In the wee hours of the morning on June 13, 39 students embarked upon a trip of a lifetime to Granada, Nicaragua.  This ten day trip was sponsored by the Spanish department and the focus was to immerse the students in the language and culture of the Nicaragua.  The students stayed with local families in their homes for the first week of the trip.  The home-stay portion of the trip allowed students to understand what life is really like in another country.  Students ate their meals with their families and spent the evenings conversing and partaking in the each family's normal daily activities.  The students also attended language school for three hours a day to work on their acquisition of the Spanish Language. 

 In addition, there were two humanitarian outings for the group.  The students visited two schools in need, interacting with the Nicaraguan school children.  At the first school, our students paired up with a Nicaraguan student painted desk that were donated to the school.  At the second school, the students brought much need school supplies to the children and spent the afternoon playing in the park with the children. Soccer was the game of choice for these youngsters.

The group also visited some of the splendor and beauty of Nicaragua.  Fortunately, the Masaya Volcano was churning, so the students were able to see the lava churning, truly a spectacular sight!  The student hiked in the cloud forest of Mombacho, one of the most famous volcanoes in Nicaragua. Most of the daring souls, ziplined through the canopy of this amazing landscape. The group spent their final two days at the Montelimar resort on the Pacific Ocean. The video below is definitely worth the full watch, what an amazing learning experience for these students!!

In order to better prepare our students at HUHS for the world in which they will live and work, we are making some changes to our Citizenship Grading policies and practices for the 2016-17 school year.   HUHS feels that all students should understand proper behavior and be held accountable for exhibiting that behavior.   

Academic grades are used by teachers to communicate progress toward content specific learning targets and skills. Several years ago, in an effort to separate behavioral grades from academic grades, HUHS implemented a Citizenship grading practice that assessed students behavior.  It included soft skills such as, respect, integrity, collaboration, communication, responsibility and work habits. Citizenships grades allow HUHS staff to communicate a student's level of these skills to both parents as well as the student.  

Students will be given a Citizenship Grade at least every two weeks by each of their classroom teachers.  These grades will be an overall representation of the students' behavior for all of the rubric categories.  Just as in any business, It is expected that all students demonstrate "Proficient" behavior in all rubric areas at all times.  An overall course Citizenship Grade will be given at both Mid-Terms and Quarter grading based on these bi-weekly Citizenship Grades for all of their classes.  As was the case last year, students will also continue to be graded on their attendance, punctuality and overall behavior by the district at each of the grading periods using the Homeroom Citizenship Grade.  That Homeroom Citizenship Grade will also represent student behavior during FLEX and Resource.  

While a very large majority of HUHS students exhibit these vital skills each day, we want to encourage all students to demonstrate them all day, every day.  Treating others with respect, clearly communicating, being collaborating with others, showing responsibility and a strong work ethic is not something that we should do only on occasion.  They should be modeled at all times.  We want all of our students to be lifelong models of these behaviors, allowing them to be better suited for any career/life they choose to pursue.   

HUHS has had several discussions about expected behavior in the workplace with local businesses.  Many businesses feel that implementing a strong citizenship grading practice at the high school would be mutually beneficial and have expressed a desire to utilize it in their interviewing/hiring practices.  

Time will be spent with all students during the first week of school clearly explaining these expectations.  We will clearly communicate the rubric and explain how Citizenship Grades will be used to both provide privileges to students exhibiting proper behavior as well as remove privileges for those that are not.  Any privilege that involves students leaving the HUHS grounds will require prior written parental consent.  We strongly encourage parents to join HUHS in placing an emphasis on these citizenship grades and have discussions about them with your student.  

Click here to access the Citizenship Rubric and privileges/consequences information.