• Celia Rubacalva (April 2021)

Wanting to help students learn how to be better people, Stephen Roberts returned to DHS for his first year of teaching. “The student's strength is the most important thing.” Roberts said. He is passionate about rugby, and special education.

Katie Burke is a Honors Geometry and Statistics teacher. With a passion for math, she became a math teacher and has taught for four years, “Every student can learn,” Burke said. “I want my students to learn how to set goals and achieve them.” She runs two businesses, and likes to do woodworking.”I love the culture of DHS,” Burke said.”The people here are great.” She tells interesting stories, and is sarcastic.

MSgt Ashcraft retired from AFJROTC, and TSgt Lee Dorman took his place as the new instructor. He has been teaching for four years.

He became an instructor because “his wife told him to participate.” “Can’t learn unless you are having fun,” Dorman said. He wants the cadets to learn how to be responsible. He likes to fish, and says that he plays the guitar very well.

After 11 years of teaching, Frank Perez became the new administrator this year. Born in Madrid, Spain, he loves to study and liked Agriculture classes when he was in high school. He is funny, and he loves to do anything outdoors, like fishing.“I want my students to ask and think,” Perez said. “Nothing impedes their way of thinking.” Perez likes the environment of DHS, and says that “the people are great here.”

Jason Hines, the new Chemistry teacher, has 10 years of coaching, but this is his first year of teaching.

“I want to make sure the students have fun, then have the outcome,” Hines said.

“I want them to take responsibility," Hines said.

He loves to watch, play and coach soccer, and since this is his first year of teaching Chemistry, he is currently learning about it.

Matthew Speight became the new US History teacher this year. He was an AP Human Geography and a US History teacher for the past five years, making this year his 6th year of teaching. He became a teacher because he got a master's degree in History, and felt like “more people should learn it.” He likes to spend time and travel with his family, and he owned a pizza restaurant before teaching.

“My philosophy of teaching is to make every student the best,” Speight said. “Their voice and actions matter.”

“I love the environment of DHS,” Speight said. “It is very friendly, and it is a great place to work.”

Caroline Reese began her first year of teaching at DHS. She became an Algebra 1 teacher because she loved math. “I want my students to change their attitudes towards math.” Reese said. “I want them to learn that Math is positive.”

With 6 years of coaching, John “Brandon” Taylor became the new Football coach. He loves to work out and hang out with his family. “I want my students to have equal opportunities to achieve their best,” Taylor said. “I want them to know the values of life.” He is adjusting easily to the DHS environment, saying that it is “not bad.”

“I am not afraid to show that I was once like them,” Taylor said “I am relatable.”

• Celia Rubacalva (April 2021)

It is almost the end of the year, which means most of the Seniors will plan to go to a University or College. However, there are some things they need to do before they attend and study for their dream career. One of these things is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for short.

“Filling out the FAFSA is the only way students can receive federal money that you don’t have to pay back.” Kathleen Ashton said. “Millions of dollars go unclaimed every year because students do not fill it out.”

Out of 506 Seniors, 240 have completed the FAFSA, 29 are in the process of completing it and 62 students have opted out of completing the FAFSA for a variety of reasons.

There are priority deadline dates, but there is not a hard deadline for completing the FAFSA.

“It’s not too late to complete the FAFSA,” Ashton said. “They may still qualify for grants that will completely pay for their college.”

Some of the information asked for on the FAFSA arearent(s) and student’s legal names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, access to cell phones and emails for parent and student.

As well as W-2 forms and other records of money earned in 2020, 2020 Federal Income Tax Return, and value of bank accounts and investments.

However, “not having all of this information should not prevent a student from completing the FAFSA,” Ashton said. “If a student has any questions and would like to complete the form, they need to schedule to see their counselor.”

The FAFSA form won’t ask about the student’s and parent(s’) citizenship status. If a parent doesn't have a Social Security number, they must enter 000-00-0000 when the FAFSA form asks for it.

If a student is classified as a TX resident and, therefore, are eligible to pay the TX in-state tuition rate, they should fill out the Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA).

“Every student’s situation is different,” Ashton said. ”If you are going to college, you will want to complete the FAFSA, regardless of your status.”

