Special WASC edition / Going into Spring Break 2018

The mission of West Hills High School is to graduate critical thinkers and problem-solvers who contribute positively to society as productive, responsible citizens.

Friday, March 23, starting at 3:00 Cross Campus / Departmental Collaboration @ Oggi's Santee

WASC Follow up.....Here is our Visiting Committee team with Chair Darrell Pechtl in the center, celebrating our report out prior to leaving campus. They loved us...they REALLY, REALLY DID! 

WE DID GREAT!!

The Visiting Committee was very honest, listened carefully to all of the focus groups and stakeholder meetings, including those with students and parents and had nothing but POSITIVES to say about our school! Several noted that they would have their own student enrolled in our school! 

Thank you to Randy Cambou for his dedication and attention to detail as our WASC Coordinator.

Thank you to each of our dedicated and caring Focus Group Leaders and our hard-working Assistant Principals

Thank you to our Department Chairs and members of our Leadership Team

Thank you to our Data Expert Matt Norris

Thank you to ALL of our support staff in dealing directly with WASC and the many details of making this happen this week: 

Ginny Bell

Chris Quarders

Noelle Johnson

And most of all, THANK YOU to the ENTIRE faculty and staff for embracing the true spirit of continuous school improvement and the WASC process! We have some great areas to work on that we know about and we will get to work on that...but let's get to Spring Break first! 

So grateful to work with each of you and so glad we all do what we do!

See the Visiting Committee's rough draft report here and look at the last three pages for the overall "Critical Areas of Strengths" and "Critical Areas of Growth". 

And, with permission, here is Mr. Moses celebrating.....

A few reminders going into Spring Break Please...

Please remember to:

*Unplug electronics

*Take home living things

*Set your "auto reply" on your email and phone

(Campus closed March 25-April 8 except for select athletics)

*Monday, April 9 is a collab day and our first REVERSE MINIMUM DAY is Wednesday, April 11 with TESTING 

*Enjoy the BEST BREAK EVER! We deserve it!

March 18-23, 2018

The mission of West Hills High School is to graduate critical thinkers and problem-solvers who contribute positively to society as productive, responsible citizens.

Activities for the week:  

Sunday:         WASC Visiting Team Arrives-- working out of B-1; No one else to use this room
                        through Wednesday please.

Monday:         Collab Late Start Day:

Tuesday:        Regular Day: 

Wednesday:  Regular Day: 

Thursday:      Regular Day: Student Senate (moved from Wed. due to WASC) Period 5, S-8

                                    

Friday:           Regular Day: 
                       Clean out refrigerators; Take home live things due to two                                                                  week break; unplug small appliances including computers. 

Great job ASB and Ardy Riego for our Spring Assembly! The Dance classes were  terrific...check out the video and thanks to Jamie Gwyn! We appreciate all of the period 5 teachers who attended to supervise and support our students as well! 

Sunday, March 18- Wednesday, 21, 2018: WASC Visiting Team on campus.Please look at your email for the calendar invite(s) that pertain to you. Department Chair and Leadership along with WASC Focus Group Leaders have a few more invites than others. 

We are excited to have our WASC Visiting Committee on campus beginning Sunday and leaving Wednesday afternoon. Here are some reminders:

Please remember to wear your photo badge on campus at all times. 

WASC Staff Notes

WASC Visiting Committee Schedule March 18-21, 2018

West Hills WASC 2018 Self-Study Final Report

West Hills Data in one page

Teachers: Please remember to have your student work / evidence either in the online folder with a Chrome book set up and ready for the visiting member to view OR in paper form in the blue folder with this cover sheet close to your door if possible for the Visiting Committee members to review. 

Tuesday, March 20 at lunch please join us for pizza and salad in the Staff Lounge at the Visiting Committee's request for informal discussion and socializing. 

Wednesday, +/- 2:30 p.m., S-8: WASC Visiting Committee Report out: not required, but would be lovely for anyone who can attend to do so. This time is flexible based on when they are done with the work so please look for any confirmation or change of time in your email on Wednesday at 11:00 and after. 

March 26-April 6, 2018 Spring Break: Please make sure you empty refrigerators / food from classrooms and offices; Unplug small appliances; Take home live plants, fish etc. to take care of them; Enjoy the time off!

April 11-12, 18, 25-26: CAASPP TESTING: "Reverse Minimum Days"--11th grade testing 7:15-9:15 am; Regular Period 1 begins 9:34. See entire CAASPP Testing Schedule HERE with tabs at the bottom for additional information. Thank you to Department Chair and Leadership group for working with Admin to develop and discuss this schedule. Aligned with our school goals for shared cross-content collaboration and expanding ALL TEACHERS understanding of SBAC testing with students, EVERYONE has a role to play in testing, not just English and Math teachers. As always, after we carry this out, we will review how it went and make improvements for the following year.

