March 2-6,2020

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

Monday:        Collab Day; All Faculty and Staff meeting, S8; 7:45 a.m. 

                                          Meeting Agenda

Tuesday:        Regular Day; Election Day--Gym Foyer is Polling Place

Wednesday:  Regular Day: 

Thursday:      Regular Day: Dept.Chair & Leadership Mtng; E8; 2:00 p.m. 

                                             Literacy Team with Lin Kuzmich, 8:00-2:00; E8

                                      

Friday:           Minimum Day:  PACK Day; Letter to Faculty and Staff 

Congratulations and THANK YOU to all Faculty and Staff who participated 

our annual Air Band night on Wednesday!  Everyone had a GREAT 

performance and hopefully A LOT of fun! Special HUGE thanks to 

World Language teacher Deborah Heeb for writing, producing and performing in the show and to English teacher Danny Tricarico for providing narration! Additional big THANK YOU to GIS Victoria Catlett for lining up her friends to provide excellent video taping of the Staff Performance! Check it out below and enjoy! 

(Robin and Admin were not able to perform due to WASC visit out of town 

and CIF Sports playoff supervision but we hope to be in it next year) 

Check out the Staff Airband Performance!

Monday, March 3: All Faculty and Staff Meeting: S-8; 7:45-8:45,

Thursday, March 5: Literacy Team working with Lin Kuzmich; 8:00-2:00 pm., Rm. E-8

Friday, March 6: PACK DAY (Parents at Class with Kids Day)--minimum day schedule

                             Letter to Faculty and Staff

March 13-14; 20-21: "Suessical the Musical" performed by our theater and music students; 

Bob Guess Theater for the Performing Arts; All shows start at 7:00 p.m.. All Faculty, staff and families are welcome to attend! 

Friday, March 27: 12 Weeks Progress Grades Due (note to parents of any student with a "D" or below "Student may be in danger of failing") 

March 30-April 10: Spring Break, no school

April 13-May 1:     CAASPP Testing Schedule for Spring 2020 

  Coronavirus Information 

Due to the coronavirus outbreak worldwide, our District is reviewing currently approved Spring student travel via school sponsored trips with the probability they will be cancelled. (not summer trave). They are also not allowing temporary international students / visitors to be on campus through the month of March (and possibly longer). We are currently  planning on our PACK Day event scheduled for this Friday and will let you know if that is cancelled (minimum day would be kept due to logistics). 

Please let Admin know if you need more hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes for desks, or tissues. Hand washing is the best prevention always and we know we need to be extra vigilant. 

We will continue to keep you informed and thank you for your support and thoughtful questions. 

GUHSD letter to parents, students, faculty and staff re: coronavirus (COVID-2019) 

Teachers: Equitable Access, March 13

In this 1 Day training, you will:  Explore culturally responsive teaching methods. Review best practices for providing equitable access to all learners. Practice strategies for providing linguistic and literacy support.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Get Lit(eracy) Guerrilla Strategy 3: This is an audio clip on "Birth of Democracy" with multiple choice questions. You can make one for your own content following this example. Teachers...please look for this strategy in your mailboxes and in places where adults gather. If you try it out, please send a photo or example to Robin or John in Admin to share with colleagues. 

Literacy Strategies / examples to try all on one page

California PTA and the Census 2020: Why it is CRITICAL for everyone to participate!  Please check out the facts here and look for census 

collection surveys from the United States Census Bureau 

beginning this month. 

wolfpack.guhsd.net

February 24-28 , 2020

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

Monday:        Collab Day schedule; 

Tuesday:        Regular Day

Wednesday:  Regular Day: Airbands in Theater

Thursday:      Regular Day: 

                                      

Friday:           Regular Day:

Thank you to EVERYONE who made our Freshman Showcase so successful! Assistant Principal Carrie Gaeir led the effort organizing, planning, communicating and promoting the event and we had over 500 parents and students checking us out last Wednesday night! Many parents commented to us that they had been to other sister school Showcase events in the last two weeks and ours was IMPRESSIVE! That is due to every faculty and staff member who attended, organized students to attend and represent West Hills is the very BEST LIGHT!  Take a look at one of the most popular "stops" on campus as well as other pics from the night. THANK YOU ALL! We hope the Class of 2024 attends in large numbers!

