Support Quality Science Education for Northwood High School Students
Thank you Northwood Parents. Our high school has responded to our petition by meeting some parents in this group, but now NHS is requiring that our specific questions about our kids’ science education be sent individually as e-mails to Dr. Leslie Roach, Principal of NHS. We ask you to send your questions, experiences, and/or concerns to Principal Roach (leslieroach@iusd.org) as requested, AND for everyone to include four common questions that every NHS student cares about so that we can finally get responses to these four key questions:
Question 1:
What led to your decision to follow a different course of study in Science than all the other IUSD high schools. Please provide the studies and data showing that Northwood High School’s Integrated Every-Science-Every-Year (ESEY) Model is superior to the Integrated 3-Course Model used by all other IUSD high schools.
Question 2:
Both the 3-Course Model and ESEY are endorsed by Next Generation Science Standards NGSS. The Three Course Model is still an integrated model based on the disciplinary-core-ideas and inquiry-based-learning that are the hallmark of NGSS's integrated curriculum goals and is preferred by NHS parents and students. Besides NHS tradition, what reasons support the decision to continue with ESEY?
Question 3:
What plans are there to regularly gather anonymous evaluations from NHS science teachers and students of IS/HIS, so that experiences both positive and negative of this program are visible to all stakeholders including administrators, students, teachers and parents?
Question 4:
As an IUSD school, part of NHS's mission is to be a community partnership that is willing to consider what the community needs. For what reasons has there not been a question in IUSD's annual surveys to NHS parents asking if the preference is for the current science curriculum, or if there is a preference to adopt the 3-Course Model like other IUSD high schools?
We also ask that you participate in IUSD’s Strategic Initiative Survey. See the September 9 email from Superintendent Terry Walker and complete the survey. Make sure to utilize the comment boxes to write your concerns so that Superintendent Terry Walker knows that NHS students are hindered in their STEM interests because its science program radically departs from all the other IUSD high schools. See link below:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/IUSDStrategicInitiatives
Thank you for your continued support! NHS has heard our voice that quality must become a goal for NHS’s science department, but we must continue together for positive changes to happen. Please attend the IUSD board meeting at 6:30 PM on September 17th, 2019 (Tuesday) at IUSD District Administration Center at 5050 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, CA 92604.