Principal’s Notes

December 2, 2008

This week in leadership:

Comprehensive Assessment System

The district Curriculum Cabinet group has been discussing the development of a district-wide comprehensive assessment system. We recently agreed that the development of an assessment vision or goal statement needed to be crafted to guide the district’s work in this area. Here at the high school our work in course competency development and competency assessment is an integral component in completing a comprehensive assessment system. With that in mind the district has contracted with a consultant from Measured Progress who has been tasked with working with us on assessment practices at all grade levels in some capacity.
In our high school leadership meeting this morning we began to articulate key components that might frame an assessment vision. I have included some of the important points that might be included in our vision. A comprehensive assessment vision should:
· Inform students, parents, and teachers about what a student knows and is able to do
· Should guide instruction
· Should be dynamic over time
· Include a student's ability to self assess; to gain a self-awareness of abilities
· Allow for the sharing of similar student data to be discussed by teachers of commonly taught courses for the purpose of elevating student achievement
· Include end of level benchmarks
· Include the practitioner voice in system development
· Engage in effective use of data and associated training to achieve that end
· Promote learning

Competency

We also discussed the progress on competency work. Departments continue to be in different places with this work. Going forward will depend on where each department is in the process. Some things you can expect may be department sharing and discussion of work completed to date, rubric discussion and development, sufficiency and acceptable levels of proficiency.

Given the many discussions about learning expectations and their direct link to competencies that took place during the NEASC meetings, I believe we are getting a handle on the true value of this effort. I want to reassure you that we will be diligent in moving forward with this work and will complete it on our timeline, which will likely not coincide with the D.O.E.’s June 09 timeline. We have been responsible in making our way through these uncharted waters so that we do not put something in place that will negatively impact our students.

Principal's Notes

Prinicipal's Notes

November 7, 2008



This week at SHS we have experienced some unique and troubling challanges. Parents, you were made a aware that we worked closely with the Salem Police Department and the County Attorney to deal with two issues occuring at school. Letters were sent home with students on Monday afternoon from Superintendent Delahanty regarding a threat classified by the SPD as a "low level" threat along with information about the response. A second letter went home on Thursday afternoon with students (also emailed) about some inappropriate images of students being passed around by students on cell phones. While these issues have caused distraction to our primary charge, it has created an important opportunity to meet and dialoque with students about the behavior and hopefully provide some real-life learning.

I want to remind parents that you are invited to the Seifert Auditorium on Monday evening at 7:00pm to hear more about this growing concern in today's high schools, what possible ramifications it could lead to both short and long term, and what you can be doing as a parent to help your child proctect themselves. County Attorney Reims along with law enforcemnt will participate in the prsentation and be available to answer your questions. We look forward to the opportunity to work with parents so that our kids grow into healthy and productive citizens.

We have recently constructed a parent email list serve. We used the email to sen the letter from Mr. Delahanty in addition to the hard copy. If you failed to receive an email and would like to be included in our list serve, please email to jarnfield@sau57.org and we will add you to the service.

Principal’s Notes
Sept. 23

The opening of school has gone very smoothly and it is amazing to think we have already completed nearly one month of school! Just over two thousand two hundred students walked through the doors on the first day and began a full schedule of classes. Our teaching staff continues to work on the process of creating and refining competencies and assessments in all of our core academic courses. This process will ultimately provide students and parents with a clear understanding about what a student knows in a particular course of study. Our afterschool extra-curricular programs are in full swing and involve hundreds of students. For example the Actors Guild already has a performance scheduled to hit the stage this weekend and our athletic teams are living up to our “Sports Illustrated” fame. The high school is in full speed!

This year we will be writing our Five-Year Accreditation Report for the New Association of Schools and Colleges. Attempts to address the long standing recommendations by NEASC about improving our facility will likely be an issue for the Association as the plans for school renovation failed. At this time we do not know how that will impact our accreditation status. I will keep you apprised as the school year progresses.

We continue to advance our technology infrastructure, access, and opportunities for students with the deployment of Thin Clients throughout the building and remote access to our server. Greater availability of computers for students in school and remote access from home will enable students and teachers to enhance communication and learning experiences.

This week we invited the State Police K-9 units into the building as part of our effort to keep illegal substances out of our school. The unannounced visit brought officers and drug sniffing dogs in two areas of the school. I am happy to report that there were no illegal substances found during the search. We plan to continue with the unannounced visits throughout the year.

