January 28-February 1, 2019

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

WHHS self-identified & WASC confirmed Goals

Activities for the week:  GREAT KINDNESS CHALLENGE WEEK

Monday:        Collab Day schedule; 

Tuesday:        Regular Day

Wednesday:  Regular Day; Period 5 Student Senate meets in S-8

Thursday:      Regular Day:

                                      

Friday:           Regular Day: 

 To Ms. Andrea Young and Mrs. Tanya Morrison and the Class of 2020 for putting on a GREAT WINTER FORMAL at SDSU's Montezuma's Hall last Saturday night! Thank you to PTSA for providing outstanding volunteers and to all the WHHS Campus Supervision, faculty and staff who worked the venue! Check out this video (start at 2:20) of kids enjoying the dance...way to go Wolf Pack!

Another big THANK YOU to all the teachers and students who were able to attend our "Say Something" Assembly last Wednesday. Students were great and the message was informative and yes, repeating what we want students to know--TELL SOMEONE if you hear someone alluding to threatening others or self. There are many trusted adults to tell and how to tell was also reviewed. Please look in your email for more information sent last week as a follow up. 

Moderate / Severe Special Education Teacher Shayla Tropiano is out on maternity leave and we welcome Ms. Hannah Street as her long-term substitute. We expect Ms. Street to work with us through May as Shayla and her husband welcomed son, Colton Vincent Tropiano to the family. Born on 1/25/19 and weighing 9 lbs. 14 oz at 24 inches long, everyone is healthy and happy!

We would like to thank Ms. Sara Leibelshon for working with us as our School Psychologist and wish her well in her new position in private industry. We welcome Ms. Elana Hamovitch as our interim School Psychologist. Her first day is February 1.  

January 28-February 1, 2019: Great Kindness Challenge Week: West Hills will be participating in this national week. Each period 3 teacher will get the Great Kindness Ideas list and ask teachers to review the list with students. We all then focus on and participate in the Great Kindness Challenge for the week. We can all use a little more kindness in our lives! We will be encouraging social media postings of our kindness as well as whole school opportunities. We want to start 2019 off with continuing kindness and good will. Here's a short video to help explain it...

February 4, Monday: AP English students taking practice AP exams per the NMSI grant in various classrooms periods 1-5. Email sent with Field Trip list last week. 

February 11, Monday: No School: Think about President Lincoln

February 18, Monday: No School: Think about all Presidents 

Wednesday, February 13, 2019, 5:30 p.m. West Hills Freshman Showcase: 

Our best opportunity to show off, we welcome all 8th grade families to preview our high school and JOIN the PACK! We need as many teachers, programs, and people here to inform and energize families to enroll at West Hills! This night is our true "Open House" since we are in the "Open Choice" window in the District where all schools are open for enrollment regardless of where you live. THANK YOU DEPARTMENT CHAIRS and COORDINATORS for your support and participation! More information to come....

Friday, February 27: ELPAC testing day: English Learners must be tested annually; This requires testing in speaking, reading, writing and listening by specially trained proctors from the District Assessment office. If students are called out with a pass, please send them right away for this testing. (Select small number of students).

Friday, March 1: PACK DAY (Parents at Class with Kids Day)--minimum day schedule

CAASPP Testing Calendar: Please note these special dates / schedules for CAASPP Testing; Monday, April 29 deemed a regular bell schedule day by Internal Auditor (first Monday we return from Spring Break).



The January Counselor Corner was sent to all students on Friday via Infinite Campus. Check it out for news to share with all grades. Thank you.

Teachers/ Certificated Staff: If you would like to nominate a teacher for the "Teacher of the Year" for the 2019-20 school year, please use this form to do so. All nominations are due by Friday, February 1. Any  teacher who would like to participate in the Recommendation meeting, it will be Monday, February 4, at 7:45 in the Principal's Conference room. 

EL Vocabulary Translation Template- All content areas are encouraged to share with EL students and allow them to use this whenever possible.

If you would like support for English Learners in your classroom, District EL Curriculum Specialist JoAnn Phillips is happy to come to you and help. Please complete this form to request her visit.

California Healthy Kids Survey Results: Great school climate perceptions continue

Please take a look at our results from students, parents, faculty and staff. We continue to have a terrific school climate overall. We improve each year from the previous year and in each critical area we see slight changes, mainly in the positive direction. This is due to YOU and OUR collective dedication to our students and each other. Great job Wolf Pack! We can learn a lot from this data and use it plan our activities and support on campus for all stakeholders. This is a key indicator on the State Dashboard for our school. (Colors in order of "best to worst": Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red).

