The Paly Post
Palo Alto High School Community Edition - October 2017
ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER...
It's hard to believe the first quarter is already behind us and the second quarter has begun. Where did the time go?!?!
Congratulations to all our Vikings on a great start to the 2017-2018 school year! We've heard a great deal of positive feedback about our caring students and staff, inspiring classrooms and lots of gratitude for our talented new hires who bring so much to "Team Paly." We hope you also feel proud because it's great to be a Viking!
Since August, I've been sending a weekly newsletter to the Paly staff. Today, I thought I'd extend that reach and develop a first quarter "Community Edition" so we are all on the same page. Improving communication is always our goal so thank you for taking the time to read today's Paly Post.
With pride,
Kim Diorio
Principal
HIGH QUALITY TEACHING & LEARNING...BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE'RE ALL ABOUT!
- A number of 9th grade Biology teams are using a project based learning approach in their classrooms this year. Coming across the outline of a demised “victim” spurs the students to help figure out what caused her untimely death. Students are enjoying the active approach to learning science and the science department continues to seek ways to incorporate the project based learning into their curriculum.
- 36 students from the Gunn and Paly English department creative writing classes attended an off-site field trip at the Palo Alto Children's Theater to prepare for our "Page-to-Stage" performance on Tuesday, December 5th at 7:00pm at the PA Children's Theater. This was a truly meaningful collaborative effort supporting young people between both high schools and the City of Palo Alto.
- 10th grade US Government students dove into the Constitution this past month with a variety of learning activities, including Current Event Case Studies, First Amendment Right's impact on students in school, fishbowl discussions on the Second Amendment, and Supreme Court debates.
- AP Psychology students finished building their models of the human brain and are working on producing short videos about different states of consciousness, including states of sleep, theories of dreams, how drugs work on the brain, and theories of hypnosis.
- Economics classes are learning about the stock market, how to pay for college, dealing with credit cards, and other important pieces of financial literacy.
- Last week, Chanticleer called "the world's reigning male chorus" by The New Yorker and one of the few full-time professional choirs visited us to sing and provide a workshop with our Choirs. Paly has been fortunate to have a relationship with Chanticleer that dates back to the 1980's. We have been invited to their regional and national choir festivals.
- C Magazine wrote a feature article this month about our Futures program, highlighting the great inclusion work we’re doing for our students who, prior to seven years ago, were not receiving the maximum benefit from special education services that they could. Now, we can say with confidence, that all of our students with IEP’s have the appropriate supports and services in place to support maximizing each of their individual potential.
- Rise & Grind, our student-run café, led by teacher Erika Oakson, just opened again officially for business this week after training students for the first couple months of school. The students are now running all of the café business processes with little adult prompting.
- On our PSAT day, all of our Algebra 1 teachers and co-teachers offered additional support to students in Algebra by providing a re-teaching session that morning followed by offering the opportunity for re-takes on the most recent exam. Between 25-30 students participated, and the vast majority were able to improve their scores. There wasn’t one empty chair in the room!
- Jenny Crane, one of our Therapeutic Services (TS) teachers designed a t-shirt that says “you matter” on the front and distributed them to all the TS staff who are wearing them today (see below). She also wrote individual notes to each of her students and gave them to them today to let them know how much they matter and why.
YOU ARE INVITED - PEERY FAMILY CENTER CELEBRATION
If you haven't seen the Peery Family Center yet, now is your chance! Students led tours of the new facility will begin starting at 2:45pm. All are welcome.
According to our PE Instructional Leader Peter Diepenbrock, "the amount of students (non athletes) using our new fitness room with our new strength and conditioning coach, on a daily basis, is just phenomenal. This is a total culture change from how it was!"
Come see the new beautiful displays and artwork inside the Peery Family Center
SPIRIT WEEK IS HERE!
Next week is undeniably the best week of the year - Spirit Week! The entire campus is abuzz about the planned festivities that will unite our student body. It’s going to be a great week!
Parents, we could use your help. First, we welcome you to watch the famous Friday spirit dances and float competition. Friday’s show starts at 2:45 pm at the Viking Stadium. For more details, check out the “All Things Spirit Week” website.
We need parent volunteers for float building this weekend and throughout next week. If you’re handy with power tools and building things, we need you this weekend to get things started. Even if you only have an hour or two to give, we hope you'll join us in the auto shop for float building. All parents are welcome. It's a fun gig! Please contact Dawn Billman at dawn_billman@yahoo.com for details.
Do you have plans for next Saturday night? If not, we still need chaperones for our Homecoming Dance on Saturday, October 28th in the Peery Family Center small gym. The dance is from 7:00-10:00 pm. Jobs for parents include set-up, at-door ticket sales, coat check, passing out water and supervising the entrances to the facility. Don’t worry, your student won’t even know you are there! Please email Carolyn Benfield at cbenfield@pausd.org if you can help with any of these tasks.
