jan 6, 2024 -- Click Here. #AnaStrong shirts are available to students and community for the event on Jan 6. Students can purchase in lunch tomorrow, if they have not already ($5). Community may purchase a shirt using this link until 4pm Fri, 12/22. Many thanks to all staff and community members for your support.
   
• SCCS annual Dinner/Game, Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony. Details on the event can be  found here… Feb 2, 2024 -- Click Here
   
• Modified Winter II sports begin on January 3. All families with a student interested in playing a modified Winter II sport received instructions via email on how to sign up. Information can also be found on the right hand side of the SCCS Athletics website.

Lastly, a reminder families can check their child’s marking period 3 course progress via your schooltool account... https://cnyric04.schooltool.com/southcayuga.

To stay up-to-date on Jr/Sr HS events, please visit www.southerncayuga.org/648 or via Twitter (X).

Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings to you and your family. We hope you have a great holiday season.

Luke

• School Pictures: Student pictures arrived on Monday and were given to students. Picture retakes are Nov 6.
• Curriculum Maps: All curriculum maps for our 2023-24 courses will be updated in the next few weeks. Maps can be found via the links located on the left side of this page. 
• Google Classroom: Please contact your child's teacher for GClass summary reports if you are interested and not already receiving. Families can use Google Classroom to track student assignments, course content and monitor progress. If you are not already enrolled, students can add parent emails to Google Classrooms so families can stay connected with classes. You may also contact one of your child's teachers to add your email to GClass weekly notifications & announcements. Once a teacher adds your email to one class, you will receive notification from all your child's GClasses. The weekly notification will include an update on announcements, course assignments, as well as any assignments a student did not turn in for each of their classes.
• Parent/Teacher Conferences : Monday, November 20 for grades Pk-12 from 12:15-7:30pm. No school for students that day. Conference sign-ups are available by contacting Ms. Bergen in the guidance office via 315-364-7111 x2114 or bergenk@southerncayuga.org by November 13. When you request a conference, we will confirm meeting time and review the room location with you.
• If you may need another copy of our 2023-24 school calendar, a link can be found on the district's main webpage.

• Our fall sports teams did a fantastic job! Every single team and player made huge improvements during the season.
• Girls Varsity swim will be heading to IAC’s on October 21
• Varsity Cross Country will run in IAC’s on October 25
• The girls varsity soccer team had their best season in 20 years, congrats! The team won their first round sectional game on Oct 18 and will play in round two at home on Oct 21 v. Marathon @TBA (due to impending weather forecast).
• Congrats to the boys soccer team on their 2nd in a row IAC championship last Saturday. The boys varsity soccer team will have a home sectional game on October 20 v. Downsville/Walton @ 3:30pm

• Students signed up for winter sports last week
• All families with a student interested in a modified winter I or JV/Varsity winter sport received an email with instructions on how to register their student for winter sports via Final Forms (located via www.southerncayuga.org/690)
• Modified Winter I sports will begin on October 23
• JV/Varsity Winter sports will begin on November 13

Greetings Grade 6-12 Families,

I am pleased to report that overall we had an amazing start to the 2023-24 school year! I hope your child(ren) feels the same way. I am always impressed with our students as they handle the transition to the start of school so well. It is so great to see all our students back on campus.
If you have not already, please check your child's School Tool Acct in the next few weeks for assignment completion, marking period grades, attendance, etc... Also, to note, each marking period is outlined on page 6 of the student handbook. If you have any questions on your Schooltool login, please contact Ms. Bergen bergenk@southerncayuga.org in the guidance office. 

And, we will conduct our Fall safety drills in the next several weeks (Fire & Lockdown drills). 

A few announcements...US News & World Report -- Best High Schools

• I am very pleased to report that SC Sr HS students continue to perform at the top level in Cayuga County. Southern Cayuga 7-12 Secondary School earned high National and metro-area rankings in 2023-2024 Best High Schools, which U.S. News released on Aug 29, 2023. Click here for our updated U.S. News profile page, with details about our rankings. SC Sr HS ranked in the top 20% of all High Schools in NYS. Congrats SC! 

Pk-12 Open House/Curriculum Night

• On Thurs, September 21 from 5:30-7:30pm. Teachers will be in their rooms for Meet & Greet, Syllabus & Curriculum Map share. At the Jr/Sr HS entrance we will have student schedules and room maps for families to follow at your leisure. Students are welcome to accompany their families at Open House. 

• We plan to have all our Jr & Sr HS Curriculum maps updated and posted on the HS website by the beginning of October. 

Student Pictures

• School Pictures are planned for Thurs, September 21 in the morning for all grades 6-12 students. Please use the information/website below to pre-order your picture packages. Print forms will be distributed to students next week or you can print another copy from the district website, under announcements. Picture make-up day is November 6.
  Website: www.inter-state.com/order -- Order Code: 79226RA

Athletics & Homecoming games/dance

• Please use this link for our Fall Sports Schedule. Our school community is cordially invited to each game. Please come out and support our student-athletes. 

• Our 2023 homecoming games are on Sept 29 & 30, use this link to locate games and times. Our homecoming dances will be on Sat, 9/30. Jr HS (grades 7-8) from 4:00-5:30pm and Sr HS (grades 9-12) from 6:00-8:00pm in the HS gym. Tickets for the dance will be sold during lunch the week prior to the event. 

• Also, if you are interested in supporting our teams by volunteering at the Booster Club concession stand, please email scboosters34@yahoo.com

2023-24 School Improvement Planning (Year 3 of 3) 

Educational Initiative #1: MTSS (Multi-Tier Student Support) Programming

• Teachers will collect individual student data on progress towards the NYS power/priority standards in each content area.

• Academic, behavioral, and attendance data will be reviewed and analyzed every 2-3 weeks in all classes. Academic interventions will then be determined to assist students.

• The MTSS system will be used to analyze overall student progress every 2-3 weeks and reported to student families every 6 weeks to ensure each student is showing growth. 

• Interventions will be collected and analyzed (each marking period) to determine if the supports at each Tier level are meeting student needs. 

• Other measures & goals: 

1.    We will update curriculum maps for power/priority standards by September 15, 2023.

2.    Our goal is to move all students to proficiency on the power/priority standards through weekly data collection, differentiation, and interventions as needed monitored via the MTSS data collection process.  

Educational Initiative #2: Character Ed Programming

• Teachers will implement a SEL/character education program, Second Step at the 7-8 grade level, and Character Strong at the 9-12 grade levels one to two times per month. Students will also participate in character education activities during advisory to continue building skills. 

Mascot Change Committee Update –  Click here for details

SC Jr/Sr HS Community Advisory Council (CAC)

Background: A large part of our success at SC Jr/Sr HS is tied directly to home-school communication and parental support of our school mission and initiatives. The CAC is designed to advise the Principal with strategies that the school staff can assist with the home-school connection.

Charge: To support academics at home, To make suggestions for the best ways to communicate with parents, To discuss academic initiatives.

Meetings:  The following Wednesdays... Nov 15, 2023 and Mar 13, 2024.

All meetings will be held via Zoom from 5:00-6:00p.m. Agendas for each meeting are sent via email. 

Please follow us on Twitter...

https://twitter.com/Southern_Cayuga/

https://twitter.com/SCAthletics2

Take care & Go Chiefs! 
Luke