May 2, 2008
Dear Parents & Guardians,
The much anticipated completion of our building project has
allowed us an opportunity to rejoice in the beauty of our new
facility, and to reflect on the meaning of what Cheney Technical
High School really stands for. I have held a series of meetings
this spring with students, faculty, and PTO, and asked them
to answer the following question:
“What are the Core Values that Cheney Tech represents?”
My goal in this exercise is to identify a set of Beliefs that
reflect our school community’s philosophy of education.
I will then create a banner to hang in the main lobby that
will state our school’s Philosophy and Beliefs.
I want to include all our parents and students in this activity,
and ask you and your student to reflect upon those Core Values
and Beliefs that you think best identify Cheney Tech’s
philosophy. Simply put…What are the values that you
hope (and expect) your child to embrace as a result of their
Cheney Tech education? Please email to bruce.sievers@ct.gov,
fax 860.649.5396, or mail your response to my attention by
June 20th.
I think an important reason why so many students apply for
admission to Cheney Tech is that we are a smaller school (projected
enrollment 9/1/08 – 623) in which every student has a
positive connection to an important adult. This positive relationship
is developed in several important ways: Our Teacher:Student
ratio in Trades is 18:1; Academic class sizes, on average,
do not exceed 25 students; twenty-five percent of the student
body is involved in athletics; all students belong to a school
club that meets monthly during Activity Period. Pride in Cheney
Tech is evident throughout our student body.
A further display of our students’ pride and sense of
school identity has been realized for next school year in a New
Student Dress Policy. As you know, all students are
required to wear uniforms specific to their trade while in
their technology cycle. Beginning with the Class of 2011, all
freshmen were required to wear green Cheney Tech Exploratory
Shirts. Beginning with the start of the coming school year,
all students in grades 9 – 12 will be required to wear
Cheney Tech logo shirts during the academic cycles. These shirts,
in addition to other Cheney Tech logo items, must be purchased
through the school approved vendor, The Connecticut Shirt Man.
All Cheney Tech attire may be viewed and purchased through
the internet at the following site: www.onlinegearstore.com/cheney. Students
will not be allowed to wear jeans. All pants, shorts, and skirts
must be black, olive green, white or tan khaki material, and
can be purchased at any store. Students will not be allowed
to wear hooded sweatshirts in school. Cheney Tech logo outerwear
is available for purchase on the website previously mentioned.
My administrators and I believe that this new
dress policy for students during academic cycles will have
a positive effect on school pride, identity, and safety. No
student will be allowed to wear any other clothing item to
school during academic cycles. This new policy will eliminate
any possible issues arising from the wearing of clothing that
is deemed inappropriate – including
clothing that’s too revealing, contains inappropriate
language or graphics, displays colors associated with gang
membership, or is disruptive to the educational process. I’ve
also included a brochure
and order form from The Connecticut Shirt Man (Adobe Acrobat
Format) .
The Administrative Team thanks you in advance for your understanding
and support of this new dress policy.
Please view the school’s website (www.cttech.org/cheney)
for May and June’s calendar of important events and dates.
As always, please call us if you have any questions.
Sincerely,

Bruce R. Sievers
Principal |