NEWS FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Greetings River Community:

We are through week one of Semester Two for the school year and have a very busy close to the winter months ahead of us. I want to begin my February Newsletter with a huge thank you to all who have participated in circulating information about the February 11 Levy Election. For more information, please click https://vansd.org/levy/ .

We had a very strong finish to Semester One and will be distributing report cards in the next few days. You are able to continue to check up on posted class information for your student through Skyward. If you have not yet, I encourage you to make the https://vansd.org/mobile-app/ a “favorite” on your smart phone.

We have two updates regarding our daily schedule and our efforts for academic intervention. We have included both the updated bell schedule and the calendar for Intervention Mondays in this newsletter. Students and families should have received guidance on goal setting and progress monitoring earlier this week. The information was presented by Administrative Intern Elizabeth Vaughn. We will continue to partner with you as we march through our third quarter grading period.

There will be three external partner groups visiting our campus this spring to observe and provide feedback on our efforts with our International Baccalaureate (our three year re-authorization for the Full Diploma Program and our initial authorization for the Career-related Diploma). Our partnership with Ed Tech, Google Classroom and Digital Promise will feature our work in Social Studies and English classrooms in the form of a case study. It is exciting to see the Professional Learning that accelerates our students’ learning experiences. I am so very proud of our Faculty’s continued advocacy and design of instructional lessons that harness creativity and push our students’ critical thinking. This spring, work will be displayed in a wide variety of modes and this partnership enables the amplification of this amazing work. I am so proud. Finally, our seven year cycle for accreditation with the state is underway and we will complete our self study in late March.

Meanwhile, more updates on our remodel will be finalized in the coming weeks. Please look for that information in a special newsletter before the end of the month.

In closing, I want to highlight the work of our Guidance Counselors at River. This week is “National Counselor Appreciation Week” and we have some true legends to honor. First, as you were previously informed, Lou Gill passed away in January. Countless individuals have stepped in to assist students, staff and friends as we mourn and take her inspiration of a life well lived and press forward. We have made some shifts in the department responsibilities. Please take note of that information included in this newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Have a wonderful start to Semester Two!

Alex Otoupal –

Principal

Columbia River High School