Welcome to Talawanda High School
Welcome back for a new exciting school year at THS. We have exciting news to share this year! For the fourth year running, the Ohio Department of Education has designated Talawanda High School as Excellent! This is the highest designation that a high school can achieve from the state of Ohio. We also received The Pace Setter Award from High School That Works. This is quite a prestigious award! Only 25 high schools in the United States received the award this year. Please scroll down to the HSTW section to see details. I am thrilled to be a part of a school district so rich in the traditions of excellence in academic and extra-curricular endeavors!
Talawanda High School Vision
Talawanda High
School challenges all students to demonstrate excellence in
all they do and to have expectations of success throughout
life and career transitions.
Mission
Talawanda High
School is a dynamic secondary education partnership of
stakeholders that protects student interests and the total
learning process. It is proactive in promoting a system of
secondary education that:
•Enhances
student learning and the love of learning.
•Fosters healthy, creative, and innovative human
beings.
•Provides students with the knowledge and skills
necessary for a changing and diverse world of career
choices.
•Provides standards and professional services for
faculty and staff that ensure successful schooling for our
students.
Beliefs
Student success,
expecially emphasizing improving student performance,
represents the unifying theme of our school's beliefs.
•We believe that nationally proven teaching methods
and materials, combined with local creative and innovative
strategies, will enhance learning.
•We believe that children are our greatest resource,
and that it takes the concern and commitment of the entire
community to provide the highest quality education for
them.
•We believe that through the leadership and personal
commitment of all stake holders, Talawanda High School will
continuously improve.
•We believe that recognizing and valuing the diversity
and equality of all human beings are essential for student
success.
•We believe that the quality of a student's high
school experience is ultimately measured by her/his
successful school-to-school (secondary to postsecondary)
and school-to-work transitions, and by the creation of a
desire for lifelong learning.
High
School That Work (HSTW)
Talawanda High
School continues to be involved in the High Schools That
Work school improvement model. HSTW centers around raising
the expectations for all students. We use recognized
national and local performance indicators to evaluate
student achievement. A national research report, released
in February, 1999, rated HSTW as one of the only three out
of over twenty commonly used national reform initiatives
which actually have been demonstrated to improve student
achievement. Please review the following website which
explains the program in much greater detail:
http://www.sreb.org/programs/hstw/hstwindex.asp
Pace Setter Award
In
order to be designated a HSTW Pacesetter School, Talawanda
High School met the following requirments:
• At least 85 percent of students meet one or more
HSTW readiness goals.
• At least 85 percent of students complete one or more
concentrations (career/technical mathematics/science,
humanities).
• The school achieves HSTW "high-implementation"
status.
• The school participates in the two most recent HSTW
Assessments (2006 and 2008).
• At least 50 seniors complete the HSTW Assessment.
• The school meets state Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) and/or has a graduation rate of 85 percent or
higher.
Our award is for the years 2008-2010.
We have an
outstanding staff at Talawanda High School who is dedicated
to providing our students with the best possible
educational experience. A new school year presents
opportunities for various beginnings - new classes, new
faces, and new courses. As we begin a new year we are
continuing our emphasis on teamwork, collaboration, and
connectedness in order to achieve our goals of enhancing
Pride Integrity Excellence "PIE". PIE is our
building theme again this year. We are always
looking for new ways to reward students for positive
behavior. I think it is vital to celebrate good attendance
and behavior because I believe good attendance and good
behavior = achievement. Please help us by encouraging your
student to be here every day, on time, and do their best in
their classes. We are pleased to welcome you as partners in
this process and cannot do it without you, our community.
This year we will be "catching" students doing good
things and rewarding them whenever and wherever we can. We
encourage you to become involved in your student's school
life in any way you feel comfortable. Please call or
email with questions, concerns, suggestions, and
compliments as well. We love to hear from you. Our
teachers are not only superb educators, but are also very
caring and conscientious. They would love to discuss your
student's progress with you. Please call them on their
individual lines. Our administrative staff is also happy to
help you. We are always looking for ways to improve
as a community dedicated to learning!
Thanks for
visiting!
Mrs. Vicki L. Brunn
Principal,
Talawanda High School
101 W. Chestnut Street
Oxford, OH 45056
513-273-3214
brunnv@talawanda.org