So far, Thompson Valley High School has been a very warm and welcoming school

especially for my first time in a high school as a future educator. I can already tell that TVHS is

all about the students and giving them resources to be successful and pursue their interests inside

and outside of the classroom. From what I can tell so far, the culture at TVHS seems to be having

an inclusive environment for everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from or what

their interests may be. They show this through their norms which are titled STRONG. Each letter

means something different. The S stands for strength and through this, they are inclusive by

ensuring students maintain appropriate boundaries such as language, space, touching, etc. The T

stands for teamwork and they show inclusiveness through teamwork by supporting and

participating in various school or out of school activities. The R stands for respect and by

understanding differences, races, and other ideas they show their inclusive environment through

this. The O stands for being open minded and everything about this letter shows how they try to

have an inclusive culture at their school such as trying new things and meeting new people. The

N stands for noble and through it, they show their inclusive environment by being responsible

and being honest. Lastly, the G stands for goals which don't show much of their inclusive

environment within it but TVHS has treat others how you want to be treated in that section

which does show their culture.

Students have tons of options for programs, resources, and activities. One of the main

activities in every high school is sports and TVHS has twenty-three of them that students can

participate in. TVHS also has AP, AVID, ASCENT, and Geometry in Construction for resources

and programs for students. And on top of all this, they have twenty-four clubs that students can

join as well. Parents can get involved through all these activities especially when cheering on

their students and their teams in athletics. Mr. Duval said that they have a great volleyball team
and parents are always there to support TVHS even if their students aren’t involved in the sport

directly. Parents also can find a family newsletter on the TVHS website that keeps them

informed with what is going on in the school. I think all these programs, activities, and resources

can encourage appropriate behavior for students but I think the best example is AVID. Not only

does it help students with their classwork, it also teaches time management and teamwork.

Teamwork is one of the core principles of TVHS and it is never a bad trait to teach young

students. Time management is also something that is fundamental to learn especially when

someone is in high school. I still struggle with this as a senior in college and wish I could have

learned it in high school. The demographics of TVHS are pretty even especially when it comes

to men and women which have slightly more men at 51% and 49% are women. It is majority a

white school with 72.6% being white and 27.4% minority. The largest minority group at TVHS

would be the Hispanic community at 21.8%.1

In Mr. Clogge’s classroom, there are a wide range of 9th grade students that I am

interacting with daily. According to Mr. Clogge, out of thirty-two students, about ten of them

have IEP’s. None of the students have a 504 plan in his class however. Only a few students seem

to be mature as well and actually can sit down and pay attention and listen to his lecture and his

directions the first time. Most of the other students still are in that middle school mindset and

remind me of the students I taught at Boltz Middle School last semester. Overall, Mr. Clogge’s

classroom is very student oriented. He barely lectures and always starts discussions within his

class and gives them tasks to do by themselves or with groups. His classroom culture is mostly

making every student participate and helping them connect stuff they are learning to the real

world. The physical classroom itself is very overwhelming. He has tons and tons of posters on

his walls where I don’t think any wall can be seen. Even his white board is covered up and his
1
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/colorado/districts/thompson-school-district-r-2j/thompson-valley-high-school-4269
podium as well. All the chairs in the room for students to sit in are apart of tables so they can be

in groups and work with groups just like what Mr. Clogge wants his learning environment to be

in his classroom. There are more men in the class than women and most of the students are white

with some latino students.