Verdugo Hills High School WASC Self-Study Page 1

Verdugo Hills High School WASC/CDE Self-Study Reportfeeder schools, and local colleges is essential to maintain the integrity of thestandards-based curriculum of VHHS. Furthermore, interdisciplinaryarticulation occurs on campus as teachers from different disciplines worktogether to connect their disciplines by finding common themes.The Humanitas School of Law and Justice pairs English and social scienceteachers together, who then work together to develop thematic-basedinterdisciplinary curriculum and lessons. Humanitas team members haveattended Humanitas team training sessions, teacher institutes at the LosAngeles District Court, and meet during professional development days todevelop common themes and organize units culminating in interdisciplinaryessays and projects. Over the course of four years, some Humanitasteachers focus on themes of Law and Justice. Each grade level builds on thistheme and the ultimate goal is to make students well rounded and wellinformed citizens of the world.The English Department meets regularly to discuss curriculum, bestpractices of instruction, and to finalize departmental assessments. All EnglishLanguage Arts courses are aligned with the CDOE State Content Standards.Assessments are given to 9 th and 10 th graders. Each English class not onlyfocuses on the standards, but some teachers also work to incorporate thetheme of their SLC into their curriculum as well.The Multimedia Magnet teachers have lunch meetings to discuss studentprogress and coordinate cross-curricular projects. The meeting also allowstime for in depth analysis of student data and allows magnet teachers todiscuss individual students and personalize instruction in a meaningful way.Using historical testing data, the magnet team develops new approaches toteaching and explores strategies for more successful and meaningful testpreparation.The Multimedia Magnet team also spends a great deal of time reaching outto the community. The teachers use the very tools that are being taught toour students in order to accomplish this. Magnet students produce acommunity television broadcast called Eye on Verdugo as well as filmmakingand Inner City Filmmakers Internships. In addition, the magnet school alsomaintains a comprehensive website that acts as a virtual commons for theprogram.Verdugo Hills High School WASC Self-Study Page 130