As we prepare for another school year to begin, I want to take time to update everyone about the changes and goals we have for this year; First, at the high school we will no longer allow students to carry backpacks during the academic day. They will be allowed to carry their laptop and bag. This change is aligned to what most of our conference schools allow. We will make this change to lessen distractions in the classrooms and for safety reasons. Backpacks will be allowed in the building but will be stored in student lockers. The middle school already has this rule in place. Second, the middle school will no longer use 9 week quarters but will align with the high school and will use semesters only. There will no longer be quarter grades just semester. However, parents can check on grades and attendance any time using their password. Third, the middle school will have two semester celebrations and not quarter celebrations. We will split the first semester celebration with grades 5/6 on one day and 7/8 on another. This will cut down on the length of each celebration. The second semester celebration will be all together and will include an eighth grade graduation.
To continue with the Standards-based Education initiative, MS/HS Staff will have every standard and learning target posted for each class. Parents will be able to click on a course to view what is being taught and what is being expected of every student to learn and do. This is part of our goal to better communicate with parents and students course academic expectations. The same standards and learning targets will also be seen on student progress reports. This is a slight change from last year but will add consistency. Each learning target will be assessed and will lead to a grade/score for each standard. This will create a better picture of each students strengths and areas that need more support. The purpose of listing each standard and learning target separately, is to better communicate individual student learning, which is the main goal of Standards-based Education. We are also identifying Priority Standards (PS), which are the standards we feel students need to know versus others that may not be as important at this time. Once again the identifying of Priority Standards (PS) will help with the communication of course academic expectations and allow students to know ahead of time what they will be expected to know and do.
Our goal is to make the upcoming year the most memorable as possible. We have multiple new staff which we are excited about and will miss the staff that are leaving. The new staff will have the opportunity to create their own legacy, which usually means some things may change and others will remain the same. We will continue to make our buildings as safe as possible creating a positive learning environment. We will focus on building a culture of achievement. I encourage parents and students to contact me with any questions and concerns you may have. I will do my very best to respond as soon as possible.
