Check out this week's updates, information, and upcoming events at Goochland High School! The Bulldog Bulletin is your weekly look into the great things happening at GHS. Go Bulldogs!
All Night Graduation
The All-Night Graduation Committee (ANG) would like you to mark your calendars for their Bingo Fundraiser on Saturday, January 21, 2023. Doors will open at 5:30 and games will begin at 6:00. They are asking for your assistance through donations or by signing up to help for the event. Additional event details can be found here.
To help stay connected for future events through ANG, please use their Google page or follow their Facebook page.
Athletics and Activities
GHS winter sports season is here. Please visit www.GoochlandBulldogs.com for up-to-date schedule information. Many of these events can be streamed live at www.NFHSNetwork.com. Feel free to contact Joe Fowler (jfowler@glnd.k12.va.us) if you have any questions or need more information.
Attendance Procedure Reminders
As we begin a new semester, I wanted to take a moment to remind you of our attendance procedures at GHS. As in previous years, we ask that parents call the school between 8:00 am -10:00 am to report their child’s absence. Absent students must bring a note on the first day they return to school stating the reason(s) for their absences. Notes are held as legal records of student absences. In addition, students wishing to leave school early without their parents present must bring a written excuse signed by their parents by 10:00 am the day of the early dismissal. In the case of an emergency, parents may call in and ask for administrative approval for an early release over the phone. A huge thanks to all of our student’s parents who have helped us by following these procedures throughout the first semester.
Career Day
GCPS Career and Technology Education Department is hosting Career Day on Tuesday, January 24. The Career Day activities will take place during our regular school hours. Students will have the opportunity to learn about numerous career fields from businesses throughout the Richmond area. This is a great opportunity for our students to gain first-hand knowledge of the required skills and career pathways for these careers.
Curriculum Night
Attention current 9th, 10th, and 11th-grade students and parents: GHS will host our annual Curriculum Night on Thursday, January 19th, from 5:30 - 7:30 pm. It’s a great chance to learn more about our course offerings as we prepare for the 2023-24 course selection window. We will have our concession stand open to purchase dinner, along with an entry into a drawing with our counseling department for coming! Please mark your calendars now and make plans to attend!
GCPS Closed
This is a friendly reminder that GCPS will be closed on Monday, January 16th in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.
GHS Prom
Goochland High School's prom will be on Saturday, May 13th at Adams International School! Any students (or parents!) that wish to be a part of the Prom Planning Committee should reach out to Mrs. Lorello (llorello@glnd.k12.va.us). The first meeting will be during Bulldog Block on Wednesday, January 18th in the School Counseling Conference Room. Junior and Senior Class officers are expected to attend this meeting, so please mark your calendars.
Important Senior Information from School Counseling
As we enter into the spring semester, the GHS school counseling team would like to remind seniors and their parents of the following information:
Requests for Mid-Year Grades:
Go to PARCHMENT
Request your MID-YEAR TRANSCRIPT for any school that is not on Common App.
Select HOLD FOR GRADES
Counselors will upload mid-year transcripts automatically to Common App if you have a school that requires one. To see this update, your student must request an update using these directions and allow time for processing your request for an update.
College Acceptances:
Seniors! We would love to acknowledge your college acceptances as you receive them. Please fill out this form to let us know how we can recognize YOU! See your counselor with questions!
Scholarships:
All scholarships that Goochland receives are posted on the Class of 2023 Canvas Page or by clicking this link. Please see Ms. McMullin if you have any questions about scholarships.
Financial Aid:
Students and parents can schedule a virtual meeting with our GRASP Advisor, Ms. Lauren White, to discuss financial aid and additional scholarship information. Please use this link to schedule an appointment or email her at lwhite@grasp4va.org.
MERC Advanced Coursework Survey
On Monday, January 9th during Block 1, students will be invited to complete a survey related to Predictors of Secondary School Students' Enrollment in Advanced Coursework. This survey was created by the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University in partnership with Goochland County Public Schools. The purpose of the survey is to learn more about how students feel about the classes they are taking this year and how they decided to take them. The entire survey can be previewed here. Parents who choose to opt their child(ren) out of participation in this survey may do so by emailing Catherine Richards, GHS Survey Coordinator, at crichards@glnd.k12.va.us. Students will also have the option of not participating on the day the survey is administered.
Monthly Speaker
Mrs. Danielle Bettin, GCPS school psychologist, will be providing an informational session about her career in mental health on Monday, January 9th during Bulldog Block in the auditorium. If you would like for your student to attend, please fill out this form at the link below. Students who are not signed up will not receive a pass to attend.
Parking Passes for Students
Second semester parking passes went on sale Monday, January 2nd through the Online School Payment System. Students who plan to drive to school in January through the end of the school year, must pay the $37.50 parking fee and complete the VDOE Student Parking Applicationand the GHS Student Parking Contract. Both of these forms should be submitted to the GHS main office. Students who purchased a yearlong pass at the beginning of the school year, do not need to purchase an additional pass for 2nd semester. Please contact Ms. Hudak at amhudak@glnd.k12.va.us with any questions.
Report Card Distribution
Report cards will be distributed during block 1 on Tuesday, January 10th. If students are absent, they should check in with their Day 1/Block 1 teacher to receive their report card.
Scheduling 2023-24 School Year
Teachers will be making recommendations for classes for the 2023-2024 school year. If your child wants to be recommended for a higher level, we suggest they have a conversation with their teacher. Here is our 2023-2024 scheduling timeline:
January 10th - 17th - Teacher Recommendation Window
January 19th - GHS Curriculum Night
January 23rd - 26th - School Counseling Lessons in English classes
January 23rd - February 5th - PowerSchool Parent Portal Open to Make course requests in PowerSchool for the 2023-2024 School Year
Beginning February 6th - School Counselors will meet with EACH student for their Academic and Career Planning meeting and review their course requests for the 2023-2024 school year and discuss their future goals.
Please contact your child’s school counselor if you have any questions or concerns.
Smart Pass
Beginning on Wednesday, February 1st, GHS will roll out electronic hallway passes to students through a program called Smart Pass. These electronic passes, which are created using students’ GCPS-issued laptops, should streamline the process for students needing to visit the restroom, office, water fountain, or clinic, and provide a safer learning environment. Students will be trained on the process during Block 1 on Monday, January 30th, and Tuesday, January 31st.
SRO Appreciation
School Resource Officer Appreciation Day is Monday, January 9th. Please take time to thank Sergeant Ryan Leabough and Deputies Bollinger, Donithan, Hanckel, and Scott Leabough for supporting our Bulldog family.
Teacher of the Year Nominations
Please take a moment to nominate any of your teachers at GHS for the 2023 Teacher of the Year Award at this link. All nominations must be submitted by Tuesday, January 10th at 3:30 pm. These submissions will be reviewed on Wednesday, January 11th. We will share our winner in our weekly message in the coming weeks. Each nomination will be shared with the teacher so they are aware of your submission. Thank you for considering our amazing teachers for this deserving award!
Yearbooks
To pre-order your 2023 yearbook, please go to balfour.com. Currently, the price is $70. To avoid over-ordering, we will ONLY order enough yearbooks this year for those who pay by February 1, 2023. Seniors can also purchase Senior ads at this site. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Schnakenberg (mschnakenberg@glnd.k12.va.us).