Derek Arrowood

Wednesday was School Nurse Day, a part of a weeklong celebration as part of Nurse Appreciation Week. We are extremely fortunate to have a team of compassionate, committed, and highly skilled nurses serving our students and staff. Our school nurses are on the front lines every day providing comfort and care for students and staff…

Wednesday is Administrative Professionals Day which gives me a special opportunity to recognize the important contributions that our administrative professionals make at Heights every day. Our administrative roles are incredibly diverse and those who serve in them are invaluable to keeping our offices running smoothly and effectively every day. Their connectedness, expertise, attention to detail,…

Beginning April 1, the community can enjoy an up close and personal visit to 12 different historical sites in Jackson Township (Atlanta, Arcadia, and Cicero) through self-guided video tours. These videos, created by a talented crew of HHSC educators and staff including, Jeff Beechler, Connor James, Lucia Garber (HHMS), and Melissa Martin and Julie Davis…

Hamilton Heights is extremely fortunate to have the Hamilton Heights Educational Foundation (HHEF). The Foundation was initially created as an opportunity to elevate the learning environment by raising funds to support learning across our campus. The local visionaries who founded the organization, many of whom still live and work in the community, certainly knew it…

This is Public Schools Week – a week designated to recognize and celebrate the invaluable role of our nation’s public schools. It’s also worthy of its own column. I consider it an honor and a privilege to lead in service to our children and our families in a district that has been helping to prepare…

In last Friday’s Department of Education Weekly Update from Dr. Katie Jenner, she shared several goals including a statewide literacy goal of 95% of third grade students demonstrating reading proficiency skills and passing IREAD-3 by 2027. Statistics show that students who pass the IREAD-3 assessment in third grade are roughly 35% more likely to graduate…

It’s hard to believe that we are just a week away from wrapping up the first semester of the 2022-2023 school year! Our first semester ends on Tuesday, December 20 with our Christmas break taking place Wednesday, December 21 through Monday, January 2, 2023. I commend our students, staff, and families for their work and…

Friday is our first synchronous (i.e., instruction delivered live and in real time to a student by the student’s teacher) e-Learning day. This is an at home virtual learning day for students. We plan to utilize synchronous e-Learning days for when inclement weather impacts our ability to have in-class instruction. A synchronous e-learning day allows…

Last Saturday, Hamilton Heights enjoyed hosting its first ever VEX Robotics Competition. The event, held at the Hamilton Heights Middle School, drew in some 40 teams from 30 different schools. It was nothing short of amazing! Energy, innovation, collaboration, teamwork, technical problem-solving, and pride filled the air. I’m pretty sure I was watching future scientists…