Kapaa High School | 4695 Mailihuna Rd. Kapaa, HI 96746 | Main Office Hours: 7am - 4pm M-F, Year Round | 808.821.4400
Nancy Borilez
, Kapaa High Parent Community Network Facilitator | Room I-102 (Main Office Bldg) | Direct 808.821.4401 x106 | nancy_borilez@notes.k12.hi.us

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Updates - Week of Sept. 26th

Time certainly flies as the last week of the first quarter is here! As it promises to be busy with assessments, final projects, etc., asking for everyone's support to maintain that academic learning environment. Please minimize amount of time students leave your classrooms and let's help get our student into their classes on time. Reminder that first quarter grades are to due October 14, 2011 by 8:00 a.m.

The faculty PSAT training session will be on Monday, Sept. 26th in place of department meetings to prepare identified staff in administering the assessment on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011. Our Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grant allows for us to administer our 9th, 10th and 11th graders the PSAT. Testing will begin from period one until lunch and there will be no morning recess that day. Seniors will be meeting in the gym regarding their senior projects, graduation, senior contracts, etc. Teachers and support staff will be assigned either to help with the PSAT or Senior class meeting. Due to the length of time involved with the PSAT, there will be no morning prep periods and teachers will be released at 1:35 that day.

Kudos to everyone for the continued good work! In visiting classrooms saw many positive examples of focused learning. Appreciated seeing examples of applied learning where students applied their recent learned knowledge to complex problem solving activities either individually and/or cooperatively. Saw examples of students' work products within a culminating presentation and my favorite is always being able to see students self-management themselves in planning and prioritizing to meeting their deadlines.

Today's economic trends and skills needed for the 21st century workforce calls for individuals who are problem solvers, critical and analytical thinkers. As the amount of information continues to expand, truly difficult for anyone to memorize/keep up with continued growth. To truly prepare our students, Kapaa High School must consistently model that balanced curriculum - innovative problem solving activities where students not just only passively learn facts but incorporate it, digest into meaningful learning activities, more writing, and other real world applied hands-on learning. Research is very clear that when students' are afforded an environment of performance based learning, their learning curve dramatically rises due to the relevance.


Weekly Calendar:
Monday, September 26th: PSAT training session 2:30 p.m.
Principal @ Leadership Symposium - Oahu

Tuesday, September 27th: Open House 6 - 8:00 p.m.
Principal @Complex Area Leadership meeting

Thursday, September 29TH: VPs @Complex Area Vice-Principals' meeting

Friday, September 30th: End of 1st Quarter (43 days)

October 3 - 7, 2011: Intercession - Fall Break

Monday, Oct. 10th: Teachers do not report

Here's to a great ending for the 1st quarter!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Updates - Week of Sept. 19th

Attached revised PLC calendar for September reflects Michelle Swanson working with the HUIs on Thursday, Sept. 22nd and Academy members on Friday, Sept. 23rd. Please also note, that we will not be having a PLC session on Wednesday, Sept. 21st as teachers should use this time to reflect/discuss intervention strategies in helping to close the achievement gap and catching-up on other items. With only two weeks of the quarter left, important to assess students' achievement per your curriculum maps.


Reminder that there will be a full faculty training session on Monday, Sept. 26th in place of department meetings in order to prepare all of our teachers for their roles on Oct. 12, 2011. Per our Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grant, all of our 9th, 10th and 11th graders will be able to take the PSAT test on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Testing will begin from period one until lunch and there will be no morning recess that day. Seniors will be meeting in the gym regarding their senior projects, graduation, senior contracts, etc. Teachers and support staff will be assigned either to the gym or to classrooms in helping with the PSAT. Due to the length of time involved with the PSAT, there will be no prep periods and teachers will be released at 1:35 that day.

Finally I want to follow-up in addressing the anchor standards of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Critical Thinking across all content areas. Per recent discussions addressing struggling students and interventions, evident that more work is needed so to build that literacy focus. Example can be seen when addressing our writing focus, there are a good number of positive examples of writing instruction and this practice needs to become common practice for all classes. Strategies such as having word walls, student writing samples posted, common rubrics to build common understanding/expectations, etc., all help to expand students' learning. As a professional community, we know what needs to be done in helping our students to grow. The inevitable truth is that when any student struggles, we are accountable in doing everything possible to help our students succeed. Appreciate your efforts in supporting each other as we provide that quality education for our students.

