Silas High School—Principal’s Weekly Message—November 10, 2024—

Silas Core Beliefs

• Every student can learn and grow at high levels.
• Every student brings valuable prior knowledge to school.
• Every student shall have a trusted adult at school with whom they connect.
• Every student shall have access to guaranteed and viable curriculum.
• Every student shall leave Silas High School prepared for post-secondary options.

The November Equity Theme centers around: Taking Ownership

• Accepting the roles we play as part of teams/communities
• Assuming roles that come with different levels of responsibility
• Understanding how we impact others
• What makes you defensive?

Important Dates

Monday, November 18—Winter Sports begin (basketball, wrestling, girls flag football, boys swim and dive, in addition to girls bowling which started Nov 4)

Wednesday, November 20—Mini-late start—Individual/class time for staff

Wednesday-Friday, November 27-29—Thanksgiving Break—no school for students or staff

Wednesday, December 4—Mini-late start—Building PD—staff in meetings

Thursday, December 12—Band and Orchestra Concert—6:30 pm

Sunday, December 15—Choir trip to Leavenworth

Wednesday, December 18—Mini-late start—Individual/classroom time

Wednesday, December 18—Choir Concert—7 pm in the auditorium

Thursday, December 19—Music Department Recruiting Tour—details will come from teachers for music students

Monday, December 23—two-week winter break begins

November days off

Schools and school district offices will be closed Nov. 27-29 for Thanksgiving Break. 

Teaching empathy through simple actions
In addition to teaching academic skills at school, we try to nurture emotional intelligence in children. Our Whole Child team put together a plan that can help families do this at home, too.

At home, you can help your child foster empathy. Encourage your child to think about how others might feel in different situations. 

• Try asking questions like, “How do you think your friend felt when that happened?” This helps children develop emotional awareness and improves communication skills. 

Follow the link for more ideas on fostering empathy: Take a look at more practical tips, insights and activities to get started. 

Progress reports for grades 6-12 now available in ParentVUE
You can now view mid-term report cards in ParentVUE. Here's how: 

• Choose Report Card from the side navigation and a summary will display.
• Select “Click here to view report card” to view the full report card.
• Choose Documents from the side navigation and click "Report Card" to see the fully formatted document. 

Students can view them in StudentVUE. 

So What?

WINTER IS COMING!

Spectators for basketball, wrestling, and all winter sports—

Students—and all spectators—are to be at the games to watch the games. Kids should be in the gym cheering on our teams. They should not be in the lobby, running up and down the halls, or in need of supervision. Also, middle schoolers and younger MUST be accompanied by an adult.

Classroom Strategies

The Fishbowl—can be done as a formative (practice) or summative (test-like) assessment:

Students form two circles in the classroom space. The inner circle is discussing/answering quiz questions/in some way addressing the class content. Students in the outer circle can “tap in” to assist a student struggling in the inner circle—like phoning a friend. I tried this last week while covering a class, and it did not go well. (I had not done it in a while and did not have specific class content to use!) When done well, students on the outer circle can take notes on what is happening in the inner circle to use for a later/summative assessment. It can be fun and engaging for students when done well.

RamTV News: none this week due to short week

What inspired me this week?

The swim team girls at state!

Congratulations to our swimmers who took 14^th at state!

We are proud of you (from left to right) Abigail Moun, Hannah Yost, Linnea Hendrickson, Alexis Esser, Jennifer To, Annabelle Aiken, Izzy Rider, Grace Templin, Cate Sumner, and Maddie Herforth! You have given Wilson/Silas the best season we have had in years, and Silas the best season ever! GO RAMS!! Congrats to ALL our swimmers!

GO RAMS.