Principal's Message
August 20, 2009
Dear Horizon Parents and Students,
Welcome Back! If you are reading this message and preparing to return to Horizon or starting here for the first time, then you are about to embark on a journey of learning and growing within a school community dedicated to academic excellence, developmental awareness, social equity, and achievement for all.
Here are some of the exciting things to look forward to at Horizon Middle School.
Our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade configuration allows us to really get to know our students over a three year period. As students move through our system, we are able to accentuate their strengths and provide support in areas they need assistance.
We will continue to block our language arts and social studies courses at all grade levels. Our 6th grade students will block for math and science as well. A ‘block’ is defined as two periods running consecutively with the same teacher, and providing integrated curriculum as appropriate.
Our Science program focuses on the state learning targets, but we enhance the textbook and concepts through labs, development of models, and a variety of experiential learning methods.
We are going to look a little different in our math classrooms with the adoption of the Math Connects curriculum for the coming years. Check out detailed information on the Central Valley main web page, CVSD.Org.
Our music program remains one of the best in the state. We have excellent musicians teaching our students how to perform at a very high level. We offer choir, orchestra (strings),band (brass, woodwind, and percussion), and a Jazz Band.
Students receive daily PE and Health classes to support their physical and developmental growth. During the course of the year, students will blend games and activities with a classroom component to teach healthy lifestyles, human growth, and the importance of making good decisions through your teen years.
Students who take our exploratory course option may experience art, ScanTek (computer modules that teach science and math concepts through hands-on experiences such as flight simulation, aerodynamics, computer aided drafting, pneumatics, and many others), wood shop, quilting, leadership, and others.
In addition to our core academic programs, we offer support programs and opportunities for your child to get supplemental academic support. This can take place in a variety of ways. Our continuum of support begins with the student and teacher. It is the student’s responsibility to ask questions during class time and seek to understand. It is also appropriate to schedule time with a teacher before or after school as necessary. Our teachers welcome and encourage these requests! The next level of support may be to access a strategic reading or mathematics course for one or more trimesters. If your child has a physical or emotional disability he/she may qualify for a Section 504 Plan that allows for accommodations within the classroom or structure of the school day. These interventions require a formal process and are scheduled through our counselor. Finally, students who qualify may access one of our special education options which include a resource support class, self-contained class for students in a blended program of functional academics and life/social skills, or a classroom environment specializing in assisting students who have a variety of behaviors impacting their learning.
The middle school years MATTER. The foundation for a successful high school experience and beyond truly begins during their middle years. The three years they spend with us are critically important to the development of who they will become as adults. Don’t be fooled by a false belief that grades in the middle school don’t count. There is research to support that low achievement in middle school directly correlates to under-achieving at the high school—or worse, dropping out.
To build successful citizens requires shared responsibility between teachers, parents, and student. As adults around them are teaching them about personal responsibility, adolescents often translate that into wanting more ‘freedom’ and less rules or structure to guide them. In reality, we are simply giving them a bit more rope to expand their experiences, but we never completely let go! As parents, you want to know how your child is doing in school. Communication between home and school means different things to each of us. This is where I like to let parents know that it is OK to call and email your child’s teachers regularly in order to ask questions, or just find out what is going on. Sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to get information out of teenagers!
Middle School is a great time in a young person’s life. It is not to be feared, yet it is not to be taken lightly. See you on September 8.
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