Weekly Calendar:
Monday, September 19th: Leadership meeting 8:00 a.m. @Principal's Office
PTSA meeting 6:30 p.m. @Student Center

Tuesday, September 20th: School Community Council meeting 5:30 p.m. @Student Center

Wednesday, September 21st: Kapaa High School's Foundation meeting 6:00 p.m. @Student Center

Thursday, September 22nd: HUI collaboration meeting w/Michelle Swanson 8:00 a.m. @library

Friday, September 23rd: ACADEMIES collaboration meeting w/Michelle Swanson 8:00 a.m. @library

Have a great week!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Kapaa High School’s Open House: One Night - All Grade Levels

Kapaa High announces Open House for ALL Grade Levels, Tuesday, September 27, 2011 from 6:00-8:00 pm in the School Cafeteria. Dinner 6-6:45 pm ~ Parent Meetings 7-8 pm

Parents/Guardians of Kapaa High come join us for a BBQ Dinner, provided by the Kapaa High PTSA, followed by respective Grade Level Parent Meetings. Receive valuable information on Academics, Small Learning Communities, College and Career Planning, Athletics, Student Clubs, PTSA, Project Grad, SAT’s, Scholarships & Financial Aid, Senior Contracts, Commencement, and more. Don’t miss this opportunity to get the answers to your questions and concerns which will better aid you and your teen in navigating successfully through their high school years.

Who: Parents/Guardians of Kapaa High Students
What: Kapaa High School’s Open House - All Grade Levels
When: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 6-8 pm
Where: Kapaa High School Cafeteria ~ Handicap accessible.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Updates - Week of Sept. 12th

The Academy Design Team has been hard at work since January developing a framework and timeline for the implementation of Academies at Kapa’a High School. The plans have been morphed and refined at each stage as we learn more from outside experts about best practices associated with implementing Academies. The team will be presenting the draft framework to the faculty on Wednesday, September 14th with the hopes of getting input and support from teachers. The framework will be refined based on teacher input and then presented to parents and potential industry, government and education partners over the next several weeks for more input and support. As the Academy Design Team would love to be able to respond effectively to any faculty questions about Academies, they are asking that you please send any burning questions to Lisa Mireles via Lotus Notes by Tuesday 9/13/11 at noon. Your Academy Design Team currently includes co-chairs Janis Gowan and Evan Costa; David Mireles, Denise Asher, Andrew Oda, Kelly Bailey, Carleen Haneberg, Chanelle Quinones, Lillian Wadahara, Todd Barcial, Todd Harrison, Kara Kitamura, Robyn Keawe, Kimberlee Stuart, Guy Ho, Colonel Bob Levoit, Beth Pemberton, Emmi Masumura, Lisa Mireles and Crystal Rowe. Please thank these colleagues for their hard work and dedication as they have attended numerous extra meetings, planning days and workshops in order to learn more how to best implement the Academy model for our students.

At Wednesday's, Sept. 14th PLC session, faculty will be divided into two groups. Assigned groups will be meeting in either the Band or Chorus room as presenters will be rotating. Teachers will be informed where they are to report early next week. Besides the Academies, will be addressing intervention strategies and pleased to have colleagues Tara Bonilla and Jim Cox volunteer to share. Attached is our school's intervention flow chart and ask that you read this as it aligns with the Department's Comprehensive Student Support Services (CSSS) intervention process.


Thanks to the Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grant we will be giving all of our 9th, 10th and 11th graders the PSAT test on Wednesday, Oct. 12. The testing will begin 1st period and run until lunch. There will be no morning recess that day. The seniors will be attending an assembly in the gym regarding senior project, graduation, senior contract, Jostens cap & gown and other fun stuff. All teachers and staff will be assigned either to the gym or to a classroom to test students. Because there will be no preps through this time, teachers will be released at 1:35 that day. There will be a full faculty training session on Monday, Sept. 26th in place of department meetings in order to prepare all of our teachers for their roll on Oct. 12, 2011.

