The Helix staff has been busy the last few months.
In November, we accepted the National Blue Ribbon Award in Washington D.C. and met with state and local representatives to share our success. East County Schools Federal Credit Union made a great video celebrating this accomplishment. You can find it at eastcountyschools.org/learn/education/videos, along with other videos about schools in the local area doing interesting things.
We have also been hard at work preparing for our WASC accreditation cycle in February and look forward to hosting the committee in February. If there are any community members who would like to join us for a discussion about the school’s most important initiatives in the next few years, please email [email protected]. The discussion will be held in the Helix Library on Sunday, Feb. 5 from 4 – 5 p.m.
Our Career Technical Education staff attended the Fall Conference in Palm Springs. 
Staff representation from the business, biotechnology, education, and sports medicine pathways participated in workshops to further grow and develop the pathways. Mrs. Trevino, our grade level principal and CTE admin lead, presented at the conference on “Effective Evaluations of Career Technical Education Pathways”. Our staff also revised and modified their 2023 action plans aligned to specific goals to further student development within the industries.
Our College & Career center hosted an “I’ve Applied” Party to celebrate all of the seniors who worked hard to turn in college applications. The college application process is a huge undertaking and our students and staff have done an amazing job getting it all done.
Performing Arts:
Helix Charter High School had the pleasure of hosting the Grossmont Union High School District’s Marching Band and Color Guard District Fall Showcase last month. For the first time in three years, this annual event recommenced and bands from all 11 schools in the district performed individually, then amassed for the grand finale where they were joined by the SDSU Marching Aztecs. It was a great night of music and an opportunity for family and friends to see the Helix Highlander Band’s 2022 field show, The Pursuit of Happiness, along with performances from all other schools at a local venue while supporting music education in our schools. Congratulations to all District Bands for your support and participation. 
The Helix Choir & Dance Team had some great performances which got us all in the holiday spirit. Look out for the Highland Players performing the musical “Rent” from Feb. 1-11.
Athletics:
The Helix Fitness Course class ran a 5k at Lake Murray and the Advanced Sports Medicine course students were there providing medical care during the race. Our girls varsity volleyball team played through the CIF and State Playoffs for the first time in Helix history. 
The team finished as the CIF State SoCal Regional runner-up to the top seeded Buckley School. They traveled more than 1,400 miles in their last week. They represented our school and community well on this historic, wild, and memorable trip through California. Cheer finished second at the CIF competition, the boys water polo team worked their way up to the CIF DII Finals and lost to Rancho Bernardo and girls water polo kicked off the season by winning the RB invitational. Check out our website (helixathletics.net) and app (Helix Athletics) for scores and live streaming options as winter sports are underway.
Clubs:
The Chess Club hosted a successful tournament in the Helix Library. The Helix Chess Club is very popular and has also become a place where English Learner students can connect with their English-speaking peers, since chess is an international language. Thank you Marco Margarito Jr. for advising the club, facilitating the tournament and hosting practice every day during lunch.
The ACE Club (Architecture, Construction & Engineering) at Helix is very active, they meet weekly and take field trips exploring different careers and trades. They recently attended Trades Day at SeaWorld 
to learn about different construction trades through hands-on activities.
The National Honor Society club ran a successful winter clothing drive “Give Cozy to Get Cozy” event.
The Helix Journalism Club is getting up and running and you’ll start to see new content from them on our website (helixcharter.net) and on social media (instagram.com/helixstudentlife and facebook.com/helixcharterhighschool).
Upcoming Events:
To increase connection among our families, we have been hosting Parents Night Out events. Last month, we hosted Webinar Watch Parties, where we viewed informative webinars about mental health. We had counselors and social workers on-site to answer questions and enjoyed a nice discussion with each other over dinner.
We have a lot of parent events happening in the new year, including Parent / Guardian Shadow Day (1/19) and Back to School Night (1/26). We’ll send a school-wide newsletter out in January with more information.
Enrollment season for the 2023-2024 school year is on the horizon. Visit helixcharter.net/enroll for the latest information and a list of FAQs.
Winter Break will be Dec. 19 – Jan. 4 and school will resume on Jan. 5, 2023.
– Lauren Knuth is the community relations & engagement coordinator at Helix Charter High School.
