Principal’s Message

April 7, 2005

Dear Parents,

I am excited to report that Malibu High School has been honored by the State of California for our students’ excellent academic achievement. We have earned the right to call ourselves a “10/10” school. This means that when we compare our Annual Performance Index (API) of 817 to all schools in California we rank within the top tier of schools statewide. This result earned us the first “10.” When we compare ourselves to similar schools, a more competitive ranking, we also earned the top score of 10, thus placing us within the top tier of similar schools. The “10/10” rating is the highest ranking we could have achieved and is an outstanding result. As a school community of students, teachers, parents and staff we have much to be proud of. Our challenge is to sustain this result.

The API, and subsequent “10/10” rating, is a direct result of our students’ strong performance on the California High School (CAHSEE) and California Standards Tests (CST’s). In March we had a successful administration of the CAHSEE. A special thanks to all of our 10^th Graders and their parents for making sure the students showed up and did their best. In May we enter the “testing season.” Our students will take Advanced Placement (AP) exams and the CST’s. Our AP students and teachers have been working hard to ensure the best performance on the tests. Students in AP classes have a strong incentive to do well. Students who take AP classes are challenging themselves, and in doing so, are putting themselves in a great position to be accepted to colleges and universities throughout the country. Furthermore, when they score well on the AP exams they can earn college credit, and may gain advance standing when entering college. The incentives for students to do well on the CST’s are less clear.

Sustaining our results on the CST’s requires a commitment from the entire MHS Community including students, parents, teachers and staff. Our teachers have been working hard all year making sure that what happens in the classroom is aligned to the California Content Standards. The next step is to make sure that we, as administrators and staff, provide students with conditions for testing that are conducive to success. We ask parents to help us in two critically important ways. First, we need to make sure that every student attends school on the testing days and fully participates in the testing process. Second, once here, we need students to do their very best on the CST’s. This includes taking the test serious and drawing upon all they know and have learned in order to perform their best. We cannot stress these two points enough. MHS earned its “10/10” ranking because of our participation and performance. This result can change very quickly. A handful of students not showing up and completing the tests can turn a “10/10” ranking to “Program Improvement” status in one short year. From our students, we need the best performance they can give.

Our successful reputation is partly immersed in these very public results. We have much to be proud of, but our challenge to sustain achievement, and continually improve, is ever present. I do not advocate for “teaching to the test,” but rather voice a philosophy that quality teaching and learning yield good results. Good learning builds our students’ capacity to perform well on these tests. High stakes testing is our reality. We owe it to our students to prepare them well, and ask that in return they are show up and take CST’s seriously. As parents you are able to make meaning of the results when you receive your student’s score reports. The score report informs you of your student’s strengths and areas for growth. Students, although, make less meaning of the results. As the adults in their lives we need to inform them that our reputation as a successful school translates to opportunities after they leave us. The list of outstanding colleges and universities that have accepted our graduating seniors validates that admissions officers recognize the quality of our school. We have much to be proud of. We owe it to our students to do everything we can to make sure we continue our success.

Other News

Malibu High School extends our congratulations to Wes Walraven (and The Shark Fund) who was recognized by the Malibu Times as a Citizen of the Year. Wes has tirelessly worked with The Shark Fund to secure vital funding to support PTSA, Arts Angels, Athletic Boosters and other academic programs at Malibu High School. We appreciate the generosity of our community and the commitment of those who work to raise funds for MHS. Many of our families have donated to The Shark Fund, but we have not reached our 100% participation goal. You can still give by downloading a donation form from the website at www.thesharkfund.org. You contributions will be extremely important as we move into another school year in which we must endure the stress of the State’s budget challenges.

Our counseling staff is meeting with students to begin collecting requests for next school year. Your student should be bringing home information about course offerings for next year. Middle school students are given elective sheets and high school students are given a course catalog and course lists. It is important that parents spend time with their student to plan accordingly for next year. Registering for classes is an important step in helping students transition from one year to the next. It helps keep students focused on goals and reminds them to keep working hard now so opportunities are available to them next year. Please contact your student’s counselor if your student does not share this information with you. Also, if your student would like to request Independent Study PE, he or she must get an application from the counselor and submit it no later than June 30^th.

This is a reminder that all students are expected to complete community service hours each school year. We do this to instill in students an understanding of their responsibilities to a community beyond themselves. Middle school students must complete 10 hours per year and high school students must complete 20 hours per year. Students can pick up and submit forms in the main office. If you have an 8^th or 12^th Grader you will want to make sure your student is able to finish the community service requirement in time to allow them to participate in promotion or graduation exercises. Community service hour totals are posted outside the main office. Students should contact Siugen Constanza if they have questions.

There have been several conversations taking place regarding homework practices at MHS. Our Parent2Parent group hosted two meetings on the topic, parents shared their thoughts at a PTSA meeting, departments have discussed the topic, and I have engaged in rich dialogue with our department chairs. I will be writing more about this topic in next month’s newsletter. The conversations have been rich and thoughtful, provoking a great deal of thinking. I am currently processing what I have heard and will share my thoughts with parents and teachers in the future.

Finally, I want to congratulate the Class of 2005 for their success in being admitted to outstanding colleges and universities. The list of schools is impressive, demonstrating that Malibu High students are well prepared to achieve at the highest levels. Acceptances are still coming in, so we will print a list of all of the schools in an upcoming newsletter. Our students worked hard to endure an increasingly complex and obscure admission process and we honor their efforts. It is wonderful to see them be rewarded.