June 2008
Greetings - the summer of 2008 is upon us!
We all can look forward to hot weather, afternoon thunderstorms, a few days to sleep in, and before you know it the 2008-2009 school year will be here.
New students, to the Upper School campus, should attend the New Student Orientation on Friday, August 15 from 11:30pm until 4:00pm. During this time new students will meet their teachers, locate their lockers and classrooms, review important elements of the student handbook, learn about our house system, and much more. In addition, students will have an opportunity to ask questions of the administration and faculty so that they may begin the school year with confidence. Students are required to wear the dress uniform and we will provide their house tie upon arrival. New parents are invited to attend a new parent reception from 3:00pm – 4:00pm to learn more about your student’s daily activities.
Please note that the first day of school for ALL Upper School students is Monday, August 18th. Students should arrive on campus no later than 7:55am, in full dress uniform. This day will include our traditional Candlelight Mass and an opportunity for the students to meet their teachers and receive a course syllabus. Upper School Students will be dismissed at 3:35pm.
The following is a list of important information/tasks to be reviewed/completed before the beginning of the school year:
Individual Student Schedules – have been finalized and are attached to this e-mail in a pdf format.
Drop Add – will take place the first two weeks of the 08-09 school year.
AP Courses – if your student is scheduled to take an AP course please read the “AP Courses Summer Assignments”: http://www.holyspiritprep.org/documents/AP Courses Summer Assignments v2.pdf to find out what needs to be completed, by course, prior to the start of the 08-09 school year.
College Courses – if your student is scheduled to take an HSP College course please note that students who miss more than 3 classes for any reason will be dropped from the course. Missed classes due event conflicts and or sporting events are not excused absences. Please take this into consideration when making your decisions with regards to drop/add.
Used Textbook Sales & Project Zambia – the HSP used book store opens, on campus, 7/1/08 and a portion of the sales go to Project Zambia (limited supply of textbooks). ISBN for Textbooks – if you wish to purchase new or used textbooks, elsewhere, a list of the textbooks needed, by class, is available on our website in the academics, upper school section, by ISBN. Please note multiple textbooks may be required for courses. http://www.holyspiritprep.org/documents/ustextbooks0809.pdf
MBS Direct – online bookstore, new and used textbooks, opens 7/14/08. To access the store go to http://bookstore.mbsdirect.net/holyspiritprep.htm
www.holyspiritprep.org – Most required forms, the green & gold, and much of our school information is in a password protected section of the website. Access the community section http://www.holyspiritprep.org/newsmain.asp and you will always be up to date. When accessing the website If you are prompted to enter a username and password to access data you will need to enter the following (please note that these are case sensitive): username – HSPCougars & password – JP2
Student Health Record – (available in the download section of the website) to be completed by parents and physician and returned to HSPS no later than, 7/31/08 (no students will not be permitted to attend school unless this has been completed and returned).
Perimeter Clinic, will complete physicals for the low, low price of $85 per student! There is NO appointment needed and they have very flexible hours: M-F 9-7, Sat 10-5 & Sun 12-5 In addition, they will file for most insurance companies!!! If you need to contact them you can call 678-904-5611. Perimeter Clinic is located across from Outback Steak in Buckhead/Sandy Springs: 3867 Roswell Road, Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30342
Transportation & Activity Waiver – to be completed by parents and returned to HSPS no later than, 7/31/08 (without this form students will not be able to attend any off campus activities unless waived by the school). http://www.holyspiritprep.org/documents/Activities and transportation waiver 08-09.pdf
Traffic Flow Patterns – please take a careful look at the HSP Upper School traffic flow, http://www.holyspiritprep.org/documents/HSP Traffic Pattern - US.pdf, as this pattern is mandatory. In particular; you can not exit the campus via Mount Paran at any time.
Edline (the web based parent teacher communication tool) – Under separate cover, around mid August, instructions & activation code information will be sent to each upper school family. Note each upper school students should have a separate account from their parents. This will allow for confidential communications between parents & faculty.
Summer Institute Application – completed and returned one week prior to course/camp. Need more information visit: www.holyspiritprep.org
Upper School Handbook – available on line, no later than 8/1/08 see download section located in the community section of our website: www.holyspiritprep.org
Upper School Calendar – available on line visit: www.holyspiritprep.org
Daily
Timetable
Zip Code List – available on-line August, 1st, 2008, the document is password protected, for the purpose of carpooling only visit.
Grandparents Card http://www.holyspiritprep.org/documents/Grandparent Information Card.pdf
Summer Reading List – if your student has not already selected a summer reading book, please contact Mrs. DeFilippi, kdefilippi@holyspiritprep.org
Parking Permits – only students in grades 11 & 12 in good academic & disciplinary standing http://www.holyspiritprep.org/documents/Parking Permit.pdf
Partners in Education (Publix, Kroger, School Pop, Target) http://www.holyspiritprep.org/documents/Kroger Plus Earning for Learning.pdf
http://www.holyspiritprep.org/documents/Partners in Education.pdf
Sports Team/Coaches Information – http://www.holyspiritprep.org/documents/Sports Info for 2008.pdf
Buckhead Uniform – uniform requirements visit: www.buckheaduniforms.com
Used Uniform Sale – NOW available on campus, as is, while supplies last. Used Blazers $40.00 all other items 60% off retail.
PE / Spirit Wear Items – available on campus throughout the year
Students in grades 9 through 12 are required to have a laptop for school use.
minimum technical requirements that are recommended for a laptop that will be used as an educational tool. Note: most current laptops will exceed these minimum requirements:
Operating System: Windows or MAC
• At least 256MB of Memory
• Intel® Celeron® M Processor 380 or AMD Sempron (1.60 GHz/400MHz FSB/1M L2 Cache) or any Dual Core Processor
• 40 GB Hard Drive
• Wireless capability (802.11 b/g WLAN)
• At least one USB port
• 24X CD/DVD Drive (preferably one that includes a CDRW burner)
• A flash-memory device allowing backup of files. Please note: “lost files” due to computer failure cannot be used to excuse delayed or missing assignments. ALL school work should be backed-up.
You may want to increase any of these specs based on individual preferences. For instance, if your student will be storing digital photos, music and/or using robust applications or if multi-tasking speed is important, you may want to upgrade the hard drive, memory and/or processor to meet your additional needs.
Additional features that families may wish to consider purchasing include:
• An extended term and / or fuller service warranty
• Accidental damage insurance
• Anti-virus software (available for free via the Microsoft Windows site)
• Monitoring / control software to protect against inappropriate use
• A larger hard disk / expanded memory
Remember, you will get “more computer for your money” if you purchase during tax-free weekend. As of this writing the next tax-free weekend has yet to be scheduled. Visit http://www.dor.ga.gov/ to see if & when the tax-free weekend is scheduled!
Dell's website provides helpful comparison specification information, but if you have any questions about technical specifications for the notebook computer please e-mail mwalker@holyspiritprep.org
Students, in grades 9-12, should have a notebook computer available for their use at school by not later than Monday, September 1st, 2008.
Fun(d) Run 08, Save the Date:http://www.holyspiritprep.org/documents/Fund Run 08 Save the Date.pdf find out more!
Should you have any questions, regarding the start of the 2008-2009 school year or any of the italicized items please contact Karen Browning, kbrowning@holyspiritprep.org Our summer office hours are 9-1, Monday – Friday.
Kind regards,
Bob
Bob Pelletier
Upper School Principal