Dear CH-UH Staff & Families,

I hope you all had a wonderful summer and are looking forward to an exciting school year ahead! Here in Tiger Nation, we held another successful Tiger Camp (check out a cute wrap-up video here), along with the Reaching Heights Summer Music Camp. And I am proud to announce that the college scholarship total for the Class of 2022 continued to increase over the summer, now at an impressive $17.3 million. I am confident that this beautiful summer is indicative of a bright school year ahead.

We welcomed new staff on August 16 with a great opening breakfast in collaboration with our district bargaining units. Our staff have been working hard to prepare for our opening day, and we are looking forward to coming back together as a school community.  

As we approach the first day of school on Tuesday, August 23 (August 30 for our preschool families), I’d like to provide you with updates and key information.

COVID-19 Protocols
The District will continue to follow guidance from the Cuyahoga County Board of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the 2022-2023 school year. Our Reopening Advisory Committee, which includes teachers, parents, administrators, and medical experts from MetroHealth, met on August 17 to discuss recommendations moving forward.

The current CDC guidance is that at a High COVID-19 Community Level, universal indoor masking is recommended everywhere, including schools. Because the Community Level is currently High in Cuyahoga County, I am strongly encouraging all of our students and staff to wear a mask inside the school buildings while our level is High. At this time we are not mandating masks. You can find a full list of the protocols for mask-wearing, quarantine/isolation, and case reporting here.

Safety & security/Title IX
During summer break, many District stakeholders worked together to strengthen existing systems to make our school community safer. Each school developed a team that was trained on the threat assessment process, and we continued to develop plans addressing these topics. I invite you to read a summary of that work here.

Staffing updates
Our Human Resources and building teams have been working hard this summer to ensure our schools, buses and facilities are staffed and ready for the new year. In September, we will welcome a team of Academic Tutors, who will provide learning support during the school day at all buildings. This year we have also added additional counselors, social workers and teachers to support students' needs.  

Attendance
These last few years have shown us just how much being in school positively impacts our students. The District is focused on monitoring chronic absence (missing 10% or more of the school year or 18 days over an entire year) in order to respond strategically. We’re also working on a variety of ways to celebrate our students for coming to school consistently, along with a student contest for the best tagline to promote good school attendance in CH-UH. We will share more information in September, which is Attendance Awareness Month. Please help us get off to a strong start in this area by ensuring your child is in attendance on the first day of school, Tuesday, August 23.

At-school care with MetroHealth
MetroHealth will continue to offer health care services on-site at schools this year. There is never a co-pay or any out-of-pocket expenses for these services. Services include physicals, immunizations, injury/illness care, routine lab tests, prescription medications and more.

The clinic at Heights High will be open on Fridays during the school year beginning August 26, and the Mobile Unit will begin visiting other schools in the coming weeks. Also starting August 26, CH-UH staff can access care at the Heights High clinic and the Mobile Unit. A complete Fall schedule and details will be available here soon.

HFA returns in September
Heights Family Academy is back! The beloved CH-UH event will take place on Saturday, September 10 from 9 a.m. to noon. at Heights High School. The HFA is a collaborative, fun event designed to equip families with tools and information they can use to support their students. Session topics include Family-School Partnerships, Health & Wellness, Early Learning, and much more.

Staying connected
The Back to School page on our District website has supply lists, orientation dates, First Day of School printable signs and more. Keep an eye out for your 2022-2023 wall calendar, which is hitting mailboxes this week. For families, if you do not yet have an Infinite Campus account, please fill out this short form to request one. Once the account is created, you will receive a notification via email. Through Infinite Campus, parents can access their child’s attendance, grades, schedule, test scores, assignments, and report cards, and update contact information.

I wish you a happy, successful start of the school year. And best of luck to our varsity football team as they kick off the season tonight, playing Brunswick. GO TIGERS!

Sincerely,
Superintendent Liz Kirby