Why home visits?

Purpose of Home Visits

Home visits provide an opportunity for one-to-one interaction with the family, at a time that suits that family. They should enable an exchange of information between parents, school staff and children, and may also provide a starting point for practitioners to understand family background, including the cultural background.

For children, a visit carried out by ‘their’ teacher shows that they are important, and means that some faces will be familiar when they start school.

For parents, a home visit provides an opportunity to talk about their child and the school, to voice concerns, to clear up misunderstandings, and to lessen worries and fears.

• Give families a chance to welcome you, in their space

• Establish early, positive contact

• See children in their own familiar settings

• Meet other family members, people and pets who are important to the children

• Understand the problems that children might encounter at school, and also to appreciate the wealth of learning that goes on in the home.

This all helps to get a fuller picture of the children.

During a visit, teachers can discover what learning activities are already taking place in the home – whether the child has favourite books, likes particular videos, goes out on visits, cooks regularly. And information may be gathered on who else might be able to support home learning – fathers, grandparents, older siblings, other relatives.

 

What are SLCs?

 

Student led conferences (SLCs) are our alternative to traditional parent-teacher conferences. SLCs are an opportunity for students to share their academic and social progress with their families.

 

If you are not familiar with the student-centered approach, here are our reasons and goals for using this approach:

 

●      To teach students the process of reflection and self-evaluation

●      To increase parent-child communication and encourage honest conversation among teachers, the student, and the parents

●      To allow students to take ownership of their academic performance and to do their own goal setting

 

Here is what to expect at the Student-Led Conference:

 

●      Your child will do most of the talking

●      Your child will discuss his/her progress

●      Your child will discuss his/her goals

●      Parents will be able to ask further questions of the student and teacher

 

How do I apply to HTH, HTM, HTe?

The HTH application is a two-part process. First, applicants must complete an online or paper application with basic information such as name, address, grade, and gender. The second part of the process requires applicants to attend one information session. This is to ensure that applicants receive information about HTH schools which may be unique such as project-based learning, alternative assessments, and inclusive classrooms.

 

How does the lottery work?

The lottery is based on zip codes. As a public charter school, we do not screen for grades, special needs, gender, socioeconomics, race, etc. We use zip codes because we are hoping to have a diverse student population that mirrors the greater San Diego population. The lottery uses an algorithm that consider the US census data of school-age children in a specific zip code. Basically, it is complicated :)

 

When do I find out about the status of my application?

Applications are available from November 1st through February 28th. Most families learn if they have been accepted or are in the waiting pool by early April.

 

How does the waiting pool work?

We always reassure families not to be discouraged if they are not immediately accepted. There is no waiting list but a waiting pool. If a spot opens up over summer or in the school year, the lottery is rerun and families will be contacted. It is very normal for families to move or decide that they are not able to commit to the commute, etc.

 

It is possible to apply outside of the Nov 1 - Feb 28 open enrollment. However, these applications will not be considered until the original waiting pool has been exhausted.

 

We have a sibling that attends another HTH school, are we guaranteed admission?

No, there is no guarantee for admission. Siblings of other HTH students have a small statistical advantage but even twins are not guaranteed admission.

 

What are your plans for the 2014-2015 HTeNC school year?

We are looking to open grades K - 5 in 2014-2015 but we will not have the full K-5 enrollment until the following 2015-2016 school year.

 

In 2014-2015, these are the following grades, # of classes, and expected application spots we will offer.

Kindergarten - 3 classes - 66 spots

1st grade - 3 classes - 24 spots

2nd grade - 3 classes - 48 spots

3rd grade - 2 classes - 24 spots

4th grade - 1 class - 24 spots

5th grade - 1 class - 24 spots

 

In 2015-2016, these are the following grades, # of classes, and expected application spots we will offer.

Kindergarten - 3 classes - 66 spots

1st grade - 3 classes - ?

2nd grade - 3 classes - ?

3rd grade - 3 classes - ?

4th grade - 3 classes - 24 spots

5th grade - 3 classes  - 24/48 spots

  

What is your vacation policy?

The curriculum of HTeNC is different than many schools. As a project-based learning school, students are usually unable to makeup teamwork. We kindly ask families to plan their vacations and appointments during school holidays or early release days. Any missed class will be marked as an unexcused absence.  

 

What should parents do if their child will miss a whole week of school?

If an unavoidable absence is required, we ask that families notify the school as soon as possible. Any absences longer than a week, require a work contract. This work should be done over the student’s absence in replacement of the school work they are missing. Please also notify Jocelyn so she can prepare the paperwork and Kristin so she can support you in collecting contract work/assignments.

 

What is our policy on parent visitors? Can they stop in and observe (once they have cleared their TB and Megan’s Law screening)?

We welcome parent volunteers and visitors. However, we ask that parents notify us before coming to visit classrooms. This is to preserve the class environment (for example, classes may have a guest speaker or be conducting presentations that would be better uninterrupted)