ENHS Parents:
No School on Monday, Sept. 2- Labor Day
I hope that your students and families are still excited about this school year and your student arrives home with stories of learning and engagement. Start by asking them what the high note of school was or if they can share something interesting they are learning about. Most of our students are enrolled in 6/7 courses so I have to believe that they are learning something that they can share with their parents. Don’t stop talking about the excitement of learning to our students. They need to know that the spark of learning can unleash their passion into something they want to learn more about that can serve their future. It is evident our students want to be here and I know much of this is driven by tremendous support at home. On behalf of our team, thank you for your continued support as we continue in our efforts to provide the highest quality education for our students.
PowerSchool Parent Access Information:
The Elkhorn Public School District uses a student information system called PowerSchool. This is a web-based system that provides for real-time management of student data within a user-friendly environment. An important feature in PowerSchool is parent/guardian access. This feature allows for the viewing of student data through any computer that has a connection to the internet. The District provided parent access for grades 9-12 beginning this last week of August, so that parents may periodically review their student's progress including grades, assignments and attendance. PowerSchool is a wonderful communication tool for teachers, students and parents about your students’ academic progress. Please communicate with your student regarding their missing work in the event that you look at their current grades and view missing assignments. Encourage your student to visit with his/her teachers to make-up late work by having the student stay after school in 8th hour after school academy or before school with his/her teachers. If your student forgot his/her PowerSchool login and password, please have him/her visit the counseling center for the access information.
Safety Procedures:
We completed our federally mandated fire evacuation drill within the first two weeks of school and we have work to do with our exit plans. We need to move close to 1053 students out of the building in 3:20 minutes. We are under the law enforcement of Douglas County Sheriff’s Department so I would like to introduce Deputy Adam Weaver to our parents. Deputy Weaver has been a very visible presence for our students and parents. I have asked him to check perimeter sweeps of doors, parking lots and engage with our student body.
During the week of Sept. 9, we will be discussing the lockdown procedures during teacher advisory (homeroom) and will be running a drill with members of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.
Academic Success and the Power of Rigor:
I want our students to believe in their own ability to succeed in rigorous courses as well as in life when they leave Elkhorn North. There are a number of methods we employ to ensure this is happening at ENHS. We look weekly, sometimes daily, at student data to ensure our curriculum is appropriately challenging and meeting the needs of our students. Annually, we eagerly await the ACT Report and the Advanced Placement (AP) scores that are released in late summer to early fall. These measures are not the only feedback we study, but we believe these are important indicators in judging the effectiveness of our academic programs at the high school and are meaningful to our students. The counselors and I look at individual student achievement scores with various assessments and try to place students in coursework that will extend them to stretch their academic potential while maintaining a healthy balance of school, work, activities and just being an adolescent.
Below I have listed our full work of AP Course offerings. Our goal is to do what other schools refuse to do - to blow the doors open to Honors and AP Coursework. Far too many schools put limits on what courses students can take because of the title of a class, which we refuse to do. Our goal is to push all students into four years of core and as many rigorous courses as possible. Certainly, ENHS prides itself on strong ACT results but what is more important to me is the product that ACT score brings with it: open doors after high school. We know more than 90% of our graduates plan to attend a post-secondary institution - and I believe we have an obligation to make them ready to succeed at the next level.
AP Course Offerings:
AP Science Courses
AP Biology // AP Chemistry // AP Physics 1
AP Math Courses
AP Calculus AB // AP Calculus BC // AP Statistics // AP Computer Science A
AP English Courses
AP English Language and Composition // AP English Literature and Composition
AP Social Sciences Courses
AP World History: Modern // AP US History // AP Psychology // AP US Govt & Politics
AP World Language Courses
AP Spanish Language and Culture // AP French
Language and Culture // AP Japanese Language and Culture
AP Courses are designed to give students college level experiences while in the supportive environment of high school and research clearly supports students taking the most appropriately rigorous courses in high school to prepare for college. In essence, one of ENHS’s goals is for students to not only gain admittance into college, but to achieve at high levels once there. We believe there is a substantial difference between being college eligible and college ready!
TA Homeroom Career Interests:
During teacher advisory, our students started working on a curriculum regarding college and career decisions. The teacher advisory period is 19 minutes after period one on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The new college and career curriculum will be the first Thursday of every month. We want to provide time for students to think about career opportunities that exist in our community so that they can envision and dream about their future careers. The students had an opportunity to watch the first installment of the monthly videos to bring college and career opportunities to them.
Notes and Reminders:
Picture retake day for Lifetouch - will be on Tuesday, September 17, and is for anyone who needs a retake or did not take one at the Back to School event on August 1. Seniors, please take a picture, these will be used for both PowerSchool and student IDs.
Homecoming Week:
Will be held the week of September 3-6.
ENHS Homecoming Dance will be held from 8:00 - 11:00 p.m., at ENHS on Saturday, September 7. Coronation will begin at 10:30. Dance will be held inside the ENHS commons.
-Any student looking to bring an outside date will need to complete the Outside Date Form
Career Awareness message from Ms. Buurman:
Annually ENHS strives to have students ready for life after high school and we aim to have all kids college and career ready. In recent years, Elkhorn has enhanced our Career Awareness Program and I'd like to share with parents what our students will be discussing in Teacher Advisor Period next week. Please see the message and video below from Ms. Buurman, EPS Career Awareness Adviser.
Please contact Ms. Buurman (dbuurman@epsne.org) or your student's guidance counselor with any questions.
Dan Radicia
dradicia@epsne.org or (402) 289-0322
ENHS Social Media
Follow ENHS on X: @ElkhornPS_ENHS
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