The High Road Schools of Washington, DC opened its first high school in August of 2002.  Due to growth and expansion, The High Road Upper School, dedicated to students with behaviors, spun off from the Academy which continues to serve Learning Disabilities. The High Road Upper School of Washington, DC opened its door on Taylor Street, NW in February of 2004.  At HRUS, we recognize and identify the challenges faced by our students.  We strive to assist them with strategies to make academic as well as social gains.

HRUS offers programming for students earning their DCPS Diploma or IEP Certificate.  Some students may be preparing to take the GED examination.  Students are generally grouped in classes according to their ages, levels of achievement, and required course work.  Students completing all diploma course requirements earn 6 Carnegie Units each school year.

Within the same classroom, the variety of instructional materials is apparent immediately.  In any give classroom, you may readily notice that our teachers use about 5-8 different reading and writing programs and 3-4 different math programs.  The use of different workbooks, textbooks, and computer programs reflects the uniqueness of each student’s academic needs, learning style, and interests.

Our tutorial-based model ensures that each student’s instruction supports their individual learning style.  We start by helping the student master achievable skills.  Once a student has that success, a certain excitement about learning is felt.  Gradually, we introduce more challenging, but never overwhelming, topics.

Small Class Size
A special education teacher and a teacher assistant staff each classroom, which is limited to 12 students.  The small student to staff ratio enables our staff to teach in a manner most appropriate for each student and allows the student to progress at her or his own pace.

Establishing Core Academic Skills
Throughout the morning, the teacher and teacher assistant work with students, individually or in pairs, in direct instruction of the core skills of reading, writing, and mathematics, toward the IEP and DCPS curricular goals.  An essential tool to help each student continue the process of life-long learning is reading.  Our teachers employ a variety of reading, spelling, and writing methodologies to help the student establish this most basic foundation.

In mathematics, students learn, according to their IEP and DCPS curricular goals, computation skills followed by problem solving applications.  We guide the student along this skills/application sequence by gradually introducing him or her to more demanding material.  At every age, we emphasize math applications essential for adult life, such as time and money management.

Afternoon instruction includes content area classes in science, social studies, physical education and health, and art, as dictated by DCPS course scope and sequence and by the student’s IEP outcome.  A student may earn Carnegie Credits and work toward completion of a (1) High School Diploma, (2) High School Certificate at age 21, or (3) High School Certificate prior to age 21.

Student Population
HRUS is designed to help male and female adolescents, ages 13 – 21, who have educational difficulties with an emotional or behavioral component.  Many students have a classification of Emotional Disturbance (ED).  Students with other classifications (i.e. mental retardation, ADHD, etc.) show behaviors and social-emotional deficits.

Student Goals
Emphasize academics to prepare young adults for adult, post-secondary life.
Provide continuous positive feedback on building skills and abilities.
Develop identified personal career and vocational plan.
Integrated therapeutic insight and limit-setting to promote healthy living.
Tangible results based on data-driven instructional decisions.

School Calendar and Hours of Operation
HRUS generally follows DCPS academic year calendar.  The School Office hours are 7:30a.m. – 4:00p.m.  The student day begins at 8:30a.m. and ends at 3:00p.m.  On half days, students are dismissed at 12:15p.m.

High Road Upper School Success Stories

James is a graduating senior that has been attending High Road Upper School since August 2007 and has excelled tremendously at our school. James is looking forward to attending college this fall and has aspirations of becoming a Social Work at Northampton Community College, Bethlehem, PA.
Congratulations, James you’ll be missed by all of us.

Markee Brown will be attending Sanford Brown-College in Vienna, VA. Markee has been attending High Road Upper School since December 2008. He’s looking forward to graduate from high school and going to college this fall to study banking and/or accounting.
Keep up the great work and continued success to you, Markee.

Student of the Year!

High Road Upper School of Washington, DC (HRUS), has a lot of things to smile about this school year. Student Jirard Goudeaux has completed his General Equivalency Diploma (GED) requirements for High Road Upper School and recently passed his GED examination this January 2010. Less than a year ago, Jirard started the program with some resistance; however, he was able to shine and accomplish such a great feat in a short period of time.
Jirard’s classroom teacher Mr. Edmonds is overwhelmed with joy and enthusiasm along with the entire staffs at HRUS. Everyone is very proud of him for accomplishing and following through with his goals. In addition, Jirard was recently accepted into the Urban Education of Washington, DC A+ IT Technician Certification program with a full scholarship.

Congratulations, Jirard on completing this chapter in your life.  You are truly on a path of greatness and continued success to you.

From the Staff at
High Road Upper School
Of Washington, DC

This year High Road Upper School has added more sport options for this school year. We’ve added a track team and a cheerleading team. Having more sport options at HRUS has been a great way to get some of our new students involved in our program and teaching them how to build friendships. work with new people and as a team member.

DC-PACT

High Road Upper School has a transitional program called DC-Professional Academy of Careers and Technology (DC-PACT). The mission of DC-PACT mission is to provide educational experiences that will enable each student to become a lifelong learner, enter the work force with necessary skills to achieve academic and personal potential. DC-PACT serves students that attend High Road Academy they assist students with exploring different options such as college, vocational training schools or entering the workforce after graduation.

DC-PACT also provide services in the areas of:
•    Assessments
•    Resume Writing
•    Training in Daily Living Skills
•    Career Planning
•    Cooperative Work Experience
•    Independent Work Experience
•    SAT/ACT Preparation
•    College Planning
•    College Visits
•    School-to-Work Program
•    Community Services

Some of the vocational training courses are:

Child Care- Students will learn about the development of a child from birth to adolescence.
Cosmetology- Students will learn the proper ways to cut hair, treat hair and grooming techniques. In addition, our students are able to earn hours towards their cosmetology certification.
Barbering- Students learn the proper ways to male grooming. The course focuses on teaching our male students how to provide hair care services for male clients such as scalp treatments, grooming and shaving services.
Graphic Design- Students are given the opportunity to learn about visual design. Students learn vocabulary words and how to combine the artistic and digital skill of web design.
Information Technology- Students learn the hardware, software and information systems of a computer. They are taught how to use Power Point, Excel, and Word Office Suite.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

High Road Upper School welcomes you back from the summer and we hoped you had a wonderful summer and are ready for another exciting school year. This year High Road Upper School has adopted the District of Columbia’s Public School Dress Code/Uniform Policy. The rulemaking was enacted on March 5, 2009 by the City Council approval and Mayor’s order. We are excited to require the dress code policy and maintain compliance with the local school district. The Student Government Associations at our schools have also strongly supported this transition.

We have enclosed student shirt order forms, which require your completion, payment and submission to us as soon as possible. All students are required to wear the High Road shirt either short sleeve or long sleeved and khaki bottoms to school on a daily basis.

Parents, Guardians thank you for the continued support and we look forward to another great school year!

High Road Upper School Administration & Staff