Knight Notes
April 11, 2016
Happy Monday!
I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I look forward to seeing you at the Cardinal's Opening Day lunch today.
Have a wonderful week!
--Andy
Celebrations
Congratulations to James Dohrman on being selected for the prestigious STARS Program.
Congratulations to Caleb Black for receiving a National Merit Scholarship. Awesome job!
Congratulations to Madeline Fields, Devyn Meyer,and Noah Slaughter for being selected to attend the Missouri Scholars Academy.
This is National Library Week. Thank you to Debb, Tara, and Angie for making our Learning Commons a great place for students to learn.
This is also National Assistant Principal's Week. Thank you to our assistant principals (Katie, Chris, Jeff, Erin, Steve, and Mike) for all that they do on a daily basis to serve our school.
Congratulations to Zoe Lawson for being the Student Representative at the board meeting on Thursday.
- Congratulations to everyone involved with Beauty and the Beast.
- Congratulations to NHS on their successful collection for the FIve Acres Shelter. It will certainly be appreciated.
- Congratulations to Mr. Riffee on winning a PD scholarship from Ed. Plus.
5 Quick Facts
Ben Ra-
1. I have been married to Jeanne Ra and quickly approaching 7 years total. Along the way I also have 2 kiddos, Nolan (4yrs old) and Aria (2yrs old) 2.
2. At 18 I received a diploma for Computer Maint. And Network Technology from Rolla Technical Institute and then proceeded to get a bachelors in Applied Math from SEMO. I have taken a hiatus from finishing my Masters in Education from Webster since the kiddos have been born.
3. Hobbies: Board Games (NO, not monopoly!!!), Wood working, Rock climbing(in a gym), learning the violin, 2x tough mudder, and cooking. Actually I'll pretty much do anything at least once.
4. I have been out of the US 4 times twice to the Bahamas, once to Japan, and once to South Korea (interesting fact SK is about half the size of Missouri)
5. I am really grateful for everyone that I work with here at FHN you guys are the best!!!!!
District News
The following hires that were approved by the Board of Education at The last meeting:
Chief Human Resources Office
FHSD is pleased to announce the hiring of Lisa Simpkins as Chief Human Resources Officer. Lisa joined the Francis Howell School District in 2013, as Director of Human Resources, and has served in that role since that time. Prior to coming to Francis Howell, Lisa was Director of Support Personnel in the Ft. Zumwalt School District for twelve years. Before working in an education setting, Lisa worked in an HR role in a business setting.
Chief Academic Officer
FHSD is pleased to announce the hiring of Nicole Whitesell as Chief Academic Officer. Nicole has served for the past five years as Executive Director of Secondary Education in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. Prior to that, Nicole’s roles included building administrator and teacher.
Acheivement
Tools for your Toolbox:
Guided Notes and Graphic Organizers
1. Teacher prepares handout ahead of time with spaces for students to fill in key information.
2. Students fill in graphic organizers to serve as a visual way to aid in understanding. (THINKING MAPS!) Higher Order Thinking: Use prompts that require students to connect their learning to the outside world.
Idea: Add a footer to your handout that requires a student to do a Quick Write after the lesson. Connect the question to the lesson’s big idea.
Attendance
The FHN Admin Team is very appreciative of the efforts of our staff this year in helping to raise awareness about the importance of good attendance, and to help to improve our overall attendance rates. I wanted to take a moment to share some data with you that highlights our gains in this area:
2014-2015
Percent of students missing 10%-19.9% of school= 8.8%
Percent of students missing 20% or more= 5.3%
2015-2016 (So far)
Percent of students missing 10%-19.9%= 6.3%
Percent of students missing 20% or more= 2.9%
Again, thank you for the part you’ve played in making this happen. FHN is a great place to work because clearly we have people who care.
Behavior
Behavior Leadership Team will be meeting on 4/14 at 2:30 pm in the Main Office Conference Room
Climate
The parent survey has closed and here are the results for all five questions, as promised at the faculty meeting. Thank you for all you do to keep in contact with our parents. I know it takes a lot of time, but I believe you can see the results of your effort in the results below.
EOC and ACT Testing Window
4/11- 4/19 ELA, Alg 2, and Gov
4/19 ACT
4/25- 5/3 Alg 1 and Bio