When looking at all Highland Park has to offer - made a list, it's extensive - it's pretty clear we do have quite a bit for kids above and beyond the basics. Those things will remain in place. Curricular items such as Scientific Spelling, Handwriting without Tears, Model Drawing Math, Acclerated Math/Excel Math as practice, Future Problem Solvers for our identified Gifted & Talented, Fluency Centers, Dibels assessments, inter-disciplinary language arts units connected to varied and rich text/projects/experiential experiences will remain and will grow as we work on making them deeper and more meaningful for kids. The all important TEKS (our true core curriculum), the district Curriculum Road Maps, and so much more will remain and will be at the heart of what we do. And of course, all of our wonderful extension and enrichment opportunities that we have during the day and after school will remain, with an eye toward expansion and refinement where appropriate. It's now simply about building upon what's there and connecting to the year ahead.
This year, as last, a major focus will be the Year II Any Given Child city-wide initiative. We're fortunate to have been a part of the pilot year in 2011-2012, it will expand to other feeder schools in the McCallum Vertical Team this year, with the goal to expand to other schools in AISD in the future. In fact, this expansion is beginning (embedded high yield strategies in the yearly curriculum documents for one thing), I know it's on the table with many great minds and hands working on the roll-out, and will eventually provide the venue for arts rich opportunities for all children in our community. You will want to look for those details in the days ahead, but really good for our kids and good for Austin.
All Highland Park teachers, along with our MAC peer schools, will participate in 3 half-day DBI (drama based instruction) professional development opportunities beginning August 20. UT's Drama for Schools, Zach Scott, TAP, and more will deliver this targeted PD to help us build creative capacities within our classrooms. Pretty cool. Additionally, through the work of the AGC initiative, selected teachers at our schools will have access to artist residents to further develop skills through a year long partnership, have the opportunity to receive individual modeling of lessons from such partners, receive some base support to continue our work with community arts providers in the gen ed setting, and further look ahead to late spring and summer creative classroom professional development opportunities as they arise. Most exciting, outside of the AGC initiative but related to our MAC Vertical Team's signature program (think Advancing Academics through the Arts!), the four pilot schools, along with Blackshear Elementary, will have a year long partnership with a newly hired dance teacher at Lamar Middle School. Though details are being worked out and will be finalized the week of teacher training, this partnership will provide an avenue for kids to connect dance TEKS, grade level TEKS, and more through creative movement. All with the goal to enhance understanding of what students are learning in the classroom and to reach those varied learners. Tools in the toolbox.
Finally, Highland Park will look at process and reflection as a part of our final product displays, will endeavor to incorporate our DBI and DAR (tied to visual art) trainings with those displays, and we will, once again, continue to celebrate the arts through a variety of events throughout the year. I encourage you to check this weekly blog, read the weekly PTA Scottie Informer, and listen to any and all School Messenger calls/emails that come your way. Creative, meaningful, fun.
So what else is going on in 2012-2013? Cari Land and our newly formed SEL (Social Emotional Learning) team comprised of Sally Hunter, Lori Gates, Lizanne McDaniel, and myself, will be rolling out the Second Steps curriculum to teachers on August 22. As I've mentioned before, the McCallum Vertical team will become an SEL VT, all with an eye toward giving our kids the tools to be emotionally healthy individuals. Gotta have that along with the academics or it doesn't mean much. More info at Back to School and special parent presentations, but know that SEL time will take the place of our weekly, 30 minute Face Time we put in place last year as a jumping off point for this program. According to Casel's SEL website, SEL skills "include recognizing and managing our emotions, developing caring and concern for others, establishing positive relationships, making responsible decisions, and handling challenging situations constructively and ethically. They are the skills that allow children to calm themselves when angry, make friends, resolve conflicts respectfully, and make ethical and safe choices." This is truly a positive step for our school and our vertical team, we are ensuring that those all important people connections are there, and we're so very excited to join the other AISD vertical teams already implementing this program.
We will also implement the Legacy of Giving program this year with our fifth graders as an extension to our after school CLASS service offerings, will have some parent ed coffee chats and evening presentations around a variety of topics of interest (cyberbullying, SEL, SCORES services, and more), implement the TEMI math screeners/progress monitoring tools under the guidance of Leah Read in K-2 classrooms, and all take a critical look on the creation and recognition of High Quality Assignments. Building upon and connecting to what we have in place.
Of course, as with any school, the above list is only a snapshot of what truly goes on in a school any given day, any given year. We have much we're working on and been working on over the end of last year and summer. In fact, many teachers and support staff have actually been "back to work" for awhile, in and out, meeting in grade level and department teams, planning, creating, brainstorming with me and others. Beginning of the year is always exciting and for some reason this year seems especially so. Good vibes.
That's the overview. Couldn't do it without such a dedicated staff (some pics below of a few at school today!). Continued thanks for caring, for connecting, and for being you. Just about ready to roll.
