BOS News - 10/13/16
ABOVE THE LINE
BOS Family
First and foremost, I would like to say a big thank you to our 4 learning coaches (Kylene Nash-Blasingame, Holly Allen, Staci Wilson and Dzung Huynh) for facilitating a great day of learning this past Monday. We remain the leaders in the district in regards to rigor and relevance and we are seeing the benefits of integrating in the classroom through our passing rate for the 1st 6 weeks. From last year’s class to this year’s class here is the improvement:
10th grade – 82.5% (2015-16) – 88.9% (2016-17)
11th grade – 85.8% (2015-16) – 86.4% (2016-17)
12th grade – 85.8% (2015-16) – 94.3% (2016-17)
Our 9th grade students have an 86.3 % passing rate and our overall passing rate for all grades is 88.7% compared to 86.5% last year! Thank you all for the hard work you do each and every day to ensure mastery learning in the classroom. Our passing rates are on the rise along with STAAR, AP, SAT and ACT. Go BOS! This is one of the many reasons we have been named a Model School for 2016 and will apply for the honor for 2017.
I know I have already shared the attendance rate, but allow me to do so again! Here is the breakdown for each class:
9th – 97.5%
10th -96.6%
11th -96.7 %
12th – 96.4%
This is the highest the attendance rate has been in at least the past 5 years. We depend on you to keep this a priority in the classroom. Senior teachers, please let your classes know about the attendance competition this 6 weeks (from last week’s SMORE) and all teachers, please keep encouraging and praising your students for their attendance. I also want to remind everyone that the 1st 6 weeks we had 3 Thursday night games that could have produced a very negative impact on our attendance. However, thanks to Coach AB and his coaching staff, Amy Hurst, Iris Gomez, Leticia Ward, Jennifer Serrano, David Kirkley, Kevin Fallon and Stuart Spoon, the students in their programs were in attendance on each following Friday due to the expectations they shared with their teams. This is truly ABOVE THE LINE behavior! Thanks again for the incredible support.
I am thrilled to share that last Friday night; all additional athletic passes were checked out by BOS Staff. Thank you to each and every one who is making it a priority to support our students in extracurricular events. Don’t forget, tonight is football at Northwest, tomorrow is volleyball at Northwest, Band of Gold competes this Saturday at 11:45 in Burleson and tonight through Sunday theatre will perform Almost, Maine in the Black Box.
Next week we will have “Pink Out” games and pep rally. Both volleyball and football will be garnishing pink in support as well Cheer, Pure Gold, Blue Crew and Band of Gold. Tennis has pink shirts coming in as well as pink socks that will be worn at the district tournament. Please be on the lookout for ways that you can participate as well. We will again be assisting an EMS-ISD employee in her fight against cancer and will present at the pep rally next week.
Please join me in giving Amy Gaston and Stuart Spoon a congratulatory shout out as they have been nominated for the HEB Excellence in Education Award. This program is designed to recognize the accomplishments of outstanding public school educators and can result in a monetary award ranging from 5K -25K for each individual as well as a matching grant for Boswell. Way to go Amy and Stuart!
Lastly, we have a few heroes on campus that I would like to recognize. Thank you to Melissa Wallis and James Giles for a monetary donation to help students in need at BOS. In addition, thank you to Jennifer Brown how will take StuCo Leadership to a very important event this weekend. We found out yesterday we do not have a driver. Not having our students attend is of course not optimal and Jennifer literally saved the day! Thanks again for your support of all of our students!
Nika Davis
"It's A Great Day To Be A Pioneer"
Boo at BOS
Last year, we had outstanding participation from our clubs/organizations and it was an AWESOME event for me, being that is was my first time to experience Boo at BOS. I would like to remind you to please ensure that students that are participating from your club/organizations are in costumes that are appropriately covering the body. So view and BOLO (be on the lookout) for those that may dress up as Sexy Nurse, Elvira, Cat Woman, Sexy Ghostbusters, Kitana or Kitty, Shirtless Firefighters, Tarzan, or costumes with THIN Man references/connotations. Also, due to recent events surrounding “creepy clown” costumes they are also not permitted. Even “kid friendly” clown costumes may provoke negative reactions from children and parents. Lastly, only appropriate Presidential Candidate Costumes are acceptable. Please contact any Administrator if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you at Boo at BOS another standout ABOVE THE LINE Community Event! This email may have a Part II so BOLO!
