Weekly News Update: 4/22/2024 to 4/26/2024 

UPCOMING DATES 

April 22 – FCLE Test (12^th grade) DATE CHANGE

April 22 – BC Jump Start Orientation Day

April 25 – SAC / SAF Meeting

April 29: Senior Last day to turn in Service Hours for acknowledgment at Senior Awards

May 6-17 & 22: AP Test (Schedule below)

June 7: Graduation Ceremony

NEWER ATTACHMENTS

2024-2025 BCPS School Year Calendar

BC JumpStart Orientation 4.22.24

Class of 2024 – Graduation Flyer

End of Year Field Trip Flyer 

FAST Reading Test Prep Flyer

McFatter Post-Secondary Summer Schedule (for adult students only)

National Child Abuse Month - Flyer

Post-Secondary Next Admission Dates

PTSA Election Letter

PTSA Nomination Form 

SAC Meeting Agenda

Sneaker Drive 4.26.24

UF Happiness Course

NEW NEWS 

ALL GRADE LEVELS - ATTENTION:

Show your school spirit by ordering an official McFatter Technical High School Hoodie for only $35!

Inspired by Essential

It comes in charcoal gray.

EStore link: 

https://osp.osmsinc.com/BrowardFL/BVModules/ProductTemplates/Bvc2013/Product.aspx?productid=B1291-298

AP ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM PREP SCHEDULE:

4/24-Review MCQ Section (Wed)

5/01-Review FRQ3 Longer Work Analysis (Wed)

5/07-Final Review Wrap-up/Tips & Tricks (the Tuesday right before the test)

AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE EXAM PREP SCHEDULE:

4/23 - Earth's Resources

4/25- Land & Water Use

4/30- Energy

5/2- Atmospheric Pollution

5/7 - Aquatic & Terrestrial Pollution

5/14- Global Change 

5/16 - Math Review

5/22 -EXAM DAY

Students must RSVP using the Spring Tutoring QR code by 1pm on the day of​ tutoring to participate. Now is a good time to get parent permission forms and after-school activity form taken care of. Link to Parent Permission Form: https://tinyurl.com/PPFSpringAST24.

AP TESTING SCHEDULE:

BrACE NEWS:

Each week, Ms. Lynn sends out updates on events, scholarships, and much more to students through Naviance. If you would like to see the most up-to-date message, it will also be posted on the BrACE site of the high school webpage for your review.

To access it, you will be able to go into SCHOOL COUNSELING at the top of the page and click BRACE on the drop-down menu. Each week the BrACE News will appear on the left side of the page. For this week’s update, please go to https://www.browardschools.com/Page/79220.

BROWARD COLLEGE DUAL ENROLLMENT OPPORTUNITIES:

Summer 2024 

While the form has been removed from the DE website for Summer 2024, BC MAY still accept students for summer. Please speak with the grade level counselor

Fall 2024

• The Priority Deadline for Fall 2024 was on April 19, 2024. Please speak with the grade level counselor if you are interested.
• The DE form will be open on the DE website until May.
• Courses @ HS Sites still require all students to apply, meet eligibility requirements and complete the DE form. Yes, please aim to have it done in line with the deadlines above.
• Testing – Please remember that not all students will need to take the Accuplacer. Please use the Alternative Methods of Placement if they have them. Many students have qualifying PSAT scores or courses that help them meet placement 😊.
• Registration for Fall 2024 begins on May 20, 2024.

BTC CONNECTIONS:

Please find the most recent edition of BTC Connections via this link: https://browardtechconnect.com

ELA STATE TESTING PREP:

FAST ELA tutoring this starting next week in room 136 until May 16th. It will be on Tuesdays from 4:30 to 5:30 and Wednesday and Thursday during lunch. RSVP for Tuesday afternoon by 1:15pm through the regular tutoring link. Please report to the classroom by 12:15 for lunch time tutoring.

GET FOCUS(ed):

Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is excited to introduce Focus School Software, its new Student Information System (SIS), which will be fully activated for the upcoming 2024/25 school year across the district. This system represents a significant advancement in managing school functions like scheduling, tracking attendance, managing grades, and state reporting, all streamlined into one efficient platform. 

Every student will be automatically enrolled in Focus, and accounts will be automatically created for teachers, staff, and parents/guardians. As Focus replaces several older systems, it is important to note that these platforms will no longer be in use. The Focus system includes a unique portal for students and parents/guardians, ensuring that families have easy and prompt access to essential school information.

