Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Whitehall MS/High Principal Check-in

Quarter 1 is in the books for the school year of 21-22. The first few months of school are always exciting with sports, academics, and welcoming the students back. We are enjoying the full hallways and classrooms. Our focus this fall has been working as a school community, getting students involved, and providing as many opportunities as possible for our students and staff. The year kicked off with the 6th-grade orientation and assemblies; student leadership has been key this fall. Our after-school program for homework support is available throughout the week. Enrichment activities through the 21st-century grant in the middle school are currently providing cooking and drama extracurriculars. Thank you to Mrs. Wirth for taking on the implementation of this grant in the middle school. Drama is underway in the high school, with the play performances scheduled for November 11th and 12th at 7 pm under the direction of Mr. Forney, the high school English teacher.

Our fall sports seasons are coming to a close, but not after an impressive number of participants and enthusiasm. The middle school football team had success under Mr. Robertson and Mr. Koenig's coaching, with over forty students out on the field. Likewise, our high school volleyball, cross country, and football teams have had an exciting fall coupled with leadership and positivity that has energized the school. Middle School Boys Basketball has commenced and once again there are over forty ballers out on the court! Our music programs have displayed their talents performing the national anthem and preparing for the Veterans Day concert on the 11th of November; Mrs. Heilig's dedication along with her music students to this honorary concert is blessing to our community.

A celebration of student and staff accomplishments will occur with our quarterly High Five assembly to include attendance, honor roll, department awards, and students of the quarter awards. The student council determines the teacher of the quarter awards, sharing their appreciation as well. As the principal, I am proud of our students, the skills-building in every department, and the creativity demonstrated by students and staff daily. As we finish quarter one, anticipation for the upcoming months is building with basketball, cheer, and wrestling seasons, concerts, and plays forthcoming. I am always in awe of the industrial art projects with students; these life skills are a huge advantage for our students.

The counseling department, led by Mr. Norbeck has provided bullying, social conflict resolution, and substance prevention classroom guidance; suicide prevention is the next essential topic. We also have a career guidance focus on helping students learn about opportunities through the college fair and having visitors from different schools and the military at lunchtime. Seniors completed applications to post-secondary schools as a first step in creating options, with the FAFSA completion being the next step. Post-secondary schools are not always the next step for every graduate; we have students already working in the community building their resumes and learning about themselves and their interests.

Instructionally our focus this year continues to be bell to bell instruction, maximizing academics, building student skills, and providing students with opportunities to learn from one another and become independent, confident learners. Walking through classrooms, one would observe diversified instructional delivery, students building skills, and staff working to keep students engaged and motivated. In middle school, we have intervention classes that target English and math skills provided by Mrs. Pino and Mrs. Schofield. We want our middle school students to be ready for high school courses and successfully earn their credits towards a diploma; these intervention classes are crucial to ensuring students have acquired grade-level skills. As the year continues, our academic goals include incorporating writing skills into all content areas and prioritizing vocabulary and reading skills. As a school community, we also are focused on providing opportunities for our students to be involved and have success in their academic studies and extracurricular activities.

We would love to see parents and guardians during the parent-teacher conferences in November; please do come to meet the new staff and visit with teachers on November 9th and 11th from 3:30PM to 6:30PM. This coming month along with the parent-teacher conferences, plan to attend the Veterans Day concert and the play "Clue." There are so many great things happening day to day within the school building walls. We will keep you posted – follow us on Facebook at Whitehall Schools.

 

Reader Comments(0)