Dear Parents and Scholars,

 

I am excited to be here at HLA with all of you!  I began teaching at HLA in 2011 and immediately found a home.  I love working with the students and alongside educators who are so dedicated to their students.  I served as HLA’s vice principal from 2019 to 2022 when I became the principal.  It is an honor to lead this school, our scholars, and our amazing staff!

Many say that education is the civil rights issue of our time; I wholeheartedly agree.  The challenges of education are different than they were even just a couple years ago, but the opportunities that come along with a top notch education are still the same.  There is no limit to what our scholars can accomplish when they engage with our challenging International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum.  I fully expect our scholars to not only go on to higher education and meaningful careers, but also to help solve the complex problems of the 21st century: climate change, inequality, political unrest, etc.

 

That is why our curriculum is not only academically challenging, but also focuses on the whole child.  Social-emotional health and character are the foundation upon which a good education must be built.  To that end, we are proud to be a Capturing Kids Hearts (CKH) National Showcase School!  This means that our staff is trained and has implemented CKH with fidelity for years.  CKH schools understand that relationships have to be built in order to reach every child.  We have many tools build those relationships while holding scholars accountable and asking them to self-manage the classroom and their actions.  We build character in our scholars through the IB Learner Profile traits.  Scholars reflect on the traits often and are awarded when they exemplify the traits.

 

We are working hard to become not only an authorized IB school, but the best school in the state of California.  It will take all of us working together to accomplish these goals.  I am excited to do this challenging work with our families and community!

 

Thank you for all you do,

 

Danny Coonan, Principal

Higher Learning Academy