10 Elements Every High School Should Have in Place & Where HHS Is Currently Positioned
taken from www.all4ed.org website

Challenging Classes
All students must learn the advanced skills that are the key to success in college and in the 21st century workplace. Every student should take demanding classes in the core subjects of English, history, science, and math; and no student should ever get a watered-down course of study. Further, students should also be given the opportunity to earn industry certification or some college credit while in high school through programs such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or those offered through a local college or university. HILLSIDE offers honors, Advanced Placement, and IB levels in the academic program, and HHS faculty have been challenged to “raise the level of intellectual discourse in their classrooms” by HHS administration.

Personal Attention for All Students
Every high school should be small enough—or divided into small enough units—to allow teachers and staff to get to know all students as individuals and to respond to their specific learning needs. By the ninth grade, student should have a detailed plan for graduation—identifying the specific courses they must take, opportunities they should pursue, and extra help they need in order to succeed in high school and beyond. And every student should receive frequent and ongoing support from at least one academic advisor throughout their high school years. The HILLSIDE Student Services Department has reorganized and restructured its operation to facilitate such relationships. The TRIAGE system has also been revamped and will be reintroduced to faculty at the HHS 9/28 staff meeting. Perhaps the biggest revamp is the VERTICAL ALIGNMENT strategy between HHS and the feeder middle schools that will be solidly in place for the 2010-2011 school year.

Extra Help for Those Who Need It
Every high school should have a system in place to identify kids as soon as they start to struggle in reading, math, or any core subject, and every school should reserve time and resources for the immediate help those kids need to stay on course. THIS IS ONE OF THE PURPOSES OF TRIAGE-To identify students who are struggling and to provide structured assistance to the students who require extra help in the classroom. A BIG CHALLENGE this year is embedding extra help/remediation during the instructional day, as after-school tutorials, while helpful, are not readily available to the target audience because of transportation issues. A potential solution for 2010-2011 is the introduction of “Smart Lunches.”

Bringing the Real World to the Classroom
High schools should help students make the connection between book learning and the skills needed to be successful in life. Students must develop the work habits, character, and sense of personal responsibility needed to succeed in school, at work, and in society. As part of their class work, students should have opportunities to design independent projects, conduct experiments, solve open-ended problems, and be involved in activities that connect school to the rest of the world. This is the challenge given to ALL HHS faculty and staff, and is part of the Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships philosophy of the North Carolina State Board of Education. Part of what we would like to do at HHS is rely more upon project-based assignments where possible, the development of opportunities for higher-order thinking and discussion and assessments in classes, and the connection between “real world” operating standards and daily expectations of students at Hillside-i.e. the dress/appearance code, and increased compliance with stated expectations and rules.

Family and Community Involvement
Students thrive when their high schools encourage positive learning relationships among families, educators, faith groups, civic organizations, businesses and other members of the community. Parents should have many chances to visit the school building, talk with teachers and staff, voice concerns, share ideas, serve as volunteers, and suggest ways to improve the school. And school leaders should reach out to their neighbors by attending community events and forming partnerships with local organizations in order to increase effectiveness and tap additional resources. HHS has a VIBRANT and active PTSA and Alumni Association. Both groups have reached out to HHS faculty and staff, and the outreach is reciprocal. Appropriate parental/community involvement is VITAL to the success of a school! HHS has a Facebook page, at least 2 Twitter pages, and the HHS website is being redeveloped and will re-launch soon!

A Safe Learning Environment
Every high school must guarantee the safety of its students, teachers, staff, and visitors, and every school should be kept free of drugs, weapons, and gangs. School leaders should build a climate of trust and respect, they should encourage peaceful solutions to conflict, and they should respond directly to any bullying, verbal abuse, or other threats. This is a work in progress at HHS. On the first day of the 2009-2010 school year, the theme of “Reciprocal and Mutual Respect” was introduced to the student body by HHS administration. Part of this can be achieved by honest and direct communication. Today’s students are not interested and DO NOT respond to positional authority. In no way am I suggesting that we placate and negotiate with students; Rather, I am suggesting that clear communication, done in a respectful, mature, calm manner, should occur between HHS staff and students. With respect to gangs and violence, HHS has taken a zero tolerance position toward these unfortunate external threats to our academic success. Although HHS will have no tolerance for gang activity within our walls, we will seek to redirect the energies of offending students through placement in an alternative learning environment and involvement with community outreach programs.

