Principal's Message

Greetings SHS Parents, Families, and Friends, 

The Senior High School is really excited about several additional services we are providing to our students and families this year. Please read on to learn more about these important initiatives.

URMC Clinic Opening at SHS
Supporting the mental health and wellness of our students is a top priority in Rush-Henrietta. That is why we are excited to announce a new mental health clinic at the Senior High School! This is the ninth clinic in our district, one at every school – by far the most in Monroe County! 

Rush-Henrietta partners with the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Pediatric Behavioral Health and Wellness team to provide this type of access and support to students and families. Site-based clinics offer outpatient mental health services. These include diagnostic assessment, individual and family therapy, and consultation services that help students, parents, teachers, mental health workers, and administrators better collaborate with one another. Referrals to URMC will be made in partnership with families and our social workers.  

URMC practitioners work closely with families, identifying appropriate community support and resources, monitoring progress, and addressing common issues. These include mental health concerns, difficulty functioning in the classroom, concerns regarding attendance or academic achievement, challenges with peer or adult relationships, and disciplinary issues. You may learn more about the URMC Pediatric Behavioral Health and Wellness Department here.

Support from the Center for Youth
This year, the Senior High School also is partnering with the Rochester-based Center for Youth Services. Our common goal is to build stronger relationships with students; provide more direct support to them; lend assistance to those who are disconnected or truant; and supplement the substantial efforts of our mental health staff. Resources will be available based on individual student needs. To help make this partnership possible, the Center for Youth Services provides a social learning specialist and a site navigator who will be on hand each weekday on campus to support our students. This opportunity was identified as part of the district’s Community Schools strategy. Center for Youth referrals might be made through student and family self referrals, but also in partnership with our building administrators and systems.

Partnership With Gandhi Institute
The Senior High School also has established a partnership with The M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence. By providing staff members that can work in our school, the Institute helps create dedicated spaces like Help Zones. The help zones provide space for students to de-escalate, manage emotional distress, and resolve conflicts with peers or staff without facing suspensions or losing instructional time. Beyond crisis intervention, the partnership emphasizes long-term culture shifts through direct skill-building. Gandhi Institute referrals to the Help Zone may be via student self-referral as needed, but also in response to requests from teachers and administrators. We look forward to helping teenagers develop new ways of resolving conflict, and creating more spaces for students to express themselves.

The first day of school is Thursday, September 3. We are working hard to make sure we are ready to welcome your child to our building.

It's going to be a wonderful year!

Sincerely,

Dave Dunn
Interim Principal

Greetings SHS Families!

It has been a very busy summer at the Senior High School! We are excited about many things that will be new at the high school this year.

• Painted parking spots for our seniors.
• Dedicated space for our senior lounge in our Royal Comet Cafe.
• New and improved security staff with addition of R-H employed security and sentries in addition to our youth assistants.
• Approximately 20 new faculty and staff
• New lighting for our gymnasium
• Upgrade in our security cameras.
• Community Resources added: URMC, Center for Youth and Ghandi Institute to support our students and staff.
• Daily Video Show for announcements 
• Monthly Principal Forums to allow parents to visit the school and network with other parents about high school life

You should have received some important back-to-school information in the mail. If you need a reminder, you can find all the documents on our website: https://shs.rhnet.org/families/back-to-school

School Hours are 7:35 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. 

Students begin to arrive at 6:45 a.m. for breakfast and the first bell to exit the cafeteria is at 7:25 a.m. First period starts at 7:35 a.m. The academic day ends at 2:20 p.m. when advisory starts. Academics may continue at this time, but it is up to your student if they are going to hold themselves accountable to the goals they set for themselves.

Student Schedules

Please keep in mind that schedules may continue to change between now and the start of school. Summer school results and class balancing can affect student schedules.

We encourage students and families to check schedules periodically in SchoolTool for the most current information--all the way until the morning of our first day of school. Thank you for your patience and partnership as we prepare for a successful start to the school year!

Propio Dial-in Interpreter Service

As a reminder, Rush-Henrietta offers dial-in interpreter services for families who speak one of these languages:

• Arabic (585) 628‑8427
• Chinese (Mandarin) (585) 299‑5688
• Dari (585) 440‑3275
• Nepali (585) 575‑1366
• Spanish (585) 632‑7190

Call the number to reach a live interpreter who can help you contact your child’s school or the following offices: Community Programs, Cub Care, District Registrar, Special Education, Student & Family Services, and Transportation.

DAILY SCHOOL DROP-OFF AND PICK-UP

Two options are still available for entering and leaving the high school campus. 

