Thursday (8/20), Back to School BBQ (Extended Lunch Bell Schedule) Wednesday (8/26), Senior Exhibition Induction Evening Thursday (9/3), Back to School Night Monday (9/7), Labor Day Holiday (No School) Wednesday (9/9), Grade 12 College Bound Seminar Friday (9/11), Patriot Day Assembly (WIN Time) Saturday (9/12), Saturday School Tuesday (9/15), Academic Awards Assembly Grades 11/12 (WIN Time) Friday (9/18), Academic awards Assembly Grades 9/10 (WIN Time)
NEW & TIME SENSITIVE
New Bell Schedule Remember ECHS is following a new bell schedule this year which can be found HERE. Periods 1, 2, 3 and 11 will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Periods 4, 5, 6 and 12 will meet on Wednesdays and Fridays. Monday is a modified schedule for TCP students with a new dismissal time at 2:35 p.m.
Student Pick Up and Drop Off
For security reasons, all access to the main campus during school hours is through the arch in the Administration Building (Bldg. A).
Student parking is located east of the athletic field and in the Overflow lot next to East Valley Parkway.
Student drop-off at the main campus is along the right curb in front of the athletic field and Building A. Please enter and exit vehicles quickly, and do not block the left lane of the drive-through. Student drop off at Flex is in the roundabout area on the east side of the Flex building; to use this drop off, please enter and exit through the gate on Midway Drive.
Cars are not allowed to pass in front of the Flex building on Midway. Please enter and exit via the Midway gate. When exiting the campus, drivers must make a right-hand turn.
ECHS Dress Code Policy The updated ECHS Dress Code Policy, will be enforced during school pictures on August 10 and August 12 and on the first day of school. In addition, close attention will be paid to these particular areas:
Eccentricities of dress or personal grooming, such as body piercing and unnatural colored hair, are not permitted. A few examples of “unnatural colored hair” are: unnatural red, blue, green, maroon, and purple, etc.
Body piercing, other than earrings, is not permitted. Nose piercings must be removed while on campus. Earrings must not create a safety issue. A few examples of this are safety pins, large loops, long dangles, spikes, etc.
Pajama pants are not to be worn unless it is a school spirit day.
Tank tops must cover all undergarments and must be at least three fingers wide. No racerbacks allowed.
Student Parking Permits Students! Are you driving to school this year? Please make sure to fill out a Student Permit Parking Application. Once you have filled out the digital form, you may pick up your permit from the front office. Having a parking permit helps security know which cars belong in the parking lot, and it allows the school to contact you if needed.
PARENTS
Volunteers Needed If you would like to help with the Back-to-school BBQ on Thursday, August 20, please let Ms. Young know! You can contact her by calling the main office, or emailing her at kyoung@amhcs.org. We need people to help BBQ, and people to help serve the students lunch. Volunteers are needed at 10:45 a.m. that day. Thank you!
Medication If your student requires ANY medication to be administered during school hours, the following procedures apply:
Please complete a new Medication Form (signed by your doctor) and submit it to the ECHS main desk. The form is available on the myAHCS website
in the “Handbooks and Forms” section.
Your student must bring the medication to school in the original bottle or package with expiration date annotated.
NOTE: ECHS does not provide medication of any kind.
2026-2027 ECHS Free and Reduced - Income Eligibility Form Please complete the online Household Income Data Form. Completion of this form allows ECHS to accurately determine who is eligible for free/reduced lunch, fee reductions for AP tests, and other services. Please complete this form no later than Friday, August 21.
Flex Parents If you have a student enrolled in ECHS Flex, please take a moment to fill out the Independent Study Master Agreement
(ISMA). The form will need to be signed digitally by the parent and the student. Please select the student’s homeroom teacher from their schedule as the Teacher of Record. We are required to have this document on file for every Flex student. If you have any questions about the ISMA, please contact Leanne Megna at lmegna@echs.org.
Classroom Interruptions ECHS sets a high priority on making the most of instructional time. Therefore, the front desk will not interrupt class time to report delivery of forgotten items. Please make plans to drop off forgotten items with your student during break and lunch. We will allow them to meet you at your car at that time.
How to Update Emergency Contacts As a policy we are not allowed to release a student to any person that is not on their emergency contact list. If you need to update your emergency contact information, please see or email Leanne Megna at lmegna@amhcs.org
or Shannon Traina at straina@amhcs.org.
