to the Woodland Hills Community,
DR. PHILLIP K. WOODS
O
n behalf of our administration, faculty, and staff, we
welcome you to Woodland Hills High School.
Our district was created under the ideal that ev-
ery student deserves access to a quality education
and we strive to provide our students with such
opportunities every day. I know firsthand that a successful ed-
ucational experience integrated with hard work and persever-
ance are necessary to overcome life’s adverse circumstances.
From this perspective, I wish to motivate our students to take
advantage of all that is offered academically, athletically, and
socially in our building and in our community.
Woodland Hills High School has cultivated many academic,
athletic, and artistically successful students in its short history.
As we continue to heal from tragedy, hardship, and negative
publicity, we are working hard to accentuate the success of
the students and positive aspects of our school and commu-
nity as well as make the necessary changes to ensure all our
students can be successful. Our plan is built around initiatives
to increase student attendance and academic performance,
establish a culture of trust, support, and accountability, and
provide learning opportunities that challenge and encour-
ages students to exceed expectations. We believe the plan is
creating an educational environment that will empower 21st
century learners who are college and career ready.
To support our goals, many new initiatives and programs
have been established, including new systems that encourage
students to begin thinking about their futures early in their
high school careers. Using the Career Pathways model as a
guide, students can schedule courses based on their inter-
ests and goals post-graduation. Our students have extensive
options to choose from, as Woodland Hill High School offers
16 AP courses and 13 honors courses while College in High
School allows current high school students to take classes for
college credit. Beginning sophomore year, students may take
the PSAT, SAT, and ACT right on campus. For students inter-
ested in pursuing a technical career, Forbes Road is an avail-
able option for students as young as 10th grade. We believe
that it is extremely important for our students to be exposed
to all options that await them after graduation. To encourage
such exploration, we invite alumni volunteers and community
members to speak with our students about their career paths
and industries and we take our students on a plethora of two
and four-year college campus and career training site tours.
Our students also have access to the College & Career Center,
a space where they can receive assistance with the planning
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WOODLAND HILLS
process, applying to schools, and completing college and
scholarships applications.
In addition to curriculum and instruction, we are working
tirelessly to improve student to student and student to teacher
relationships to create a safe and productive learning environ-
ment. This year our teachers began incorporating Restorative
Justice Circles in their classrooms. The circles give students the
opportunity to speak candidly about issues that concern them
while connecting and building relationships with their peers.
Our teachers and staff have also been working to improve rela-
tionships with students through Implicit Bias Training through
the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the University of Pitts-
burgh. We realize that creating a culture of trust is paramount
to academic, social, and emotional growth. Using Positive
Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS), we aim to instill
in our students the habits and behaviors that will make them
successful once they graduate. We have introduced “The 5
P’s” and we ask our students to be prompt, prepared, polite,
productive, and proud as well as Wolverine Work Wednesday
(WWW) which is an opportunity to celebrate students and
staff who demonstrate these positive behaviors at school and
in the community. The above programs are all an addition to
our successful athletic, music, gifted, and art departments. We
are very proud of our athletic teams, particularly the varsity
basketball, football, rifle, swimming, track, and bowling teams
who make WPIAL playoff appearances every year, our music
department, home to 228 Gene Kelley nominations and 110
Gene Kelley Awards, and our gifted department who consis-
tently places in the Hometown IQ Competition, Science Bowl,
and Science Olympiad.
Bright and talented students are in abundance at Wood-
land Hills High School and we hope to promote their stories
and success using social media and school wide recognition
initiatives. We want everyone in the Woodland Hills commu-
nity to share in the joy and excitement our students provide
us every day.
I am honored to be the Principal of Woodland Hills High
School and look forward to supporting promoting a culture of
hard work, academic success, and personal growth to our very
deserving students. WE ARE THE CHANGE.
Yours in Education,
Dr. Phillip K. Woods