Dear Parents and Guardians,
Happy 2020 and welcome back to our students and families in this New Year! As we begin the second semester, Silver Creek continues to excel, innovate and accelerate our learning opportunities.
Congratulations to our Vanguard Jazz band which has been invited to participate in the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts annual Big Band Boogie Bash. This prestigious honor was bestowed on only two high schools in the state and our kids will be taking the stage with professional musicians and top collegiate bands, including the University of Northern Colorado, one of the pre-eminent music programs in the west.
Advisory classes are focusing upon goal setting. Seniors are tackling any lingering items on their Senior Checklist, Juniors are ramping up for the college process this semester and all students need to be thinking about the registration process. Registration for next year’s classes will be a focus this month in Advisory classes; information can also be found here: Course Registration 20-21
We are working on two major improvement projects right now. In the auditorium we are upgrading to an LED capable lighting system. This project has been made possible through generous donations from SVVSD, SCOPA and from the Clark & Lanyon Grant that Mr. Ottem applied for on behalf of the SCHS Education Foundation. This new lighting system — complete with new lighting board and many new lighting devices — will enhance all musical and theatrical performances. In addition to the auditorium, Mr. DeCamillis AD/AP, is working hard within our community to develop a new state of the art weight room for students and athletes. The new weight room will be located to the existing wrestling, providing more space for agility training and multi-use power rack equipment. For anyone interested in hearing more or contributing to this venture, please speak directly with Mr. DeCamillis. When we work together as a community great things can happen for our kids!
Our results have returned from the Fall round of PSAT assessment and practice exams. We are glad to report that our kids are achieving at some of the greatest levels in St. Vrain and our kids have improved between the assessments that were taken in spring of 2019 to Fall of 2019. The overall mean PSAT score was 1052 and represents a 21 point increase in English from Spring 2019 and an 11 point increase in Math from Spring 2019. Currently, we have 105 juniors participating in our SAT preparation class. While the best preparation is to attend every class, every day, we encourage juniors to use resources such as Kahn Academy and the College Board’s suite of test preparation materials.
With course registration right around the corner, the only major curricular change for 2020-2021 will be that students will have the option to enroll in Honors math classes that will meet independently, rather than having students contract for Honors within the regular math classes. The Honors courses in Geometry and Algebra II will address additional topics as specified in SVVSD Curricular plans. Students will still have the option of taking the college-prep-based courses in Geometry and Algebra II. All Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus courses will be treated as Honors-based, including weighted grades on the same 4.5 scale used for all Honors courses in SVVSD.
Be on the lookout for information regarding spring Parent Teacher Conferences on February 6 and 12. Additionally, please be our guest at the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration hosted at Silver Creek on 1/20/2020 at 10:00 a.m., and the Chinese New Year Event held 2/8/2020 at 2:00 p.m.
Our best to you in this new year, new decade!
Sincerely,
Erick Finnestead
Principal, Silver Creek High School