We are off to a great school year. If you have questions please call or email. I have included the link to our school website below. Right click on the link and select “open link” to access the school calendar or athletic calendar for the schedule of events.
http://www.salemschooldistrictnh.com/schools/shs/

Principal’s Notes
August 12, 2008



STUDENTS: I hope that your summer was relaxing and provided opportunities for fun and adventure. Although it may be a bit premature to shift your thinking from the lazy days of summer to the school-year ahead, I encourage you to begin considering what you would like to accomplish this year. Thoughtful planning about courses and active participation in the different learning experiences and school activities may just be the spark that sets you on an exciting path to your future. While we will be there to provide support, instruction, and guidance, your success will be based on the degree of responsibility you assume for your own planning, learning and growth. If you begin with a thoughtful and challenging plan of study, engage in activities of interest, and invest quality time and energy in these experiences, you are bound to move forward in the pursuit of becoming who you want to be! A new school year is a fresh start and is filled with exciting possibilities for the future. Take advantage of every minute for your high school years will be a memory before you know it! See you soon and enjoy the rest of the summer!

STAFF:
On August 25th, the district breakfast will be served beginning at 8:00 a.m. in cafeteria at SHS. The district staff meeting will begin at approximately 8:45 a.m. and teachers should be able to return to their buildings by 11:00 a.m. All SHS staff will have the opportunity to take lunch and work in classrooms between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. At 1:00pm we will re-convene in the auditorium for our opening staff meeting.

With little more than two weeks before the opening of school our maintenance team continues to work diligently in preparation for the opening. The maintenance staff has been deep cleaning in the classrooms and I am sure you will be happy with the outcome of their effort.
As always our administrative support team has found a way to get everything done in time for our opening. Preparing us for the first day is not an easy task and our gratitude goes out to all the secretaries for their hard work. As is customary new staff will be introduced in our opening staff meeting.
To date we have hired one math teacher, one science teacher, three English teachers, a marketing teacher, a business, teacher, a world language teacher, a JROTC instructor, one secretary, an assistant to the deans, and a new counselor. I have had an opportunity to meet each new staff member and I am confident they will make an excellent addition to our staff. I want to thank each teacher that volunteered for interview teams. Interviewing is a time-consuming but important process and your expertise on these teams is invaluable and greatly appreciated. The New Teacher Orientation is scheduled on August 20th
On the technology front, the IT department has been deploying the new Thin Clients throughout the building and media has completed the set-up of fourteen new computer/projector carts. Food Service has made life a little easier for all by implementing a card swipe purchasing system. This system should help to improve efficiency at the register and provide more time for the students to eat. The parent information module (PIAM) in MMS has been activated on the school web-site for this year. Parents and students will have access to information like student progress and report card grades, attendance, and schedules

ATHLETICS:
The fall athletic season begins for all students interested in playing Varsity and Junior Varsity football on August 13th. For all other fall athletic teams tryouts begin on Monday August 18th. For details about tryouts go to: www.salemschooldistrictnh.com/athletics/

Principal’s Notes
June 4
This week in leadership we discussed:

NECAP: We discussed alternative schedules for the administration of the NECAP testing in the Fall. Respectful of strategies developed in our past work, we are discussing scheduling schemes that put smaller numbers of students in a classroom environment in front of familiar teachers. In the past two years we utilized a half-day model. However, this past year an additional test was added and two half-days are not adequate. We are considering a number of other options, one in particular that looks promising. NECAP officials will allow the administration of the test over multiple days within a three-week window. A promising strategy is administering one test per day. We plan to put together a mock schedule for this type of test administration. More information will follow. If you have any ideas or comments about this strategy or some other please let me know.

Test-taking motivation was an issue raised by the staff and although student effort seemed better, an examination of the booklets and discussion with students and staff revealed a lack of concern by more than a few students over test results. One of the most prevalent comments we heard was that “it does not count for anything.” This is not a new issue and to combat this we are placing scores on transcripts for seniors. For some this serves to motivate. There are likely numerous other ways that we might be able to raise student test-taking motivation. We are looking to you again for ideas to motivate student performance especially about how we might make the test results more meaningful. We are looking for ideas about how to generate more parent involvement in raising the motivation of students. Given the year-end is near, and given the test hits us in October, starting from day one of the next school year I invite anyone interested in tackling this problem to join together and help to plan a strategy! However, if you have ideas now please share them with your director. Every idea is appreciated.