The district has a webpage full of FAFSA information including myths about the FAFSA and what to do after you submit it. Starting next year, The Class of 2022 will be required to complete the FAFSA/TASFA or opt out form as a graduation requirement.

• Catherine Grether (May 2021)

“Construction day” was an event designed to give students interested in construction a chance to try out different tools and skill sets related to careers in construction.

Activities included building temporary walls, finding clogged objects in a set of pipes, robotics and 3d printing labs, and welding. Guest instructors came from North Central Texas College (NCTC), Texas Masonry Council, Roto-Rooter plumbing, and other local companies.

Of the 100+ students who attended, about 30 upperclassmen had signed up in advance. Half of those were from the welding class, and half were simply interested in learning more about construction, such as Dilan Bashaw.

“I really liked working ( at the event) because it’s made me stronger… I loved using heavy equipment for construction.” Bashaw says.

• Catherine Grether (April 2021)

Instead of a lab area inside the library, makerspaces are available as packaged kits to take home with all necessary supplies. Levels of interaction range from paper snowflake designs to light circuit cards for Valentine’s and Mother’s day.

Starting this January, the DHS library has hosted makerspace kits available to all students, with different kits for different themes every month.

The cards come with miniature LED lights, batteries, copper tape, and plans for a circuit inside the card. For spring, March and April’s kits featured a plant pot with macrame and a plant for it respectively.

The kits are handed out outside the library or can be reserved ahead of time through a Google Form, and can be picked up after school or during lunches. Connected learners can also schedule appointments to come up to school to pick up kits, just as they would for checking out books.

• Miles Meador (April 2021)

For Jazz Band director Jesse Woolery and his students, having the 2020 performance with Dave Matthews Band member, Jeff Coffin, shut down was a huge disappointment. The time, preparation, and excitement leading up to the concert was immense, and it was going to have an effect on everyone there.

Although there was a setback in 2020, that would not stop the concert from happening. May 17th, the celebration of the 21 instruments given from Yahmaha to the program from Ambassador Warren Titchnor, will take place at Denton High.

“It was very disappointing to hear,” Senior Matthew Garcia who plays the saxophone.

“It was a great opportunity for the program and the seniors, and it was sad to see the seniors not get a chance to be recognized.”

The concert is in it’s 2nd year of the making, and the addition of Jeff Coffin was very important for the function to have even more importance.

“If I had my pick of artists,” Woolery said. “Jeff is the guy. He isn’t just a great player, but he is also a great educational inspirar. He can really leave a big effect on the students, and that was a huge reason why I wanted to have him here for this special event.”

Ambassador Warren Tichnor, who went to Denton high for only 2 years in the 1970s, wanted to do something special for the program that everyone would remember.

Tichnor gave approximately $50,000 for the program to get 21 top of the line instruments for students to use.

“It was a long process,” Woolery said. “I thought and thought about what to do, so we put the proposal together and made it happen with Yamaha. I knew, in the end, this was going to be really beneficial to the kids.”

Everything was set in March of 2020 for the gifts to be revealed to the kids, and the ceremony to begin. Of course, school was shut down and everything had to be pushed to the next school year.

“It was like presents waiting on Christmas morning,” Woolery said. “We had everything set, and It was very disappointing for the great seniors.

"They worked so hard up until this point, and it was hard mourning the loss of their senior year."

With the new Denton High School coming in the fall of 2023, the importance of new instruments was key. It gives the program an advantage with the top notch instruments they will already have.

“The proposal worked out perfectly,” Woolery said. “We will already be in a new school, and the opportunities with these instruments are so big. I know the kids coming in will be appreciative, and the seniors leave an impact like no other.”

• Miles Meador (April 2021)

There has been a lot of schedule changes in the 2020-2021 school year, and as the year comes to a close, there has been information and updates on the scheduling for the rest of the year. That includes exams, last week of school, exemptions, graduation, and more schedules that are important for students to know.

With the school year quickly approaching its end, the exam schedules as well as other information on the exams has been released. Grades 9 through 11 bell schedule The senior bell schedule is also different than the rest of the grades.

During the final week, the exams for each day are as follows. Monday is B2 and B4, Tuesday is A2 and A4, Wednesday is 1st and B3, and Thursday is A3 and 5th with early release occurring at 1:05.

