September 2011: New Staff: Dan Connelly

My name is Dan Connelly. Up to this point, I've spent my life split between New York and Chicago. I taught for five years on the Southwest side of Chicago in a Chicago public school called Curie Metro High School. I lived on the West Side of Chicago in a neighborhood called Humboldt Park. I now live in San Francisco with my wife and rambunctious black Labrador named "Lua." I am a Sagittarius. I enjoy pictures of kittens. I enjoy pictures of kittens hanging on to tree branches that say "hang in there." I enjoy animals wearing human clothes. My nickname in college was "Cookie." I like to sing, but I don't like to sing other people's songs. I have never been a strong swimmer, but I like to pretend in shallow water. I give firm handshakes. I still say "soda," despite living in Chicago for seventeen years. I like jokes if they are funny. My grandmother's name is Blanche. That's not a joke. Don't laugh.

September 2011: New Staff: Janice Valetta

I earned a BS in molecular genetics from UC Davis, a certificate in web development from UC Santa Cruz and a teaching credential from Notre Dame de Namur. Before transitioning from research to full time teaching I worked at UCSF and Stanford studying the molecular basis of mad cow’s dis-ease as well as the link between Down Syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease. This is only my second year teaching full time but I love it. In the past I taught Biology, Human Biology, Integrated Science 1/2 and now I get to teach Physics and Integrated Science 3/4.
Likes: Besides science? I’m passionate about swimming, scuba diving, robotics, impressionistic art, Perl scripts, museums .
Dislikes: Spiders that try and live in my house instead of stay in my garden and slow DSL.
-Janice Valetta

September 2011: New Staff: Allison Hyde

Quick Facts about Allison Hyde:
I am currently teaching U.S. History Sheltered, U.S. History, and Spanish
I learned Spanish starting in high school and now consider myself fluent. I have spent considerable time in many parts of Latin America.
I came from Woodside High School where I was teaching U.S. and U.S. sheltered part time, and was also a Bilingual Resource Teacher/instructional coach part time.
For my first seven years of teaching, I taught in Redwood City Elementary in a bilingual middle school program for newcomers (Language Arts/Social Studies, ELD and Span-ish). One year I taught a self-contained 6th grade class in a two-way Spanish immersion program.
For the past twelve years, I have been in and out of the classroom at the high school level. I left the class-room for 3 years to work at all the Sequoia District schools as a full-time BTSA mentor/coach and lead professional development seminars on best practices for working with English Learners and effective student engagement strategies. I was also a full time, and then later on, part time, Bilingual Resource Teacher at Woodside High School.
I left my position at Woodside because I wanted to be closer to my family (we live in SF) and because I was ready for a change. I like to change things up in my professional career every so often (as you can see from my trajectory) because it keeps me refreshed and “on my toes.”
I love teaching and so far I really enjoy working with the students at Capuchino.
Personally—I have a husband and 6 year old son, and we live in SF. We have a mostly Spanish speaking household.

September 2011: New Staff: Rita Grover-Sidhu

My name is Rita Grover-Sidhu. This is my ninth year fragmenting DNA, exploding bubbles and cleaning up spills from overflowing beakers. I am originally from the Midwest and love Big 10 football. I am married with 2 kids, ages 5 and 1, and live in sunny Mountain View. Although it has only been a few weeks, Cap feels like home.

September 2011: New Staff

Welcome Dan Wekselgreene. He teaches IB Math, Algebra and CAHSEE Prep. He also just so happens to be married to Mrs. Weks too!

September 2011: New Staff: Karen Kuy

My great-grandmother, who is 102 years old, inspires me everyday to be grateful for my life and to believe in possibilities: "Always remember where you are from, always remember the people who suffered for you, and always remember that you live not only for yourself but for those who could not live to see today. You must live everyday for their possibilities."
This is one reason I became a teacher. Where else can you help others achieve their possibilities?
I was born in Kandal, Cambodia to parents of Chinese descent, during Pol Pot's reign. At the age of six, I immigrated to the U.S. and lived my teenage years in Northampton, Massachusetts. I eventually found my way to Sacramento, CA and graduated from Mira Loma High School. I am the first of my family/generation to graduate college. I earned a B.A. in English, Teaching Certificate, and M.A. in Education at CSU, Sacramento.
The 2011-2012 school year marks my 10th year in teaching and my 6th year in teaching IB English. I have taught at four previous sites: Mira Loma H.S., San Jose High Academy, Inderkum H.S., and Natomas H.S.
I am married and have two adorable Tasmanian devils: Aidan and Ethan.
Karen Kuy

September 2011: New Staff: Angela Celentano

My name is Angela Celentano and I am a new Instructional Assistant. I am a UC Davis alum and am currently working to-wards my masters and credential in Special Education at SF State. Throughout my college years at Davis, I worked at various schools and organizations that supported children and teens with special needs. I enjoy marathon running, Giants games and anything that has to do with Tahoe or Big Sur.

September 2011: New Staff: Mindy Trisko

Hi there! My name is Mindy Trisko and I am a new Health teacher here at Capuchino. Be-fore choosing to teach at Capuchino I was a student teacher at Aragon and Hillsdale as well as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. I am passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and believe that prevention can be the key to preventing many of illnesses present in society today. I feel very fortunate to be working with the students at Capuchino and am looking forward to a great year!