Wednesday, February 26: Airbands Talent Show in Theatre--it's not too late to join in! Contact Debra Heeb in World Language for any questions. All staff emails have gone out as well.

• Theme: West Hills Goes to the Movies
• Scrip
• Songs and Sign Up

Monday, March 3: All Faculty and Staff Meeting: 7:45-8:45, S-8

Thursday, March 5: Literacy Team working with Lin Kuzmich; 8:00-2:00 pm., Rm. E-8

Friday, March 6: PACK DAY (Parents at Class with Kids Day)--minimum day schedule

Friday, March 27: 12 Weeks Progress Grades Due (note to parents of any student with a "D" or below "Student may be in danger of failing") 

March 30-April 10: Spring Break, no school

April 13-May 1:     CAASPP Testing Schedule for Spring 2020 

To continue the conversation started about the bell schedule, please take a look at the results of each survey. As you may recall, due to state law, as of July 1, 2022 all high schools in California must start at 8:30 a.m. or later. West Hills Department Chair and Leadership team asked Admin to facilitate discussions around this topic to be able to research and possibly act on any restructuring of the current bell schedule day. 

At our Monday, March 3 Faculty and Staff meeting at 7:45 a.m.in S-8 we will have about 20 mins. to discuss where we want to go from here as a staff. At that same meeting we will be talking about our WASC process and our Literacy efforts. 

Certificated Bell Schedule survey results

Classified Bell Schedule survey results

Reference Documents:

California state law SB 328

GEA contract (pg. 80)

GEA Restructuring Timeline example (2016-17)

West Hills Restructuring 2009

Optimal Scheduling for Secondary School Students

Academic League was on TV!

Last week our very own Varsity Academic League was on TV 

via the SDCOE studio versus Monte Vista. 

West Hills Wolf Pack, coached by Corrie Biggerstaff vs the Monte Vista Monarchs coached by 1^st year coach Megan Broad. Valhalla Math teacher Brian Andersen moderated a West Hills win of 77 to 47.  Go Wolf Pack!

WHHS Counseling  office has expanded their services. They offered a
Post Secondary Planning Jobs Workshop to students interested in getting a job now and in the future. The after school workshop introduced students to employment searches, application and resume writing, and interviewing skills. All students that attended the workshops were guaranteed a

job interview. We are thrilled for all of our students who took advantage of these opportunities offered to grow their skills with the support of the West Hills High School Counseling program. We hope to see more students in the future. If any student is interested, please have them sign up on the interest sheet

in Counseling. Spaces are limited.

Proud new employee, Christy Keller, encourages
students to attend the WH workshop. She credits her ability
to practice interviewing skills in making her comfortable
in her own interview to land the job! McDonalds is lucky
to have her!

Wednesday, February 12 Biology and Physiology Students 
visited the San Diego Blood Bank

Penny McDowell took  Physiology,  Biology & Community Health students to the San Diego Blood Bank. We learned about the history of blood typing and blood donation, blood facts, plus a bit about current stem cell research, precision medicine, cancer treatment, and the future of regenerative medicine.  We heard from a mom of a little girl currently undergoing leukemia treatment and how she depends upon blood donors for survival. We then toured the facility- the blood collection room, the blood storage room, the research rooms, etc. We learned about many volunteer and job opportunities - including donation center greeters, blood preservation and transport, research careers, and nurses who work with blood transfusion recipients. Finally, if students chose to with parent permission, they found out what blood type they are!

Teachers: Equitable Access, March 13

In this 1 Day training, you will:  Explore culturally responsive teaching methods. Review best practices for providing equitable access to all learners. Practice strategies for providing linguistic and literacy support.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Connect with the library @WestHillsLIB: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Resource Snack Time: Google Scholar (bit.ly/rst-scholar) - Did you know that Google Scholar is now integrated with the GUHSD online database subscriptions? Learn more about Google Scholar and how to use it: bit.ly/rst-scholar

Resource Snack Time: Instapoetry (bit.ly/rst-instapoetry) - For Valentine's Day, we updated this #instapoetry resource. Find a list of #instapoets to follow online and article links to learn more at bit.ly/rst-instapoetry 

wolfpack.guhsd.net