Flex Building Hours The Flex building office will be open to students at 8:00 a.m. daily. Students are not allowed to enter the building before that time.
Cashless Events All events this year will be cashless. We use Square which takes major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover), digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay), contactless tap-to-pay, chip cards, magstripe swipes.
ACADEMIC & STUDENT SERVICES INFORMATION
Scheduling Questions and Requests Students with a schedule change request should fill out a green form which can be picked up in the Front Office or D-202 (top floor of the Student Services Building). Note: Specific period or teacher requests cannot be honored. CLP and TCP Students who have a question regarding their class schedule should check in with Student Services. For students with last names beginning with A-G: Mr. Prodan, (D205). H-O: Mrs. Collier, (D203). P-Z: Mrs. Withem, (D204). If you are a PLP student, please discuss these questions with your mentor teacher and ask them to submit a form for you.
Understanding Your Schedule Periods 1-6, 11, and 12 are on-campus classes scheduled during the normal school day. Any of the other periods that appear on the schedule are for administrative purposes, and are not a scheduled class that you will attend during the school day. The other periods on your schedule are placeholders for homeroom teachers, ISPE, and/or Palomar classes. Questions about schedules will be addressed at orientation and book check out on Monday, August 10 (grades 10-12) and Wednesday, August 12 (grade 9). Reach out to your academic advisor if you have any additional questions after that time.
Mandatory ECHS Palomar Partnership Classes Informational Meeting Students enrolled in these classes are supposed to turn in their paperwork by Friday, August 14. Palomar classes begin on Monday, August 24. All students enrolled in CINE 100, ECON 100, ANTH 100, PSYC C1000, or ASL 100 must attend a mandatory informational meeting on campus on Tuesday, August 18 during WIN Time, from 2:45–3:30 p.m. ECON, ANTH and PSYC students should report to the Future Center and CINE and ASL Students should report to the Flex MPR. At that time, Student Services will walk you through navigating how to access a Palomar class.
College Visits ECHS will be offering on-campus college visits starting in September. Please check back regularly for the college visit schedule.
Textbooks Students who do not pick up their textbooks during their assigned day at the beginning of the week should report to the Library before school, during lunch or after school on the first day of school. Textbooks will not be issued during class periods. Please make sure that all textbooks are covered with a paper book cover, and names put in all books checked out. We will be covering books during WIN Time. Students are responsible for damages or lost books.
Faculty Note: Please check to ensure your students have the correct textbooks for your course. If not, have them report to the library during break, lunch, or after school to exchange books.
Lockers Locks and lockers have been assigned. Remember, students may not exchange lockers. Moreover, lockers should be locked at all times and your combination kept confidential. This year you have access to your locker combination on your school portal.
School Issued Email Address Teachers communicate regularly through email. Returning students should check their ECHS email regularly. Students new to ECHS need to make sure they are able to login to their school email by going to https://www.google.com/ and signing in with a new account. Email: Student First and Last name @amhcs-student.org Password: Grade 9 - Tigers*99 Grade 10 - Tigers*1010 Grade 11 - Tigers*1111 Grade 12 - Tigers*1212 If you are unable to access your email, contact Kim Young in the library or email her at kyoung@amhcs.org.
Homework and Email Homework Homework or study for each course will normally be required at an average of 30 minutes per day per course. Honors and Advanced Placement level courses require additional study hours. Homework is assigned in direct support of the class objectives, and will normally be graded. Failure to complete homework assignments may result in course failure or a reduced grade. In order for parents to be aware of student assignments, homework assignments will be updated weekly on this document. The Electronic Daily Homework document will always be linked at the top of the Charter Notes, and is available through the myAHCS
website under the “Grades, Assignments, and Logins” tab.
PROJECT NEXT
Mr. Alan, our Career Coach with Project Next, is here to support students with their next steps after high school. He will be available on Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the ECHS Future Center. Please schedule an appointment
or email him at alan@projectnext.org
Be sure to follow us on Instagram to stay updated on events and opportunities throughout the year at echs_futurecenter. I am here to support students with:
• Career assessments using Journey’s Map • Resume support • Job search and application assistance • Interview preparation and mock interviews • Internship search • Personal finance workshops • Adulting skillshops • Career chats • Scholarship search • Career Closet access
For Junior students interested in joining our 2026–2027 NextCohort, please complete our Junior Cohort Interest List
2026–2027. We look forward to connecting with you! We will begin reviewing applications and will contact students when we return to share more information and discuss next steps.