Sophomore Testing: We have tested sophomores over the past two years and plan to do so again this fall. We are examining a pre-PSAT test format put out by the College Board. It aligns with the PSAT and SAT models and will provide students, parents and teachers with valuable data on student strengths and weaknesses. Given our inquiry into alternative test administration schedules with NECAP we may be able to administer this test without school-wide disruption.

Professional Learning Communities: We have been discussing the value of providing time for content-area teachers to routinely meet to discuss student work, assessment results, instructional practice, and intervention/remediation strategies. We are in the early stages of this inquiry and would welcome any feedback or participation in our continued investigation. The link below is to an article that captures the value of a PLC through its articulation of the three primary goals.

http://pdonline.ascd.org/pd_online/secondary_reading/el200405_dufour.html

Graduation Invitations: All staff members are invited to attend the Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2008 on June 13th. As is customary, staff will have reserved seating to the right of the stage area and are invited to join the procession. If you would like to participate you are asked to meet in the lobby area by 6:30 on the evening of the graduation.

Principal’s Notes
This Week in Leadership We Discussed:

Science NECAP:
A big thank you goes out to each of you for your contribution to the testing and Constitutional Convention. Overall, the day went like clockwork from bell to bell and you all played an important role that helped to support that success. It was a challenge to organize the testing and maintain as normal day as possible. The format and scheduling of the Science NECAP were guided by the work that we did as a staff relative to strategies to improve student outcomes i.e. test in the school setting, familiar teachers proctor the exam. I want to especially thank the science and special education departments for their direct involvement in the day-long testing. Let’s hope our efforts have an impact on student performance.

Scholarship Reception, Exhibition of Work, Academic Awards:
The schedule for the evening events is as follows;
5:00pm Scholarship Reception - Café
6:00pm, 7:30 pm –[ Academic awards presentation
7:00pm - Exhibition of work
The Scholarship reception is in the café and is a real “feel good” time. The guidance department and the several of the scholarships sponsors are here and meet for the first time. It is an enjoyable event. Stop in if you are in the building.

Award letters to students have been mailed and we expect an excellent turn-out. Thank you for participating in this important event. This is an excellent opportunity for us to provide evidence to the community of the outstanding work we do for the children. Personally presenting your award means a great deal to each student. Student work from every department is expected and does make a powerful statement to the parents about the level of learning that happens at SHS. See your director for the collection of work for the exhibition.

Graduation:
We have begun our rehearsal and graduation planning. The graduation is planned for June 13th, at 7:00pm with a rain date of June 14th, at 10:30am. All staff are invited to join the processional march and to sit on the field alongside the graduates. I encourage everyone to join us as you are all responsible for this outstanding class.

Cook-Out:We have planned a staff cook-out on the June 18th, from 11:00am-1:00pm in the courtyard. We hope it will be a nice way to wrap-up the year and spend a few minutes saying good-bye for the summer. Please join us if you are able; drop-in or stay the entire time!

Principal’s Notes
This week in our leadership meetings:

Academic Awards Night- Directors are beginning the process of collecting names from you about academic awards in your courses. This is an outstanding evening that really provides us with an opportunity to honor the hard work of students in our classes. Your personal participation in the evening truly makes a difference for the students. Collection of student work from all departments was also discussed.

Competency Document- We discussed the presentation format for the course competencies. It was agreed that organizing our competency work would occur over the summer and be managed by directors.

Professional Learning Communities- We discussed the value and the possibility of implementing weekly opportunities for teachers of common courses to meet about curriculum, instruction and assessment. We also explored how we might provide teachers from different departments with the opportunity to meet to review literature and share practice.

NECAP and AYP- We reviewed the Adequate Yearly progress data in Math and Reading. The data reveals we did not meet the performance target of 84.0 in Reading in two sub–groups. The performance target in Mathematics was 58.0 and three sub-groups fell short of that level. Although our 2005 scores exceeded the performance targets in all areas, our 2004 scores in mathematics did not meet the AYP target. The 2006 testing was considered a pilot test and did not count toward this designation. Because we did not meet the performance targets for three consecutive years (2005, 2007) in mathematics, the State has designated SHS as a school “In Need of Improvement” for Mathematics. Reading is now in its first year falling short of the performance target. We will be examining this data to determine our plan for improvement.

