Current Families

School Handbook
 

School Handbook

Uniform Guide

Please see handbook for additional details.

Shirts

Members of the Class of 2025 are required to wear the new polo shirts, which will be available only through the Rocket Shop. Members of the Classes of 2022-24 may wear the former uniform polo or the new polo. Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, all students will be required to wear the new polo.

shop for polos

Skirts

New uniform skirts are available through Schoolbelles using the McNicholas code S2930. Members of the Class of 2025 are required to wear a uniform skirt in black, grey, or khaki. We have discontinued sales of the navy skirt. Members of the Classes of 2022-24 may wear a uniform skirt in black, grey, khaki, or navy during 2021-22. Navy will no longer be an option for any student after 2021-22. Skirts should be no higher than two inches above the knee.  Use code S2930.

shop for skirts 

Pants

Students may wear dress pants from any vendor in khaki, grey, or black. Members of the Classes of 2022-24 may wear navy pants during 2021-22 but not in following years. No denim-style, corduroy, or cargo-style pants are permitted. Style and fit should be suitable for employment in a conservative office – neither too tight nor too loose.

Shorts

Men may wear khaki, grey, or black shorts no higher than two inches above the knee.

For questions about the Student Handbook or uniform guidelines, please contact

Thank you for your attention to the McNicholas parking lot rules and regulations.  Your cooperation will create a safer campus for our students and parents.

Traffic Flow

Parents dropping off students may do so only at the island off of Beechmont Avenue. Please do not drop off students in the lower lot, the visitors lot, or from the Paradise lot. 

When dropping off students in the morning, please enter the parking lot and pull as far forward as possible on either side of the island to prevent back-ups on Beechmont Avenue. Please do not allow students to exit a vehicle on Beechmont Avenue. 

After students exit vehicles, please turn left to exit the parking lot at the Brachman Avenue traffic light. Please do not turn right on Brachman Avenue and exit through the Mt. Washington Presbyterian lot or through the Paradise lot. Brachman Avenue is one-way out to Beechmont Avenue, and traveling against one-way traffic creates dangerous situations for our students and jeopardizes our good neighborhood relations. 

Please drive slowly, especially when entering and exiting Paradise Lane. 

Between 7-8 a.m., Paradise Lane is one-way, enter only. Cars may not exit Paradise Lane to Berkshire during that hour. 

Between 2:30-3 p.m., Paradise is a one-way, exit only. Cars may not enter Paradise Lane off of Berkshire during that half-hour. 

Bus Transportation

Students who live in the Forest Hills, Cincinnati Public, or New Richmond School Districts can utilize a public school bus for transportation.

For service on the first day of school, please complete the appropriate form and send to the address listed on the form by no later than June 30, or to utilize busing from the New Richmond School District, please call 513-553-0266.
 

Forest Hills School District

Cincinnati Public School District

Parking

Students who drive to school must purchase a parking permit.  

Park only in assigned, marked spots.

Open faculty spaces are available for general parking after 3:30 p.m. 


Parking Permit Request

For questions about parking, please contact

McNicholas High School uses FinalForms, an online forms and data management service, to complete and sign mandatory school forms as well as necessary athletic forms.

Back-to-school forms for all students must be complete and electronically signed by parents and students no later than the first day of school each year. 

Parents must complete the forms first. Once the parent portion is complete, then the student receives an email via his/her McNicholas email account prompting him/her to sign the forms.

Please note: Incoming freshmen and transfer students will not be able to sign the forms through their school email until they have set up their McNicholas email accounts at their tablet pick-up in August.

If your student is playing a fall sport, the Athletic Department needs your information sooner than the first day of school. Therefore, forms for fall athletes must be complete and electronically signed by parents by June 30. Student signatures on these forms aren’t required until the first day of school.

Directions

FinalForms

For questions about forms, please contact

Grades and Course Materials

Parents are able view a student’s grades through the Rediker Parent Portal and access course documents and assignments via Schoology. Access to both accounts is given via email at the beginning of the school year.  
 

Rediker Parent Portal

Schoology for Parents

Faculty Directory

If you have questions about a particular class, please email the teacher and he or she will get back to you within 48 hours.
 