1) Enter the high school grounds from East Henrietta Road near Good Shepherd. The access road leads into the school’s west parking lot. You may drop students off or pick them up at the cafeteria ramp door and then exit onto Lehigh Station Road.

2) Enter the high school grounds from Lehigh Station Road. You will be directed around the perimeter of the lot. You may drop off students in the mornings at a designated location near the tennis courts (see map) and exit by turning right onto the access road heading toward East Henrietta Road. You also may use a second drop-location at the cafeteria ramp door. If you use this option, merge left with traffic near Kleemann Stadium and continue around the perimeter to drop off at the cafeteria ramp door. Then, exit onto Lehigh Station Road. This information is depicted in the following graphic:

Cell Phone Policy 

If your Internet Enabled device is out in class:

     1. Teacher will ask you to put it in the class lockbox.

     2. What happens next depends on your level (we track steps for repeat issues.

Level 1: Device returned at the end of the day. Automated call home that evening.

Level 2:  Device returned at the end of the day, your AP will call home that evening.

Level 3: Device stays in the AP office; family is contacted to arrange pickup and next steps.

Level 4: After 5 infractions at level 3 device goes to the main office for the day. 

Principal Forums 

I am going to set up three daytime Principal Forums for parents to come to the high school and meet with me to learn more about the Senior High School. I have found that these meetings often connect parents with other parents as well as learn more about their student’s experiences in high school.  I will often bring staff (assistant principals, mental health staff, etc) with me if there are specific topics that they would like to have addressed. The meetings are not designed to talk about specific faculty or staff but to get insights into what goes on at the high school on a daily basis. After our third meeting, we will reevaluate what your needs are for the second half of the year.  I will set up a Google Meet Link for parents that are unable to attend in person.  The dates are:

Thursday, September 24:  10 - 11 AM SHS Library

Thursday, October 29:  10 - 11 AM  SHS Library

Thursday, November 19:  3 - 4 PM  SHS Library

Another opportunity to learn more about the high school and meet with me and other administrators is through our parent group.

FROM THE DESK OF THE PARENT GROUP COORDINATORS

Come join the R-H Partners in Excellence and help support and celebrate the students and faculty at R-H Senior High School. Our first meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, September 10 in the Comet Cafe, or online. A link will be shared closer to the date and also posted on our Facebook page: RH High School Parents.  Email any questions to RHSHSPartnersInExcellence@gmail.com We look forward to partnering with everyone to have a fabulous year!

Parent Group Officers:

• Jennifer Betteridge, President
• Liz Waring, Vice President

• Nancyann Sucese, Treasurer
• Rachel Sherman, Secretary

Committee Chair: 

• Fatima Abbas, Communications & Outreach

EMCC Information - Please Read Carefully

EMCC does not have school on the following dates, however school will be in session at Rush-Henrietta:

September 3, 4, and 8, October 8 and 9, and April 9

Because of this, we need your help with supervision of your student.  

Here is the plan: With parent permission…

• If your child attends EMCC in the morning, they are not required to report to school until 11:55 a.m. on this day (lunch is served at 11:25 a.m.).
• If your child attends EMCC in the afternoon, they are not required to stay in school after 10:40 a.m. on this day (lunch is served at 10:40 a.m.).
• If your child will arrive late or leave early, please send in a note now or call our attendance line ahead of time to prevent delays: 359-5244 or 359-5242.  
• Transportation for late arrival and early dismissal is provided by families. 

Students who stay in the Senior High School during their usual EMCC time will have a study hall in the auditorium, yet this will be for a substantial amount of time. Please prepare your child for this.  

AM Video Show

We will be introducing a morning video show where our announcements streamed live into each classroom at the beginning of 3rd period. We will be creating a Video Announcement Club where students will read announcements and help with the behind-the-scenes production. We are lucky to have two staff from our AV/Tech group that have the equipment, expertise, and interest in getting this off the ground. Good news is that each daily broadcast will be uploaded to our website the same day for parents to view at their leisure. One more way in which we hope to increase our communication from high school to home. Stay tuned…!

Grade Level Privileges

Seniors:  Parking, painted parking spots, late arrival, early release

Juniors:  Parking will be allocated for the second semester. Early dismissal will be done by parent request justifying the need to leave early. All requests will go to their assigned assistant principal. 

Sophomores: No parking or early release/late arrival for sophomores.