Principal’s Notes
April 24
This week in leadership we discussed:

As we head into a well deserved break we discussed the many remarkable experiences teachers provide for students at SHS. From the Model UN to the now infamous “Dodgeball” competition teachers provide our students with outstanding learning opportunities. In appreciation for all that they do we have organized the following recognition.

May 4-10 Teacher Appreciation Week:

May 5 – Bagels and Coffee served in the Teachers room
May 7- Cheese, fruit and crackers block 3 served in the Teachers room
May 9- Desserts served in the Teachers room

The month of May is an extremely busy and exciting time at SHS. I have included some of the highlights at SHS for the month in this week’s notes.
May 5-14- A.P. Exams

May 7 – Grades close, May 12- grades are due, May 15 Progress Reports go home

May 8- Pre-prom assembly juniors and seniors block 4

May 10- Junior Prom at SHS

May 12- National Honor Society induction- auditorium

May 14- Science NECAP exams all juniors

May 16, 22, 23- Eighth grade tours

May 21- Class elections.

May 21- 5:00pm Scholarship reception in the café
6:00pm Academic awards in the auditorium.
Exhibition of student work in the Davis 5pm-8pm
Note: Please think about the type of student work you would like to display. This is an outstanding opportunity to demonstrate to the community what our students do at SHS. Your participation is appreciated and important. INDEPENDENT STUDY students are required to have a presentation at the exhibition.

May 22- JROTC banquet

May 23- Half-day for seniors - Senior Prom

May 28-31 Phantom Tollbooth Children’ Play

Please check the link for a complete calendar of events.

http://www.salemschooldistrictnh.com/schools/shs/

Principal’s Notes April 10:

In leadership this past week we discussed the following topics:

Summer Academies: Decisions on summer academies are in process and will soon be made public. We re-examined the direction for the academies resulting in consideration of curriculum enhancement and professional training opportunities. Information about academies will be forth coming from the SAU shortly.

Incident Command: The District leadership will be participating in an emergency management training session on June 24th. This will be an opportunity to familiarize all administrators will the incident command model and to revisit our building emergency plan.

Teacher Contracts: Contracts will be heading our way on Friday, April 11 and are to be returned by Friday, April 25th. We will be hand delivering contracts to you on Friday.

Science NECAP: Science NECAP testing will happen on May 14th. We will be testing during a regular school day and will not have the benefit of a half-day as with the fall testing. This has presented some challenges in terms of the administration of the test and our commitment to remain consistent with our belief about testing in a learning environment with familiar teachers is best. Different than the pilot last year, this years’ test must be administered at the same time for all students. Not wanting to disrupt the entire building and to keep kids in school to test, we have scheduled the NECAP to be administered in the big gym on the 14th of May. Teacher schedules and test administration information will be forth coming.

Staff Meeting: April 17th, is our next scheduled staff meeting and as such we are trying to determine how best to use this time. I realize that it seems like a while since we met as a staff due largely to the required competency work. I also realize that it is important for us to routinely get together for numerous reasons (sometimes just because it’s nice to see everyone). I have asked the directors to review the competency work made by department to gain a sense of progress made and time needed. We will reconvene on Tuesday morning to determine how to utilize our staff meeting time on Thursday.

Interviews: Directors will be developing interview schedules for vacancies. As has been our practice, your participation on interview teams is highly valued. A schedule of positions and dates will be forth coming.

Faculty Play: This years’ play promises to be entertaining. The play is being presented next week on April 16th and 17th and your support of these promising actors would be greatly appreciated!

Below you will find a calendar of the upcoming events here at SHS!
www.salemschooldistrictnh.com/schools/shs/shs_staffcalendar.htm

Principal’s Notes April 1:

In leadership this past week we discussed the following topics:

College Ready Standards- This week we read and discussed an article entitled High School Teaching for the Twenty-first Century: Preparing Students for College. According to the article “most students need at least some post-secondary education to earn a decent wage. An estimated 85% of current jobs and almost 90% of the fastest-growing and best paying jobs require some post-secondary education.” The article goes on to report that 80% of high school age students nationally are aware of the need to continue with some level of post-secondary education. However, nationally a mere 34% graduate ready for the post-secondary experience. The article cites as a cause for the low readiness percentage a misalignment with what high schools teach and what colleges expect. It claims that today’s high schools do not focus on “college readiness standards” to guide curriculum and instruction but rather, continue to emphasize lots of content.

