December is here and so is the end of semester one! Finals are the week of December 19-21, 2016

Principal's Message

With the first semester coming to a close, I would like to ask parents to encourage their
students to buckle down and finish strong in their classes. Final exams are right around the corner, but it is still not too late to take advantage of the time we have left. Students can still participate in tutoring, and talk with teachers to get that extra bit of help down the home stretch.

Final exam days are minimum days and listed below:

Monday, December 19

Finals       Period 1 or 7       8:14 - 10:11
                Break                10:11 - 10:27

                Period 4            10:33 - 12:30

Tuesday, December 20

Finals       Period 3            8:14 - 10:11  

                Break              10:11 - 10:27
                Period 5          10:33 - 12:30

Wednesday, December 21 – last day of fall semester

Finals        Period 2          8:14 - 10:11
                 Break             10:11 - 10:27
                 Period 6         10:33 - 12:30

Thursday, December 22 Teacher and Staff Work Day – No students

I would like to thank our students and teachers for a great first half of the school year.
Besides all of the impressive work happening inside the classroom, we saw a lot of great achievements by our fall athletes and our performing arts students. I cannot wait to see what the second half of the year has in store for us!

Go Wolf Pack! We are Respectful, Responsible and Honorable

Mrs. Robin Ballarin

Our semester ends December 21, 2016.  Please look at your students' grades and talk with them about their progress--both successes and challenges. Please know that our goal is your students' success! Please contact teachers with individual questions about the grades you are viewing as well as ways for your student to improve if they are earning below a "C" in any course. 

There are two weeks left in this semester until final exams-- Final exams are  December 19-21, 2016. Please avoid pulling your student from this week for travel. This is VERY difficult for students to return and "make up" final exams--they typically do not do well and their permanent, final grade on their transcript is often affected negatively.  Our complete bell schedule, including Final exam schedule, is available here and on our website. 

All students must earn 220 credits to graduate and colleges and universities accept "C" grades and higher. Military careers ask for many of the same requirements so this is a CRITICAL AREA for support and encouragement for our students. Any grade of an "F" must be made up to earn credits towards graduation. Teacher contact information as well as Guidance information and our tutorial schedule may be found on our website at wolfpack.guhsd.net.

Exciting Fund Raising Benefit for WHHS!

The West Hills High School Foundation is proud to sponsor alumni Dat Phan (Class of 1993) in our theater on Saturday, January 21, 2017 for a benefit for our West Hills facilities fund! Come see Dat Phan and his comedy along with current WHHS Performing Arts students and selected other performers. All proceeds benefit WHHS! 

Our Academic League is going up against SANTANA for the "Mayor's Cup"  this Wednesday, December 7 in S-8 starting at 3:30. J.V. remains UNDEFEATED with 5 wins and 0 losses--VARSITY is playing well with a 3-2 record. CHEER on these students as they compete against Santana this week! (Not all participants are pictured....) Kudos to Mrs. Liddell and Ms. Biggerstaff for leading our Academic League participants! Go Wolf Pack Academics!

Wolf Pack English Learner Program News

The English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC) meeting will be on Jan. 12 from 3:00-4:00 pm in E-1. During this meeting, we will be discussing both graduation and CSU requirements, tutorial for students and other concerns related to student's academic progress. Parents wishing to receive individual student information may email our English Learner Coordinator, Mrs. Barbra Ruggles at bruggles@guhsd.net (in advance of the meeting) in order to provide a more detailed academic progress report from their counselors.

Also, our English Learner Development (ELD)  students learned about the Thanksgiving holiday before the break and we tried traditional Thanksgiving foods. Here is a picture of our meal together.

Students wrote letters of gratitude to people they wanted to thank for supporting them in their lives and  we went around the class and students practiced their English speaking skills, talking about things we were grateful for. (**Note: the picture includes glass bottles of apple cider). 

Our students include those from Guatemala, South Africa, Japan, Iraq, and Mexico. We are enriched and happy to welcome our students from other linguistic backgrounds and cultures!

