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!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
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.
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.
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