It was a relevant and timely topic given our work on course competencies and assessments and our pending response to the NEASC five year report due next year. While the article offers a compelling case for advancing rigor and aligning with college expectations, it did not seem to address other essential components of an effective school, i.e. environment and personalization.

If you would like to read the article, I have attached the link below. It is about 12 pages in length and goes into some detail about college readiness standards.

www.all4ed.org-files-archive-publications-HSTeach21st.pdf

Principal’s Note
March 20:

In leadership this past week we discussed the following topics:

Technology Updates:

The District is considering a leasing strategy to update our aging computers. Mr. Delahanty met with a representative group of teachers from the high school and middle school to gain a sense of how computers are being used in the classroom. The timeline on the roll-out of the plan is being considered. Also, IT is planning the implementation of wireless access throughout the building for the 08-09 school-year.

On-Line Attendance seems to be going more smoothly. The accuracy of block one attendance is important as it is our official accounting and used in many required State reports. Block two-four attendance also seems to be going more smoothly. The Deans have found this to be more efficient in helping you manage class cutting. Please let a Dean know if this is working more efficiently than filling out cut slips.

MMS On-Line Course Registration was a topic for discussion this past week. MMS has the feature however, does not have the capacity to link prerequisites to a course or incorporate course sequencing. At this time on-line registration seems like it may create more inefficiencies than the current bubbling system.

Electronic Device Update:

Mr. Delahanty is planning to bring the language we developed to the school board for their review. It is likely that a representative group will be invited to meet with the board to discuss the language.

Co-Curricular Policy Review:

A representative group of coaches, club advisors, parents, student, and administrators have been meeting to review the existing policy. Some concerns about the policy have been raised. The group has reviewed policies from surrounding high schools, has come to some agreement on philosophy, and determined implementation parameters. Enforcement and sanctions for violating the policy are still on the committees’ agenda. If you have an opinion on the issue that you would like to share, some members of the committee are listed below:

A.D. Chris Bergeron, Mike Courtois, Craig Robinson, Ginny Lavallo, Breanna Parhialia, Marty Clausen, Mrs. C. Wilson (parent), Mrs. U. Miller (parent), George Murray, Tracy Collyer, Tracy McCaffrey

Principal’s Note
Feb. 21


Below you will find topic’s discussed this week along with a calendar of upcoming events at SHS.

Competency Template In our Tuesday morning leadership meeting we discussed and revised a template that we hope will provide some consistency in the manner in which we organize the course competency documents. This draft document includes examples of how it might be completed. If anyone has suggestions for improving this document please see your director. A consistent format for organizing the information will be a useful tool for teachers, students and parents.

Teacher Input Also, discussed was a teacher suggestion relating to competency work that would enable a teacher who is working on competencies in one area to offer assessments for consideration in other courses they teach. This makes good sense and as a result directors have created folders on the shared drive to support your ability to post assessments. The details of how to do this are included in the attached staff meeting document.

PLAN Sophomore Test Results As you may recall sophomores participated in a grade level testing program developed by the A.C.T. test developers. Our goals for this exam (stemming from suggestions teachers made) were to provide practice test-taking opportunities to improve NECAP scores, to provide teachers, parents and students information about areas of student strengths and weakness, and to offer students and parents guidance about course selection and career education. The results have come in and individual student results have been sent home and have been distributed to teachers who presently have these sophomore students in class. Results will be redistributed at the start of the next school year as one strategy to support improved student performance on NECAP.

NECAP Results NECAP results have been released. You may review the results at www.ed.state.nh.us/necap

Attendance Questions about attendance for each block were brought to the meeting. Regarding Block one attendance: This attendance is critical and must be completed by everyone (including teachers with block one independent studies scheduled). We ask that you electronically send your block one attendance no later than 8:00 am. I realize that some of you have problems with computers and others still do not have a computer accessible in the classroom. We continue to work with IT on correcting those hardware issues. Blocks 2, 3, 4 attendance is used by Deans to follow-up on student absenteeism. Like any newly integrated system, ideas about improving efficiency in this process will grow out of its use.

Gradequick Attendance Module Some teachers have inquired about the use of Gradequick’s attendance module as a tool we should use instead of MMS. We support this procedure and have asked IT to determine its feasibility. There are efficiencies to moving in this direction to everyone. IT is looking in to it for us.

