NJHS: Membership in NJHS signifies academic and personal excellence. Members pledge to be true to the principles for which NJHS stands including scholarship, leadership, service, character, and citizenship. After attaining a semester grade pint average of 3.5 or higher, students apply for membership for which they will be recognized and honored.

DFY in SCV: The Castaic Union School District is launching an exciting new drug and alcohol prevention program in collaboration with the County, City, and Sheriff's Department. The program is called DFY in SCV, which stands for Drug Free Youth in the Santa Clarita Valley, and is being offered to 7th and 8th grade students at Castaic Middle School. It is a free, school-based, voluntary, anti-drug club for teens with the goal to provide a positive peer network that supports healthy choices and a drug free lifestyle. We are looking forward to a successful year and hope that DFY in SCV adds another level of support for the youth in our community. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the club's Advisor, John Simons. Thank you in advance for you support.

SSA: At its core, the Safe School Ambassadors program is an "inside-out" approach to improving school climate, one that relies on social norms change and the power of students to help stop bullying and violence. Student bystanders see, hear, and know things adults don't, can intervene in ways adults can't and are often on the scene of an incident before an adult. They are a critical and under-utilized resource for positively impacting the crisis of bullying in our schools.

The Safe School Ambassadors program engages and mobilizes these bystanders, but not just any bystanders. The program harnesses the power of the socially-influential leaders of a school's diverse cliques, the ones who shape the social norms that govern other students' behavior. These "alpha" leaders are carefully identified through student and staff surveys. They are selected based upon specific criteria, such as: strong position and influence in their peer group, good communication skills, and a history of standing up for friends.

The recruited students participate in an interactive training along with several adults who serve as program mentors. The training gives student Ambassadors the motivation and skills to resolve conflicts, defuse incidents, and support isolated and excluded students. After the training, small group meetings of Ambassadors are held every few weeks. These meetings, led by the adult mentors, provide time for strengthening skills, support data collection and analysis of Ambassador interventions, and help sustain student and adult commitment to the program."