High Lakes News
September 18, 2015
Note from our Principal
Dear Parents,
What a smooth start we have had to the 2015-16 school year! I hope it has seemed that way in your household as well. Kids are coming to school with big smiles on their faces, new students are making friends, and I have heard from teachers, “I just love my class already!” All of these are giant indicators we’re off to a good start!
One of the contributing factors to such a smooth start is that our enrollment is down approximately sixty children from last year. This is the FIRST time in sixteen years, since High Lakes opened, that we have started with fewer children in the Fall than we had in the Spring. When you look around our neighborhoods and see all the new homes being built it is hard to fathom that we could be shrinking, but birth rates are down and we have had more retired couples moving into our boundary area. All of this is good news. We are currently at 612 students housed in a building built for 600. We finally have some breathing room!
This Fall, all 5th through 12th grade students will be participating in the Gallup Student Poll. The Gallup Student Poll adds non-cognitive measures to a school’s effectiveness equation. It is a way for us to collect non-academic data. It will provide a simple way for us to invite our students to share their perceptions about their engagement with school, hope for the future and understanding about their readiness to participate in the national and global economy one day. This poll will be administered via their iPads during the month of October. The survey is anonymous, and only group data is reported. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding the poll.
There is something new for High Lakes this year that you might not have heard about yet. The staff has decided to make Fridays, Hat Day. Kids are encouraged to wear their favorite hat on Friday. We are asking that on the other days of the week, hats remain off while in the school building. They may take them outside to wear at recess.
Another change this year regards this newsletter. We will be posting it on the High Lakes website and Facebook page rather than having teachers e-mail it home. It will continue to be bi-monthly, every other Friday. If you choose to “like” us on Facebook, you will automatically receive new information as it is posted. Please give us feedback on how this works for your family.
We are honored to be your partner in your child’s education!
Susan Heberlein, Principal
Join us September 22nd at 9 am in our Library for Volunteer Training!