Principals Message 3-23-2009

FOCUS GROUP PROGRESS

It gives me great pleasure to share with you the science and math department will be expanding their focus groups of nine students to their entire population for the fourth marking period. First of all, I would like to thank them for their incredible dedication. They are anxious to explore what needs to be done to get the whole school ready for September so that we are able to measure the progress of our students and create communication throughout our entire community to raise the achievement level of every single student who enters our building.

As they get ready for the fourth marking period, they are collecting potential obstacles so we are able to eliminate them in preparation for September. Some of the ideas that have been developed include setting up an expert for Microsoft Excel so people can receive professional development or day-to-day support. We have also been exploring how knowing the content of a subject area can be measured and included in the data collection. The discussions developing from this work have been eye-opening, engaging, and, from my perspective, have expanded my thinking as far as defining our purpose and paving a way to raise the achievement level of our students.

If anyone else is interested in expanding from the nine students to their entire population, please let me know as soon as possible. We have been producing time to enter the names and diagnostic results to begin tracking our students for the fourth marking period. Our preparatory deadline is April 3rd so if you are interested, we need to get started as soon as possible. The bigger the sample we have of measuring success and productivity, the better we will be prepared for September. The instructional cabinet has already set up dates to invite these participants in to reflect on the expansion and to continue organizing professional development, meeting times, data entry time, maintaining or simplifying the work day, and so much more. The more feedback we are able to collect the better idea we will have of what needs to be put in place to be a great school.

THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING…AND I LIKE IT.

We are putting the tools in place to be the best school. Any type of initiative that gives us the ability to reflect and supports our decision making is bound to bring success. We will no longer be signing up for professional development without direction provided by the data we collect. We will no longer be making referrals to special education unless the data is consistent with what we believe is the proper setting for a child. We will no longer be holding back a student unless the data shows no progress or comprehension was made. We will be able to connect summer school to supporting a child to reaching proficiency within the skills we deem to be the necessary ones to bring life long success to him or her.

ELIMINATING CONFUSION

Will we be teaching a skill to the entire class everyday? Our curriculum will continue to be driven by the state standards. What we are deriving from the curriculum is a set of skills our students need to be successful in comprehending what we will be sharing with them so they can function to the best of their ability after they graduate from our school. As the world continues to progress with the innovation of technology, we must shift our expectation of content retention to skill-based proficiency. It is vital that our students have information literacy where they are able to obtain the answers to questions that life brings to them.

As you continue to explore your content with the students, you will be stressing certain skills which will help them obtain mastery of the material being shared. The content will drive the lesson planning, the skills necessary to master the content will drive the group support, and the goals you have set up for your students will dictate the order of how you support your students. Will you still be able to host projects with your students? Of course! Will you be able to share your excitement for your subject area? Of course! Administration will be hosting lesson planning sessions after school. We will set up a schedule per subject area so you are able to get the direct support you need. That schedule will be ready by the end of the week.

ATTENDANCE FOR THE WEEK

Monday: 87%
Tuesday: 87%
Wednesday: 89%
Thursday: 90%
Friday: 90%

STAFF BIRTHDAYS:

Theresa Stephens March 6th
Kathy Semenick March 11th
Paul Mezan March 11th
Chinyere Emmanuel March 14th
Cheryl White-Grier March 17th
Daniel Foley March 17th
Emmanuel Okon April 1st
Jackie Brown April 27th
Debra Blanding April 27th

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“ Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better. ”—King Whitney Jr.