Principal’s Message YELM HIGH SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Special points of interest: NEW FAFSA Dates Student Activities Positive Attitude Accountable Treat all with Respect Honor oneself, school and community November 1, 2016 Volume 9, issue 3 Inside this issue: Principal’s Message 1 Upcoming Events 2 ASB/Leadership 2 Scholarships 3 Student Recognition 4 World’s Greatest High School Follow us on Twitter @TornadosYHS Happy November! This is the one of my favorite times of year as we have a few important observanc- es that officially remind us to be thankful. I believe that, as Ameri- cans, we should all take the up- coming Veterans Day holiday to reflect upon the exceptional ser- vice and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. While every fourth November in our country tends to feature an awful lot of media focus upon adversarial political conflict, the very fact that we are able to voice differing viewpoints and, through our votes, influence the shape and direction of our local and national government is a direct result of the rights that our military veter- ans have fought for and protected since the birth of our nation. As Yelm is blessed with a significant population of military families, it should be easy for each of us to find a neighbor, classmate, or coworker to thank in person for their service to our country. To be honest, I love Thanksgiving in large part due to my love of comfort food and feasting. In addition, it's a great opportunity to reflect out loud about all that I have to be thankful for. One thing I feel particularly thankful for is the hardworking, high quality teachers that we have here in Yelm. Every class period at YHS is precious opportunity for student learning and growth thanks to how seriously our teachers take their commitment to each stu- dent's academic development. Our teachers work hard to pre- pare effective instruction that will enable our students to meet in- creasingly rigorous graduation standards. These standards are intended to prepare each of our students for college and career readiness upon graduation from high school. This means that while high school classes have the same course titles as when our students' teachers and par- ents were in high school, the learning that is required to suc- ceed in these classes is far more complex and challenging. Many of the recent changes in academic standards and graduation require- ments have been outside of our local control. While it may be hu- man nature to resist changes that we did not come up with on our own, YHS teachers have really risen to the challenge of prepar- ing the learning experiences needed to help our students suc- ceed. Because of the increasingly com- plex depth of knowledge that is demanded of our students, it is increasingly important that we preserve and protect instructional time for all students. It is critically important that students be in class in order to learn, as no amount of make-up work can possibly substitute for the instruc- tion and learning experiences provided during class time by expert teachers. Additionally, we need to reduce the amount of interruptions to instruction and learning during class time as much as possible. Stay tuned for more information that we will share through our website and during conferences about how each member of our school com- munity can assist in improved student attendance and reduced classroom interruptions. While this time of year brings about many things to be thankful about, it's also a time that we need to increase our readiness for worsening weather. I'd like to thank all of our students and par- ents for their grace and flexibility regarding our decision to post- pone the YHS Homecoming Dance (from 10/15 to 10/22) due to the wind storm forecast. As we all know by now, the storm did not hit our area with anywhere near the predicted force. Howev- er, prior to making the decision to postpone the dance, we consult- ed every source of information available and ultimately deter- mined that student safety is not something we would gamble with. Student safety will be the top priority in any decisions the dis- trict makes about weather-related school closures this winter. Please be sure to subscribe with your email address to "FlashAlert" to receive notification of any school closures this winter. Vis- it flashalert.net to subscribe. Lastly, I want to formally request your input about the upcoming addition of 9th grade students to the YHS campus in the 2017- 2018 school year. While this is a transition made necessary due to overcrowding in our elementary schools, I am excited for this change as there are many posi- tives to having 9th graders attend school with the rest of their high school peers. I would like to form our communication and decision- making plan based on your input in addition to the input I am solic- iting from our students and staff. Please email any questions, con- cerns, ideas, or suggestions that you have about our 2017-2018 9th grade transition to me directly at [email protected]-- in your email please indicate whether or not you would be will- ing to volunteer some of your time for afternoon or evening meetings on this topic.
Transcript
Principal’s Message
YELM HIGH SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Special points of
interest:
NEW FAFSA
Dates
Student Activities
Positive Attitude Accountable Treat all with Respect Honor oneself, school and community
