Verdugo Hills High School WASC Self-Study Page 1

Verdugo Hills High School WASC/CDE Self-Study ReportHonors courses are open to all students who have the desire to undertakemore challenging coursework. The VHHS Foreign Language curricula meetthe UC/CSU “E” requirement of two years of the same foreign language forcollege admission.Students enrolled in the Foreign Language courses participate in a sequentialstandards-based curriculum at all levels, based on the “5 Cs”:Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities inthe target languages of Spanish, Spanish for Spanish Speakers, and French.Students have access to advanced levels of Foreign Language and toSpanish Language.VHHS currently offers the following Foreign Language courses: Spanish 1, 2,3; AP Spanish Language; AP Spanish Literature; Italian 1, 2, 3, and 4 andFrench 1, 2, 3, and 4. Teachers do preliminary assessments for the Spanishfor Spanish Speakers course to verify that students are enrolling in a coursethey have the skills to master.Teachers in the department work together to develop curriculum based onstudents’ needs and academic expectations. Teachers issue nationalstandards brochures to their students and also indentify on the daily agendawhich standards are being taught. Curricula include tasks or activities thatprepare students for real-life experiences and access to post-secondarycollege and career options.The department has created a curriculum with a pacing plan and commonassessments with benchmarks for levels 1 and 2 in all languages taught. Thedepartment is currently working to develop a pacing plan and commonassessments for the level 3 curriculums. The teachers in the departmentshare common projects and term finals as well. For the past eight yearsVerdugo Hills High School has participated in the “Adelante Mujer” Congressheld in the Los Angeles area.The Spanish Club has been on campus for over ten years. The students andsponsors have raised funds so students can take part in a variety of culturalexperiences including museum, Hispanic restaurants, Spanish speaking orthemed plays and films. On many occasions they have collected funds togive to the needy and/or victims of natural disasters.Verdugo Hills High School WASC Self-Study Page 75