It felt a little like a family reunion after having been away for only a few weeks – lots of hugs, smiles, and catching up. Having said goodbyes a few days before Christmas, the VCHS faculty and staff returned to school on Monday for a work day. It was good to be together again and to prepare for our students’ return.
You might wonder what a work day looks like? How do we spend six hours together. Here’s a small window.
Mr. Jager framed the day with a devotional and prayer reminding us of our spiritual calling to VCHS. From there, Ms. Venz led a fun Kahoot ‘get to know you much deeper’ game in which we had to guess the faculty/staff member behind childhood photos and random personal trivia. So who served an out of school suspension in 8th grade?
Ms. Maslan introduced us to five new students joining us 2nd semester – three freshmen and two juniors. One of them is an international student coming to us from Germany.
The day continued working on a variety of topics. We analyzed our assessment and grading practices and policies looking at data from first semester. Departments worked on topics ranging from graphing standardization to AI chatbots (aka Chat GPT) to language placement tests. Of course, we gave time to school safety as we ran drills with new and updated campus security technology. The day concluded with team meetings – Grades 9/10 and Grades 11/12, giving special attention to the students in each division.
I was again reminded of what a talented and passionate faculty and staff we have. As I’ve said before, the VCHS team is the best I’ve led. We’re excited to start the second half of the school year and look forward to all that God has in store for us in the months ahead. We are ‘all in’ for our 156 Saints!
Steve O'Neil
Head of School
|