Highland H.S. will hold a community forum at 7:00 pm in the Lecture Hall on campus. Topics for discussion are:
-- alternative schedule
-- student credit
-- parent involvement
Other forums will be held on:
-- Thu., Nov. 6, 7:00 pm
-- Sat., Nov. 8, 11:00 am
From the Counselor
Interested sophomores can take the PLAN on October 28th. (Sign up October 13-24.) The PLAN is a practice for the ACT and shows sophomores which classes to concentrate on in the future. Test fee to take the PLAN is $10.50.
It is time for seniors to submit college and schoalrship applications. Most schools require an official transcript be included with the application. Another one is sent at the end of Term I (after grades are posted) and again after graduation. Transcripts are sent from institution to institution. Ms. Morrison (registrar) or your counselor can send a transcript. The first four transcripts are free. After that, there is a one-dollar charge per transcript. Students can request a personal copy (ID is required). This transcript counts toward the four free transcripts.
For more news from the counselor, see your parent newsletter, which was mailed recently.
At our last meeting (Oct. 13), one parent commented that our name, specifically the word "partnership", made us sound elitist. Her concern was that other parents weren't attending because they didn't feel welcome, preceivingthe group as somehow "exclusive".
A bit of background might be helpful. Last year we felt the old name, "Parent-Faculty Committee", was something of a turn-off. There were few (if any) faculty members, other than administrators, attending the meetings. And anything called a committee was likely to sound too bureaucratic to accomplish anything worthwhile.
We embarked on a brief search for a new name, hoping not to spend the entire school year arguing about it but not accomplishing anything else. We made suggestions, offered and discussed our rationale for each, then voted. "Faculty" was out, as was "committee".
We were involved Highland parents who wanted to forge a partnership with other parents who might not be involved yet, for whatever their reasons. We wanted to connote a partnership with the community -- neighbors, businesses, civic institutions, teachers, administration, the APS Board, and students!
It was hardly intended as "elitist" or exclusive, but rather to embrace everyone as equals: partners.
We could spend more time this year trying to find the right name -- another name -- that everyone would feel comfortable with, but I suspect we'd fall far short of that goal. And of course, we could do it again next year, when the membership had changed again.
I propose that we consider whether we might make better progress if, instead of focusing a new name, we take a new approach. "Talk up" our organization. Tell others about our vision, what we want to accomplish. Reach out to those who aren't currently involved. Ask what they would like to see in a parents' group. Ask them to work with us, at whatever level they can feel comfortable doing.
Perhaps we can show through our actions that our goal is to be inclusive, not exclusive. Let's spread the word and see what kind of response we get. Isn't that worth trying? Wouldn't we still have to do that, regardless of what name we've chosen? I think so.
(For what it's worth, my favorite suggestion last year was "Highland Parents Community.")
Mike Kruchoski
480-5000
Parents:
Quick summary of my Principal's report for October:
1. New Construction is moving along with Highland North, as you pass by HHS you can see the remodeling. Construction of the new evaluator on the main building is scheduled to begin next week.
2. Congratulations going out to Mr. Paul Blakey, the HHS Marching Band and Flag Team for their top performance last week in the Band Competition. The Hornets received several 1st place awards.Took First Place overall for Band and Flag team. They put on an outstanding performance.
3. First Semester has ended with our students taking finals Tuesday and Wednesday, HHS will begin Second Semester on Thursday, October 16, 2003.
4. Next parent meeting is scheduled for Monday November 10, 2003 @ 7:00 in the Library Conference Room.
5. Highland Parent Community Forums are scheduled for:
October 29 @ 7:00 PM in the Library
November 6 @ 7:00 PM in the Library
November 8 @ 11:00 AM in the Library
The purpose of these meetings is for parent input on Alternative Scheduling, Credit-1/2 Credit for students and Parent Involvement. HHS Administration would like to have Parent input on these topics.
Ace
Last night we talked about different ways to increase parents' participation. One of the ideas was to make better use of technology -- email and web sites, primarily -- to reach those parents who have computers at home.
Please pass the link (URL) for this site (www.usa-sw.com/highland_parents) and the new HHS site (www.highlandhornets.com) to parents you know. If they would like to stay in touch with what's happening at HHS, ask them to add their own email to the notification list (bottom left of the main page). When new notices are posted, they'll get a reminder to check for the new material here.
Mike Kruchoski
480-5000
The next scheduled HHS Parent Partnership meeting is scheduled for Monday October 13, 2003 at 7:00 PM in the Library Conference room. I hope to see all of you there.
Did you hear the latest news? The Hornets' marching band took FIRST place in AAAA competition in the "Pageant of the Bands" on Saturday ... practically sweeping the field in every category! Congratulations to our students and their teachers.