Along with exams, The 2021 senior class will also get an opportunity to get exemptions on exams. Exemption information, for seniors only, has been updated. The rules that allow seniors to be exempt are the following. You must’ve passed all previous STAAR tests, have an 80% (75 in AP) or above for all courses, less than 3 unexcused absences, no suspensions or alternative school during the Spring semester, and the seniors must be present during the final week.

STAAR testing has been apart of Texas for many years, and with COVID running throughout our state, there has been different approaches to testing. There are more online tests than ever, and that has caused some technical problems.

Along with the problems, the schedule for test takers is also different. STAAR testing dates start the week of April 5th for English 1 and 2 tests, and end the week of May 4th with Biology, Algebra, and US History.

Graduation is a major event, and is always dreamed of as you grow up. This year, things are a bit different.

While graduation will still take place, it will not be at the UNT coliseum like usual. Due to COVID-19 and the Coliseum being indoors with 10,500 capacity, CH Collins, the football stadium used by all 4 schools in Denton ISD, will hold the ceremonies.

Denton ISD website provided a quote from the Superintendent about the ceremony. “Hosting this ceremony will mean so much to our students who have not experienced normal milestone events during their final years of high school,” said Dr. Jamie Wilson, superintendent of schools.

• Miles Meador (March 2021)

Coming in the fall of the 2021-2022 school year, Denton ISD announced that the Lagrone Advanced Technology Complex will have a program where students will learn all of their core classes and also continue to pursue their career on that campus. Learners are getting all of their education at the complex, unlike the past where they could go for 2 blocks and return back to their home school.

“The classes will be more student centered,” ATC Guidance counselor Susan Reyes said. “Whereas at a regular high school campus, you typically don’t have the opportunity to have more one on one action with your teachers.”

This school is unlike any other with the chance to have students' classes personalized to the career path they choose when they begin their high school career and when they fill out their schedule. For example, kids who want to be in the Cosmetology program have the chance to have their schedule and the type of core classes more focused on the cosmetic and other events that relate to the path.

“This new school gives kids who want to focus on their career path,” DHS Career Counselor Jewels Holladay said. “A chance to pursue that and have more of the classes favorable to them. It’s something kids here at DHS have expressed interest in, and should be very beneficial for their future.”

The amount of programs available at the ATC are going to stay the same, while some classes like HVAC among a few will still have locations only at the main school campuses. Most of the change comes in the core classes like English and Math that will be introduced unlike before.

“There will not be a change in the HVAC class when it comes to being at the new ATC school,” DHS Head HVAC instructor Michael Brucia said. “Unlike others that will be offered full time. It’s not as easy to have it in both locations, and kids that are coming to do HVAC here are usually fully invested and if they follow through, they have a terrific path to a successful career like the kids who will be at the ATC school.”

With the different environment, some classes like fine arts and foreign languages will not be offered at the program, and that is expected with the limited number of students that will be enrolled.

“We are expecting something around 400 or so students to start,” Reyes said. “And with the small amount of programs offered, that number will probably stay the same. Kids should be able to start if transferring at the beginning of the year, but other situations are still being worked out because of the newness to the developments.”

Although the official date to join the program for the 2021-2022 school year has concluded, there should be more chances for incoming juniors and seniors later on.

• Miles Meador (March 2021)

During the raging winter storm that took place here in Denton and all around the state on the week of Feb. 15, several rooms in the building were severely damaged causing teachers to relocate and equipment to be replaced. The 300s were hit the hardest, as major flooding occurred, causing equipment, locker rooms, and classrooms to be flooded.

“Almost $80,000 worth of damage was done,” Head Golf Coach Mick Maxey said. “The whole facility was flooded and it damaged our $60,000 fancy machine for golf, so we already started taking it apart and probably won’t get another one until the new school building.”

It wasn’t just the golf room that had a lot of damage, several classrooms around the area were seriously damaged. Floors were ripped out and, and the 2 teachers that had extensive damage were forced to relocate until at least after spring break.

“I know I lost a bookshelf and subwoofer,” English teacher Sergio London said. “Considering the school year, we all have had to adjust but this is just another task to work out. I’m hoping to get back before the year ends.”

Repair crews are working every day to get the area back to normal condition, while they are attempting to restore pipes and rooms, there are certain measures they have to take for a complete restoration of the rooms.

