September 28-October 2, 2020

 

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

*Bookmark the Wolf Pack Weekly and these links will always be here and up to date! *

• Level 2 Faculty and Staff FAQs

• GUHSD Teaching and Learning Plan 2020

• WH 2020-21 FAQs to students and parents

• GUHSD Info to Parents and Students

• WH Resources Master Index

• WH Links to Teacher Contacts and Online Classrooms

• Back to School work week Aug. 3-7 Agenda

• GUHSD 2020-21 Calendar 

• Admin Responsibilities 2020-21

• WHHS SPSA & WASC Goals

Thank you EVERYONE for ALL you are doing in this extraordinarily difficult time!

We believe everything we do on campus is teaching and learning--

we are all teachers, and we are all learners!

Upcoming events: 

Monday: DC / Leadership Meeting, 9-10 a.m. Agenda 

Tuesday:  ALL FACULTY and Staff are REQUIRED to check in each day prior to going to their classroom or office, at the Business Building Faculty Office and Mailroom to get their required temperature check, sign in, pick up mail, and then go on to their work space.    Admin will be there beginning at 6:30 a.m. for this required check in. If you do not start until Period 3, go to B-2 for this check in. Please, please PLEASE do not make Admin search you out on campus to do this. Park near the B-Building, come in in the corridor between B7 and ASB and you will see us with our RED POP UP temperature check station and then you enter the office door if cleared to get you mail, sign in, and exit through B-7 (one way path of travel to exit).  See map of B Building offices if helpful.  

PLEASE DO NOT COME TO WORK IF YOU HAVE A FEVER of 100 degrees or greater or ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS              

Reopening to Level 2 with students on campus Tuesday, September 29

**NEW**Two Tabs on our Website "Level 2 Resources" and "Advisory"

Please make sure you "bookmark" our website and these resources, particularly if you are a teacher with a period 3 class. This is where the weekly Advisory activities will be posted with directions. We will send out directions and links to your email as well, but wanted you to know they will always be posted here. NOTE: The Advisory 20 mins. in Period 3 is REQUIRED and it begins every Period 3 Class. If you are not going to be on campus in person, please make sure you note in your Sub plans for the Sub to go to our website and go to this Advisory tab so they can get the links and directions to give to students. 

IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT FOR ALL TEACHERS TO POST ADVISORY IN THEIR ONLINE Schoology and / or GOOGLE CLASSROOM. All students are asked to view and complete ADVISORY activities.    

Please see Assistant Principal, Carrie Gaeir´s email from Friday, 9/25 at 4;04 p.m. for more information and a thorough explanation of Advisory.  

As a reminder, here are some resources we have already sent to you via email. The items not labeled "faculty and staff" we sent to all students and parents as well.               

Level 2 Faculty and Staff FAQs

WEST HILLS LEVEL TWO REOPENING VIDEO 

CAMPUS MAP TO DETERMINE CLASSROOM LOCATIONS 

The County of San Diego, SDCOE, and Rady Children’s Hospital formed a partnership to create videos to address parent questions about COVID-19. This video includes a presentation by Rady Children’s Hospital’s infectious disease physicians and other experts.  If you are interested in learning more about COVID-19 please view the  Rady’s Children Hospital COVID-19 Family Education Video regarding COVID-19 and school age children and teens. 

As we prepare for Level 2, here are some resources to support your efforts.  Taking Attendance and Tracking Participation Overview Video | Slides (New) This is an overview of how to take on-campus attendance AND continue to track distance learning participation in Infinite Campus. Tracking participation for students who are not on-campus on any given day is the same as Level 1.   Substitute Teaching Models During Level 2 (New) If you are on COVID leave or call a sub for a single day absence, this document provides some guidance and logistics related to providing instructions to substitute teachers and students.   Instructional Considerations at Level 2 (Originally shared 9/11) This document reviews three methods to optimize your in-class time with your students at Level 2. All of these items are linked to the 2020-21 GUHSD Teaching and Learning Plan.

Restorative Practices in encouraging Student voices

Please take a look at this short video regarding Restorative Practices. 

In some ways our Mending Matters intervention groups work like this with topics such as bullying, physical (non-injurious) and verbal altercations, unmotivated students, non-attending and anxiety filled and/ or depressed students. Teaching and learning is at the core of all we do--academically,socially, and co-curricularly. 

If you have a concern about a student, please contact their Counselor or Admin first and we will intervene to help in any way we can. 

