Dear Sonoma Valley High School Families,

I have enjoyed getting to know your children and our community as the new principal of Sonoma Valley High School. I am impressed by the potential and grateful for the collaborative spirit as we work together to steer our school into a new era of achievement. It has been a busy four months so I wanted to take this opportunity to update you about all the good news on campus.

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With the help of an incredible group of teachers, staff, community, Teacher Support Network volunteers and the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, we have a beautiful new website, full of helpful information. If you haven’t already done so, please check it out at www.sonomavalleyhigh.org. You will also find tools to help you and your student plan for the future, including a College Handbook and Course Catalog, available online or in the school office.

One of the most exciting developments is the creation of our Sonoma Valley High Design Team, led by some of our standout teachers chosen by their peers, who has been tirelessly working on a comprehensive plan to improve our school. So far, we have agreed on our objective:

Every Sonoma Valley High graduate will be college and career ready.

The Design Team has worked with a team of experts from U.C. Berkeley’s Department of Education, to determine the best strategies for achieving our objective. With input from teachers, students, parents and community leaders, we have selected these “education cornerstones” to guide our improvement efforts:

Authentic Curriculum Personalization Adaptive Pedagogy Collaboration, Planning and Professional Development High Standards and Performance-Based Assessments

These guiding strategies, explained in further detail on the attachment, will help us choose the tactics to begin successfully implementing our plan.

One effort will be to ensure all incoming freshmen are on the University of California/California State University “a-g” track while maintaining and expanding our quality elective programs. This track, further explained on the attachment, includes fifteen classes in seven subject areas to be taken over the four years in order for a student to graduate prepared to continue on to college or to pursue career technical education. Beginning with next year’s freshmen, every student will take “a-g” certified classes so that the Class of 2015 will graduate college and career ready. Recently adopted by several school districts committed to substantive improvement, the move to “a-g” track is a very important first step in our efforts to make Sonoma Valley High School the world class institution our children and our community deserve.

There is a great deal more work to be done. We welcome your help and support. We hope you will attend our upcoming Design Team Forums, starting soon, to provide your feedback on and contribute your ideas to the process. In the interim, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, my door is always open. I can be reached at (707) 933-4030 or by e-mail, dbattaglini@sonomavly.k12.ca.us, or come on by and see the great things that are happening for yourself!

Sincerely,

Dino Battaglini, Principal Sonoma Valley High School

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