Saturday, May 19, Senior Prom, Paradise Point Resort, 7:00 p.m.: All are welcome to attend. The Seniors LOVE to see Faculty and Staff there! 

May 23: Multi-Cultural Fair in the Gym all day--Social Science classes attending; All are welcome; If a student group asks you to be an Advisor, please help them out and say "yes"; They need a place to meet to organize and you to be with them this day in the Gym; Jodi Kohler and Dan Sutton continue to be the campus leads on this so THANK YOU to all for supporting them and our students in this event!

Senior Awards Night, Thursday, May 31 at 6:00 p.m in the Theater:  All are welcome to this lovely evening where identified Seniors are on stage as they receive Department Awards and Scholarships; Our Valedictorians and Salutatorians are announced officially and many other awards are given out. Identified seniors are asked to attend to receive "an award" but they don't know what it is so the night is very special. Thank you to Guidance for making this night happen. 

Tentatively Monday, June 4 @ 1:00 p.m.: Dedication of the Dave Hunter Gymnasium with unveiling of the new name and a reception in the Foyer. More to come on this....

Thursday, June 7, 8:30 a.m. GRADUATION in our stadium: Faculty arrives by 7:45 a.m. and here is information on our web site for Seniors. More information for faculty and staff closer to the date.

Please let your Department Chair know of your interest in any of these and your Admin liaison will follow up to get the Assessment office to come out and meet with you, a team, or entire Department. 

NEW - Illuminate will now offer expanded live proctoring for online testing. This new feature is an excellent way to do formative assessment.

Illuminate is a powerful tool and can be used to meet WASC requirements. To arrange for small-group training on your campus, please contact the Assessment office. Topics include: 1) formative assessment; 2) pre-built assessments; 3) online testing; and 4) Illuminate basics (creating an assessment and reporting).

Math

GUHSD Math Summit, Tuesday March 13th, 8:00am – 3:00pm

• Organized by John Berray and Jade White featuring GUHSD teacher presenters
• 
  

GUHSD Mathematics Update March 2018 Contains answers to many of the common questions related to the GUHSD’s transition to Integrated Math

ENGLISH and ENGLISH Language Learner Resources

Implementation Support for the ELA/ELD Framework

TEACHERS, INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES, ADMINISTRATORS

Announcing a collection of resources fully aligned to the ELA/ELD Framework!

·      Over 250 resources organized around the five key themes: Meaning Making, Effective Expression, Language Development, Content Knowledge, and Foundational Skills

·      Over 80 resources with an English-learner focus

·      Over 60 high-quality videos from reputable sources

Access this collection to inform instructional decisions, support professional learning, and inspire innovative approaches!

Visit the Implementation Support for the ELA/ELD Framework Web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/cf/elaeldfwresources.asp.

Which ones can you use? Explore this compilation of videos, implementation tools, and reports containing clear and useful recommendations that can help you implement California standards and ELA/ELD framework-aligned teaching.

Recommend a resource. Do you know of or use a resource you would like us to share with others? Please send any recommendations to CommonCoreTeam@cde.ca.gov.

ELPAC Practice Tests Available

Practice Tests for California’s new English language proficiency assessments are available online at https://www.elpac.org/resources/practicetests/. The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California, or ELPAC, are aligned to the California English Language Development Standards and measure English learners’ progress in learning English. The ELPAC summative assessments will be administered February 1 through May 31, 2018.

The ELPAC Practice Tests give students, parents and families, teachers, administrators, and others an opportunity to become familiar with the types of test questions on the ELPAC. The Practice Test documents for each grade level and grade span include test questionsin four different domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. When students know what to expect on the test, they will be better prepared to demonstrate their English language proficiency.

Additional information on the ELPAC is available on the ELPAC Web site at https://www.elpac.org/ and the CDE ELPAC Web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ep/.

A staff member sent this to Admin and I say "Heck ya...let's see who's up for the challenge!" Maybe we have a talented student who wants to design our logo? Feel free to sign up and let me know if you are interested....this is a great way to celebrate the start of Spring Break! Go Wolf Pack!! Forward on to students and our community in any way you like! Bring the family! 

HEY Pack

Let’s keep the great kindness challenge going and participate in something as a school. Clubs, Teams, Departments

Register at https://www.raceforautism.org/  and the join our team

​​

WHHS Wolf Pack

We can be "Super Wolves"

And do something fun as a group

OK honestly here is where I fall short since waking up early on a Saturday morning is not really my idea of fun, but hanging out with a bunch of friends from work does, and doing something to promote how awesome our school is- even more awesome!

As always, check out our website for lots of information. Go Wolf Pack!