 GRATITUDE is a part of our West Hills Way and being Respectful, Responsible and Honorable...West Hills students, faculty and staff wrote "leaves of thanks" for our Gratitude Tree that "grew" throughout the month of November. We strive to model and demonstrate these thanks each day and to follow the West Hills Way. Founded in 1987, the first incoming class of freshmen leaders wrote these simple eight principles. Our Student Senate last spring reviewed and confirmed these principles and as we move into our self-evaluation and reflection year for our school's accreditation, we wanted to publish them once again. 

1. Academics First – It’s “cool” to study and work hard at West Hills
2. Treating fellow students, teachers, staff, and visitors well – the way you want to be treated.
3. No Cliques – “We are one, We are the Pack”
4. No put downs
5. Saying “Hi” to other members of the pack, saying “No” to drugs and alcohol.
6. Using good language – use of profane or vulgar language only shows a lack of vocabulary.
7. Dressing in a proper manner – clean and in good taste.
8. Playing hard, but fair and sportsmanlike.

 Join the free resource for information if WHHS has urgent information for you regarding an EMERGENCY or for a timely TRAFFIC update. Text @bf6c9d to 81010 from your cell phone to join. This is a "one way" messenger only and you control if you want to continue receiving the texts or not. 

The West Hills Performing Arts Department has been busy with concerts, competitions, and our terrific run of the musical "Zombie Prom"! Our programs are OUTSTANDING and doing SO MUCH...it is often hard to keep up with them. 

Winter Performances are upcoming:

Beginning and Intermediate Guitar Concert: Thursday, Dec. 8, 7:00 p.m.

Advanced Guitar and String Orchestra: Saturday, Dec. 10, 7:00 p.m.

Bob Guess Theater for the Performing Arts

8756 Mast Blvd. Santee, Ca. 92071

$10.00 adults, $8 .00 students  

Winter Choral Concert is Friday, December 16 at 7:00 p.m. in our theater as well.

CONGRATULATIONS to the   and to the wonderful PARENTS and GUARDIANS who support them for completing another wonderful FALL SEASON! They capped off their season with their WINTER Concert Friday night!   We are SO PROUD of YOU! 

For future planning, additional performances are below:

March 17,18,24,25	Spring Musical
May 3	Senior Concert
May 11	Band Pops Concert
May 18	Spring Beginning / Intermediate Guitar Concert
May 20	Spring Advanced Guitar / String Orchestra Concert
May 25	Spring Choir Concert
May 30	Advanced One Acts
June 2	Theater Production One Acts

Please check out our ATTENDANCE policies linked in our STUDENT HANDBOOK online at wolfpack.guhsd.net under "Students". Please remember to CALL in 956-0434 all day absences, and send a note for partial day absences. We are sorry, but we are not able to deliver to classrooms forgotten items--if a student knows to come to attendance to come pick up their items, they are welcome to do so without MISSING class. SATURDAY SCHOLARS (Previously Saturday School) will be starting for students who need extra tutoring or attendance make up time. Notices came out Friday regarding this important opportunity for students. Please check your email, mobile phone text or home phone voicemail for this information or contact the school if you know your student has missed a full day of school and can attend Saturday School / Scholars to have additional time to make up the attendance time and the school work. 

November is underway....Finals are around the corner!

November is underway as we give thanks and look forward to time left in the semester...and to Thanksgiving break. The entire campus is CLOSED November 21-25, 2016. School resumes with a Monday Collaboration late start day on Monday, November 28. Before we go on break..there is a lot to share....

 West Hills is closed Friday, November 11 in honor of all those who serve, past and present. We thank you and your families, for your service and your sacrifice.


Our 12 week progress grades to students have been recorded and are available to view in the Parent and Student portal. Please look at your students' grades and talk with them about their progress--both successes and challenges. Please know that our goal is your students' success! Please contact teachers with individual questions about the grades you are viewing as well as ways for your student to improve if they are earning below a "C" in any course. There are about 6 weeks left in this semester-- Final exams are  December 19-21, 2016. Please avoid pulling your student from this week for travel. This is VERY difficult for students to return and "make up" final exams--they typically do not do well and their permanent, final grade on their transcript is often affected negatively.

