Knight Notes
October 9, 2017
HAPPY MONDAY!
Hello,
I hope you had a nice weekend. I am sure you are ready for a little more rest and relaxation. Have no fear; Fall Break is right around the corner.
As we progress through the week, let us finish strong. I appreciate all that you do to provide a great environment for our students. Please see the notes below that provide some specifics on hallway expectations.
Have a wonderful week!
--Andy
HALLWAY EXPECTATIONS
Hallway Expectations at Francis Howell North High School
I truly appreciate your support and communication. I know that you, like me, want the best for our school. I have read through your responses from the hour-by-hour meetings, and one of the areas of concerns was hallway supervision and behavior. The expectations below are just one step in responding to this problem. Others will come as we work together to establish other action steps.
We need the collective efforts of all staff. As I mentioned in my email on Friday, here are some more details on hallway expectations. I appreciate your support and cooperation. I know that together we can make a great impact on the hallways at FHN.
Goal: The hallways at Francis Howell High School will be safe environments where students and staff interact in a positive and respectful manner.
Supervision is a critical role of teachers and administrators during passing periods. All staff members are expected to supervise students throughout the building at all times.
- Each teacher is responsible for being in the hallways and supervising for arrival, passing periods, and dismissal. Morning supervision begins promptly at the sound of the 7:15 AM bell. Afternoon supervision begins at the sound of the 2:20 PM bell (1:35 PM on Early-Release Wednesdays). During passing periods, teachers should be in the hallway or by their doorway.
- While in the hallways or classroom doors, staff will positively interact with students as they pass by. The goal is for staff to supervise in a warm, friendly manner rather than in a loud, confrontational way.
- Use the term, “WALK and TALK” when prompting students to move along in the hallways.
- If a student violates a rule, please use a respectful, but firm voice to inform the student of what he/she should be doing. Staff will point out the appropriate behavior the student needs to exhibit
- If the student refuses to follow instructions, the staff member will inform the student that he or she can choose to follow the instruction or accept an appropriate consequence for refusing to comply with staff direction.
- If the student refuses to accompany a staff member to the office or give his or her name, the staff member should make no attempt to physically take the student or get into a power struggle. If the staff member knows the student, simply write the office referral form. If not, a staff member who does not have class can follow the student to class to have his teacher identify him or her.
- Encourage your students to enter the classroom instead of hanging in the hall near the classroom until the bell is close to ringing. Have the “bell ringer activity” ready so students can work on it as they enter class, before the bell rings.
- Substitute plans should include hall supervision for arrival, passing periods, and dismissal.
IF WE WANT SAFE HALLWAYS, WE NEED EVERYONE TO WORK TOGETHER
OTHER EXPECTATIONS THAT WILL HELP WITH THE HALLWAYS
- Encourage students to use the restroom before going to class. Please do not let students come to class right before the bell rings, and then let them use the restroom. Please write a pass if the student will be in the hallway after the bell rings.
- Write a pass every time a student leaves your class during class periods.
- Record tardies diligently. If students know they are being counted tardy, they will not hang in the hallways.
- Do not let students into the hallway unless it is absolutely necessary.
ACHIEVEMENT
PLC Leaders met to continue conversations around the book Fall Down Seven Times Get Back Up Eight Teaching Kids to Succeed.
This book has great connections between effort and CITW. Our last book discussion will be in November. Also, during this meeting Ryan Johnson shared the work the World Language Department is doing around goal setting. I truly appreciate the effort being put into this! Thank you!!
I hope everyone enjoys their Fall Break!
--Dr. Kathryn Greer
CELEBRATIONS
- Congratulations to the FHN Masque Players on their great production of "A Piece of My Heart."
- Congratulations to the softball team for winning a district title.
ATTENDANCE
FHN currently has 85.6% of students attending 90% of the time. As we begin a new quarter, please remind student of a "No More Than Four" campaign. Students who miss four days or less per quarter will stay above 90% attendance. Thank you.
CLIMATE
This week the DCs began looking at our Staff Survey questions for this year. Climate Committee will be working on finalizing question at the 10/24 meeting. Join us if you'd like to help craft the survey questions for the year.
BEHAVIOR
With the start of 2nd quarter this week, you may want to consider reviewing your various classroom expectations and creating new seating charts. Thank you again for the extra support in the hallways. Your help is appreciated.
TECHNOLOGY
On Tuesday, April Burton will be here for a Lunch and Learn to share features of the new SMART Board 17 software. To sign up, please click on the link below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScPRQzcehI7Ew6QndLKpdV788N2K6pqxMdW50wQgLCn1p-pZg/viewform
Also a reminder if you are interested in competing in the district wide Twitter challenge, follow the link below for daily tweets! Use the hashtag #FHNpride!
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1uzExq4bkfLIyYXL5diDKLgaP6kedVLJpgG5dh08Cg-8/edit
STAFF COMMITMENTS
2016-2017 Staff Commitments to the Learning Environment
In order to improve the climate/environment at FHN, the staff commits to:
1. building positive relationships with students and staff members.
2. helping students to see the relationship between effort and success.
3. addressing any inappropriate behavior immediately to help set an expectation of appropriate hallway and classroom behavior.
4. giving clear and consistent expectations for device use and by enforcing them.
5. counting tardies consistently.
IMPORTANT DATES
PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES
Dinner will be provided by PTO in the Commons at 2:30.