“They have to set up fans and devices that detect the dryness for the room and walls to get completely dry before they try to fix it,” Principal Joel Hays said. “Or it would cause mold in the walls and that is the last thing we want.”

The timetable for teachers to get back to their classrooms, and for everything to be completely repaired is still an unknown date. For areas in the golf room and adjacent classrooms that received extensive flooding and damage, more measures will be taken.

“If the humidity in the walls doesn’t go down,” Hays said. “Walls are going to be ripped out and replaced especially with the sheetrock lined walls.”

Even with most of the room drying and dehumidified, a lot of destructive action will still be taken on it.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Maxey said.” But a lot of the golf area will be demolished and replaced. Very frustrating.”

When the school and officers were notified of the major flooding in the school, it was too cold to do anything besides turn off the water. Luckily for the schools sake, only the 300s and a few other rooms had some sort of damage.

“The newer part of the building is the area that took the hardest hit,” Hays said. “With the open air pipes and less insolation facing outside, it is more likely to be hit unlike the main parts of the building that are sided with cinder block built a long time ago.”

• Mayra Diaz (March 2021)

Students and teachers have been preparing all school year for spring exams though because of Covid, many of the exam dates have been moved around to provide a safe, comfortable testing environment for students. Most recently, in-school SAT for all juniors was moved to March 24 due to weather conditions.

Last year, STAAR and IB exams were abruptly cancelled but AP exams were monitored online.

The College Board was met with problems as many students were not able to turn in their exams on time or comfortably take it due to the high online traffic.

“None of these will be cancelled due to Covid this year,” Testing coordinator Sherry Weatherley said.

AP exams, which are scheduled for May, have had dates added by The College Board.

They are a mix of paper and online but some have the option to be taken at-home; the district has not decided on the requirements for students to do this yet.

Students who end up having to take the exam later online will not have makeup options. AP exams, even when online, will be full-length tests as opposed to the shortened AP exams,

“For AP exams we will strongly encourage the paper in-person exams so that students are guaranteed a good testing experience and get to take the exam on the first opportunity,” Weatherley said.

As for IB exams, they will be offered in person and the International Baccalaureate has reduced a few of the exams for this May 2021.

The IB has also announced a dual route meaning that a non-exam route is taken, assessing some tasks, like the lab reports.

“The IB program is in over 150 countries, and some countries and some states have not had face to face classes since March 2020 due to government regulations... " IB coordinator Beth Hughes said.

"DHS is on the exam route since we have been open for business since September,”

STAAR tests have had a recent option added for connected learners in grades K-8. They can choose to opt out if they have the required documentation. This is because those are not tied to grade promotion or graduation requirements.

“For 9-12 students, the STAAR EOC exams are still required for graduation, so any Connected Learners who choose to not come take the test will have to take the missed tests on a future test administration date,” Weatherley said.

The most difficult aspect of planning testing this year has been planning for the Connected Learners. Safety and comfortable testing environments have been the main priorities.

“We want those students to have the same opportunities as the face-to-face students, so it is important that they are reading their communications from the school and their teachers,” Weatherley said.

Hughes encourages students to go to class, log into Canvas, and read their emails from herself or teachers several times before responding appropriately. She also understands the challenges faced this year.

“I am proud of them for hanging with us during a pandemic, snowstorm, and brand new way of delivering education. We have been co-learners in this process” Hughes said.Exam dates and times are still being monitored and subject to change.

Students should watch https://www.dentonisd.org/dentonhs and Canvas for more information. For updates https://sites.google.com/g.dentonisd.org/dhstesting/home?authuser=0.

• Mayra Diaz (Feb. 2021)

As opposed to past years, fall semester will end this January with semester exams closing it off. COVID-19 altered this 2020-2021 school year by a few weeks, pushing back all expected dates. Now with a new approaching semester, online students will have a distinct schedule.

Starting January 20th, after fall semester & an early release 4-day weekend ends, online students will have different virtual “core” class teachers. “Core Classes” are the essential classes that students must take- math, english, science and social studies.

“I took it because I wanted a challenge...I feel this will push me to be creative and a better teacher,” said Yolanda Pimentel, Braswell HS Algebra 2 teacher, on becoming one of the new virtual teachers.