This transition underscores the district’s commitment to harnessing technology for educational improvement and strengthening connections within its school communities. BCPS is enthusiastic about everyone experiencing the advantages of Focus in the new school year. For more information and directions to set up your personal account, please go to www.browardschools.com/focus.

SAC/SAF MEETINGS:

The next SAC meeting will take place on Thursday, April 25^th. The meeting will begin at 9:30am and will take place in room 121. For the agenda, see the attachments. The SAF Meeting will begin immediately following the SAF meeting.

SNEAKER DRIVE
McFatter is supporting the School Social Work Program in its preparations for the Summer 2024 Back-to-School Extravaganza events. We are to collect gently worn or new sneakers, at our school from April 15 - 26, 2024. Boxes will be in High School Guidance and in select classrooms.

PTSA ELECTIONS:

On May 7 at 6:30pm the high school PTSA will be holding elections for the 2024-2025 Executive Board. We are currently seeking nominations.

SENIOR SERVICE HOUR OPPORTUNITY:

To assist the high school seniors in need of community service hours for graduation, we extend the opportunity to volunteer in the Office of Admissions (Building 1) from 4/1/24 until 5/31/24. Students will be under the supervision of a member of the McFatter Office of Admissions:

SPRING TUTORING:

We began on Thursday, February 8^th from 4:30 to 6pm. The new parent permission forms must be completed for this term. It can be found at https://tinyurl.com/PPFSpringAST24. Without the new parent permission form, students will not be able to participate.

Current tutoring opportunities:

Algebra 1 – Tuesdays and Thursdays

AP English Language – Tuesdays and Thursdays

AP English Literature – Wednesdays Only

AP Environmental Science – Tuesdays and Thursdays (4/9)

AP Calculus AB – Tuesdays and Thursdays

AP Human Geography – Tuesdays and Thursdays

AP Psychology - Tuesdays only

AP US History – Tuesdays and Thursdays

AP World History – Thursdays only

Biology – Tuesdays and Thursdays

Calculus -– Tuesdays and Thursdays

English 1 Honors – Tuesdays and Thursdays

FAST ELA Test Prep – Tuesdays

Math (all) – Tuesdays and Thursdays

SAT Tutoring – Tuesdays and Thursdays

More subjects coming soon.

Students will be required to RSVP for tutoring so that we can notify the teachers of the need for each session. The RSVP is available in the morning of tutoring (until end of lunch). The link to RSVP is https://tinyurl.com/RSVPSpringAST24.

Also available at lunch time:

Personal Finance/Financial Literacy

New Digital SAT National Honor Society Lunch Tutoring – Every Tues & Thurs (Room 301)

UF DE flyer (11-2nd graders-only (high test scores and GPA needed)  

There is a HAPPINESS class available for dual enrollment at University of Florida. NO test scores needed just 3.0 GPA.

Sounds like a fun class for those interested. See the grade level counselor for more information.

UNITING STORMS SEMINARS:

Each month there is a seminar held to help students with varying topics. This is hosted by students in the organization and information is presented by guest speakers. Designed for all grade levels, students are encouraged to participate by attending the events. These seminars occur in Mr. Jauch’s room at lunch time and are open to the entire school. Most seminars last about 15-20 minutes and begin at 12:25/12:30. We encourage students to attend and gain knowledge on important high school and post-secondary related concepts. The remaining monthly topics are as follows:

                May 13: How to Optimize Your Summer Free Time

YEARBOOKS ON SALE NOW:

Yearbooks are on sale in the eStore - see the attached flyer. Here is the QR Code for the eStore:

REMINDERS

RECURRING ATTACHMENTS:

Accessing Virtual Counselor (for Parents) – English

Accessing Virtual Counselor (for Parents) – Spanish  

Clever Directions- English

Clever Directions- Haitian Creole

Clever Directions- Portuguese

Clever Directions- Spanish

Creating a Parent Account on Virtual Counselor – English

Creating a Parent Account on Virtual Counselor – Spanish

DIAL 211 Community Resources Brochure (updated)

McFatter Club List

Mentor Flyer – United Storms

NHS Tutoring Flyer

Policy 5.5: Attendance

School Calendar – Color

School Calendar - Summary

Value of Tech video link

Why Tech

2023-2024 TRADITIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH ORDER LINK:

Students are welcome to bring lunch to campus or purchase at the various on campus venues. For students planning to eat the National/traditional school lunch, we receive the food from another local Broward County School. As a result, we need to place the order each morning by 9:45. Students wishing to eat the school lunch need to order each morning before the deadline. The link opens at 6:00 am and closes at 9:45 each morning.

