Dear Parents:
As we begin to turn our focus toward next year, I’m excited to share you with more information about some of the exciting things we have in store for Kestrel Heights.
Last week, I promised to share with you details about “ACE” – an effort to strengthen our Academics, Culture and Enrichment programs. Today, I’d like to focus on the new curriculum that we will be introducing for the 2017-2018 school year.
An Enhanced Curriculum:
We are excited to announce a new partnership with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a nationally recognized leader in education, to provide a comprehensive curriculum for K-8 students in Math, English-Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. This enhanced curriculum will provide integrated, research-based materials that will enable our students to continue outperforming county and state averages for end-of-grade tests.
A few notes for you about this curriculum: All KHS teachers will receive professional development conducted by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt professionals before classes start to assist them with implementing our new curriculum. In addition, all students and parents will have access to classroom materials and supplemental resources online to help students learn at home. We are very excited about these additional resources and how they will benefit our students.
Marketing Efforts Underway:
Another new development to share: We have begun working with a local marketing firm to assist us with several projects, including a new website and a marketing campaign designed to help us attract more families to Kestrel Heights. We still have a limited number of spots for next year and are actively working to fill those spaces. If you know anyone who would be a good fit for Kestrel Heights, please encourage them to contact Suzanne Vargas at vargas@kestrelheights.org.
I’ll share a preview of our campaign with you in next week’s message.
Answering Your Questions:
Several of you passed along questions that you wanted me to address. I’ll respond to a few
questions each week, so feel free to continue sharing any questions or concerns that you would
like me to address.
- What are the physical plans for the school next year? We finalized our plans last week for our school layout next year. The elementary and middle schools with remain in the same location, while the high school location will be used for athletics and special events. We believe there is tremendous value in keeping our students together in one central location.
- Does Kestrel Heights have enough money to operate next year? Is there any chance the school could close in the middle of the year? We are on solid financial footing and have the resources we need to operate the school next year in a professional way that takes care of our staff and gives our students a quality education. I know there have been lots of rumors floating around about our financial stability. Those rumors are unfounded.
- How many elementary school teachers are returning next year? How many classes will you have in each grade, and how many students do you expect in each class? I’m pleased to report that the vast majority of our elementary school teachers are planning to return to Kestrel Heights next year. We plan to have a minimum of three classes in each grade level. We estimate that classes will have 24 students or less.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mark Tracy