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:
Monday: Collab Late Start Day
Tuesday: Regular Day
Wednesday: Reverse Min. Day: CAASPP Testing: ELA CAT (11th grade only)
Thursday: Regular Day
Friday: Minimum Day: 12 Week Progress Grades
What a week! Thank you ALL for the week of testing finished off with Pride of the Pack on Friday! Huge thanks to EVERYONE for your support, active positive participation and involvement with everything happening this week! Spring semester is filled with all kinds of interesting activities that make for a "permanently flexible" approach--for that we are truly THANKFUL to each of YOU!!
Congratulations to Color Guard and Marching Band teacher Dominick Maldonado!
They competed in three competitions over the past two weeks earning 1st place in each show. This makes FOUR consecutive first place wins in March!
A big Wolf Pack shout-out and well wishes for another victory as you prepare to represent West Hills in next weekend's Southern California Winter Guard championships!
Third Row L-R: James Voss (Sr.), Cara Bouchonnet (Soph.), Hannah Robinson (Soph.), Grant Krafft (Fr.), Michaela Shepler (Fr.), Alex Marquardt (Fr.)
Middle Row L-R: Sydney Bunch (Sr.), Alyse Purdy (Soph.), Julianne Davidson (Fr.), Ethan Medina (Sr.), Campbell Francis (Fr.), Van Savage (Fr.)
First Row L-R: Samantha Reyes (Jr.), Melanie Pulido (Soph.), Chelsea Knowlden (Jr.), Hannah Dunn (Fr.) Kaylee Spratley (Soph., Lieutenant) Kate Rasmussen (Jr., Captain)
I am very proud and excited to announce West Hills is one of 40 schools nationally awarded the Department of Defense "National Math Science Initiative" (NMSI) grant! Worth $300,000 over three years, it has two priorities: Teacher development and growing expertise in Advanced Placement math, science, English and Computer Science courses AND expanding the number of students both excelling in AP courses within these disciplines and expanding the number of students enrolling in these courses. While this is targeting STEM courses within the AP course offerings, all teachers within these disciplines (whether AP teachers currently or not) may participate in the paid Professional Development opportunities. For teachers in other disciplines, please talk with your Department Chairs about any professional development needs / ideas of PD you would like to attend. We are in the process of planning PD for 2018-19 and would love to provide support for ALL teaching and learning. In addition, students benefit from these additional skills study habits and tutorials and are able to transfer these to all other content areas.
This grant includes Saturday PD for teachers (paid), Saturday study sessions for students (breakfast and lunch provided) and financial incentives to both groups for their scores of "3" or higher in these test areas. In addition, the grant subsidizes the cost of each exam in these areas as well.
Teachers in these subject areas will be attending summer training and we will begin program with students and parents for 2018-19.
A huge THANK YOU to Department Chairs and Leadership team, all the AP teachers in these areas and to Guidance for their input and support in pursuing this grant.
We will be looking for a grant administrator (a moderately paid position) to coordinate this program. If you have any interest in this and would like more information, please let Robin know.
Exciting times for equity, access, and academic support for ALL students interested in taking, and succeeding, in at least one AP course during their high school career.
With the new California Accountability system, College and Career Readiness is a critical indicator in evaluating our success as a school in addition to 7 other areas. You can see our initial data here (we have seen this before and will see it again 😎). At the District level and with Guidance this year, we have been in a series of work shops focusing on our UC "a-g" completion rate. You can find more information on what that is here with a short video. We have begun to present data from our June, 2017 graduates to take a look at the numbers and the good news is we LEAD the DISTRICT with the highest UC "a-g" rates with 56% of our 2017 graduates achieving this goal. This is an important factor because this keeps ALL DOORS OPEN for our graduates so they can CHOOSE what post-secondary plan best fits them. How do we compare with California and the District? From the Public Policy Institute of California and their article on
College Readiness in California: A Look at Rigorous High School Course Taking, they note that in low-minority schools, the UC "a-g" completion rate is 34% and in high minority schools, 20%. For the GUHSD, it was 40%.
This is the continuation of the conversations we have been have the last three years on continuous school improvement. Because students have to earn a "C" or better in every class they take to be UC "a-g" eligible, our focused efforts on student support, academic and social-emotional support, as well as the entirety of our individual and collective practices within our classrooms and on campus, will remain central in our work.