Upcoming Events:
2/22 5:30 & 7:00pm Women’s JV/Varsity Basketball home vs. Central
5:30 & 7:00pm Men’s JV/Varsity Basketball away vs. Central
2/23 9:00am Men’s Wrestling Meet of Champions
2/27 Women’s Varsity Basketball playoffs home (time to be determined)
2/27 Men’s Ice Hockey Playoff’s home (time to be determined)
3/5 WinterGuard, Winter Percussion Spaghetti Supper fundraiser $5.00/per person Performances to follow dinner
3/13 Progress Reports go home
3/15 Make-A-Wish Benefit Dinner – Key Club

Principal’s Notes
March 6

This week in Leadership meetings:

School on Monday March 10: With the amount of snow in the north-country and this seemingly relentless weather pattern there remains a reasonable possibility that we may lose more school time. With the potential to lose time it makes good sense to be in school on Monday. The down side of this is the loss of quality time to work on course competencies. Obviously, not having the January and the March days to work on competencies limits the outcome of our work. With that said, we can only do what we are able to on Tuesday and will need to continue the effort during some of our department and staff meeting time. That will just have to suffice.

Technology Issues: We experienced some access issues this week because of a “loop back” connection in the network and because of a brief power outage. While frustrating, the good news is that the server responded properly and there was no impact on data.
Mrs. Collyer has been investigating the Parent Information Access Module (PIAM) in MMS. This module will permit controlled access to their child’s information i.e. attendance, discipline grades. In addition, she has been researching the On-line Course registration module. More on this later.

Progress Reports: Due dates for progress report grades have been pushed to Monday because of the loss of access to GradeQuick this week. Progress report grades are due to Jamie on Monday and reports will be distributed to students in block one classes on Thursday, March thirteenth.

Cut Slips: The Deans will be using MMS attendance to track student cuts. Teacher cut slips will no longer be required (see George Murray’s 3/5 email for details).

Electronic Device Update: Language on electronic device use developed by a group of staff members with your feedback has gone to the superintendent for review.

The eight members of our group recently finalized our statement regarding electronic devices. We took the staff discussions, feedback (over 30 pieces), our conversations and came up with what we believe reflects the direction that “most” of us want. The statement is as follows:

The use of electronic devices is permitted in instructional areas when deemed appropriate by the teacher/supervisor and when such use is related to the lesson. The use of electronic devices is permitted during assigned lunchtimes and during scheduled passing times. Electronic devices shall not interfere with student safety and communication with any SHS staff member.
As for now, our existing policy on electronic devices remains in force.

Make-A-Wish Dinner: This event is scheduled for Saturday, March 15 here at SHS. Mrs. Locke and the Key club have organized and hosted this event for many years. Their efforts have raised and contributed to this wonderful cause more than $42,000.00 during this time. Just think about all those wishes they have helped to come true! Thank you Mrs. Locke and Key Club for all that you have done. You may be aware that this will be Mrs. Locke’s last year and her absence will certainly leave a tremendous void at SHS. Her dedication and commitment to this wonderful community service oriented Club has influenced hundreds of students in so many positive ways. If anyone has an interest in carrying on the important work of this organization, I bet Mrs. Locke would be pleased to pass on the torch!

Future Programs: Discussion of adding new programming at SHS included expanding offerings in World Language, Computer programming, Project Lead the Way, and Special Education.

High School of the Future : “ A learning process in which schools help students assess their own talents and aspirations, plan a pathway toward their own purposes, work cooperatively with others on challenging tasks, maintain a record of their explorations, and demonstrate their learning against clear standards in a wide variety of media, all with the close support of an adult mentors and guides.”

We used the thought above as a catalyst for thinking about the uncertain but exciting possibilities for the future of our high school. With the depth of experience and progressive thinkers our staff possesses, engaging anyone among the staff in thinking about and discussing the future of our school is exciting. We talked about how to provide opportunity for those interested in thinking and talking about our future might be possible. Your ideas and thoughts on this topic would be greatly appreciated. With a review of our block schedule in process, the eventual loss of the Windham students, competency assessment, learning expectations, improved technology, eventual renovation, and a thoughtful and caring teaching staff talking about the “possibilities” seems timely. If you have any ideas you have about how to begin these conversations please share them with your department directors.