Principal's Corner

Dear Parents/Guardians,

China Trip:

I enjoyed an amazing visit to China during the first two weeks of December.  The trip was sponsored by the Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters and College Board.  This trip was offered to schools that currently offer Chinese and are working to strengthen and expand existing programs.  The highlight of my trip was our visits to the schools and conversations with the students.  We visited primary schools, (grades 1-5) and secondary schools, (which combine middle and high school), along with Guangxi National University in the province of Guangxi, in the city of Guilin.  We attended workshops which focused on successful models used to build school partnerships and develop the Chinese language and culture programs between U.S. and Chinese educators.  I am reviewing a few different available exchange programs for students and teachers that are available for a semester or a year.  A portion of the trip immersed visitors in the Chinese culture so during our trip to Beijing we visited the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Great Wall of China-Badaling Section, Tiananmen Square, Ming Tombs, 2008 Olympic Site, and enjoyed fabulous food and made many friendships.  I feel very fortunate that I was selected to participate in this program and hope to continue the development of our Chinese Program by expanding our program to native and non-native speakers.

October 2009 PSAT Results

We received our students’ scores from the 2009 Preliminary SAT (PSAT)/National Merit Scholarship Qualifier Test (NMSQT).  I am excited to inform you that 37 of our students in grade 11 scored in the 99^th percentile on the test.  One student in grade 11 scored a perfect 240 on the test.  The PSAT is administered to approximately three million students; half are eleventh graders and half are tenth graders.  The PSAT is the National Merit Qualifier exam for 11^th grade students and uses the same type of questions as the SAT Reasoning Test. Mrs. Schratz included more information on understanding the results of the PSAT/NMSQT in this month’s newsletter.  Below is the breakdown of DVHS students’ scores by grade and percentage.   In the fall of 2010, the eleventh grade students will be notified if they qualify to continue in the scholarship program based on the cutoff score.  The cutoff score for qualifying for the NMSQT program in 2009 was 218 out of 240. 

Visit the College Board website: www.collegeboard.com for information

SAT      http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/calenfees.html

ACT      http://www.actstudent.org/regist/nextdates.html

 WASC Spring Visit

The Accreditation Commission for Schools, Western Association of School and Colleges (WASC), will visit Dougherty Valley High School on February 17, 2010.  The commission will spend the day visiting classrooms and speaking to staff and students to validate the additional grade levels and programs.  Our full school accreditation visit by WASC is during the spring of 2011.

PTSA Reflections Winners move onto state competition

Congratulations to Ho Jae Lee and Lina Kim!  Their Reflections entries were selected to move on to the state level, and will represent Contra Costa County in the High School division in the Visual Arts and Literature categories!
Their entries will be judged January 25, by the California State PTA Reflections judges, and will be on display at the California State PTA Convention in Sacramento from April 29-May 2. If you would like more information about the California State PTA Convention, go to <http://www.capta.org> www.capta.org<http://www.capta.org>. 

Teacher Information:

Mrs. Leah Dubinsky, our Biology and AVID teacher, is on maternity leave second semester. Her classes were divided among existing staff members and a new hire.  Mrs. Agustin, our Health and AVID teacher, is teaching Mrs. Dubinsky’s AVID class.  Mr. Tom Chamberlain, our Biology teacher, is teaching Mrs. Dubinsky’s fourth, fifth and sixth period Biology classes.  Ms. Leslie Pando, a new hire who holds a Masters degree in Education and Bachelors degree in Biology from the University of California at Irvine, is teaching Mr. Chamberlain’s A period class and Mrs. Dubinsky’s first period class.

Mrs. Lindsay Higgins, our World Language teacher, is also on maternity leave second semester.  Maria Lemma, who has taught previously in our school district, is teaching her classes.

North Coast Section All-Academic Athletic Teams

Three of our fall sports teams received recognition from the North Coast Section for their overall team grade point average.  Athletic teams must maintain a team grade point average of a 3.0 or higher during the season to receive the award.  Congratulations to our boys football, girls cross country and girls tennis teams which ranked in the top three grade point averages among 100+ schools in the North Coast Section.  The top three schools receive a banner for each team and our new banners are on display in the front office.

DVHS Musicians Earn Awards

Congratulations Mo Zhao for being selected into the All State Honor Band and Orchestra.   Mo submitted a CD containing a required repertoire of music and was selected to play alongside top high school musicians throughout the state.  The following students auditioned and were selected to participate in the County Honor Band: George Wu, Lauren Roberts, Felicia Manan, Aarohi Rastogi, Emily O’Hanlon and Cameron O’Hanlon.  These students auditioned against other high school students throughout Contra Costa County.

Captain Sullenberger Raises Funds for Boosters Organizations and Oakland School

The Sullenberger family auctioned off Captain Sullenberger’s pilot hat on eBay in December for $5,800.  The proceeds from the hat were divided equally between DVHS parent booster groups and Oakland Elementary Schools, Community United and Lockwood.  Thank you for your kind donation.

Girls Cross Country News

Congratulations to our girls cross country team, which captured Dougherty Valley’s first ever North Coast Section Division IV championship title, placing first at Hayward on November 21, 2009. The team qualified for the state meet held in Fresno, where the girls finished 13^th overall in the state division.  The girls have a banner in the gymnasium with each team members’ name and accomplishments.  Members of the championship cross country team are Coach Stephanie Bambury, senior Christine Chang, junior Victoria de Metz, sophomores Maria Fate and Lauren Nakaso, and freshmen Kristen Chan, Isabelle de Metz, Zoe Rogers Lemke and Lauren Salazar.  Go Wildcats!

New Course Selection process for 2010-11

Counselors will begin the 2010-11 course selection process beginning in March.  Students will select their courses through a new “on-line” process.  Counselors will discuss the new process and instructions with students in their English and Social Studies classes.   

Important Dates for Incoming 9^th Graders

Important Dates for Current DVHS Students