The site to order lunch is https://tinyurl.com/MTCLunch. Food must be picked up in the cafeteria by 12:30.

* Free Universal Breakfast is also offered in the cafeteria until 9:05 and is free to all who request it from the school day before (we will feed everyone on 8/21 who comes for it.)

ADDITIONAL TUTORING OPPORTUNITY:

National Honor Society is offering tutoring during lunch Tuesday and Thursday each week in Room 301 from 12:30-1:00. Core subjects will be covered - in addition to SAT/ACT skills. Flyers to follow.

ATTENDANCE IS KEY:

The best way to achieve success is to be in attendance. As with every school year, attendance counts every day. Teachers will be marking attendance in FOCUS daily, and students who arrive late, leave early, or do not attend at all will be counted as unexcused. Please refer to the district website page on attendance for more information. To report an absence or, please call 754-321-5702 and leave a message or go to the high school attendance page at https://www.browardschools.com/attendance. School counselors, administration, or social worker will reach out to parents should attendance become a major concern. Please remember that you must report absence/ tardies /sign outs within 48 hours to have them excused, per SBBC Policy 5.5.

APPLY FOR LUNCH:

Not to be confused with the McFatter Technical College meal offerings through our Café, Cafeteria, and outside Piazza areas, the Traditional School lunch option provides an affordable choice for students to eat lunch. We encourage all our students to apply for this current year.

To do so, simply go to https://www.myschoolapps.com, and enter the information requested. (Our district is Broward County Public Schools). Previous approvals for reduction in cost for lunch expires within the first few days of school. Reminder the daily online ORDERING LINK is https://tinyurl.com/MTCLunch

ATTENDANCE REPORTING:

As with every school year, attendance counts every day. Teachers will be marking attendance in FOCUS daily, and students who arrive late, leave early, or do not attend at all will be counted as unexcused. Please refer to the district website page on attendance for more information. To report an absence or, please call 754-321-5702 and leave a message or go to the high school attendance page https://www.browardschools.com/domain/16505. There is an option to write a note as well and deliver it to the Attendance Manager in High School Student Services.

School counselors, administration, or social workers will reach out to parents should attendance become a major concern. Please remember that you must report absence/ tardies /sign outs within 48 hours to have them excused, per SBBC Policy 5.5.

You can check the status of your child’s attendance report via FOCUS 24-48 hours after reporting it to the school’s Attendance Manager. 

CAMPUS REMINDERS:

There are a few reminders/polices that administration needs to make sure that students aware of.

No food is allowed to be delivered to the campus for students (Uber Eats, Door Dash, Parents, etc.). Drivers will be stopped at the entrance and not allowed to drop off meals.

Students are not permitted to leave campus (Publix, McDonalds, etc.) for lunch. We have a Closed Campus for High School students. 

Students are not allowed to go to their cars during lunch or eat in their cars. (Violation can result in revocation of parking privileges)

Appropriate disciplinary action will be issued for those that violate the above rules.

Thanks for assistance in reviewing with your students. Please reach out to Mr. Harris if you have any questions.

CLASS OF 2024 GRADUATION:

The graduation date has been set. William T. McFatter Technical College and Technical High School will have their Class of 2024 graduation ceremony on Friday, June 7^th at 7pm. Historically, students receive tickets for 4 guests. Please plan accordingly. More details to follow… stay tuned!

CLEVER (SSO) PASSWORD RESET PROCESS:

For security reasons, any student in grade 4 and above, had to choose a secure password to access their Clever SSO page, located at sso.browardschools.com, no later than October 31, 2023. Students who have not completed the password selection were electronically forced to do so.

Parents are strongly encouraged to work with their students to choose a password together now to avoid interruptions to the login process after the October 31 deadline. Please work with your students to help them create a password that does not use public information such as birthdate or school location number. Also, if your student has shared their password with someone other than you as a parent or guardian, or if they feel it has been compromised, please work with them to change their password immediately.

Your student can change their password by clicking on their name in the top right corner of their Clever SSO page located at sso.browardschools.com. They will also be able to set account recovery options to be used in the event the password is forgotten.

The attached instructions provide details on the password change process and how to set account recovery options if a password is ever forgotten.

Student Password Reset Instructions

Remember, a strong password: 

contains upper- and lower-case letters.

contains a number and symbol.

is at least 8 characters long.

Important: 
Students should never share their password, or their account recovery questions/answers with anyone other than a parent/guardian.
Parents/Guardians please assist your student with selecting a password that you will also keep secured. Additional information will be posted to your student's Canvas Textbook and Resources course.

