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April 2007 Dear GHS Parent/Guardian, I cannot believe how quickly the academic year is coming to a close. It seems like just yesterday that we were welcoming our students to the school year and now we’re almost to graduation. I do hope it has been a good year for your child and he/she has grown in many ways. We all need to realize how precious our young people are and to be available to them as they grow. Parents, you can be the most important person to your child. Even though they may act as if you are a bother, please know that all studies show that supportive, understanding, concerned parents are the most important predictor of success in school and in life. The following items are important for you to know as we end the school year. International Baccalaureate (IB) I am happy to share that GHS has been approved by the IB World Organization to be an official IB site. Our current 10th grade Pre-IB students will move into the official program at the beginning of next school year. We have admitted 105 incoming 9th graders to the program. Please note, the IB program at GHS serves all students in West Pasco County. This is a wonderful addition for all who attend GHS now and who will attend the school in the future. A strong IB program which focuses on rigor and world class standards helps all students. Teachers who have been trained in the IB philosophy and curriculum use their expertise in all of their classes and share what they have learned with other professionals. This is a very positive thing for all students. I take this opportunity to thank all of the faculty who have been trained and helped to write the application and who are currently teaching in the program. Most especially I would like to recognize Dr. Deborah Lepley, Assistant Principal for IB, for her work and dedication. Her professionalism and determination were the driving force! Emergency Drills I want to assure everyone that the school conducts various emergency drills so we are sure we are well prepared in case a true emergency occurs. The various drills are: building evacuations, lock downs, secure campus, severe weather drills, and high supervision dismissals. Recently we did a high supervision dismissal which was conducted at the behest of the district office. No actual threats had been made related to GHS. We and the district office notified parents by way of phone calls to all homes. I would ask that parents discuss the necessity of such practices and encourage their children to always react responsibly to those in charge of the school. In the case of a true emergency we will need the cooperation of all those at the school site. Be assured we are constantly reviewing and revising our emergency procedures. FCAT Letter Some parents are receiving an enclosed letter related to the distribution of FCAT scores. These individual letters contain information about a web site where parents can access their own child’s FCAT scores. Note there is a unique login ID and a password in the letter. The 10th grade FCAT Writes+ scores are now on the web site and the other FCAT scores will be on the web site when the scores are released later in May. SPECIAL RECOGNITION We are happy to announce the Class of 2007 Valedictorian and
Salutatorian. These students have worked very hard for these honors and
we congratulate them and wish them the very best! THIS & THAT Progress Reports were distributed on April 18 CALENDAR ITEMS Updated as of 4/27/07 |