Leading Together: Where are we going?

Leading Together: Where are we going?

The Vision

I have thought long and hard about what makes Mount Vernon High School special, what we are trying to do here and why it is important? I keep coming back to what every parent wants for their child. Most of you will agree that parents want their child to be credentialed and have options when they graduate.

It then made perfect sense that The New Mount Vernon High School with its diverse course offerings, IB to CDOS, can successfully support a school environment where every student can identify a career path, develop a clear plan to reach their goals and successfully execute their plan by graduation and beyond.

The Mission

The three pillars Building Community, Cultivating Character and Inspiring Excellence are derivatives from the District's Comprehensive Improvement Plan, DCIP. The Theory of Action is that if we create a supportive and inclusive school environment that is built on relationships across all levels, we can influence positive social and ethnic identities and inspire students to excel in all areas of life and work.

Chew On This......

What brain rules guide your teaching?

"Relationship are not just emotional. They have a physical component. Relationships exist at the intersection of mind body. They are the precursor to learning. When anyone experiences others in an environment, like a classroom that is inattentive or hostile, the body picks up that information through the Autonomic Nervous System and sends it up to the RAS and the Amygdala. The Amygdala gets the information that it is not socially emotionally or intellectually safe and sends out a distress signal to the body. The body produces stress hormones that makes learning nearly impossible. Even if the environment is not hostile but is unwelcoming, the brain does not produce enough oxytocin and begins to experience anxiety making one think that there is danger because the brain does not experience a sense of community....." ( Hammond, Z.L., 2015)