University’s faculty and administrative teams have continually worked to reshape and refine our strategies to address a big question: How can we most effectively integrate our new students into the school community?
This year, spearheaded by our Dean of Students, Jake Thurman, we have implemented a new Freshman Flex (“Flex” refers to our Academic Flex Time, a multi-purpose 35-minute period that occurs just before lunch on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays) designed to help our freshman class make the transition into high school.
From Mr. Thurman: “The first of this semester’s six Freshman Flex meetings got off to a great start last week. Building upon a terrific experience at Freshman Retreat (and maintaining their same retreat groups of 8-10 students), this course will provide students with further tools to help them make the most of their experience at UHS. My role is to lead them through sessions designed to better help them understand the culture of UHS and their role in both maintaining it and shaping its future. The sessions will also incorporate an introduction to our College Counseling program, fulfilling the state-required College and Career Readiness standards for our students.”
Every UHS student, from their first day of freshman year through graduation, is a valuable member of our community, and our hope is that Freshman Flex will be a great way to help our newest Trailblazers navigate this first step in their high school journey.