Most importantly, we’d like to acknowledge our hard-working student leadership class, ASB, for their dedication and creative energy in organizing another fabulous Spirit Week for our entire school to enjoy. Thank you ASB students and a special shout out to our Student Activities Director, Sensei Matt Hall!
The “Paly Core Values” remind us that we believe everyone values and benefits from our collective effort to grow and to develop our human potential. Guiding this effort is our belief in the following:
- Promoting personal integrity and respect
- Providing a nurturing environment characterized by teamwork and collaboration
- Caring for and believing in every individual
- Encouraging creativity and independent thinking
- Understanding that growth and learning are an essential part of life
- Acknowledging great effort and great fun in work and play
If students, parents and teachers work together by demonstrating good sportsmanship and staying true to our core values throughout the week, we will make this a fabulous week for everyone at our school.
Someone once said, “Life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important, capture the good times, develop from the negatives, and if things don’t turn out – take another shot.”
Thinking about the above quote, the goal of Spirit Week is truly about having fun and coming together as a community to showcase our Paly Pride. On that note, we wish everyone a safe and festive Spirit Week - a fun-filled week where we demonstrate good sportsmanship and stay true to our core values. It’s great to be a Viking. Now let’s have some fun!
SPIRIT WEEK 2017 DETAILS AND LINKS
Still want to get involved with Spirit Week games and competitions?
- Freshman Sign Ups (https://goo.gl/1RX3i8(link is external))
- Soph Sign Ups (https://goo.gl/gC7svH(link is external))
- Jr Sign Ups (https://goo.gl/forms/Pbw1v3Rg8SzemPB13(link is external))
- Sr Sign Ups (https://goo.gl/cKGPAk(link is external))
Details about Spirit Week (points, games, dress up themes, etc…) can be found on the ASB Website: https://sites.google.com/site/pahsasb/sw2017(link is external)
Homecoming Dance tickets are also now on sale at the Paly Webstore (https://goo.gl/oXJsXl). $5 for ASB Card holders and $10 without.
Guest Tickets are $10. All ticket sales at the door will be $10. Guest passes are available at the Auditor's office and online (https://goo.gl/mG7tf4). A completed guest pass is required to purchase a guest dance ticket, and guest dance tickets are only available for purchase at the ASB Bookkeeper's office, and not online.
Homecoming Dress code this year is semi-formal (no tux/gowns, but rather nice tie/shirts for guys and dresses for girls). No date? No problem! Come with friends or come solo--all are welcome!
INNOVATIVE SCHEDULING COMMITTEE
VIOLENCE PREVENTION INITIATIVE UPDATE
There was been much discussion and planning "behind the scenes" to roll out a strategic initiative addressing sexual violence and harassment prevention and education efforts within our school community. Stay tuned for more details to be announced in the Superintendent's Weekly.
In the meantime, we've asked all Paly staff to watch this great TED Talk from an expert in this field, Jackson Katz. We hope you will take the time to watch it too.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! THREE GREAT EVENTS HOSTED AT PALY - CLICK TO REGISTER!
- A Social Emotional Journey Towards Unity with guest facilitator R. Keeth Matheny - Wednesday, October 25, from 6:30-8:00 pm in the Palo Alto High School Media Arts Center. Register here.
- Screenagers; Growing up in the Digital Age - Thursday, October 26th, 7:00 pm Haymarket Theater
- Empathy is the App: Raising Thoughtful Kids in the Digital Age Wednesday, November 8th, 7:00pm in the PAC
JOIN THE PTSA - FALL MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
We would love to have 100% of our parents and students join the Paly PTSA. Strength is in numbers and the PTSA's voice as the largest advocacy group for children in the country depends on membership.
Please become a member of the Paly PTSA, for just $10! Click here to join.
Did you know that Paly parents donate over $190,000 to the PTSA to support and inspire the work we do?! The largest portion of PTSA funds goes to purchasing items for students which include departmental supplies and technology. To learn more about how the PTSA supports our school, please visit their website.
VISITING PALY DURING THE SCHOOL DAY? PLEASE SIGN-IN AT THE MAIN OFFICE
Spike Ball on the quad
Mr. Davis enjoying the game
Every Wednesday on the quad
PREPPING FOR OUR MARCH 2018 WASC Mid-Cycle Visit
Much of our time spent in Ed Council, Site Council and various department meetings this year has been focused on our upcoming WASC Mid-Cycle Visit. A WASC visiting committee is scheduled to come to Paly on March 5-7, 2018 for a 2-day visit. This is a great opportunity for us to reflect on the progress we've made over the past 3 years and to look ahead for the next 3 years.
To learn more about Paly's WASC Self-Study and our school goals, click here.
What exactly is a WASC Mid-Cycle Visit? Click here to learn more.