BCHS Staff Newsletter
October 11 , 2015
Week in Review
Great job with all of the Homecoming festivities. The kids had a great week and really got into showing their school spirit! Thank you to Amy for organizing most of the events for the week, with the help of the student council.
Also, thank you to the staff members who stayed late to help supervise the dance on Friday night. The kids were very well behaved and your presence plays a big role in that.
Technology--I have had a few of you ask some more questions regarding Google forms, remember if you need any help with this just let me know.
PSAT
Our big testing day for grades 8-11 is finally here (Wednesday). Please remind your students of the importance of this test. For our 8th/9th graders it offers us the opportunity to introduce them to the SAT style of testing, and we can gain comparative data for their future spring tests. For our 10th/11th graders this is their first experience with the test that will help get them into certain colleges, and the test also makes them eligible for scholarship dollars and the National Merit Scholarship.
Plan
On Monday, the English teachers will fill in the bubble sheets with the student information. I have these all ready to go in the office and will deliver them Monday morning. If you have students absent, please email me who it is, and we will have them fill it out on Tuesday.
Michele will get with the students who are not in the English classes, and they will fill out the bubble sheets when they are with Carolyn or her.
All bubble sheets are to be reviewed by the teacher and returned to the office after they are filled out (the end of the day is fine for those who have multiple classes). Please bring them yourself, don't send them with a student.
Wednesday: I will email you a copy of the days schedule and place a hard copy in your mailboxes (it will be in their by lunch on Monday). All of you have a place you are assigned to be. Your lunch for Wednesday will be at the same time as the students you are with during testing.
Neil, Sheryl, and Lynn will be hall monitors for the day, so if you have any questions during testing find/email one of us.
Bob will finalize the list with calculators by Tuesday afternoon. Please remind students that they can bring their own calculators, and they DO NOT need to clear the memory on it. We will need as many students as possible to bring their own, so please remind them of this.
Phones--I am going to ask that all student phones either be left in the students' lockers or given to the teacher when they enter the room (and turned off). Students are not allowed to have them out until the test is over and turned in. This is an SAT rule that we must make sure is followed. Thanks for your help with this.
Grades
We are only a week and a half away from conferences. You should be getting a pretty good idea of where your students are at. Please make sure your grades are updated as students and parents will start using this more (as we get closer to report card time).
Staff Meeting
There will be a staff meeting on Tuesday morning at 7:45. I just want to talk briefly about our plan for Wednesday's PSAT and make sure everyone is aware of what they will be doing. I also want to quickly go over the incentive assembly on Thursday.
Incentive
Bob sent out a list last week of the students who qualified for the incentive for September. If you see someone we missed, please let us know so they can be added. Also remember that you are allowed a "Teacher Approved" student for kids who may have missed it.
Sandi did a great job of organizing our groups to perform in the Lip Sync Battle. Hopefully, you have a good idea of what you will be doing (for those of you that have signed up)! I think it will be a lot of fun for the students and the staff. Sandi and I will get the agenda all set prior to Thursday.
The assembly will be Thursday during 5th hour. Students will report for 5th hour attendance, and then they will be dismissed to where they need to go (gym or different classroom).
I will need some teachers to volunteer to stay back in their classrooms with kids who didn't make the assembly. You can just stay in your room, and they will need to come with something to work on.
We will need to start coming up with an idea for October's assembly, so if you have something let me know.
Khan Academy
Please remember to be including Khan Academy at all grade levels. We need students and parents to be aware of this great resource for their SAT test prep. Our 10th and 11th graders should all have accounts and be using it for their SAT prep. Our lower grades should be using it (to get familiar with it) at their grade level. We owe it to our students to make sure they understand how much this resource will help them.
Upcoming Events/Reminders
- October 13--Staff Meeting in Library at 7:45
- October 14--School-Wide Fall PSAT testing for grades 8-11
- October 15--September Incentive Assembly
- October 20--Fire Drill at 1:18 (passing time)
- October 21--Conferences 12:30-3:00, Students AM
- October 22--Conferences 4:00-8:30, students full day, Neil will provide dinner
- October 22--Drive for Your School 11th Grade Fundraiser 4:00-8:30
- October 23--Students half day (AM) & Grandparents' Day (in elementary)
- November 6--End of 1st Marking Period
Homework Help Lab
Tuesday/Thursday Mornings in Lori's new room. 7:15-8:00 am
This will cause some students to be past the double doors, but Jesse is there monitoring this and will let them up if needed. Also, any other teachers that have students coming for help in the morning, just have them let Jesse know when they ask to go up early. This will not be an issue, and I encourage you to work with your struggling students.
Tuesday/Thursday Afternoons in Library. 3:15-4:00 pm
Jarrod will be running the morning sessions and Lou will be running the afternoon sessions. Any other teachers are also welcome to help with this. Thanks.