Dear Parents & Guardians of the EPHS Class of 2025,

Your teen has almost completed their first academic quarter of high school...wow! As cliche as it sounds, it’s really hard to believe how fast high school days go by. I’ll be in touch more in the next week about the end of Term 1 and transition to Term 2. Today, I relay some information about our broader school culture and expectations.

This past week, my administrative team and I presented for 15-20 minutes in 40+ classrooms with predominantly 9th grade students. The presentations had two objectives--(1) to build more of a connection with our students who are newer to EPHS, and (2) share more about how we operate as a family of 3000 students and 350 staff members. The presentations were centered around three of our five schoolwide agreements:

  • We arrive prepared, focused and ready to learn.
  • We use all spaces safely and demonstrate awareness of expectations.
  • We include each other and are responsible for the impact of our actions and words. 

Before discussing these agreements, we shared with students that everything we do together is built on a foundation of trust. We shared our commitments to students of (1) centering our work in our three driving questions of Do I belong here?, Is this meaningful?, Can do this?, (2) Showing-up for students and listening to them, and (3) Being “All-In” on this journey with them. Following the three agreements listed above, we concluded by asking students to consider the stories they want to create at EPHS and the legacy they want to leave behind. You can view the full slide deck here.  

Of course, the presentations are just one small step toward these objectives. However, we left each presentation thoroughly impressed with our students and optimistic about the road ahead. We will also continue finding opportunities to recognize and celebrate students who are living out our five schoolwide agreements. See this short video from our daily announcements (EP Updates) last week where Associate Principal Victor Johnson did just that. 

We were prompted to do these by our recognition of the importance of a strong start to high school and that our school environment is significantly different from the environments this year’s freshman experienced in middle school. Though we met with each grade-level individually at the start of the year and dedicated our first day of school to the 9th grade transition, candidly, I wish we would have done this week’s presentations earlier in the year. I don’t think we can ever overestimate the power of teaching expectations and inviting students into the culture we aspire to. A culture where each student authentically feels a sense of belonging, sees meaning in what they’re doing, and develops a belief in their many abilities. Efforts like this are investments that we believe are time well spent. We’ll make more connections like this during second term with all of our grade-levels.

I share all of this with you today primarily so that you are aware of the conversations we’re having. If you see entry points to discuss our schoolwide agreements with your teens, I think they would appreciate that and it could make the agreements more meaningful to them. I’d be happy to discuss any ideas you may have for future work in these areas and/or any questions you may have. Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely, Robb

Robb Virgin, Principal