Kelly Walsh prepares students for the next step
by Jennifer Schultes
“The best thing about this school are the kids. The kids that come here … I think that everyone has a great sense of hope.”
Thus began Kelly Walsh High School Principal Brad Diller’s explanation of what makes KW great.
“People here have an understanding that it’s a public school, and we don’t get to pick the kids,” he said. “The challenge for us is to provide meaningful opportunities for the sharpest kids to the kids who come to us with the most challenges.”
Kelly Walsh, established in 1965, houses about 1,500 such students in grades 9-12, and about 200 staff, who, according to Assistant Principal Donelle Lowham, are very supportive of one another and of the students.
“It’s a very nurturing environment here,” she said.
Part of that nurturing comes with the call to prepare students for their next step.
Noting that not all students are on the college track, Diller and his staff see to it that all students are prepared for wherever their next step may take them.
“We talk about having a mission and vision,” Diller said. “We need to prepare all students for what comes next. It could be going into the military, going to a university, a vocational school or even going straight to work.
“It’s not a matter of getting the smartest kids in town. It’s a matter of who wants to come to our school … we’re ready to try to get them ready.”
Part of Diller’s vision includes developing relationships with as many of his kids as possible. He says that while he possibly couldn’t know each student’s name, he tries to know as much about each of them as possible.
“The big thing is for us to set up positive relationships with our teachers that then filter from the principal’s office to the classroom to the kids,” Diller explained.
Kelly Walsh always is seeking new ways to take students to that next step. That’s why next year, every ninth- through 12th-grader will receive their own laptop.
New tools like this will undoubtedly benefit students, while at the same time challenge teachers to take a new approach to the classroom.
Lowham explained that beginning this year, teachers have participated in a special professional development program every other week during their planning periods, when they’ve chosen from among 13 options to sharpen their skills.
“The thing is, a computer will never take the place of a teacher,” Diller said. “It’s another tool we use to help kids get ready for the next step in their lives. No kid is going to go to school and do great stuff because of a computer.
“They’re going to come to class and do great stuff because there’s a great teacher working with them every day.”
Kelly Walsh also will offer a new class next year: career tech integration, which Lowham said will be a “great opportunity” for students to look at their career opportunities.
Currently, four teachers are working on integrating broadcasting/television media, digital photography, journalism/communications and Web page design. These teachers will collaborate and work on theme-based units.
Three other teachers also are working on a program for integrated math, computer programming, physics and English.
“We’re trying to look at the way we deliver things,” Diller said. “We’re not throwing anything out; we’re coming at it from a different angle.”
Close to 300 kids will graduate this year. Some have children of their own. Some will be the first in their family to earn a diploma. Some will head to an Ivy League, and some will go straight into the workforce.
“Everybody counts and matters at our school,” Diller said. “We’re never not trying.”