Read the vertex directly from vertex form y = a(x - h)² + k, convert from standard form, and describe transformations.
Vertex form, y = a(x - h)² + k, is standard form's more generous cousin: it hands you the vertex, (h, k), with no computation at all. Watch the sign carefully - y = 2(x - 3)² + 1 has vertex (3, 1), because the form subtracts h, so a "+3" inside the parentheses would actually mean h = -3. The a still controls direction and width exactly like before: bigger |a| means a narrower, steeper parabola; a negative a still flips it upside down.
You already know how to find a parabola's vertex from standard form - last week's axis-of-symmetry work IS the conversion. Once you have the vertex (h, k), vertex form is just y = a(x-h)² + k with the same a as the original. This form is where quadratics stop being abstract and start being useful: a maximum profit, a maximum height, a minimum cost are all exactly the vertex of some parabola, read off directly with no extra solving.
Mastery looks like: They read the vertex directly from vertex form (including the sign flip) and convert a standard-form quadratic to vertex form using its vertex.
Common stumbles: Reading h with the wrong sign (writing vertex (3,k) for (x+3)²); forgetting that a stays the same number when converting between forms.