September 2011: New Staff: Kelly Blankenship

Not only is this my first year working in public education, it is also my first year as a California resident. I moved west from Tampa, FL in January of this year and worked at Starbucks prior being hired on at Capuchino. I graduated from the University of South Florida in 2009 with a degree in Sign Language Interpreting, after which I was hired to interpret at a small private Christian college in Tampa for 3 semesters, before deciding to make the move to California. I have already loved getting to know both my colleagues and students in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, and I look forward to a blessed and productive year!
Kelly Blankenship

September 2011: New Staff: Leticia Ortega

I wanted to reintroduce myself as Capuchino’s new counselor! For the past three years I have worked here at Cap as the ELD specialist where I have been involved in practically all aspects of the ELD program from testing, data-input, reclassification, and monitoring student academic progress.  I have also taken part in implementing the Rise Above Program which is a program specifically for ELD students to get extra academic support as well as the opportunity to connect with college student men-tors. I attended San Francisco State University where I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Child Adolescent Development and Criminal Justice. I then pursued my Masters degree in Counselor Education and PPS credential at San Jose State University. 

As Capuchino’s school counselor, my goal is to assist my students in making a positive difference in their lives. I strive to address the social/emotional development, academic achievement, and career development of ALL my students through a multicultural perspective. I hope to educate, empower, advocate, and guide students towards graduation as well as future goals in higher education. I look forward to this new journey to continue to work with Capuchino’s unique and diverse population.

September 2011: Principal Matters, New Staff Edition

This news-letter is dedicated to introducing our new faculty and staff. We welcome 10 new staff/faculty to the Mustang family. Most of our newest members come with experience and we are happy to have them add to our existing school community. We know they will bring fresh insight and create learning environments where students can be successful. I am encouraged to know that each department embraced their newest members and are beginning to show them the Capuchino way. In order to get them started on the right foot, we held a new teachers/staff meeting and plan to meet with them on a monthly basis to help ac-climate them to our site and give them helpful information about our school and relevant procedures. In this edition you will find their bio’s and contact information.

September 2011: Principal Matters

The first 3 weeks of school were a success! Students have acclimated to campus quite remarkably and are becoming clear on our academic and social expectations. The administrative team and our dean visited all class-rooms and reviewed the school goals and school rules. We are also excited about educating our students about essential skills that will help prepare them for their college and career experiences.

They include: Reading, Writing, Critical Thinking, Self-Management, College and Career Knowledge and Citizen-ship.
We also want to announce that Back To School Night is Thursday September 1, 2011 beginning with a presentation to freshman families at 5:30pm in the Cafeteria, followed by Q&A and class visits. Parents will have an opportunity to meet counselors, administrators and teachers.
 

In efforts to support technology and the growing needs of our departments, we have created a Growth Fund and ask that Capuchino families make a donation. All proceeds will pay for tech support and supplies. You will have an opportunity at Back-To-School Night to make your donation.  Again, we are excited about this year and look forward to seeing you!
 

Mrs. Shanks

September 2011: International Baccalaureate (IB)

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Program will be holding several events this semester for parents to learn more about the program’s offerings. The IB Program is Capuchino’s honors program offers coursework in advanced English, history, biology, mathematics, Spanish, French, dance, theater, art, film and our newly adopted course, psychology. Students may take IB courses in their junior and senior year. It is our goal that all Capuchino students take at least one IB course before they graduate. 

To learn more about IB or ways that parents can support the program, please attend our Fall IB Program Parent Meeting on Wednesday, September 21, from 6:30-8:30pm in the library. We will review IB course offerings, the IB Diploma Program, IB assessment fees and IB calendar and fundraising events. 9th and 10th grade parents may also learn more about IB by taking an IB Parent Tour. Parents may sign up for one of the following tours where they will visit various classes during the day. 

To sign up, contact Rosa Ortiz at 650-558-2704 or rortiz@smuhsd.org. Choose from one of these dates:
Tuesday, October 4, 8:15 – 10:15am
Wednesday, November 16 , 12:15 – 2:30pm
Wednesday, December 7, 12:15 – 2:30pm

September 2011: The Legend of Capuchino Continues!

The 2011 academic performance index (API) scores have been officially re-leased and Capuchino High School posted a 39 point gain and its highest score ever, 750. Each department developed strategies to improve the scores, but the secret ingredient was a lot of hard work by all students and staff at Capuchino.

We are especially proud of the gains made by many of our sub-groups: Latino students +39, white students +36, socioeconomically disadvantaged +48, and English learners + 11. Although it's not a department in the traditional sense, the 9th grade team strategies also seemed to pay off as the 9th graders scored particularly well, increasing our 9th grade scores in Physics, Algebra, and English.

In addition our success on the API, Capuchino was also named to the Washington Post's list of top high schools for the first time in its history. All of these things point to a positive future for Capuchino High School as we continue to prepare our students for college and career success.
 

Mr. Montgomery

September 2011: CELEBRATING CAPUCHINO: API 750

We couldn’t be more ex-cited to report that both our API and CST scores are up! The state re-leased our API scores and we increased by 39 Points and we now have a API score of 750, (up from 711)!
These scores represent the harvest of seeds planted over the last few years. Through uniting and putting in the time and re-sources, we have seen our student’s state assessments increase tremendously.
So here’s to the Capuchino staff, faculty and students who make it happen on a daily basis. Thank you and let’s go even higher!