Attached a revised calendar for September that reflects changes in allowing early release for both the Sept. 26th faculty PSAT training and Sept. 27th Open House


A reminder that the "My Courses and Anchor Standards for Writing" template are due to Beth Pemberton this week. You may submit as a department, HUI and/or individually. Administration will spend week of Oct. 3rd reviewing and making an alignment tied to teachers' syllabus.


Finally I want to revisit our "true north" as an educational institutio n . Our recent breakout groups on Wednesday, September 7th addressing struggling students and interventions was very revealing. Want to thank everyone who came together so that we are proactive in supporting and minimizing failures. These types of conversations must continue as part of our professional practice. Special thanks to our counselors for their facilitation and planned follow-up. Kudos to SSC, Doris Morioka Fulks and her clerk, Sheila Saiki for compiling the data and getting the information out. As professionals, we know the learning challenges that our students face and the importance to adjust/change to ensure that "ALL" students show growth. The inevitable truth is that when a student fails, we hold ourselves accountable as laying blame only on the student, parent, etc. is much too easy.....the education of every student must and will always be a collaborative process. Thank you for being life-long learners, professionals open to change/growth and truly supporting each other for the sake of our students.

Weekly Calendar:
Monday, September 12th: Principal @SLC consortium meeting - Oahu
Wednesday, September 14th: PLC group meetings 1:45 p.m. (Band and Chorus rooms)
Friday, September 16th: School-wide evacuation drill to Mahelona

Have a great week!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Updates - Week of Sept. 5th

Beginning January 2012 (second semester), the following changes will take place for Personal Transition Plans (PTP). Grade 10 students will complete their Personal Transition Plan (PTP) as part of their Careers class. Both Mr. James Sanchez and Ms. Jannah Tafua will incorporate within the Careers curriculum those learning assignments/projects that would have been done through the grade 11 social studies classes. Present grade 11 students will continue to work on their PTP within their 11th grade social studies classes and present grade 12 students who have not finished their PTP will be supported by their counselors, Tara Bonilla (PTP Coordinator) and Crystal Rowe (special education).

Reason for this change is to make the Personal Transition Plan more focused for grade 9 and 10 students. This provides the foundation for independent college/career exploration during grades 11 and 12. Counselors will meet with juniors and seniors to review post high school plans which includes a discussion of educational and vocational options. This helps seniors per their Senior Projects and highlights the important work of the Academies' work group. Special "kudos" to James Sanchez, Jannah Tafua, Tara Bonilla, and Robyn Keawe for making this change a reality.

As we begin the last half of the first quarter (19 instructional days), critical that we continue to monitor students' progress systemically. Our school-wide comprehensive student support (CSSS) system needs to reflect that systemic practice of documented interventions in supporting students. On Wednesday, Sept. 7th teachers will be assigned into smaller PLC groups to further address interventions. Teachers will receive an electronic folder containing an intervention template for each student that received a failing grade. Student's intervention form is to filled out prior to Wednesday's meeting so that time can be spent on focused dialogue. Department heads will assist with assigning teachers and will have final say as to where teachers go if their students span more than one grade level. Counselors will be facilitating the meetings while ELL, SSC, SPED DH and administration will rotate across all groups.
  • Grade 9 HUIs - (meet in R bldg) Terri Christensen - facilitator
  • Sophomores - (meet in I102) Nellie Okamoto - facilitator
  • Juniors - (meet in F71- Brandon Fujita's room) Salynn Gonsalves - facilitator
  • Seniors - (meet in F70 - Anne Rivera's room) Robyn Keawe - facilitator

A few of reminders addressing standards based grading:
1) In a standards based system, we no longer can just "average" as students' grades should reflect student progress based on evidence such as their work products and assessments; and
2) Before a failing grade is given, there must be documented effort of instructional interventions from both teacher/support staff.


Calendar for September is attached below that provides monthly view of scheduled meetings. Please note, that we are planning for an Open House on Tuesday, September 27th. More information will be shared shortly.


Weekly Calendar:
Tuesday, September 6th: Principal @East Complex Leadership meeting (morning only)
Wednesday, September 7th: PLC group meetings 1:45 p.m.
Thursday, September 8th: Principal - @Legislative Finance Committee meeting (2:00 p.m)

Have a great week!