Wishing you all a great school year. I can't wait to meet you!
Mr. Alan
CAMPUS CULTURE & COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
ASB Are you ready to lead, collaborate, and make a difference at ECHS? Applications for 2026–2027 ASB representative positions are officially open, and we want you to apply! Whether you’re passionate about planning events, advocating for your peers, improving school spirit, or just want to be more involved in shaping the student experience, ASB is the place to be.
You will have a check-in with ASB officers after school on Thursday, August 20. We will use this time to go over campaign requirements and expectations. Up to seven applicants will be invited to proceed with the campaign at this meeting.
Speeches will be given in the theater during WIN time on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
All the details you need — including position descriptions and requirements — are in the form. Be sure to read everything carefully and give yourself plenty of time to complete the steps.
Del Rancho Pop Warner Football and Cheer Volunteer Opportunity A nonprofit 501c3 youth sports organization that services the Rancho Bernardo and 4S Ranch communities. Their season has just kicked off and they are looking for high school volunteers to help throughout the season. Volunteering Dates:
Home Game Concessions: 8/15, 8/29 (also picture day), 9/12, 9/19, 9/26, 10/3, 10/10, 10/24
Possible Home Game Concessions: 10/17 is a possible home game at RBHS but we are still working on securing the field
Season Celebration Date: Sunday, 10/18 - We need help with everything
Championship Game Date: Saturday, 11/7 - We need help with everything
Student Union Deli Visit the deli in the Student Union during break and lunch and take advantage of a variety of food and drinks served daily.
National Anthem Auditions Are you interested in singing the National Anthem for home football and basketball games this year? We will be holding auditions on Thursday, 8/20, and Friday, 8/21, in I-211 after school. Please email Dr. Clifton at lclifton@amhcs.org
if you have any questions.
Italy 2028 Calling all ECHS students! Mr. Kemp is organizing a trip to Italy in June of 2028. Please stop by C-203 for itinerary and cost information. An informational meeting will be held in the near future.
Robotics Robotics 5 Credit After School Class: We have started a new robotics year. We have a lot to do to prepare incoming freshmen and the team for the new game in 2027. New Freshmen: We will be having informative meetings starting this week on Tuesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Flex building room I-101. We will continue to accept freshmen in August only, so join us now for some robotics fun.
Please consider a donation to these hard-working students. Your donation is tax-deductible, and can be made using this Paypal link. Additionally, the robotics team would like to ask for any donations of old laptops, monitors, computers or tools that work. WE NEED HAND and POWER Tools, so if you have old tools sitting around, give them to help students learn to be handy. If you have anything to give, please either leave them at the front desk at ECHS, by the robotics lab or email tdewey@amhcs.org. Thank you!
Find our latest videos on Instagram here. Find our history website here.
Drone Club: New Freshmen: We will be having informative meetings starting this week on Wednesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Flex building room I-101. If you love drones and flying competitions, then this is the club for you.
Community Service Opportunity Heritage Elementary's ACE Program (formerly known as ELO-P) is looking for high school volunteers. Volunteers will help students with homework as well as aiding teachers in a variety of classes such as cooking, 3D printing, art and more! If you are interested in helping our youngest White Tigers and earning community service hours, please click on this link.
ATHLETICS
ECHS Athletics Please check our athletics website, for the latest updates! You may also contact our athletic department at echsathletics@amhcs.org, if you have any questions.
Athletics Clearance Packet: Please create a parent portal account through RankOne.com and complete all paperwork in the Student Management Portal prior to your son or daughter's try-outs. If you have any questions or cannot find your son or daughter within the system please reach out to Mallie Green mgreen@amhcs.org. Here is a quick how-to video on how to set up the parent portal.
ISPE If you are enrolled in ISPE this year, please click on the link that correlates to your program TCP or CLP to input your hours. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Mallie at mgreen@amhcs.org. portal.
Co-Curricular Eligibility Policy The ECHS Co-Curricular Eligibility Policy has been recently updated. To review the policy, click HERE.
OUR MISSION IS TO DEVELOP THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF OUR STUDENTS THROUGH A RIGOROUS CORE CURRICULUM WITH A PERSPECTIVE THAT CHERISHES TIMELESS VIRTUES AND THE AMERICAN SPIRIT.
