Welcome Back Teachers & Staff

August 16, 2023

Dear CHEC Family:

I hope all are well and have enjoyed an amazing summer, with lots of time for rest and rejuvenation.  As always, the summer goes very quickly, and now it is time to welcome our young scholars and their families back for another school year.   All 10 month staff should report back on Monday, August 21st at 8:00 am, and students will report back on Monday August 28th.

We are Designers of our Learning and Experiences, and our learning continued over the summer! We have hosted over 500 young people, in Sixth Grade Bridge, Ninth Grade Bridge, English Learner Summer Academic Program (ELSAP), High Intensity Tutoring, Summer youth employment programs, sports programs, and internships.  Adult learning has also continued with a Comprehensive School Plan (CSP) design sprint, an Advisory Redesign Sprint, Math Intervention class design sprint, multiple professional development sessions conducted by staff members, curriculum development institutes, and a Culture Team Think Tank! Thank you and shout out to all who have contributed to our teaching and learning over the summer.

This will be an exciting and stimulating year, as we continue in our XQ Redesign process, and work on pilots that will prepare us for full implementation in school year 24-25.   We will continue to build on the design sprints we began last year and sharpen our design thinking skills together with students and families.  Students will co-design their learning experiences through project-based learning, we will all design our wellness journey through the Becoming initiative and redesigned advisory classes, and we will serve as an innovation hub for our community by reaching out and finding out what our community wants and needs. The most powerful aspect of our redesign is our focus on student voice, and as more students share their voice in a variety of settings, learning will grow exponentially. 

Based on last year’s design sprints, we are already piloting some changes, including shifting to an A day B day schedule in the high school and middle school.  Advisory classes have been redesigned with a three-pronged focus on design thinking, socio emotional learning and college and career preparation, and a fully planned curriculum.

Change is a constant in the world, and it is difficult.  I understand that we as a school community need to have a process to facilitate change and support one another in making the transition to new ways of doing things. Our strategy of design thinking is a tool for change management, as it brings all of us to the table to identify opportunities, conduct research and develop solutions.

At the end of last year, it was exciting and inspiring to be in the cafeteria with hundreds of staff and students, all talking about and giving feedback on design ideas.  I am looking forward to catching this wave of momentum, as we design our new school year.  Thank you in advance for being a part of our team, and for all that we will accomplish in this coming school year. 

The schedule for our Pre-Service Week is listed, and it includes the majority of school-based time for collaborative and individual planning. Our goal is to have all curricular documents, plans, and rooms prepared to receive students on Day 1. 

Once again, welcome back for School Year 2023-24!  Whether this is your year one, or year twenty-one, let’s make it about the learning!

Go Griffins and Knights!

In partnership,

 Maria Tukeva

 Principal