Faculty Directory

If you need help accessing the Parent Portal or Schoology, please contact

Christian Service Program

Our Christian Service Program seeks to challenge students to "attain Full Stature in Christ” by living out the Gospel values. All students are required to serve for at least 40 hours prior to graduation, but most far exceed that minimum requirement. A minimum of 20 hours must be completed prior to the end of a student’s sophomore year and an additional 20 hours must be completed in advance of the critical reflection and presentation of learning that students will experience during their senior year Social Justice course.

Students are encouraged to partner with one of the suggested agencies listed below.  For an ongoing list of service opportunities, students should join the Service Opportunities Posting group in Schoology using access code  JQZ6-GGXN-J3WK2.

Suggested Agencies

Christian Service at McNicholas

For the 20 hours of service that students complete during their last two years, they are required to step beyond their comfort zone and to serve the underprivileged by practicing the “works of mercy” in the spirit of Matthew 25.  
 

Recording Service Hours

Students must log their service hours using x2VOL.

x2VOL

Century Club

The vast majority of McNicholas students go far beyond the required hours of community service.  The honorary Century Club has been established to recognize those who do over 100 hours of service during their time at McNicholas.  Membership in the Century Club will be determined by adding all service hours completed helping the underprivileged and no more than 60 hours of other kinds of service.

If you have questions about service hours, please contact

All seniors are required to have a second Meningococcal vaccine (Menactra) by the first day of classes. Please send a copy of your child's immunizations to the School Nurse.

All medication orders expire at the end of each school year. If your child requires medications at school, please get updated physician orders over the summer. There is a form in FinalForms, or your physician can use a universal form.

McNicholas students are expected to attend school regularly and to be punctual; however, if a student needs to miss school for some reason, a parent/guardian should report the absence before 9 a.m. Please call 231-3500 x5120 and leave a message with following information: student’s name, grade, reason for absence, and a phone number where the parent can be contacted. Absences lasting longer than one day should be reported each day unless a circumstance such as hospitalization has been reported.

To report an absence, please contact

Our goal is to enjoy the most complete Catholic high school experience possible: everyone together on campus for classes, prayer, games, clubs, service, accomplishment, growth, spirit, and fun. Our goal is to return to simple joys that have not been possible for 18 months: all class members in one classroom, everyone having lunch in the Café, dances, pep rallies. 

To maximize our chance to make this return to a complete school experience a reality, we’re going to begin the school year with everyone wearing a mask while inside. 

Experts tell us that this one sacrifice will leverage otherwise normal school experiences for us. The state and the Cincinnati Health Department have agreed that, “Quarantine is not necessary for students and adults possibly exposed to COVID-19 in K-12 school settings, regardless of vaccination status, if ALL the following prevention measures have been in place:

• Masking for students and staff (regardless of vaccination status).
• Physical distancing is maximized (at least three feet between desks).
• Documented COVID-19 prevention policies (e.g., identification of individuals experiencing symptoms, strategies to increase ventilation, protocols for cleaning, etc.)”

McNicholas follows all of these practices.  As a result, no one exposed to COVID-19 in classrooms will need to quarantine.

Some pertinent realities:

• During the peak of the pandemic in February, very few McNicholas “close contacts” needed to be quarantined, thanks in large part to masking for all.
• Cincinnati and Hamilton County currently have case counts as high as the peak in February, and the trends are rising.
• The Delta variant accounts for 80% of area cases.  It can be spread even by vaccinated people.  It is causing more hospitalizations of young people than the original strain.
• Some members of our school community have weak immune systems or medical conditions that make them ineligible for vaccination.  Catholic teaching calls on us to provide preferential protection for the most vulnerable.
• Minimizing cases and quarantines will enable us to maximize on-campus attendance, which in turn will enable teachers to focus their energies on their classrooms rather than needing to divide attention between students in classrooms and students quarantined at home.

Students will have breaks from masks.  Masks are optional for people three feet apart outside. Brief mask breaks can take place during classes.  Masks are optional in the Café during lunch, where we’ll have up to 5 people at a table this year.  (The Health Department does not exclude the possibility of quarantines for close contacts during lunch.)

Students will return to a complete high school experience: together in one classroom, with many friends in the Café, attending group Masses and assemblies, cheering together at pep rallies and games.   

We’ll evaluate the need for continuing masking for all in about a month in light of circumstances at McNick and in the area.