July 2008

Dear Parents:

I am writing this letter to introduce myself as the new Principal of South High. It has been my privilege to be a part of this great school for over twenty years. I came to South in 1986 to teach special education courses, after ten years in other schools. I knew when I arrived that I would stay. South High is everything a teacher could want in terms of fabulous student body, parents who are involved with their children’s education, a district that values professional growth and an administration that strongly believes in student achievement.

Serving the South High community in several capacities had been a wonderful adventure. I have served as teacher, Department Chair for Special Services, Associate Principal for Curriculum and Instruction and now will have the pleasure of serving in the role of Principal. I have seen boundaries change, administrations change, new initiatives come and go, and multitudes of students enter warily and leave with confidence. What I have learned is that South High is an institution of great value in the community. It is an active hub for athletics, the arts and academics. The building is bustling from morning to night, even during the summer.

I can say with confidence that your children get a great educational experience here. We are committed to learning; first and foremost. Our faculty spends the summer revamping what their courses offered the year before and putting the finishing touches on new courses approved for this coming year. They attend workshops and take graduate courses to sharpen their skills in order that learning and student proficiency remain the focus from August through June.

As you may already know, our calendar will be quite different for the 2008-2009 school year. You will see almost no early dismissals, but quite a few more late arrivals. While this calendar actually allows us to reduce the time students are out of the classroom for teachers’ professional development, it may feel like more, as there will be fifteen late starts between September and May. We will use this time to meet in course specific faculty groups to analyze student performance at a slice in time, decide what the data means, and work immediately to help students improve whatever may have seemed weak, if in fact we find weakness. As a faculty, our focus will be to more immediately diagnose student performance issues, strategize methodology that will help students address those issues and reassess quickly, to move everyone successfully forward.

Each team of teachers (teaching a particular course) will focus on different performance issues, but all will work to analyze student work to lead students toward improved academic proficiency in the different content areas throughout the building. It takes time to be driven by the student performance data and create potential new strategies to support students in their learning in new ways, but we are committed as a school and as a district to doing so.

Our campus is undergoing a facelift in several ways, not the least of which is an overhaul of the parking lot and drive ways to include an access road to Springside Avenue. Although driving on campus from now through mid-August will be challenging, it will be well worth it!

I look forward to writing to you later in the coming school year to comment on specific successes. Again, South High is focused on helping students learn as much as possible before graduating, in every arena possible. Their success is ours. We are partners toward that end.

Be sure to have your student(s) read the book they selected from the summer reading list before August 25th. English teachers will expect that students are ready in late August to complete a project related to the book.

I am very excited about serving the South High School Community, as Principal. I am looking forward to what lies ahead for each of us as the adventure unfolds. Learning and succeeding is exciting! I will be learning along with students and can’t wait for the partnership to begin. Enjoy the summer fully.

Sincerely,

Stephan L. Bild
Principal