Welcome back to North Hills School District for the 2018-19 school year! There are many exciting things happening at NHSD this year. We've detailed them in this post and posted online photo galleries from our first week of classes.
Click here to see the photos!
No Place for Hate Designation
North Hills Middle School was designated as a No Place for Hate school by the Anti-Defamation League, the nation’s premier civil rights and human relations agency fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, at the end of last school year. The school was awarded the designation due to its efforts encouraging inclusion for all and by all students. The school was noted by the organization for working to build inclusive and safe communities in which respect is the goal; empowering students, faculty, administration and family members to take a stand against hate and bullying by incorporating new and existing programs under one powerful message and sending a clear, unified message that all students have a place to belong.
Sandy Hook Promise Programs
North Hills will utilize inclusion programs and curriculum aligned with Sandy Hook Promise, a national non-profit organization founded and led by family members affected by the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy in 2012. The Start with Hello program encourages school community members to ensure that no one eats alone at lunch (or across any other experience) to instill the power and reward of social inclusion. The Say Something program provides tools and practices to recognize the signs and signals of a potential threat and teaches and instills in participants how to take action and reinforces the need to “Say Something.”
Elementary K-6 Computer Science and Keyboarding Curriculum
All elementary students will utilize a new computer literacy curriculum that includes keyboarding, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, digital citizenship and computer coding (programming). This digitally-based curriculum marks a major upgrade to the computer literacy program in district elementary schools as for the first time, elementary students will be taught keyboarding and computer coding skills that have become vital in today’s world.
High School and Middle School Curriculum Additions
North Hills High School and Middle School students have the
opportunity to take a variety of new classes to prepare them to be college and
career ready. Four College-in-High
School courses including Child Growth and Development; Sports, Arts and
Entertainment Management; Computer Security and Cyber Security and the Law
allow North Hills students to earn college credits as part of their high school
day. Students also can choose from a slate of reimagined health and physical
education courses including Outdoor Adventures with training on canoeing,
flyfishing, kayaking, archery and rock climbing; Foundations of Yoga, Pilates
and Mindfulness; Personal Fitness and Sports Officiating and Principals of
Coaching. At the middle school, seventh-graders will take Introduction to
Coding, and eighth-graders may choose to take Digital Fabrication where
students will learn to control computer technology to produce both
3-dimensional and 2- dimensional artworks.
Project Connect Expansion
Project Connect will continue to place iPads into the hands
of all Grade 6 to 9 students in 2018-19, while also expanding to Grade 10 this
year as students who utilized the devices during their studies in Grade 9 will
continue to use them moving forward. Project Connect continues to allow the
district to further embed project-based learning throughout the curriculum and
utilize technology as a tool for personalizing instruction for every student.
The devices allow North Hills students to be immersed in an innovative and
problem-solving learning environment that incorporates vital skills for college
and career readiness such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking
and creativity.