Culture and Community Context
Thompson Valley High School is a community based school. They have made changes this school year to their schedule to try and help students make more connections with teachers and build upon these relationships. One of the biggest changes in their schedule was going from a block schedule to a schedule that has students being in all eight classes Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. Wednesday and Thursday are still block days so that students go to odd classes on Wednesdays and even classes on Thursdays. This change was made so that teachers were able to see their students more often. This gives the teachers more opportunity to make connections with students. Another change they made was adding an advisory period on Wednesdays and Thursdays. This was also put in place to create an opportunity for students to make a connection with a teacher. It is important for students to make connections with teachers because there have been studies that say students are more successful if they have made at least one connection with an adult at their school. Thompson Valley also offers a wide range of special programs that can help students be successful in school like; gifted and talented, 23 AP classes, college credit classes, and dual Futures Centers. All these programs are important for Thompson Valley to have because it creates the possibility for students to challenge themselves academically. All of these changes Thompson Valley have made revolve around their mission statement which is; Building for a new generation, the skills to achieve each student’s academic/ career goals, the skills to contribute to society, and understanding of cultural diversity, self-pride and self-confidence, and a belief that learning is a life-long endeavor. Thompson Valley also has a lot of parent support. During the year of 2003-04, 7,590 hours were logged by 222 parent volunteers. With this amount of parent involvement it is easy to see that Thompson Valley is very community based school. Thompson Valley has built a strong community for their students to help lead them to success.
Demographics
Grades offered: 9th – 12th
Total Students: 1,203
Gender Percentage:
Male: 52.2% Female: 47.8%
Ethnic Groups:
Caucasian: 79.9% Hispanic: 16.4% Other: 3.7%
Eligibility for Free Lunch: 31.6%
Total Students: 1,203
Gender Percentage:
Male: 52.2% Female: 47.8%
Ethnic Groups:
Caucasian: 79.9% Hispanic: 16.4% Other: 3.7%
Eligibility for Free Lunch: 31.6%
Classroom Environment
The photography room is set up to create multiple spaces for students to work. The front half of the classroom is set up with desks and a projector so students can sit and complete the classroom warm-up and then receive the information about what they will be doing in class that day. The back of the classroom has a large table set up as a work space where students can matt their artwork, or look at their negatives on a light table. The back of the classroom is also used as a critique space. There are boards set up so that students can pin their artwork up for the rest of the class to view and give feedback on. Connected to the classroom is a working darkroom. This provides students with the opportunity to learn traditional photography techniques by developing their own film and printing their own images using enlargers, chemicals, and photo paper. In addition to the classroom there is a digital lab across the hall that is for photography students only. This lab is where students learn about digital image processing techniques. Also in this lab there is a digital image printer where the students are able to have their images printed out in sizes 8x10 or less. At Thompson Valley High School students are in a classroom that gives them the opportunity to work in new and traditional photography techniques as well as have a space to work and receive feedback on their artwork.
School Policies
At Thompson Valley they believe in “Building for a new generation”. They do this by helping students build skills to achieve academically and in the career field, have understanding of cultural diversity, have self-confidence, and understanding that learning is a lifelong endeavor. In their goals of helping students build these skills Thompson Valley fallows the Thompson School District’s policies.
Like Thompson Valley the Thompson School District believes in helping students to achieve and excel through empowerment. They empower students through:
Focused, safe and technologically rich environments
Strong instructional leadership
Recognizing, honoring and respecting differences
Community collaborations
Robust learning
To be able to help students achieve and excel in schools the Thompson School District believes it is important that students learn in a safe environment. When students feel safe and free from distractions they are able to apply themselves to their learning and do their best. To ensure the students have a safe environment the district has put in many policies like the nondiscrimination and accountability program policies. These policies were reviewed by other districts and modified to fit the needs of the Thompson School District schools and then put in place to keep their students safe.
Also in the Thompson School district to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to achieve and excel academically they have policies in place for students with special needs. Part of this policy states that students who have been refereed for an evaluation will be tested and placed on an Individual Education Plan (IEP) as needed. The student’s IEP will specify the needs of the student and whether they will need help to understand content standards or individualized standards so that the student may be most successful in their abilities.
Like Thompson Valley the Thompson School District believes in helping students to achieve and excel through empowerment. They empower students through:
Focused, safe and technologically rich environments
Strong instructional leadership
Recognizing, honoring and respecting differences
Community collaborations
Robust learning
To be able to help students achieve and excel in schools the Thompson School District believes it is important that students learn in a safe environment. When students feel safe and free from distractions they are able to apply themselves to their learning and do their best. To ensure the students have a safe environment the district has put in many policies like the nondiscrimination and accountability program policies. These policies were reviewed by other districts and modified to fit the needs of the Thompson School District schools and then put in place to keep their students safe.
Also in the Thompson School district to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to achieve and excel academically they have policies in place for students with special needs. Part of this policy states that students who have been refereed for an evaluation will be tested and placed on an Individual Education Plan (IEP) as needed. The student’s IEP will specify the needs of the student and whether they will need help to understand content standards or individualized standards so that the student may be most successful in their abilities.