August Graduation

Congratulations to our most recent R-H Graduates of the Class of 2026!*

Jezreel Mishael Brisbane

Ryan John Gascon

Levon Michael Su Hanna

Jacolby William David Matthews

Donald Deshan Revel

Sheraqa Reza

Elijah Cole Smith

Link Crew Sophomore Orientation

On August 20, approximately 80 members of our Link Crew, with the support of their advisors, spent a half day with our incoming sophomore class. They welcomed the sophomores into the gym and led them through a series of activities designed to help them transition to the SHS and become a unified Class of 2029. The Link Leaders did a truly amazing job, helping to start this year off on a great note of positivity and unity.

 

Mr. David Dunn, Interim Principal 

Rush-Henrietta Senior High School

Greetings SHS Parents, Families and Friends,

I hope this email finds you well, enjoying having your children home and finding special family time together. It is hard to believe that one of the longest months of the year has come to a close. August brings us closer to the start of a new school year! Our admin team has been busy hiring some new staff at the Senior High School, reflecting on the past school year, and making plans for the start of the 2026-2027 school year. Our most recent graduating class is just over one month in on their next journey. Some have already started their journey by enlisting in the armed forces, starting trades, getting ready for college, or enacting plans on what they want to do with their gap year! We are anticipating 12 August Graduates, to be celebrated in the last week of August in a mini-graduation ceremony. We are excited to welcome our rising seniors, our future 2027 graduating class, in the fall.

This week is District Leadership Week in Rush-Henrietta. I will be spending time with our district leadership team and our SHS Instructional Leadership Team. Our admin team has been busy reflecting on the past year and making plans for the start of a new school year. The theme of this year’s Staff Kickoff is “A Million Dreams. One Legacy.” Since your student was born, you have had big dreams for their future. Since they started pre-school, your students have thought about their own dreams for their future. In the next few years of high school, our staff, in partnership with you, will work hard to prepare your student for life after high school as they follow their dreams and create their own "legacy."  As your student's principal, I am honored to be a part of this journey.

By mid August, you will receive another E-News from me with a lot more information regarding what's new at the Senior High School, procedures, expectations, calendar dates beyond September, and much more.  I do want to highlight some important August and September dates below:

August 17: Last day for high school summer school at Pittsford Sutherland HS

August 18,19: Regents Exams, Pittsford Sutherland HS

August 20: 8AM to 3 PM; Sophomore Orientation - SHS Gymnasium (letters should have already been sent from Link Crew advisors.)

There will be an optional sophomore  parent meet and greet in our Royal Comet Cafe from 8 to 845 AM with the Admin Team.

August 21: Student schedules available in SchoolTool - Counselors will be available to assist with schedule questions

August 24: 3 - 6 PM; Sophomore schedule/locker walk through the SHS Halls.  Admin and student helpers will be present

August 26: 3 - 6 PM; Juniors and Seniors schedule/locker walk through SHS Halls. Admin and student helpers will be present.

September 3: First day of School

  - -Senior Sunrise 6:00 AM  Kleemann Stadium

September 17: 6:30 PM  Senior High Open House

Enjoy the remaining weeks of summer vacation. Between our two summer school programs and drivers education, it has been nice having students in our building. I am excited about getting back to the routine of school and making sure that your students have the best school year ever! Looking forward to living the life of a Royal Comet for an entire year!

Dave Dunn
Interim Principal

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Greetings!

As I reflect on my close to 10 weeks as interim principal at the high school, I am filled with a variety of emotions. Happy thoughts of being here next year to help kick-off the 2026-2027 school year after a summer of thoughtful planning around our goals for the year. I am excited to have time this summer to meet with our administration team to debrief what worked well this year and to begin planning for areas that did not work as well. 

Our end-of-year staff meeting held last week allowed our staff to celebrate many things: retirements, saying goodbye to staff that will not be here, and welcoming new staff to this amazing high school. 

Graduation was another area of happiness and sadness at the same time. I am so proud of the 401 students that walked across the stage at RIT. These students have crossed over from high school to post-high school plans that will help shape who they are and what they will become. We talked about what the word "Commencement" meant on our graduation banner - a new beginning that our graduates are taking the next step to figure out.  

 

You have heard me use the phrase, "It takes a Village to Raise a Child" before. This was very clear watching our students walk the stage and receive their diplomas. In all my tasks as a principal for many years, I feel that handing a senior their diploma and shaking their hand is one of the tasks that I am most proud of. Even though I have been here for such a short time, I felt connected to each senior during that handshake! I had a hard time sleeping that night as my heart was filled with gratitude watching these seniors become young adults! I can't wait to see what plans they make for their future!

To our returning families - I will give you a rest for the next couple of weeks as you relax and enjoy your summer with your family. It won't be long before you hear from me again (late July) with plans for another school year. I am hopeful that this coming school year will be the best one ever for your student.  

Have a great summer!

With gratitude,

Dave Dunn
Interim Principal