North High held its Freshman Open House on Thursday, August 18. Members of North High's administrative team gave highlights about the school and what to expect. A panel of parents and students shared their experiences as well.
See the slides from the presentation
From Principal Janice Schwarze to the Class of 2020:
"I want you to consider DGN as a puzzle and each student as a piece of the puzzle. When all the pieces fit together, we are something beautiful and powerful. However, if we are missing even one piece, then the puzzle is not complete. Each individual student is an important piece of who we are collectively at DGN. And just as puzzle pieces are different shapes and sizes, our students have different strengths, passions, and challenges.
Our goal is for students to discover what they are passionate about and pursue and develop that passion. That means students might have to extend out of their comfort zone and stretch themselves. This might mean taking an honors class or trying out for an athletic team, joining a club or even trying to start a club.
Many times, when people pursue their passion and work hard, the world is bright and everything seems to go their way. They are energized by their success and strive for even greater success.
Sometimes, though, despite hard work, passion, and good intentions, we make mistakes, and then the world seems rather stormy. And when that happens, because it will, I want you to know that DGN is a place where students are supported not only when they succeed, but also when they struggle. That’s because we believe struggle is a necessary part of growth, and we want everyone in the school to know that they can fail without feeling like a failure. Our message is to reflect on what went wrong, correct the problem, and try again. Seek help if you need it; we’re all in this together.
I love this graph because it shows how sometimes in order to grow, we have to take a step back, and that’s okay - as long as we keep moving forward.
Finally, we want our students to be happy. We believe that our caring environment, the many academic and extracurricular opportunities we provide, and the support we offer set our students up for happiness. But sometimes I have found that students try to do too much, and then they became stressed and unhappy. That might be because they have joined too many activities and are stretched too thin or because they have taken too many hard classes and are losing sleep trying to get all of their homework done. That’s not particularly surprising in a world that emphasizes competition and success. There’s a lot of pressure on students today. Fortunately, though, even colleges are realizing that and are no longer looking for a laundry list of activities. Instead,they are looking to commitment to a few things. So, I’m going to end with one strong piece of advice: strive for balance. Just as we say that adults need to have a work/life balance, our students need to have a school/life balance. Allow time for relaxation and opportunities to just do nothing."