Overview Of Hillcrest High School

2023-2024 Priority Statement:

During the 2023-2024 school year, we will refocus on community building and fortifying the supportive and enriching cultures of our seven amazing SLCs. This work will include renewed SLC culture building, SLC pride, and academic and social emotional support for all students. This work will be buttressed through new pathways for teacher collaboration, student voice, and parent engagement.

2023-2024 Instructional Focus:

We believe that students learn best when they are able to collaboratively engage with rigorous, authentic, and differentiated tasks with their peers, while being supported through the process. We will continue our focus on Danielson 1E, Designing Coherent Instruction, namely strategic groupings of students and differentiation. Supporting all students, with a particular attention to ELLs and students with disabilities, will lead to increased achievement for all students. 

2023-2024 Professional Learning Focus:

The professional learning committee(PLC), consisting of staff from a wide range of departments will develop a year long PL calendar that is informed by student data and teacher surveys. The team will continue to strengthen capacity and ensure teachers have the necessary tools to develop and deliver coherent instruction (Danielson 1E) to students. The PLC will support pedagoges in implementing tools and protocols for differentiated learning with a specific lens on ELL and students with disabilities, and ensure data based PL is being delivered to teachers. We will engage stakeholders in the development of instruction that is culturally and historically responsive (CHRSE) and encourage scholars to make connections to the 5 pursuits of literacy: identity, skills, intellect, criticality and joy. 

2023-2024 SEL Focus:

Hillcrest High School will focus on the theme of “believe, belong, and become.” This theme will be embedded  throughout all student and staff support systems via our SLCs and schoolwide initiatives. We will host advisories for all grades from 9th to 12th grade to support our students’ academic and social emotional growth. In addition, our advisory planning team, consisting of students, teachers and staff, will work together to ensure multiple stakeholders have input into our schoolwide SEL programs. Through our Peer Group Connection (PGC)  program, every 9th grader will have a mentor from the upper classes.  As such, we will work to systematically build schoolwide SEL support both inside and outside of the classroom.

2023-2024 Equity Focus:

During the 2023-2024 academic year, the Hillcrest Equity Team will collaborate with all stakeholders to foster an inclusive school atmosphere. Our primary objective is to ensure equitable opportunities for every student and cultivate a culture of readiness for higher education and career paths that lead to personal success. We will actively encourage open and honest collaborative conversations that promote understanding and respect through established protocols, data analysis, and social-emotional learning lessons. Additionally, teachers will continue to plan and implement the CHRSE curriculum to better engage all students and consistently enhance the overall school environment.