SDCUE Powered Learning Month is coming! Teachers,  This year San Diego CUE (Innovation and Technology in Education) is going virtual with a month-long online event. Beginning October 12, SDCUE will be offering 16 evenings (M-Th) of online Professional Learning sessions across several strands: Distance Learning Tools and Skills Social/Emotional Learning Making and Coding Engaging at a Distance Equity in the Classroom Collaboration Universal Design and Pedagogy There will be 2 sessions each evening. All sessions will also be recorded and available to all registered participants through December 31, 2020. GUHSD and SDCUE have a long-standing partnership and we would like to encourage all of our teachers to attend the event. In order to support our teachers with their continued efforts during distance and hybrid learning, GUHSD will pay for the registration costs for all staff who wish to attend. When registering, GUHSD staff MUST register with their GUHSD email address in order for us to pick up your tab. Please choose the 'Pay by Invoice' option on the registration screen.  For more info on SDCUE's Powered Learning Month and the link to register, please click here.  Additionally, SDCUE is partnering with the San DiegoCounty Office of Education to offer a  Basics Bootcamp ahead of Powered Learning Month. This event is free and will focus on getting started with GSuite (Google Docs, Slides, Forms, etc.), Screencasting, and Google Chrome. For more information on tis event, please visit SDCOE's event site.

Go Wolf Pack! 

Stay connected via our emails, social media and on campus! 

wolfpack.guhsd.net     @whhswolfpack   @WHHSWolfpack

September 21-25, 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.

*Bookmark the Wolf Pack Weekly and these links will always be here and up to date! *

• GUHSD Teaching and Learning Plan 2020

• WH 2020-21 FAQs to students and parents

• GUHSD Info to Parents and Students

• WH Resources Master Index

• WH Links to Teacher Contacts and Online Classrooms

• Back to School work week Aug. 3-7 Agenda

• GUHSD 2020-21 Calendar 

• Admin Responsibilities 2020-21

• WHHS SPSA & WASC Goals

Upcoming events: 

Monday: DC / Leadership Meeting, 9-10 a.m. Agenda is here

                Faculty and Staff Zoom meeting: 10-11 a.m. WH Level 2 Staff FAQ to                    discuss; Link to extensive explanations regarding Level 2 re-opening in                 last week's Wolf Pack Weekly 

Student Peaceful Demonstration Friday, Sept. 18

Students are asking for the following from this demonstration [see email template below]. The San Diego Union had an article about this and there is some social media coverage as well. Part of our work this year is the development of our Equity Committee. Please join the committee if you would like to help with this important work. It is CRITICAL for us as adults to work with this topic within our curriculum, in our school culture  and in our communication with students and parents. The goal of the Equity Committee is to review our work to date in this area (Unity Days, HOWL Day for freshmen, Camp Lead, Multi-Cultural Fair etc] and to plan and implement revisions, changes, and new inclusionary practices for all students, Faculty and staff. A good resource to start with the Committee work is a review of our School Culture section of our 2018 WASC report and our most recent Oct. 2019 Healthy Kids Survey data. 

Here is the email students have been sending to our Board, the Superintendent, and West Hills Admin: 

 My name is XXXXXXXXX and I am a freshman this year at West Hills. Us students are counting on you to help make a change in our education system. Many of us, or our peers, face discrimination on a daily basis on campus. We need you to call for change and I ask for your support in the fight for better treatment of minorities in our schools. Anti-racism, diverse history, etc. should all be a part of our curriculum, and the students that exhibit hate-speech, slurs, and discrimination to be held accountable. We feel as if anti-racism, anti-homophobia, anti-transphobia, and anti-hate need to be taught in our classrooms. We need to learn about scientists, teachers, and doctors who were people of color. 

As students, we demand change and a broader curriculum in our schools. 

You may recall reading in past Wolf Pack Weekly's resources and links for ways teachers can build more equity within their curriculum. We welcome conversations with departments about ways to do this with resources, training and materials. As a reminder to assist teachers: 

SDCOE Equity Training, Upcoming Webinars, etc

National Museum of African American History and Culture - Talking About Race resources 

"Un-Standardizing the Curriculum" [scroll towards the bottom of the blog]

WH Library Resources and Support specific to the diversity and equity conversation [scroll to the Library entry]   

This year marks the GUHSD 100th year anniversary! Each month at the Board meeting, one school will be highlighted through a professional video project with Cook Enterprises creating the video. Grossmont High School, as school "1" [shown originally in 1920 when opened above], started the presentations last week. West Hills, as school "10" will be in June. Our 100 year T-Shirts should be here soon and we hope to wear them with Wolf Pack Pride!

Here is the video highlighting GHS that was shown at the board meeting last week. 

https://vimeo.com/453426593

Go Wolf Pack! 

Stay connected via our emails, social media and on campus! 

wolfpack.guhsd.net     @whhswolfpack   @WHHSWolfpack

September 14-18 ,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.

*Bookmark the Wolf Pack Weekly and these links will always be here and up to date! *

• GUHSD Teaching and Learning Plan 2020

• WH 2020-21 FAQs to students and parents

• GUHSD Info to Parents and Students

• WH Resources Master Index

• WH Links to Teacher Contacts and Online Classrooms

• Back to School work week Aug. 3-7 Agenda

• GUHSD 2020-21 Calendar 

• Admin Responsibilities 2020-21

• WHHS SPSA & WASC Goals

Upcoming events: 

Monday: DC / Leadership Meeting, 9-10 a.m. Agenda is here

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our Grade 9 Teacher Zoom. 

