It has been an exciting fall semester here at West Iredell High School. Today we just completed our first Warrior Pride, WIHS honor roll program. It was great to see so many parents, grandparents, guardians come out and support this great program. This year we had 393 students on our A - B honor roll, with the most being awarded to our class of 2010 (seniors).  Next week we will be submitting our climate survey on November 30th. Parents can access this survey online at our Website under the parents tab. You may also fill one out via paper and pencil. I wanted to give you some data to help with filling this out. This school year we have not had one single reportable offense in our crime and violence report to the state. Last month our attendance was the highest among all the high schools in the district. Our number one priority is to make sure our kids are safe and feel safe, too maximize the use of their learning environment. Our discipline is down this year and our student performance is up. I am very proud to be principal of WIHS and know that our school is the best in the region, once a Warrior, always a Warrior.

 

Fear the Spear!

Mr. Holden

Last school year WIHS achieved High Growth (state measure) and met AYP (annual yearly progress, NCLB-Federal). West was the only high school achieve this in Iredell-Statesville Schools. Two of our EOC (end-of-course) tested areas, Algebra II and Physical Science were the highest in the district. These achievements are attributed to our outstanding staff and academically focused students.

 

 

Fighting at our school went down from last year by over 30%, state reportable offenses dropped from 15 to 8, and our attendace rate increased to over 95%, which was the second highest amoung the high schools in our district. Our drop out rate continues to decrease with last year being 3%. Our graduation rate went from 75% to 82%.

 

 

The snow is beautiful, but I'd rather be in school. We could start loosing spring break days if we are out again tomorrow.

 

In January we completed our first semester EOC and Vocat testing for WIHS. Our overall proficiency rate went from 69% (Fall 2007) to 74.4% (Fall 2008). Our Algebra I scores went up 17%, surpassing our goals. Biology is up 20% from this time last year to 73%. When you have time please look at our data wall in the entrance of the new Freshman academy. I am very proud of our students and teachers for their hard work and dedication to WIHS.

 

Our drop-outs are down 20% from this time last year. I'm worried that our current economy will force some students to quit school to work and help out at home. In order to meet ALL student needs West is looking at starting a night school for students with hardships. Students need to understand that dropping out of school will only hurt their chances of making a better living in the future. We will continue to help ALL our students graduate from high school. Sorry it has been so long since my last blog. I will work harder to make sure they remain current.