Tuesday, November 11, is Veterans Day and we join the nation in delivering a heartfelt "thank you" to all the brave men and women who have served our country!

Much has been written and discussed about Common Core State Standards and the new Smarter Balanced Assessments that students will be taking this spring in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Whether you've done a lot of research on the topic or are new to it, this article, posted November 4, 2014, by the Eugene Register-Guard and written by the superintendents of the Eugene, Bethel, and Springfield school districts-Sheldon Berman, Colt Gill, and Hertica Martin, respectively-provides a thorough and easily-understood overview of the change in standards and testing and what that means for students. Additional information about Smarter Balanced Assessments will be available in our upcoming District newsletter, A Look Inside.

During last spring's budget development process, School Board members indicated a strong desire to fund the development of a systematic framework for the provision of after-school STE(A)M (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) activities at each of our schools. Now, work is in progress to develop the offerings at each building under the guidance of building coaches and feeder lead coaches. Click here to read more.

For the past four years, Liberty High School has offered Fire Science classes in partnership with Washington County Fire District #2 and Portland Community College. The program is open to students from all Hillsboro high schools and is held both at Liberty and at the fire station in North Plains. Students learn about structural firefighting, wild land firefighting, and emergency services from firefighters themselves. Those who earn a letter grade of B or higher are eligible to receive credits at PCC. This program is an excellent example of the types of opportunities the District is attempting to replicate across the six identified career pathways to better prepare students for success after high school. Click here  to view a video about the Fire Science program.

Oregon Health & Science University's Department of Emergency Medicine and the University of Washington have teamed up to host an ingenious event in which teams of individuals are invited to participate in a month-long scavenger hunt (November 15-December 15, 2014) to locate as many automated external defibrillators (AEDs) as possible in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties in Oregon, and Clark County in Washington, so they can be found more quickly in an emergency. The top prize is $10,000! Click here to learn more.