HIGH SCHOOL

Village Glen High School students experience greater independence, more social and extracurricular activities, the juggling of classes, and the importance of positive peer relationships. Executive functioning skills play a central role in student success.

Village Glen High School students in grades 9 – 12 start their day in their homeroom class. Following their morning “priming activities” students then independently switch classrooms and teachers by subject. Village Glen High School students are provided with the knowledge and skills needed for a successful college experience. Our high school program is college preparatory and our academic standards meet University of California entrance requirements.  Honors courses and advanced studies are offered for students who wish to pursue additional coursework in areas of special interest and abilities. For struggling learners, academic support is available and support classes may be offered concurrently with more challenging coursework in order to provide meaningful support.  Core subjects and elective courses are taught by experienced teachers with extensive knowledge or experience in the areas being taught.  As in the elementary and middle schools, rigorous direct instruction is integrated with structured project-based learning in order to promote critical thinking and to allow students to make connections with the world around them and to develop a deeper understanding of what they are learning.

Social skills instruction and the promotion of social development in our students is a fundamental component of the Village Glen experience.  In the Village Glen High School, we reinforce social skills development by an emphasis on more role plays and projects, lessons target more of the “nuances” of social skills, and a “higher-order” social skills are the focus, and include skills such as executive functions (e.g., self-monitoring, organization). Social skills instruction takes place daily and the taught skills are continuously practiced and reinforced throughout the school day within the classroom as well as during recess and lunch time and social activities. High school students have numerous opportunities to use their social skills in a wide variety of activities including interest-based clubs, organized team sports, student council, Academic Decathlon, school dances, and much more.

High school students experience increased expectations including greater independence, more social and extracurricular activities, juggling several classes with different teachers, and the heightened complexities of peer relationships. Executive functioning skills play a central role in student success. The development of these skills is emphasized at Village Glen High School and includes both the explicit instruction of executive functioning skills and strategies, as well as the frequent and intentional use of other techniques that enable our students to improve in their executive functioning abilities and increase student achievement and learning.  Foundational executive function skills specifically addressed include self-regulation, flexibility, attention, self-advocacy, task initiation, organization, planning and prioritizing, and time management.

For students in need of more intensive behavioral or social emotional support, Village Glen works collaboratively with students, families, and support staff on the development of supports to enable students to manage emotions and to access teaching and learning.