Hello Canyon Hills High School!
I hope you are all having an amazing summer. We are busy doing summer school and in addition getting ready for the new school year! Many of you have emailed me congratulations and I thought given the talk of the name change, I mention that SHS/Canyon Hills is an amazing place; (we have a full museum/legacy room, and an alumni room, and all the banners are still up etc) but no one is really talking about the academics and the change that has happened climate wise. This will be my last email referring to us as Serra High School as we are now Canyon Hills.
Here are some things going on at SHS/Canyon Hills over the last 5 years:
Much more rigorous teaching-- We are not doing what we did 25 years ago
5 years ago enrollment was rapidly dropping, now it is rising every year while enrollment drops district-wide: we are a beacon of diverse students!
Staff and Students and Administration were fragmented and that played out in the press--we now boast over 30 positive news reports about our school
Testing scores are up
We have gone from 1 CCTE Pathway to 5
We had 1 Community College Course to 16 presently: The Valedictorian five or so years ago, was only able to achieve a 4.0--now they can compete and this year the top students had 4.89 and college acceptances to Stanford, Berkeley and UCLA to name a few and hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships all while getting a full year of college under their belts at SHS for free!
Student express in anonymous surveys that Serra/Canyon Hills is a place they want to be and they feel like an active part of their education and have the support of Administration to follow their passions and dreams
We have the first ever 9th grade academy in SDUSD and our goal is 100 percent of students who enter stay at Canyon Hills and graduate and go to college. This Academy is based on research we have done with UCSD and Harvard.
We have new facilities coming campus wide which were slated to take place before the name change
So why am I being told congratulations???? because SHS/Canyon Hills has seen rapid improvements and rigor in the classroom; I have been nominated as the Woman in Excellence and Education Award for the State of California. Most of the women on the list are superintendents and its a huge honor to be a principal and have the state take notice. We are doing right by our students and as you know we can always improve, but I thought I take a moment to talk about things that are positive, so we all don't get bogged down in the negative. This is a great time to be a student at Canyon Hills/Serra.
Heres the link to the nominations: https://edcal.acsa.org/nominees-for-exemplary-woman-in-education-award-announced
Were you super passionate about the Name Change?????? Then you need to be equally passionate about supporting the school which you feel so passionate about!!!!!
We need your help in participating in an amazing fundraiser and community event. It's our biggest fundraiser of the year. It's over 21 years old--hint hint. This funding goes directly to students and no where else (NOT the name change or facilities). Please forward this on to any social media pages or groups you can. It's time to bring the community together for students and not create division amongst adults. Even if you can't play, you can donate!
Here are the details:
The 6th annual Bocce Tournament is set for Saturday, August 28, 2021 beginning at 11:30am. Registration is now open so it's time to get your team of 4 people together and register to play! This is the "must attend" 21+ event of the season and fun for all - playing bocce while enjoying music, friends, food and drinks. Food ticket purchase information will be sent out closer to the event. All of the proceeds go to improve the future quality of life in our community through enhancing academic and athletic programs. Commit to having a fantastic afternoon with your Tierrasanta friends and help out our local high school students and faculty! Register Your Team of 4 Pay for your team registration to play in the Bocce tournament. Teams are made up of 4 adults (21 or older). You can get creative with your team name and costume!REGISTER TO PLAY
You can purchase a personalized event drink Koozie that will help keep your favorite beverages cool all day while you show off your both your Bocce skills and your skills at helping support students! Pick up on the day of the event.BUY KOOZIE
Can't Play? Volunteer or Donate! If you want to be part of this fun event but don't want to play, please consider volunteering your time instead! You can email: boccetournament@serrafoundation.org.
If you can't make the event, you can click here to make a donation.
We look forward to the biggest event of the year and need you!
Dr. Erica Renfree