All students must earn 220 credits to graduate and colleges and universities accept "C" grades and higher. Military careers ask for many of the same requirements so this is a CRITICAL AREA for support and encouragement for our students. Any grade of an "F" must be made up to earn credits towards graduation. Teacher contact information as well as Guidance information and our tutorial schedule may be found on our website at wolfpack.guhsd.net.

Need a parent portal account in Infinite Campus? We can help you...please come in or call us at 956-0400 so you can access all the information pertaining to your student(s). It is the ONLY PLACE where GRADES are PUBLISHED as well as attendance. Please check the District Parent link for timely important notices and options about the legal sharing of your student(s) information.

Low Cost Internet is available...please check out this affordable option by Cox Cable in partnership with the Grossmont Union High School District and the San Diego County Office of Education: 

Focus on Learning: 21st Century Skills : The 4 Cs

Critical Thinking    Collaboration    Creativity     Communication    

West Hills faculty and staff are committed to building the knowledge, skills and learning our students need for THEIR future. We don't know what that will look like exactly--7 years ago no one had heard of an "iPhone", there was no job title of "Social Media Director" and no one thought we would ever be employing a "Futurist" in the market place. To prepare our students and to engage them with deeper learning, higher level thinking skills, and to be able to communicate effectively, we are working collaboratively together on the 4 Cs: Critical Thinking (analysis and problem solving), Collaboration (stronger together to learn and grow), Creativity (thinking "outside the box", using innovation and technology to enhance how we approach the world) and Communication (being respectful, responsible and honorable and learning the value of working and talking together to achieve our goals). This helpful article from the National PTA may be of help to you now and in the future are we work together to support our students. 

  Can we focus a minute on grades and school? We have noted a concerning small trend in students "accepting" grades of "D's" or even "Fs" as "no big deal". We KNOW it is a big deal--a grade of a "D" allows a student to earn 5 credits towards graduation, but not towards college entrance or in some cases, acceptance into a military branch or trade school program.  An "F" grade means a student must REPEAT the entire course (typically 18 WEEKS) to earn a passing grade to progress towards graduation. We believe and know that EVERY STUDENT, with our support, can and WILL earn a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) or a "C" average. This is meeting standards and is very achievable--if we work TOGETHER to support our students. Here is our TUTORIAL SCHEDULE. While this is "voluntary", we want to start making it "mandatory"--with YOUR SUPPORT. Teachers, Counselors, Administration and Staff want to partner with you if your student has a grade in any class of below a "C" to require them to attend tutorial. This may be a sacrifice for some--transportation my have to be arranged; students may need to arrive early or stay late, however, the goal of learning and bringing up their grade is well worth it. 

We want to open the discussion with our entire school community on expanding our Access to Fun--if you as a student have a 2.0 GPA, then dances, athletic events to attend to cheer on your team, and parking on campus remains open to you. However, if you fall below the 2.0 GPA as measured every three to 6 weeks, or you have poor attendance (5 or more tardies or absences in any one class) we want to talk with students and parents and discuss this Access to Fun. The main goal of high school for every student is to graduate and have a plan for what is next. Dances, parking on campus, attending athletic events are all parts of the fun of high school--we want  students to fully participate in our "social contract"--earning a 2.0 GPA, having  fewer than 5 tardies or absences in any one class, and maintaining excellent discipline and behavior expectations on campus are essential to each students' success. We have always noted this in our student handbook and use this conversation with individual students and parents on an as needed basis and we will continue to do so. 

We want to open this discussion more broadly in looking at the 2017-18 school year. We will be sending out, as part of our accreditation WASC process, a survey in the spring (given to parents on PACK DAY--FRIDAY MARCH 10--a minimum day where Parents Attend Class with Kids Day "PACK Day") and sent out via the parent and student portal, to gather broad input from parents and students on a number of vital issues for our school community. We hope you take this in the spirit it is intended--motivating and supporting our students to continue to prioritize learning, class work and tutorials as we invest collectively in their futures. We will continue to use this idea on an individual basis as we move through this year--you will see additional outreach on "mandatory tutorials", learning and attendance make-up time with Saturday Scholars (once staffing is secured) and with discussions with parents and students about Access to Fun when GPAs are below a "C" average. Access is regained as students bring those grades up by the way--incentives matter. When we do well, we earn more!

