About Our School

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About Our School Quality Learning Enviornment	Our Goals Preparing for Careers Stirring Things Up	What our students say about us

About Our School

Students attend Village High School, the district’s alternative school, when, for a variety of reasons, they have been unsuccessful in the comprehensive schools. Village High School fosters a smaller learning environment and focuses in individualizing student needs and creating a community of character. Village has been accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and received the maximum six-year term.

With renovation complete, the Village High campus plays host to students who are engaged in meeting district graduation standards, as well as exploring career interests and focusing on future goals. Instruction is geared to maximize the learning experience for each individual student, and, with a class-size average of 20 to one, teachers are able to support student learning throughout the curriculum.

Village High School received a Digital High School grant, and technology is evident in every classroom and integrated throughout the curriculum. Students now also have access to Plato Learning, which is an on-line learning program designed to augment preparation for the High School Exit Exam.

Character education is embedded throughout the curriculum and school and is encouraged by staff through rewards for good behavior and attendance and consistent consequences for inappropriate actions. Integrity, honesty, responsibility, respect, compassion, and self-discipline, the pillars of the District’s character education program, are alive and well at Village.

Partnerships and career education are also an important focus at Village, as staff, parents, and students work together to achieve common goals. Our Culinary Arts Career Pathway is a comprehensive program designed to create engaged learners who experience hands-on learning as a real business. Emerging pathways include a “Green Thumb” horticulture focus as well as a Fine Arts pathway.

Overall, academic achievement, technology as a tool for learning, character building, and career exploration are all part of the Village High School experience. Students come to Village for a variety of reasons, but they leave with a healthy respect for themselves, the staff, and the community in which they live. The California Department of Education has awarded Village the title of Model School Program three times, most recently during school year 2002-2003. The student body and staff know that Number four is just around the corner!

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Our Goals

Students will . . .

• Be able to demonstrate basic skills across the curriculum.
• Become collaborative workers.
• Be able to communicate effectively.
• Be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills.
• Become self-directed learners.
• Be successful in a learning/work environment.

What our students say about us

“It has changed my outlook on school, life, and many other things.”

“If it wasn’t for Village, I wouldn’t be in school today.”

“Now that I am going to Village High School , I go to school because I want to learn. I enjoy my teachers and the principal.”

“I just wanted to say, ‘ Thanks Village !’ I know now what I need to do to achieve my goals.”

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Quality Learning Environment

Village High School’s instructional program is tailored to meet the needs of each student. High expectations for learning and behavior are in place and shared with the parent community. Home/school communication is ongoing. Parents are kept informed of their child’s progress in school, and input from parents is sought on a regular basis.

An effective school wide discipline plan at Village High School has been formulated to protect students and maintain a calm and positive atmosphere for learning. This plan is distributed annually to parents through the Village High School Contract, and these expectations are discussed regularly with our students.

When discipline problems occur, it is the philosophy of the school administration to solve the problem causing the inappropriate behavior, involve the parent, and determine logical consequences. Suspension from school occurs when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct, or when misbehavior is severe in nature.

One of the hallmarks of the Village program is the unity of the staff in the implementation of school rules, expectations and philosophy. Students respond to the stability and consistent structure within which particular decisions are made. Positive behavior techniques are consistently applied and the incentive program is so student-centered that it has become central to our effectiveness in motivating positive behavior.

Incentives for improved performance at school include a variety of awards (Student of the Month, Teacher’s Choice, Academic Awards) Principal’s Honor Roll, pizza and movie for perfect attendance, and discounts on prom tickets.

Village provides a school climate of caring, support and encouragement, combined with consistent behavior expectations. At Village, students thrive in the environment characterized by our motto, “A New Beginning.”

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Preparing For Careers

Our school district understands the need for students to see a link between their classroom learning and the expectations of the workplace. Our new Culinary Arts Career Pathway features a course sequence of classes of increasing complexity combined with the challenge of running a business. The “Village Café” is a catering business that combines classroom learning with the practical career-focused activities that allow a business to flourish. Students also participate in internships, job shadows, guest speakers and jobs in one or more areas of the Culinary Arts. This new career pathway is supported by school-to-career activities that are infused throughout our curriculum and supported by our partnership’s with community business and organizations.

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Stirring Things Up
Village High School students learning skills to live and eat by

November 2008 article in Pleasanton Weekly

Running a catering company out of a classroom is a pretty daunting task. Yet when the culinary students at Village High School hear the words "production day" from instructor Kit Little, they are quick to wash up and don aprons to get the job done. Preparing ingredients and taking the role of head chef or sous chef of the project, the cooks in training do it all, keeping to their slogan, "we like to stir things up."
About 35 students will take the class over the course of the year. Two classes meet during fourth and fifth period each day, meaning there is about an hour and a half for work to be done.

Local businesses, the city and school district often employ the Village Catering staff for various events, including feeding volunteers at the Alviso Adobe Community Park opening last month. A church in Livermore also requested 36 pies for a fundraiser they were doing. Caitlin Boldt, 17, was up to the task, as she's considered the group's pastry chef. She's so talented, in fact, that Little had her make some pies for a recent family gathering, which received rave reviews. Taking both periods of the class, Boldt said she looks forward to the chance to move around the kitchen, as it is a welcome break from sitting at a desk and writing. "It's my favorite class," she said. "I like working, moving around and making something." Students come to Village High School for various reasons, whether it is class credit deficiency, drug or alcohol issues or because some just don't do well in a large school setting. Very often, there is a negative connotation about alternative high schools. Little said she thought that too, even though she always had a soft spot for at-risk students she came across in her 23 years at Foothill High School. When presented with the opportunity to design and teach the then non-existent home economics program at the school, she decided to take a tour of the campus first. There she saw a troubled student she had tried to help while at Foothill who was in her element, smiling and interacting with teacher and other students. It was then Little realized Village was the place for her.

Eight years later she still teaches home economics and serves as a work experience coordinator, in addition to overseeing the culinary program. Last Thursday the group got straight to work making a spread of Asian chicken lettuce wraps, focaccia bread and fruit tarts, which are just a few of the options Village Catering company offers.
After just a couple months in the program, Maria Hintze, 17, has already put a high-profile event under her belt. She and several classmates provided food for a fundraising event for John Garamendi, lieutenant governor of California, who recently announced his intention to run for governor."It was a really good opportunity," Hintze said. It wasn't just about the food, she added, saying the group had to polish their manners and professionalism because they did everything from cooking to serving to presenting. Little has seen some students from her Foothill and Village days go on to great careers in the kitchen, including one who is a private chef in Las Vegas. She believes these are great achievements, but she doesn't measure success by the number of students in the industry."It's about teaching soft skills," she said. "They learn teamwork, communication, leadership and time management." Little added that while some days there are discipline issues, she holds her ground and encourages them, helping them develop a curiosity."Everything I do [as a teacher, I set the bar really high," she said. "I set it higher than they think they can achieve." She requires a 90 percent or higher to pass an assignment, which is critical when it comes to the success of a dish. Yet, most of the students haven't scored that high in school. So when they pass, it's a boost to their self esteem and keeps pushing them forward. While Hintze's not sure if a profession in food will be in her future, she is thankful for the program because she is eating healthier and the easy recipes have her cooking for herself and her family.
To learn more about Village Catering, email klittle@pleasanton.k12.ca.us.