Teachers and Counselors with new 13" MacBooks: Repeating emailed message from Dan McDowell below...this REQUIRES ACTION FROM YOU if you DO NOT want to lose everything on your work computer:

Hello GUHSD Teachers and Counselors,

In the last year, GUHSD refreshed all teacher and counselor computers. Unfortunately, a manufacturing defect is going to require almost all of the 13” Mac laptops (517) deployed last spring and this August to be tested and updated. You can see more about the issue on the Apple website.

ETS is working on a plan with Apple to visit each comprehensive site to perform the updates in a 1-3 day period. School visits will start in mid-February and continue into March. During that time ALL teachers with a qualified Mac will need to turn it into a designated location for 1-2 days while the update is applied. A Chromebook loaner will be provided for use during that time.

The update involves erasing all data from the hard drive. Teachers and counselors will need to back-up all data in advance (a good practice to have anyways!). To assist in that process, ETS will be pushing Google Backup and Sync to all recently deployed Mac computers on Wednesday, January 23. This application connects your hard drive to your GUHSD Google Account. All files in your Mac user profile will be synced to your Google Drive. Instructions on how to configure Google Backup and Sync can found here. Please configure it ASAP, the backup will occur in the background over a series of days. If you need support, please contact your Site Tech or call the HELP Desk.

Please Note: All staff members are individually responsible for backing up their files. Google Backup and Sync is the only district-supported method at this time; however, staff members may use their own backup process.

Once a schedule is finalized, we will notify everyone involved so proper planning can occur.

ETS is dedicated to supporting your use of technology in the classroom and in your jobs. We understand that this is a major inconvenience and apologize for the disruption. Doing this update is a big endeavor and we thank you for your help.

Rick Roberts, ETS Executive Director

Bob Clay, Technology Services Director

Dan McDowell, Instructional Technology Director

GUHSD Published Multi-Year Calendar for Staff (This includes the staff work days and start of school year for teachers and classified published by the District) 

GUHSD Multi-Year Calendar for Students and Parents (this is the "easy to read view for three years for parents and students but does NOT include faculty and staff start of school year and work day options during holidays). Sent via I.C. to all parents and students. 

Class of 2023: Freshman Showcase 

All are welcome..please share with family, friends and anyone searching for a great school for their students!

“AVENUE” - Students’ Artistry Entering Public Appreciation

Studio C Gallery and the El Cajon Rotary Club proudly sponsor an exhibition of the finest works from student artists in the Grossmont Union High School District.  Please support these upcoming artists and your art community by attending the

Opening Reception:  FRIDAY Feb 1, 2019 from 5- 8:00pm  

Exhibition Dates: 1/31- 2/22/19

Studio C Gallery

128 E. Main Street, Downtown El Cajon

619.540.5575

Celebrate our artists and the teachers that give them skill and inspiration.   

Stop by and see work created by students from all visual arts classes in the district, from sculpture and jewelry, to photography, painting, drawing, digital designs and mixed media.  All artists represented in this exhibition have been hand selected for their skill and dedication to their media and coursework.

This is the first exhibition at Studio C in East County and art instructors are proud to showcase the abilities and products of their hard working students.  

How did this exhibition come about?  Through a discussion about promoting the arts and providing meaningful opportunities for local “up and coming” artists, Carlos Castrejon (Studio C Gallery Owner) and Kenda Francis (Art Instructor at Steele Canyon High School) developed this idea, from a small seed.  Kenda then applied for and was awarded a grant from the El Cajon Rotary Club to sponsor the event, its advertisement and reception costs.

A GREAT thank you is extended to the generous El Cajon Rotary Club for their sponsorship and funding of this cultural and meaningful experience for our art students.  

Great gratitude is also extended to our Studio C Gallery Owner Carlos Castrejon for his vision to give students in our community an opportunity that is prestigious and possibly life changing.  

Thank you to all visual art teachers of our district who work so hard to maintain the rigorous and inspiring programs in our schools and dedicate so much time and heart to their growth.

The following visual arts programs have participated in this one of a kind event.

El Cajon Valley High School	Monte Vista High School
El Capitan High School	Mt. Miguel High School
Granite Hills High School	Steele Canyon High School
Grossmont High School	West Hills High School
Helix Charter School	Valhalla High School
IDEA

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