Chandra Turrentine, cturrentine@ems-isd.net
Coding Absences in AESOP
Staff Development Vs. School Related Activity
During the school year there are many activities that take place along with opportunities for professional growth and collaboration. When putting an absence into AESOP be aware if you are putting in the absence for district PLCs, professional development that the school is sending you to, or curriculum writing with the district then these absences would be coded as Staff Development in AESOP. Absences that are coded as School Related Activity would be field trips, athletics, driving a bus for a field trip, internships, etc. If you are unsure what to code your absence as please don’t hesitate to ask.
John Fahey, rfahey@ems-isd.net
Computer Labs
Last Friday during our PD session, I alerted you to the change in which we will be reserving computer labs and the library. From here on out, you will do this in Eduphoria. You will no longer be contacting Patty Hill or the librarians directly. I have attached the instructions on this email for your reference. I have also posted a How To video in Canvas that is approximately 4 minutes in length that will take you through the steps. Please let me know if you have any questions.
If you are out of your classroom and not in a lab.
1) 1) Leave a note on your door for students.
2) 2) Send email to ddonathan@ems-isd.net AND thood@ems-isd.net to better serve our parents when calling for their students.
COPY ROOM IS CLOSED TOMORROW, FRIDAY, OCT. 14
Counselors Note
Counselors have started the Freshmen Endorsement Meetings this week. These meetings are looking over the student’s 4-year plan and future courses. We have allotted 20-minute time slots to work with each student and their parent. Please allow students to leave for their appointment at their designated time written on their pass. We have scheduled 11 or more meetings a day and we are trying to stay on schedule because many parents are taking off work to be able to attend their appointment. We have these meetings scheduled all the way up to Thanksgiving. Thank you for your help and support.
Some teachers suggested for the counselors to create a sign that gave information about counselor resources. In your mailbox there are yellow signs to be posted in your rooms. On the signs there is information about who the counselors are and how to contact us. There is a QR code that will send students to the Request to See a Counselor web page. Students can fill out the request and then the information will be emailed to their counselor. If we are able to email them back with the answer to their question, then we will. If we need to call them in, then we will send a pass for them when we are free. This will help minimalize the amount of missed classroom instruction. With the freshmen meetings taking place, students are walking to the office to find out the counselor is in a meeting and then walking back causing them to miss 5 to 10 minutes in class. If it is truly an emergency, please send them to the office and we will find a counselor who is on call for that day. Please let us know if there are any other ways that we can support you and your work with all our students.
Chris Bell, cbell@ems-isd.net
Education Foundation Update
2 Weeks Left in the Campaign
We have had another successful week in donations to Education Foundation. With a strong push we have added almost $700 dollars to our total this week alone. At this time, we are at a grand total of $3745!!!! We are almost to our goal!!! The following is the house breakdown:
House 100 100%
House 200 63.5%
House 300 63%
If you still have not gotten your donation card in you can find extra cards on Patty Hill’s desk.
John Fahey, rfahey@ems-isd.net
Library
Teachers, please refrain from printing class sets of worksheets to the library. Those need to be sent to the copy room.
Casey Torisk, ctorisk@ems-isd.net
PSAT - October 19
Please make sure to read the email that was sent out on October 12, 2016 at 4:28PM. This email contains a lot of important information in regards to our PSAT day. There are also QR Codes and the corresponding spreadsheets for students to see what room they are supposed to be in. Please make sure to share this information with students.
John Fahey, rfahey@ems-isd.net
Senior Night - October 28
Our final district football home game will be Friday, October 28th against Chisholm Trail High School. This is a very special night as we will be honoring seniors in Football, Band, Cheer, Pure Gold, Blue Crew, JROTC, and our Trainers. Put the event on your calendar and come out and support our students. Parade of Seniors starts at 6:30 PM with the game following at 7:00.
John Fahey, rfahey@ems-isd.net