Middle & High School Updates

Greetings Highlander families

It's already November and we are in the 2nd Quarter, and the rest of the calendar year will go by even faster. Report cards will be distributed soon and our SLCS will be occurring on November 5th.

This is an important time of year, as it is a strong indicator of where a student needs to improve, the classes they need to put forth more effort in, which teachers they need to seek for extra help and where they need to be locked into the WIN block. However, this is also an opportunity for us to have conversations with our students and children about why they are finding success in the classes they are doing well in.

Understanding how and why a student is finding success in their classes can lead the way to learning why a student is not being successful in other classes. Though it is still early in the year and students have time to improve their grades, it is crucial these conversations start occurring. The first quarter establishes a strong academic foundation for the reminder of the year.

Advisors have been meeting with students to discuss their grades, strategize ways to improve them and to sustain the success they are having. The SLCs on November 5th is an opportunity to meet with your child’s advisor to discuss class performance, student driven plans of improvement, and strategies to sustain success.

I encourage you to message your child’s teachers in the subjects they are struggling in to understand where they need to improve their grades. Please continue to access Skyward to review grades and check Google Classroom for updates and assignments from your child’s classes.

Despite some adversity we faced to start the year we had a great first quarter. Staff and students formed strong connections, staff delivered high quality instruction, students were engaged in their assignments and learning, our WIN Block allowed for students to explore various interests and obtain academic support. The energy remains positive and optimistic for a remarkable remainder of the year.

Recently our state assessment scores went public. In the coming months we will hold a meeting to discuss our RICAS, ACCESS, PSAT and SAT scores, growth, data, and our plan to improve this year’s scores.

If we can be of any assistance to help improve your student’s attendance, please contact Ms. Goulart, your child’s guidance counselor, or myself.

It is a pleasure to serve as your child's principal!

With the outmost gratitude,

Wil Pabst

• Mrs. Houlik - has her advanced 8th grade students supporting other middle school students during her math support WIN Block. This peer to peer support is beneficial for all students involved.

• Mr. Rozensweig - is taking students from his Agricultural Studies class to City Farms in Providence to obtain first hand knowledge and real world experience.

• Mr. Trochez and Ms. Wilhelm’s - CTE classes are taking field trips to URI to visit the classrooms of the college courses they are taking here. They will also receive tours of the Education program and the campus.

• Mr. Whittle, Ms. Pires, Ms. Wilhelm, and Mr. Greenfield organized an incredible mock Presidential election and a remarkable voter registration. With the help of the Secretary of State’s Office they were able to have many students complete their voter registration in preparation of this election season.

• Ms. Dehlia - has Kyle Cares running at full steam and ready to make an impact on our student body and the assembly on November 7th.

• Ms. Helena & Mrs. Wnuk- are preparing our seniors for their tours of our local universities and colleges.

• Mrs. Weigand and Mr. Whittle - are training our mentors and preparing them to push into our middle school advisories.

• Ms. Pires - is pushing her students in a college level “Introduction to Sociology” course through Brown University and our partnership with the National Education Equity Lab.