When September Ends

Summer has come and past and September is ending soon.  Hard to believe that the end of the first 9 weeks is in sight.  I have been impressed with the emphasis thus far on increasing the amount of reading, writing, and discussing in all classes.  As I reflected on our PD thus far I see a staff that is displaying a real growth mindset in understanding that we all continue to learn new tools for our toolbox and that we are not where we want to be as a school yet.  Remember that through collective responsibilty for best practices and abundant amounts of reading, writing, and discussing we can grow together.  An example of collective responsibility is emphasizing writing conventions and using complete sentences in all classrooms throughout the school.  This is the expectation for all teachers.   With continued focus on the areas outlined for improvement on August 1st we will continue to make strides towards being the best we can be.  Here are those areas.

1. Meeting the Needs of all learners
2. Engagement
3. Intervention
4. Culture
5. Collective Responsibility 

At the October state board of education meeting the state board will approve school grades. Our grade remains a C for the 16-17 data.  Here is a look at the official ISTEP data. 

8th Grade LA 60% Pass

8th Grade MA 54% Pass

7th Grade LA 61% Pass

7th Grade MA 48% Pass

Based on these proficiency percentages we would have been a D or F,  however because of our student growth we are a C.  Kudos to helping our students grow.  Here is a look at those growth numbers.  

Here you see that 57.7 % of students were proficient and that is multiplied by .50 to give us 28.85 weighted points however our growth percentages of 92.4 in LA and 96 in Math averaged to 94.2 and when multiplied by .50 gave us 47.10 weighted points.  The 2 added together came out to 76.0 weighted points thus a C.   Are you lost yet?  It is confusing but we will take it and continue to focus on the above 5 areas so that we continue to improve.   We must get more students to proficient to get our grade up as our growth has saved us and is pretty darn good.  

Note:  This grade is embargoed thus please do not share yet.  

Other items:  

Tuesday September 26th Schedule:  I had some requests to see all classes prior to our fundraiser assembly @ 1:30.  Here is the schedule: 

8:05-8:45 Period 1

8:48-9:28 Period 2

9:32-10:12 Period 3 

10:15-11:00 Period 5 

11:05- 12:05 Period 4 

12:08- 12:48 Period 6 

12: 51- 1:25 Period 7 

We will start dismissing for the assembly at 1:25ish.  I would like students to be seated with teachers by 1:30.  After the assembly at 2:15 all students will report to advisory classes.  Advisory classes will be called to the auditorium to distribute the candy bars.  Please make sure your advisory classes stay together when reporting to the auditorium.  We will have Mr. Hopple running the distribution for 8th grade and Mrs. Cartwright distributing for 7th grade.  Teachers will need to guide students to the corresponding auditorium aisle for distribution.  Students will receive their box of bars then exit the auditorium through the side doors and return to advisory until the end of the day.  

More: Fundraiser news-  We will need to have teachers be enthusiastic in order to have a great fundraiser.  Some teachers are giving their advisory classes incentives to average 1 box per student in sales.  Feel free to do so.  We will reward the top selling advisory in each grade with a pizza lunch.  More fundraising information will come on Monday during PD.  

Advisory Update:  As we close the first 9 weeks here are some items regarding advisory.  

We have changed the culture of advisory this year with the move to for high school credit courses in advisory as you know.  Students are adjusting to this and collectively we need to keep students reminded that each day they are earning credits towards graduation.  Teachers should be facilitating the completion of the learning tasks in both canvas courses.  Facilitating means that teachers should be checking in with students to see how they are doing as they are working and completing the work.  Moving around and checking over their shoulders as they work, asking students to show you their completed work or progress, and answering questions or keeping a list of class questions about assignments then discussing them are all best practices when facilitating in advisory class.  Advisory class has never been as important or relevant to students as this year.  Thanks for reminding students daily that they are working towards graduation now.  

College Go Week:  

Thanks to Julie Stauffer we are planning for a great start to annual activities for college go week.  Julie will be sending directions for the activities.  Remember that school counseling includes three specific areas that we are focusing on through a variety of tier 1 activities.  The areas are Academics, College and Careers, and Social and Emotional Learning.  Here are some of the activities that have been completed or are in the process or planned.  

Tier 1 (all students) 

Anti-bullying 

Community Circles 7th grade

Preparing for College and Careers 8th grade
Red Ribbon Week
College Go Week 

Tier 2 (some students) 

Connect
Steps for Success
Restorative Justice/Conflict Resolution

Elearning Reminder:  Teachers should be prepared for an elearning day as we conclude September.  To be prepared you need to be familiar with the Lincoln eLearning Hub found here .  Teachers must link their elearning assignments on this page on an elearning day.  Students should also sign in for attendance on these days.  It is a good idea to review these procedures in your classes at this time of the year.  If you need assistance please ask a fellow veteran teacher or admin.

Graffiti in upstairs south boys bathroom: Our night custodians have found distrubing graffiti in this bathroom the last couple of weeks.  We are in need of help in maybe tracking down the culprits.  If you are located in this area please note any students entering the restroom at odd times then let us know the times.  Until we can determine when it is happening it is difficult to figure out the responsible person.  If you recognize the writing let us know.