Dear Silver Creek Students, Parents and Guardians,

 

Welcome back to what is going to be another excellent school year at Silver Creek High School. This year you will notice that your student schedule has an Advisory block in it.  This is a new program for Silver Creek that all students are able to take part in. We have several goals with this program:

 

1. Accomplish the Individual Career and Academic Plan for each student that is required by the Colorado Department of Education, and is a component of all students’ graduation requirements beginning with the Class of 2021.

2. Develop strong student connections to their school by sharing announcements, upcoming events, team building activities and Sources of Strength initiatives.

3. Reduce instructional interference into the core classrooms, which have been traditionally impacted with items such as Class Meetings, Graduation Presentations, Scheduling Processes and Assemblies.  We will schedule these events during Advisory.

4. Allowance of time for students to set goals, monitor their grades, share academic progress with their families and plan for their futures.

5. Successfully navigate the transitions into high school, at each grade level and beyond high school.

Advisory will meet every Wednesday and Thursday for 32 minutes.  Advisory will not meet on Late-Start Wednesdays. A .25 credit will be awarded each year for successful completion and having accrued no unexcused absences.  Credit will be awarded as a “Pass”, so as not to impact G.P.A. Again, achieving this credit will not impact G.P.A. in any negative fashion.  

Students will have the same teacher for four years. Students will also have the same class members for four years.  This continuity will allow for celebrations, support and one more point person in that student’s academic life at Silver Creek.

Our committee has spent two years working upon curriculum development for Advisory.  We have developed this in-house with a strong emphasis upon our goals above. The team who has developed this program has consisted of Counselors, Administrators and Teachers.  We look to seek feedback from our students throughout this implementation year, in an effort to continue refining and determine the best aspects of this experience for our students.  We will be sharing the curriculum with our parents through email exchanges such as this throughout the year.  

 

A brief introduction:  What is advisory? Slideshow.

Examples of Curriculum for each grade level for August and September will include the following.

9th Grade Topics Covered:  Getting to know classmates/teacher, Who Are The Office Staff, Gradebook, Athletic Eligibility, School and District Behavioral Expectations, Goal-Setting Semester 1, Meet Your Counselor and Services Available, ABC’s of Organization, What is Naviance, Strengths Explorer, Homecoming Festivities, Recruitment for Clubs/Activities, Career Exploration Modules with Videos, Birthday Celebrations, Grade Tracking and Reporting to Families

10th Grade (very similar to 9th for Year One):  Getting to know classmates/teacher, Who Are The Office Staff, Gradebook, Eligibility, Goal-Setting Semester 1, School and District Behavioral Expectations, Meet Your Counselor and Services Available, ABC’s of Organization, What is Naviance, Strengths Explorer, Homecoming Festivities, Recruitment for Clubs/Activities, Career Exploration Modules with Videos, Birthday Celebrations, Grade Tracking and Reporting to Families, Growth Mindset

11th Grade:  Getting to know classmates/teacher, Who Are The Office Staff, Gradebook, Eligibility, Goal-Setting Semester 1, School and District Behavioral Expectations, Meet Your Counselor and Services Available, Naviance – Do What You Are College Options, Homecoming Festivities, Birthday Celebrations, Grade Tracking and Reporting to Families, Growth Mindset, Notability App, Positive Friends, Technology Management, College Fair Information and Sign-Up, ICAP Reflection Survey, College Visits to College and Career Center

12th Grade:  Getting to know your classmates and teacher, Who are the Office Staff and Counselors, ACT/SAT Dates Fall, School and District Behavioral Expectations, Senior Checklist, Graduation Requirements, Requesting Transcripts through Naviance, Birthday Celebrations, OPTIONAL Exploration of Military Branches and Recruiter Presentations from ALL branches, Colorado Trade School Options, Super-Match College Search Tool, Early Action/Non-Binding College Applications, College Essay Tips, Senior Resumes, Requesting Letters of Recommendation through Naviance, Goal-Setting, Grade Tracking, Transcript Review, FAFSA Information

To this end teachers, counselors and administrators are trained on curriculum at our late-start meetings.  We very much appreciate the support of our staff and community as we fulfill our responsibility to our students in helping them achieve in high school and beyond.

Should you have further questions you are welcome to reach out to your child’s teacher, counselor or administrator.

 

Sincerely,

 

Erick Finnestead and the Advisory Planning Team