Skilled Teachers
Every high school teacher should know well the subjects they teach and should know well how to teach all kinds of students, from all kinds of backgrounds. New teachers should get the guidance and mentoring they need to be successful in the classroom. All teachers should have enough time to plan lessons, carefully review student performance, and continuously improve their teaching. Hillside teachers have been given clear expectations about what must be demonstrated during classroom instruction: CLEAR ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS and STATEMENT OF DESIRED OUTCOMES must appear that drive instruction. In essence, questions and statements that drive instruction, and tell the student what they will have learned, mastered, or be able to do at the end of the class. STRONG FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT PRACTICES must occur as well, which tell the teacher (and the student and observer) whether or not the statement of desired outcomes has been achieved. Most exciting at HHS are our Professional Learning Community (PLC) teams and the formal monthly early release days which allow PLC teams to meet and assess instructional practices, design common instructional activities, refine instructional practices, collaborate and share best practices, and design and assess common assessments and compare student achievement data.

Strong Leaders
Every high school needs a skillful principal, one who supervises personnel effectively, manages finances capably, and keeps the organization running smoothly. Every school also needs a strong educational leader (this could be the principal, a senior teacher, or another staff member), to define a vision of academic excellence, work with teachers to develop an engaging and coherent curriculum, and serve as a mentor and role model for teachers and students alike. The HHS administrative team has its own PLC, and the “A Team” meets each Friday at 3:05 in the Main Office Conference Room which will also be converted into a “Data Room.” The A Team consists of the Principal, Assistant Principals, District IB Coordinator, Athletic Director, and the Leadership Facilitator. Meetings are agenda driven, and the DPS Executive Leadership Team receive a copy of the meeting agenda and are invited to attend. It is a long-term objective of the HHS A Team to be communicative, accessible, solution-driven, visionary, and one that is able to meet and exceed the standards as stated in the NC School Executive Standards.

Necessary Resources
Every high school should provide all students and teachers with the books, computers, laboratory equipment, technology, and other resources they need to be successful. And every school should maintain safe, clean facilities that are fit for teaching and learning. At HHS, and at schools across our state, this is an ongoing process. It has come to my attention that books, access to technology, and class sizes are an issue. These, however, were problems that we were all advised would likely be a reality by our Governor and state education leadership with the dramatic economic downturn that characterized the last quarter of 2008 and last 6 months of the 2008-2009 fiscal year. As things improve financially, we hope that resources will be more readily available.

User-Friendly Information
All community members should have easy access to information that gives a clear, straightforward picture of how well the school is serving all of its students, including those from every income level, ethnic group, and racial background. Some of the key pieces of information include a school’s graduation requirements, graduation and dropout rates, and student performance on state tests. At HHS, we are excited to provide a few communication mediums that are very transparent that describe our school and its performance to our shareholders-the principal’s blog entitled the Hornet’s Sting that will be linked to our new and improved website, and is also available on the HHS PTSA site and the HHS National Alumni Site. We are also considering developing at brochure that measures the level of satisfaction from students and their parents, and of course, HHS academic performance is available at www.ncschoolreportcards.com.

I am convinced that HHS is well on its way to becoming a GREAT SCHOOL. WE just have to determine what’s important for us to do NOW, and work collaboratively to improve the way we do business in our village. We have to hold each other accountable, and remind each other of the “big picture” that we all see at HHS-COMING OFF “THE LIST” and STAYING OFF!

Until next time,

HDL