CO-ENROLLMENT:

Students who are missing graduation credits need to see their school counselor immediately to go over the options for making up the classes to graduate on time. There are several choices, and some are time sensitive.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES:

We all need help from time to time. This flyer aims to help when you need it now.

At McFatter, we have several school counselors and a social worker available should you wish to speak with someone regarding support or resources that you may require assistance with. 

Dial 211 downloadable brochure

FREE UNIVERSAL LUNCH PILOT PROGRAM:
The Food and Nutrition Service Department is providing all students with breakfast and lunch at no cost under the Universal Free Breakfast and Universal Free Lunch Program Pilot for the 2023-2024 school year.

As this is a Program Pilot, it is vital that households continue to apply online at www.myschoolapps.com  to secure the Universal Free Lunch Program Pilot for the next school year along with additional district opportunities.

To qualify for additional programs, complete the Free and Reduced-Price Meal application along with the Disclosure Form. Attached is the list of the district programs your student may qualify for if approved for free or reduced-price meals.

Second Meals will be charged at the adult meal prices at $4.75.

For more information on Meal Benefits contact Food and Nutrition Services at 754-321-0250.

NOTE: Students wishing to eat the school lunch will still need to order each morning before the deadline. The link opens at 6:00 am and closes at 9:45 each morning.

The site to order lunch is https://tinyurl.com/MTCLunch. Food must be picked up in the cafeteria by 12:30.

FOCUS GRADEBOOK:

First, I hope that the beginning of the school year has gone well for you. I want to remind you that the best way to stay up to date is to touch base with your students, log into FOCUS by going to broward.focusschoolsoftware.com/focus. If you have not already created a parent account, you can go to the focus website  to create one. For directions on the process of creating an account, the directions are found as an attachment: FOCUS Account for Parents. Parents can create a new account or add an additional student to their pre-existing account.

HERE COMES THE BUS:

The BCPS Transportation Services Department is excited to introduce Here Comes the Bus (HCTB), a free and easy-to-use website and application that allows parents to view the location of their child’s school bus in real-time on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer. This year it will be available on September 11^th.

Here Comes the Bus will make knowing when your child’s school bus is arriving easier. The system uses global positioning system (GPS) technology to locate and track your child’s school bus.

To register, visit the Here Comes the Bus website (https://herecomesthebus.com/) or download the Here Comes the Bus app by visiting the Google Play or Apple Store.

Use school code 87599 to locate Broward County Public Schools.

If you have any questions, please email at herecomesthebus@browardschools.com or call 754-321-4373

MEAL BENEFIT DISCLOSURE FORM:

Are you aware that qualifying for free and reduced lunch entitles McFatter students to free SAT/ACT testing, free score reports, free college application waivers, free and reduced test preparation, reduced price AP testing, and sometimes discounts in other school activities?

To qualify for these benefits, families must not only apply for free and reduced lunch, but must complete the Meal Benefits Disclosure form (https://scaweb.browardschools.com/otherPrograms), which gives us access to the free and reduced status to pass the additional opportunities to families.

Help us help you save money by completing the meal benefits disclosure form  www.browardschools.com/free-lunch if you qualify for the free/ reduced lunch program. Please note, we can only see the information for the programs that you allow, so review all categories (including special programs, scholarships, and field trips) and check off all that apply.

NSU LIBRARY CARDS:

Are you interested in having your students get an NSU Library Card (great online resources to access)? If so, they can apply online. Here is the link:  https://public.library.nova.edu/card/

If you have any questions or need more information, let Ms. Minichiello know at 754-321-5806. They are not giving tours currently.

UNITING STORMS:

Uniting Storms (US) is a mentoring program created for younger students (mentees) to gain wisdom and insight from older students (mentors) regarding McFatter and high school in general. Mentors will be paired with mentees based on likes, dislikes, interests, hobbies, goals, etc. Mentors will then walk their mentees through high school, allowing them to acclimate to the environment and improve themselves academically, socially, and emotionally. Furthermore, we will have monthly meetings discussing crucial topics such as standardized tests, GPA, college admissions, and much more. At the beginning of year, students will set goals they would like to achieve and monitor their progress throughout the year to ensure growth in the individual. If you are interested in joining, please see the attached Mentor Flyer to scan the QR code and fill out the corresponding form. Contact unitingstorms@gmail.com for any questions.

IMPORTANT DATES

For the High School Calendar, events will be added on the McFatter Calendar as we receive them from various stakeholders.