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August 6, 2021

Good afternoon and happy August!

I hope you have found time to rest and rejuvenate this summer. I know it has been nice to have some real downtime without the stress and worry of last summer. There are still some unknowns about this year but I am excited for a year with some normalcy. 

That being said, normal does not mean going back to how things were. I look forward to this being a year of growth and change as we take what we learned from the last 16+ months and incorporate it into new ways of teaching and learning. 

The building is coming along thanks to the hard work of our custodial staff, including some students! One young woman told me she is so grateful to have spent the summer cleaning the building because it feels so good to help her school community. I loved that!

Our PD days this year will focus on relearning and rebuilding. We will go back to our core values and vision of the graduate, think about our "why?", continue our work in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and finally learn about the new technology tool in our learning spaces. 

As you plan for the start of the year I will again ask that the first three days be focused on establishing relationships, building classroom community and culture, and assessing how your students are doing. Our schedule this year will include the X-block. Plan to spend that time for the first three cycles of the school year using that time to reteach some skills your students may have lost during the pandemic. Use it to explicitly teach the skills they will need to be successful in your class. We can't start the year assuming students remember how to be students. 

The all-school PBIS activity and convocation will be held on Thursday, September 2nd this year. We'll send a schedule for the day in the next couple of weeks but plan on classes being about 45 minutes each with the exception of lunch, which will be D block.


Open positions for 2021-2022: (if you are currently the advisor of one of these clubs and I missed your letter of interest in the spring I apologize)
Class of 2025
Community Service
Jazz Band
Model UN
Music Director
Public Speaking
Video Club 
Wind Ensemble

New clubs being proposed: (if students have already reached out to you to advise, let me know!)
Cultural Student Union
LaunchX (entrepreneurial club)
Young Democrats

Upcoming Key Dates: All staff members are welcome to join us at any of the following events. Please also note that classrooms will be used during the orientation events.

Student Leadership Summit- Tuesday, August 17 from 10am-2pm (library)
If you are a class advisor, club advisor, coach, etc. please encourage your students leaders to attend! Ask them to check their email to pre-register.
You are welcome to join us as well.

Class of 2024 Welcome Social/orientation- Wednesday, August 18 from 4-5pm 

Peer Leader training- Thursday, August 19 from 9am-12pm (auditorium/library)

Freshman and New Student Orientation- Thursday, August 19 from 4-6pm 
The club/activity fair will begin at 3:45pm in the AHS cafeteria. If you are a club advisor please make sure your students are aware and let us know if someone will attend. 


Preparing Kids for Anything- a brief 2-minute video 









Oppressive Language list - a great resource shared by a colleague.

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