Virtual teachers will be from different Denton ISD high school campuses but they will be teaching all connected learners. Each campus will have its own department and be in charge of said subject.

“I believe I will have 7 different Algebra 2 classes so I will divide it up by class periods,” said Ms. Pimentel.

DISD allowed students to choose between connected or face to face learning, but this wasn’t the same for teachers at the time.

Teachers had to battle between both teaching their students in class and teaching those virtually.

“I am always working, but I feel like I’m failing to provide a great physics education to both my face-to-face and my connected learners.” said Corrin Retzer, Physics teacher.

As teachers struggled to maintain both groups, students were ultimately affected by this as well.

“There have been moments where teachers did not answer,” said Senior, Jack Bishop.

“But if I could choose one thing that needs improvement is that the pace of work is distributed evenly.”

The hope and intention of this new change is so connected learners can be personally taught by teachers who will have their primary focus on them as this has been the issue for the past semester.

Though because of the new modified spring calendar and finals week, much information has yet to be released but virtual classes are set to begin this spring semester.

“Stay connected and communicate... Effort and hard work goes a long way” said Ms. Pimentel.

• Miles Meador (Feb. 2021)

New Chromebooks are being rolled out to all students, as it is a part of the new and updated 1:1 initiative from the district, starting on January 25th through the 27th for in person and the 28th for Online learners. All students must fill out a form marking “Yes” or “No” to receiving one.

“Once COVID hit and forced everyone online,” Assistant Principal I-N Frank Perez said. “The district had to make a decision, with the COVID money that was released to all districts, that would end up sending Chromebook to the ones that need it, in order to still gain knowledge and progress.”

Each school across the state is receiving the same amount as their student population.

With Denton High sitting at around 1,995 they will receive that many and pass down the older ones that students had to the lower grades. That is because of the lower grades needing different types of Chromebooks. The 1:1 program is set for students to keep the Chromebooks for their entire time of being in Denton ISD, and they are allowed to take them home over the summer.

“Older Chromebooks will be disposed of because they are labeled End of Life Chromebooks and won’t be used or passed down,” Assistant Principal Perez said. “The Elementary and Middle school campuses need different kinds of Chromebooks than High school, so passing the one’s from here to the lower grades made the most sense.”

Students have the choice to opt in or out of the Chromebook program, and the overall focus is for the students to have the best learning experience possible whether they’re online or in person.

“If students have personal devices that they would rather use, the families can opt out of receiving a new chrome book,” Campus Hardware Technician Michelle Johnston said. “The District will not be able to provide support on personal devices and all state testing must be done on a District owned Chromebook for state testing compliance.”

The rollout is expected to take place in the cafeteria area parking lot, and everything will be sanitized and ready to be dropped off to the students who chose yes.

There is no fee for the Chromebook, and the damage fee will be determined on the severity of the damage. Lost ones will be tracked with the GPS inside.

“You can’t expect lower income families to be able pay $250 for a new Chromebook if damaged," Perez said. ”So we want to find the best way to cover it, unless of course it’s a damage that is beyond repair or on purpose.”

The Chromebook rollout first took place in 2016, when a 4 year plan was sent and approved for the future uses of Chromebooks. It started as a 3:1 and they would always stay in the classroom, but due to COVID-19 they changed the plans to 1:1 and they would be allowed to be taken home.

• Catherine Grether (Feb. 2021)

This year’s MYP project has been moved to second semester, among other big changes.

Crystal Sullivan, the Middle Years Program coordinator, decided to do this, as well as giving class time for the project because “ we were still in the hybrid model at that point and teachers and students were really working to just figure out this system," Sullivan said. It just wasn’t appropriate to add something to it.” Sophomores now have 8 days of English class allotted for them to work, about 16 out of 25 hours they are supposed to work on the project.

The final project fair will be virtual to work around COVID restrictions. However, students in district wide connected learning courses will not have to participate. These courses have one teacher providing for hundreds of students across the four campuses. However, these are only on level classes. Honors and remedial classes stayed with DHS teachers and so those connected learners will be doing the project, but some will not. For those that are, all instructions must be available online. There’s been a canvas course for it for years, and the past schedules are still available on the MYP website.