Here is the Agenda with items parents and students shared with Admin

on the left, and ideas / commentary from teachers on the right. We

came up with good list of action items for Admin to pursue with both

the District and for ourselves, and we will keep you updated as we find out answers. 

   September 28: Students on campus

On Friday, September 11, the Superintendent informed all stakeholders that we will return to campus with students at Level 2: 25% of students on campus each day, Tuesday through Friday beginning September 28. Robin sent an email late afternoon to all faculty and staff with the parent and student letter that was sent from West Hills as promised by the Superintendent's letter. The District also sent a separate email notifying students and parents of their choice to be either in blended learning on campus and how to find what group they are in, OR confirming that they had chosen online learning. 

There are many details and questions to be answered in the next two weeks for West Hills to re-open to teachers and students on campus. We are creating videos for both students & parents and a separate one for Faculty and Staff and hope to send that out next Friday. 

Please know many practices, procedures and protocols have changed and will change when we reopen with Level 2. We will continue to communicate and work with each department and individual as needs arise. We will not be perfect. Everyone will make their best effort and it is important that people stay calm and try not to react emotionally when things are not perfect. For example, when you see a student (or adult) without a face covering, we simply ask them why do they not have one and please show us the accommodation card if they are excused from wearing one (see California Department of Education issues new Distance Learning Guidelines for groups exempted from this public health mandate). We have a 22 page reopening plan  responding to 60 items that will be posted on our website and on B2 (temporary Reception area). 

When we reopen September 28, we will have two weeks until the Quarter ends. As a reminder, here is our bell schedule and our Quarter system. Every campus has a slightly different start and end time due to transportation. 

You may note that periods 3 & 4 have 20 minutes longer Advisory periods. This is the time of the day when the school will be focused on school wide / district wide information and activity. Teachers are asked to implement the videos, Zooms and facilitate the conversations. Teachers are not planning or using this Advisory for their own content area time. Week one (Sept. 28) Advisory time is planned and will be sent out as soon as the District is able to do so (we have asked for this ASAP so teachers have time to review it as needed). Assistant Principal Carrie Gaeir will be working with a small group of people from WH to plan and create the content for our campus. 

Updated Calendar for 2020-21: Please note the last week of each Quarter moves the Monday Teacher workday for PD-PLC-Meeting time to Friday for grading and completing Quarter Grades. This means when we return Sept. 28, we have one week of "normal" and the following week, Monday, Oct. 5 is an in person teaching day while Friday, Oct. 9 is the everyone at home distance learning / grades day.  GEA advocated for this as being helpful to teachers with Quarter final grades due. The District is talking with GEA about moving only Group D to Mondays so only one group of students change their day (from Thursday to Monday). We will let you know as soon as we know what the answer is. Just an important FYI for teachers. 

The District Teaching and Innovation office sent out this information for teachers on Friday to help with the "one day a week repeated 4 times" concept under Level 2: 

Return to Campus Level 2:  Considerations for Teaching and Learning 

Please know the DLCs, Tiffani Brown, and Dan McDowell are all part of the District support for teachers. On campus, any Admin and any Google Ninja teacher is also willing to support and help certificated in any way with teaching and learning of all kinds. Just let us know if we can help you and we will! 

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

Chromebook Insurance Purchasing Window

If you have a chance, please remind students that this is the last week they can buy Chromebook insurance. There is only a purchasing window at the start of each year (unless a student transfers in mid-year), and the deadline for 2020-21 is September 18, 2020. 

Distance Learning Hub: Student Technology Tutorials

Check out this link from the Distance Learning Hub to some crowdsourced student-facing technology help resources. Some recently added ones that address common questions include the following:

• Student Zoom Troubleshooting 

• Schoology: Student Assignment Submission Directions

• Schoology: How to Set Up Parent Accounts

• How to Install the Kami Chrome Extension

• Logging into Chrome on a Personal Computer

Sora Access for GUHSD (bit.ly/rst-sora)

See the link above for info on how to access Sora for eBook and audiobook access for anyone with an @guhsd.net account. Related to this, the new One Book, One San Diego selection was recently announced: They Called Us Enemy. The eBook version may be checked out without wait from SDCL via Sora using these instructions through the end of December. For even more “no wait” SDCL titles, check out this link.

Helping Students Improve Self-Advocacy: Teaching effective email writing skills to communicate needs more effectively (bit.ly/rst-email)

After encountering a number of students who are having a difficult time communicating effectively with teachers and staff members during distance learning, I collaborated with Teacher Librarians Anthony Devine and Stephanie Macceca to create a lesson template that you’re welcome to customize and use. Even if you don’t use the full lesson, the tips, sample, and sentence starters may be useful to share. 

One great resource for all of us is this succinct video from some of our own 

GUHSD Teacher Librarians:

Go Wolf Pack! 

Stay connected via our emails, social media and on campus! 

wolfpack.guhsd.net     @whhswolfpack   @WHHSWolfpack