Please check out our ATTENDANCE policies linked in our STUDENT HANDBOOK online at wolfpack.guhsd.net under "Students". Please remember to CALL in 956-0434 all day absences, and send a note for partial day absences. We are sorry, but we are not able to deliver to classrooms forgotten items--if a student knows to come to attendance to come pick up their items, they are welcome to do so without MISSING class. SATURDAY SCHOLARS (Previously Saturday School) will be starting for students who need extra tutoring or attendance make up time. Please look for Parent and Student portal messages regarding this coming up soon.

Student News....

The DramaKids are at it again...over 60 students are involved in our newest production--you can be entertained TONIGHT--Thursday, November 10 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday night 11/12 at 7:00 p.m. --we welcome you to our show!

    WHHS Europe Trip for Students: 

Traveling allows young adults to become well rounded individuals by exposing them to other cultures and regions.  Mr. Sutton, World History teacher and all-around passionate history lover is once again taking students to Europe in the Summer of 2018. Students will  explore the Battlefields of Europe, the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam and the sights and glories of Paris.  Enrollment is limited to Sophomore and Juniors only.  Students and parents are encouraged to attend a meeting in SS-1 on Saturday November 12 at 5pm.  Mr. Sutton will be discussing associated cost and details for the trip.  25 students are currently signed up and there are only ten spots left!  Don't miss this once in a life time opportunity!  

Additional information can be found at: 

www.explorica.com/Sutton-8272

Last Summer's Trip can be seen here:  

https://www.facebook.com/WHHS-Europe-Trip-2016-333059803534247/

Contact Mr. Sutton at dsutton@guhsd.net or by calling 956-0400. 

Best Buddies Club--A national organization we are PROUD to be a part of!

This past Saturday, West Hills’ Best Buddies club joined in a walk-a-thon to support their parent organization, Best Buddies CA. West Hills’ student, Tyler D. sang the national anthem as part of the opening ceremonies. West Hills Best Buddies Club raised hundreds of dollars to support the cause of promoting friendships and jobs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The club meets each Tuesday at lunch in the Library and once a month for whole club activities. All students are welcome to join the Best Buddies club.

Our Fall Sports are now in CIF rounds of play (both team and individual depending on the sport) and our students and Coaches have had great fun and skill building as they competed with honor throughout the season. WINTER sports begins Saturday, November 14 with the first CIF approved day for coach / athlete contact and try outs. All student athletes must complete the online Athletic clearance process to participate in tryouts, Individual sports create their own schedules so please check out our website for up to date information. 

 Join the free resource for information if WHHS has urgent information for you regarding an EMERGENCY or for a timely TRAFFIC update. Text @bf6c9d to 81010 from your cell phone to join. This is a "one way" messenger only and you control if you want to continue receiving the texts or not. 

West Hills is in our accreditation process cycle through 2018. Every public school in California goes through periodic accreditation and examination from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). We will be reflecting on and evaluating our school program in its entirety and reaching out to students, parents, faculty and staff as we go through this year of our self study.We thank you for you understanding of our WASC Work Days and various times when our offices are closed (rarely) so faculty and staff can work together. We have one more this year--Wednesday, March 1 (minimum day). All our other meetings work within our normal late start Mondays. We will be sending out more information via the Parent and Student Portal and so thank you for your support. 

News from the Library...

• Wolf Pack Chromebook FAQ: Are you wondering about what students should do if they have a broken or lost Chromebook? Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions related to Chromebook logistics.
• PrepSTEP Test Preparation: All students have access to FREE online test preparation! Learn more about how to log in to take practice tests for PSAT, SAT, ACT, AP tests, and more.
• Student Access to Track School Checkouts and Fines via Destiny: Students now have the ability to log in and keep track of their school checkouts and fine for library materials, textbooks, technology resources, and more. Find out how!
• Keep up with more library announcements via social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Go Wolf Pack! wolfpack.guhsd.net