Our Ideal Graduate

Creating a New Vision

NHHS staff spent an afternoon talking about what our ideal high school is and how we focus our vision to help students find that ideal. What does a graduate need most from us? What do we want for our OWN kids as they work through high school? Staff narrowed the list down to six characteristic for our 2017-18 focus and to help us drive our PBL work.

As we worked through what the ideal graduate is, we had a rich dialogue about how this hits our core values and how we need to continue to work toward creating the conditions that bring us to the ideal graduate.

And we worked on creating our own visual for the ideal graduate.  This meant we had to key into our own creative nature to be able to share with students what we want them to become.

But What Do Our Students Need from Us?

We created what we want students to be when they leave us, but what do they need from us to help them continue to be successful past our doors? Mary Kenkel writes in KnowledgeWorks.org (2016) about the 5 Necessities for an Ideal High School, According to College Freshmen. Our student want us to give them the following:

1. A welcoming environment
2. A focus on students' futures beyond school
3. Opportunities for real world experiences
4. Less importance on testing; more importance on comprehension
5. Greater emphasis on working as a team

See the article for more information: http://knowledgeworks.org/worldoflearning/2016/01/college-students-reimagine-school/

School Year Off to a Start

With the first week of school now in full swing, student and staff have spent significant time building relationships and establishing routine to help make the school year successful and fun. Wednesday and Thursday were full of group meetings and the 2nd Annual Chickasaw Games led by high school staff.

We know that relationships among staff and students are key to engagement and students' comfort at school.  By focusing immediately on the FISH philosophies of Choose Your Attitude, Play, Make Their Day, and Be There, we can continue the journey to a positive culture and climate at NHHS.

For a refresher on the FISH philosophy check this out: Brush up on FISH