Daily Announcements

As we enter our second month of school, so much is happening it is hard to keep up. As our parents and community ride along with us, here are some interesting points about what is happening at Heath. We recently had our first PTG (Parent Teacher Group) meeting. It was a good turn out and were able to answer and share so much information. Heath is a community partnership and we hope that meetings and conversations lead to just that philosophy. Next time, we hope to double the numbers of attendants. The information from that meeting will formulate future web postings. For example, we have provided a tab on our website to keep up with the Parents at Heath.

 

You may have heard your students talk about; AVID, Cornell Notes, School wide meetings , Binder Checks and planners.  Here is a quick information guide on each. Every student at Heath is a Panther…all the time and with that responsibility comes the role of  professional students. We are using Binders and planners as learning opportunities related to  professional students. In each class, students are asked to use their planners to write their objective (what they are learning) and their homework. They also are asked to keep their binders in a very professional and specific format to provide success in their academics. Please ask your students what is in their binder and where items belong. They should be able to tell you why things belong in a certain spot. The students' binders are checked weekly in Advisement and daily in their classes. Cornell Notes are the note taking system used school wide in order to engage students in a higher order thinking system. It provides information in systems related to questions rather than answers. Lastly, school wide meetings occur biweekly and  an opportunity for students to practice audience behavior, hear school wide expectations and receive recognition for work well done. Our PBS (Positive Behavior Support) system allows for students to “learn” behaviors through natural consequence and appropriate feedback and recognition. If you are in the building on a Monday morning for a  school wide meeting, please, feel free to stop in the gym to hear our “WHO HA”.

 

Academics are the key to our purpose for being here and we work very hard every day to provide systems for students to be successful. One of those systems is through continuous assessment. You will hear your students talking about Galileo, benchmarks or assessments. District wide our students are monitored as their learning growth progresses to determine areas of strength and areas of growth. We provided an assessment calendar for families to view our formal assessment dates and hopefully, ensure that students are ready mentally to do their best. These are not assessments that can be studied for the night before. These assessments are a culmination of all the work they do every minute of every day. By using these systems we are able to work toward both formal and informal academic growth.

 

Along with the monitoring we provide extensions to our academic day in the form of 21^st Century. The 21^st Century program is not simply a remedial or homework class, it is an opportunity for students to practice what they learn in school as it applies to the real world. We will be offering a wide variety of classes and hope to see all of our students find and pursue an interest.

 

 

P.S. Please check out our AVID tab for information specific to the program

 

 

Dr. Crespo