Keeping the doors open for ALL students is the goal. We want every student to be in the position to make informed choices out of high school with every opportunity available. More to come on this as we talk with departments and continue our mission of educating every student.
College Readiness in California: A Look at Rigorous High School Course Taking, they note that in low-minority schools, the UC "a-g" completion rate is 34% and in high minority schools, 20%. For the GUHSD, it was 40%.
This is the continuation of the conversations we have been have the last three years on continuous school improvement. Because students have to earn a "C" or better in every class they take to be UC "a-g" eligible, our focused efforts on student support, academic and social-emotional support, as well as the entirety of our individual and collective practices within our classrooms and on campus, will remain central in our work.
Keeping the doors open for ALL students is the goal. We want every student to be in the position to make informed choices out of high school with every opportunity available. More to come on this as we talk with departments and continue our mission of educating every student.
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.
AP Testing Dates: Here is the complete schedule; WHHS students are taking the ones in blue. Next year we are adding AP Physics and AP Computer Science to benefit our students. We hope to hear soon for our NMSI Grant finalist selection for the 2018-19 school year. This grant funds $300,000 for three years focusing on expanding the number of students within our AP programs in English, Math, Science, and Computer Science, as well as the total number of sections being offered for each of these.
The 2018 AP Exams are held from May 7–11 (Week 1) and from May 14–18 (Week 2).
AP Test Schedule: Week 1
| TEST DATE | MORNING EXAMS (8 A.M.) | AFTERNOON EXAMS (12 NOON) |
|---|---|---|
| May 7, 2018 |
|
|
| May 8, 2018 |
|
|
| May 9, 2018 |
|
|
| May 10, 2018 |
|
|
| May 11, 2018 |
|
|
| Studio Art 5/11/18 is also the Deadline for AP Coordinators to submit digital portfolios and for 2-D Design and Drawing students to assemble physical portfolios. | ||
AP Test Schedule: Week 2
| TEST DATE | MORNING EXAMS (8 A.M.) | AFTERNOON EXAMS (12 NOON) | AFTERNOON EXAMS (2 P.M.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 14, 2018 |
|
|
|
| May 15, 2018 |
|
| |
| May 16, 2018 |
|
| |
| May 17, 2018 |
|
| |
| May 18, 2018 |
|
|
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.
Testing Update...2/5ths DONE!!
Thank you all for your hard work these past two days!! Thursday we ended with a completion rate on the math PT with a 95.27%!!! This is BIG for us because all schools have to meet 95% of their "eligible" 11th graders tested to "meet" the minimum standard. (We move on from there with qualitative results but this is a great start!)
Next week we have just one day of testing--WEDNESDAY--for the ELA CAT. You may find more students will need to come to S8 to finish as the ELA test requires quite a bit of reading.
We will have some additional headphones for each room, but we definitely don’t have enough for every student. I will be sending reminders home, but if you teach 11th graders, some additional in person reminders to bring headphones would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks again for being so positive and flexible as we try this new testing schedule!
Have a great Friday and an even greater weekend!
April Baker
Next week we have just one day of testing--WEDNESDAY--for the ELA CAT. You may find more students will need to come to S8 to finish as the ELA test requires quite a bit of reading.
We will have some additional headphones for each room, but we definitely don’t have enough for every student. I will be sending reminders home, but if you teach 11th graders, some additional in person reminders to bring headphones would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks again for being so positive and flexible as we try this new testing schedule!
Have a great Friday and an even greater weekend!
April Baker
Student Essay and Video Contests
What Does Equal Protection Mean to Students? Civics Contest
This contest is offered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The theme is how the equal protection clause applies in an education setting. Open to all high school students. Prizes range from $500 to $2,000 at the state level, and $250 to $1,000 at the local level.
Submissions can be in essay or video format and the deadline has been extended to April 8. Click here for more information.
For Kids, By Kids Video Contest
This contest is offered by the California Department of Education as part of a statewide effort to raise awareness about the importance of the CaliforniaAssessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP).
Open to students in grades 3-12. Winners can receive up to $1,000. Video submissions are due April 20. Click here for more details and an entry form.
Teacher Appreciation Night with the Padres
The Padres, in partnership with National University, have special discounts and ticket packages for educators in honor of Teacher Appreciation Night May 11.
See the Padres play the St. Louis Cardinals at 7:10 p.m. Click here for more details, including information about group pricing.
