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: Faculty PD Day: Agenda again
Tuesday: Regular Day: Wear Red for Class of 2022 Day
Wednesday: Regular Day: West Hills Wednesday--Our Blue WHHS Shirt day each week
Thursday: Regular Day: Best Back to School Outfit
Friday: Regular Day: Your own class color day (see poster above)
Thank you for your patience with our campus Fire Alarm project and being so gracious on Friday with sharing our campus with almost the entire GUHSD! It was an unusual start to our school year.
Thank you to Jamie Gwyn and Ardie Riego with all of their student volunteers! Your leadership and commitment to our students and our campus are so appreciated!
Thank you to Cece Boehme and your Yearbook students for your coverage of HOWL Day...we appreciate your passion and dedication as well!
Syllabus Turn In: Ginny Bell shared a google folder with you via email.
Please turn in a Syllabus for each course you teach (not each period, but Course)
either to that google folder or a paper copy to Ginny.
Please name your file this way:
Teacher last name, Course Title ex.”Ballarin.American Government”
**Syllabus must include the following per Board policy:
- Teacher Name, contact information
- Course Name
- Overview of course / General course of study
- (can be from our Master Course Catalog linked here or another
- one in compliance with this)
- Grade scale (ie.A=90% and above, B=80 -89% etc)
- Grading policy: rounding of grades or not; late work or not,
- Tardy / Attendance Policy: (ie. West Hills Attendance policy found in the
- student handbook will be followed
- *Per Board Policy, no one assignment, project, or test may make up more than 25% of a
- students’ total grade.
Master Schedule is still refining as we begin the school year.
Please do not send students to Guidance if there are "too many" students in your class. We are actively working on balancing but do not want the student to feel unwanted or "less than". This is the message they take with them, no matter how kind we are, when we send them out of class this first few days. We are well aware of class numbers and are working on complying with maximum class counts and balancing actively.
We have sent out to parents and students this notice. Students are asked to come to Guidance to sign up for one of these reasons OUTSIDE YOUR CLASS PERIOD.
Students: Schedule changes are only available for one of four reasons:
You have a hole in your schedule (missing a class)
You have a duplicate class--two periods of the same class in the same semester
You have a class you have already taken and earned credit for.
If you are a freshman, you have fewer than 6 classes.
As always, our bell schedule is 7:15 - 2:47 pm. We are not able to change start and end times. The campus is open for you to arrive before / stay after your last class.
Every year, National Youth Arts (NYA) Association has judges that come to youth theatre productions, critiques the shows, and then has an award show in the summer. NYA critiques shows from San Diego to LA, Colorado, Arizona, and New York.
This year, the awards show was on July 16th and West Hills won three awards and 11 nominations (the most nominations we have ever received)! In our area of San Diego, we were up against a lot of private organizations (like CYT, YAT, etc), private schools, and fellow GUHSD schools. Below are the awards:
Awards:
1. Bailey Richardson for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical for William Barfee in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
2. Kyle Long for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Musical for Leaf Coneybear for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
3. Carrin Edwards won Outstanding Direction for A Midsummer NIght's Dream. But, it's not really about me, it shows how hard the kids worked on this show. We are the only school in GUHSD that has won 4 Outstanding Direction Awards in the last 5 years which says our students are wonderful!
Below are some pictures and all of our nominations. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this email. Have a great summer!
Nominations:
Outstanding Performance in a Musical: Maryhanna Leraas, The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee.
Outstanding Performance in a Play: Savanna Clyne: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Outstanding Performance in a Play: Emily Tripp: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Outstanding Performance in a Play, Christina Keegan, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Outstanding Performance in a Play, Ash Rossman, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Outstanding Performance in a Play, Skylar Strubbe, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Outstanding Performance in a Play, Kimberly Watkinson, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Outstanding Performance in a Play, Lindsay Wilson, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Outstanding Ensemble: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Outstanding Costume Design: Ali Loeza and Carrin Edwards, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Outstanding Sound Design, Carrin Edwards, A Midsummer Night's Dream
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We are very happy to announce the addition of the talented and experienced theater Director Marissa Musgrove to our production staff. Marissa will be directing and overseeing our two major theater productions this year, "Guys and Dolls" and another show TBD. Marissa has served in this role for 5 years (off and on) for Grossmont High School and is an experienced regional and high school theater director. In partnering with Carrin, Marissa is excited to work with our school community and our wonderful students. Welcome Marissa!
From left to right
Illya Kulinych, Lizbeth Hoffman, Makynzie Floyd, Ms. Corrie Biggerstaff, Science Department Chair and teacher, Victoria Carrico, Hannah Daggy and Ilan Matkovski
West Hills students had 6 of the 20 spots for the Grossmont summer hospital internship program. The Healthcare Exploration Summer Institute (HESI) is an immersive hospital internship program at Sharp Grossmont Hospital which has hosted over 200 students since its inception in 2004. Each student rotates through up to 14 different departments and gathers information about careers in healthcare to help them plan their futures as they begin to enter college. This program has such an impact on its graduates, helping them to make informed decisions about what career paths are right for them, ultimately leading to greater success in their lifetimes. We are very proud of our Health Pathway Scholars!
Here is a great reminder of quality instruction for all learners, and specifically, English Language Learners from Education Northwest: http://tinyurl.com/ordbd28 Please remember that while we have a small population of students taking ELD, we have a larger number of students--about 175 "sprinkled" throughout our grades and courses who may need additional content area support. Barb Ruggles is happy to help you with any ideas / resources / needs.
Camp Wolf Pack 2018
For the last several years, Rodd Moses, Jamie Bean and Tanya Morrison have taken on "Camp Wolf Pack", carrying on a tradition that is 10 years old or older. Reaching out to the least academically successful incoming 9th graders from our Santee schools, they conduct an intensive "Be successful in High School / Get to know West Hills" three day summer intensive experience. Here they are taking a tour of SDSU with the hopes that early connections to high school will support them as they think about what they will do while in high school and after. We know that early outreach and engagement DOES make a difference. Thank you to these adults for working in this unique program and to all who help make this happen. 