However, this year there is a list of specific assignments and process journals to be turned in online, and a set daily schedule. English teachers have some control over this schedule for their students, and they will be the ones grading them, and either way they are giving a very clear outline to their students. For the project selection, there was a list of recommended topics and projects.

“We really try to avoid giving specifics like you can do this and do this and do that, because we want it to come from the students themselves, but this year we actually did that.” Sullivan said.

In addition to this, English teachers volunteered to simply be mentoring their own students as opposed to each student having unique mentors. In years past, teachers could choose from a list of students, or otherwise would be assigned one randomly. This takes time that they didn’t necessarily have with this year's schedule and could be difficult for connected learners to manage.

“I personally felt like it was going to slow down the process for students and create extra work for teachers who may not even know what the MYP project was. So I wanted to keep it completely in the English classroom.” English teacher Alison Weaver said.

• Miles Meador (Nov. 2020)

Covid-19 forced schools all across the nation to be online and later to be on a partial face to face schedule, but as conditions around Texas and mainly Denton started to get better, the Superintendent of the Denton High area saw an opportunity to reopen schools full time.

“When we made the decision to bring high school students back full-time, we had an abundance of data collected about our COVID protocols because elementary and middle school students had been face-to-face for some time,” Denton High area superintendent Lacey Rainey said.

“Through examination of the data with the Denton County Health Department, we determined that our procedures are effective at mitigating the spread of COVID and we could safely bring back high school students."

With the large amount of students coming back to full time, that left some teachers with not a lot of room for social distance in the classrooms. Many teachers had some doubt and fear in what class would look like, but they have found ways to improvise.

“ It’s been extremely difficult to have social distance in my classroom and in the locker rooms for baseball,” Head Baseball coach Toby Rumfield said. “ We don’t want a shutdown in the program that could lead to the entire school being shut down. "

"I’ve had some challenges so far, but overall we feel safe and that comes from following the guidelines."

Many students had mixed feelings about going back to school full time, and how it would affect their health going back home. The amount of students having a hard time learning at home swayed many leaders of the district to going back full time, but some students still have doubts about what will happen in the future.

“I have very mixed opinions about the safety of going back full time,” Sophomore Caitlyn Labate said. “I still feel it was a bad and early move considering the spike recently and the personal health of others should be a higher priority. It could spread to family and older relatives and harm them more than we think.”

A large number of parents and teachers were worried about the lack of learning from the 7 months off and the online/hybrid schedule. That left district officials pondering over many different ideas on how to get kids back to learning at a normal rate. It was clear that the data was in favor of going back full time.

“After looking at student progress data, we felt it was important to allow students to come back face-to-face, full-time,” Dr. Rainey said. “Despite our best efforts to provide students with connectivity and devices, many students were not logging in to Canvas to complete their coursework. We felt that if we continued with the hybrid learning option, we would have many students that we would not be able to recapture because their academic gaps would be too vast.”

• Mayra Diaz (Oct. 2020)

With the pandemic still continuing to ravage through the United States, AP exams have been pushed to the spring semester for the sake of many students who are struggling and the alarming unknown things that COVID could do.

“We are hopeful that things will be back to normal in May and that we can give the AP exams on paper, in-person here at the school,” Case test coordinator. Sherry Weatherley said.

During the Covid-19 shut down early this year, the College Board made the decision to throw out their pencils & paper,& administer exams through online, where students individually take their exams in their homes.

“I was having a hard time turning in my test, (I) was pretty stressed out,” Junior Andrea Lopez, who took the AP World History exam earlier this year, said.

Despite the College Board shortening tests to help students, to as few as two questions in 45 minutes in some cases, it was still met with problems.

“Many students could not test or could not submit but [they] were given another opportunity to retake the test in June,” Weatherley said.

Zoom meetings, Canvas, & other online resources, have helped students prepare for this year’s exams.

“We have practiced for the multiple choice section in AP Classroom and with a class packet (a hard copy and Canvas digital copy were provided)," Dual credit/AP English III teacher Darby Dyer said.

"We have also learned about one of the three essays on the exam.”

Although changes have been made to help students, AP teachers continue to guide students slowly but surely to make sure they are progressively improving.

“Everyone has had to adjust and make the best of the current situation,” Dyer said. “The advice I give is that either way, we are preparing for it and will throughout the year,” Dyer said.