Dear Brookwood High School Families, Staff, and Community,

I am writing to you today to share information related to our school, and, our football teams, in particular. As we all know, communities across the nation, including ours, are seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases. Unfortunately, we have received reports of six confirmed cases of COVID involving members of our JV and Varsity football teams.  We have implemented our district’s process for identifying close contacts and are implementing the recommended quarantine guidelines. The percentage of positive cases on the two teams is approximately 6% (6 out of 98 players). However, as you know, the safety and health of our students is a top priority. That said, we have made the decision to cancel this week’s JV and Varsity football games—the JV game today vs. Parkview and tomorrow night’s varsity game against Walton.

I would like to remind you that our school district reports COVID-19 numbers by school and posts this information each day on the district website. (Today’s numbers will be included on tomorrow’s report.) This is a good resource for our families and community, allowing you to see information specific to our school.

I wanted to make sure you had this information as I do not want rumors and misinformation to spread about the cancellation of our football games this week. Once the close contact investigation is complete and we have additional information, decisions about future football activities will be made.

Sincerely,
William Bo Ford, Jr.
Principal

Georgia law requires that all students entering or transferring into 11th grade for the 2021-2022 school year require proof of a meningococcal booster shot (MCV4), unless their first dose was received on or after their 16th birthday. 

 If your 11th grader is already 16 years old, and you have not already submitted proof of a MCV4 booster shot:

• Visit your physician or the Health Department for your 11th grader to receive the MCV4 booster shot and an updated Certificate of Immunization (Form 3231). 
• Then submit the immunization form to the Brookwood Counseling Office one of three ways: 
   
  • Drop off the form at the Main Office A1.
  • Send a copy of it by email to our registrar, Mrs. Cantrell at aimee.cantrell@gcpsk12.org.
  • Fax the form to (770) 978-5075.

Meningococcal disease is a serious bacterial illness that affects the brain and the spinal cord. Meningitis can cause shock, coma, and death within hours of the first symptoms. To help protect your children and others from meningitis, Georgia law requires students be vaccinated against this disease, unless the child has an exemption.

Thank you.

For planning purposes for all concerned, proactively Brookwood has decided to change all Fall 2021 Grade-Level Parent Nights at school to virtual events again this year.

We will upload presentations to the school website www.brookwoodhighschool.net following the original schedule shown below. Links to the presentations will be active by 6:00 p.m. on their respective days and remain on the website throughout the 2021-2022 school year.

• Tuesday, AUG 17: 9^th Grade
• Thursday, AUG 19: 12^th Grade
• Thursday, AUG 26: 10^th Grade
• Thursday, SEPT 23: Financial Aid/College Planning
• Thursday, NOV 11: 11^th Grade
• Thursday, NOV 18: College Options Now

To view a presentation when the time comes, please look under the Parents tab on the school website or go directly to this link. We will send you a reminder and the link to your child’s grade-level presentation on the morning of the event.

As of now, Brookwood Parent Open House scheduled for Monday, September 13, 5:30-7:30 p.m. will remain an in-person event at school. The on-campus experience allows parents to walk their students’ schedules, classroom to classroom, and meet their students’ teachers.

We look forward to sharing with you the Brookwood way of teaching and inspiring our students, your children.

Start off the school year with all the right communication tools at your disposal.

For those of you who have not already applied for a parent portal account:

• If you're not sure if you have an active account, simply click this link and use your email address as the username to attempt to reset your password.
• If the system does not recognize your email address, then please complete a parent portal application form and email it along with a scan of your photo ID to bhsconnects@gcpsk12.org.  
• If you already have an active parent portal account, sure to check that we have your correct parent contact information. Here is the link to log in.

Please see the attached about 1) signing up for the Friday newsletter, 2) following the school on social media, 3) ensuring you receive important text notifications from Gwinnett County Public Schools, and 4) applying for a parent portal account.

It's also helpful to bookmark the school website www.brookwoodhighschool.net on your home computer and mobile phone.