CHS Staff Bulletin
November 25, 2019
Enjoy the Weekend
Thank you for your hard work this term. It has been a long row to hoe. We are almost there. You have a very deserved break coming up next week. Please be sure to get some rest. Next week will be a mad dash of grading and transition from one trimester to the next. I hope that today's PLC time gives you some of that time and space to get some of this work done. We have a three day push followed by a four day (Turkey) weekend. I am truly hopeful that you will have time spent with loved ones. I was encouraged to see so many participants with our Lost Diamond Caper. We will be sure to do more fun staff building activities in the future. Please be sure to join us tonight (4:30-?pm) at the Beer Garden for a beverage on the house.
Greg, Casandra, and Misael
In The Know
Professional Development 1/6 - When we return from Winter Break we will be engaged in a day of professional development. All staff will have uninterrupted time in the morning to plan and prepare for the return to school. Administrators will be in a training all morning long. When we return after lunch we will have a staff meeting. The goal is to keep the meeting short enough that all staff will be able to continue with planning and preparations for Tuesday 1/7. As these details come out we will be communicating the specifics. Stay tuned for more details.
School Choice Night - 1/16 6-7:30pm Please be sure to identify a department representative for this special evening. Admin will share what makes Churchill such a great school in the auditorium. This presentation will take approximately 30-40 minutes. This year we are asking for each department to set up their table in the auditorium foyer. We believe that this will have the added benefit of families walking past these tables on their way to the presentation and on their way our. It makes the venue more intimate and puts the information right in front of passerby's. Thank you for your commitment to making this a great evening.
We Know What’s Needed: Why Aren’t We Doing It?
For the past decade, we’ve seen a tragic pattern of low-income students enrolling in college but never graduating — a cycle that inflicts debt and offers no hope that higher education can reduce our widening affluence gaps.
Now, for the first time, we are able to identify remedies that can reverse that cycle. That sounds promising, but also raises the awkward question: Why are these solutions, which are not terribly complicated, so scarce?
First, the remedies. We now have good data on three separate groups of low-income, minority students — most of them the first in their families to attend college — who are earning bachelor’s degrees at rates previously not thought possible: graduates at the top charter school networks, alumni of the AVID programs that target first-generation students with college potential, and Dreamer scholarship recipients, the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students brought to this country, usually as infants and toddlers, by parents who entered illegally.
Nationally, only 11% of students who are both low income and first generation earn bachelor’s degrees within six years of leaving college. At the charter networks, those success rates range from three to five times better than that. For both AVID and the Dreamers, the success rate is even higher, roughly 60%, which is the same graduation rate seen among students coming from families in the top income quartile.
What’s compelling about these three groups is that the remedies behind that success are similar. Common among all three groups is a focus on teaching skills in the K-12 years that will help the students survive in college, when they suddenly find themselves in a world that’s far different from their highly structured high school years.
Also shared: smart, data-driven college counseling that steers students into colleges and universities where they are more likely to earn degrees. Finally, both the charter alumni and Dreamers get tracking through college that helps them through the tough times.
As for the first remedy, I’ve watched some of that college-ready instruction in classrooms around the country. In Newark, N.J., for example, I watched “Target 3.0” in action at North Star Academy College Preparatory High School. By digging into data detailing the fate of its alumni, North Star discovered that students who graduated with at least a 3.0 grade point average were four times more likely to earn college degrees.
So they devised Target 3.0, which requires all sophomores, juniors and seniors with GPAs below 2.5 to attend a special class that uses both peer pressure and other strategies to boost their grades. It works: Within a semester, all the seniors raised their GPAs higher, along with three quarters of the juniors.
Why would raising GPA help students persist in college? Because the skills learned in the process, both organizational and personal (appearing before teachers to ask for help), are the exact skills needed to persist in college.
In Alexandria, VA, I watched a class of sixth graders in the AVID program (Achievement via Individual Determination) being taught multiple ways to take classroom notes, all methods to match an instructor’s teaching style. AVID supplies students who might not consider themselves college-worthy with college-coping skills, tutoring, college visits and smart guidance. Based on results to date, it appears to be working.
Finally, the college tracking I saw as part of the charter and Dreamer programs seemed effective. For the Dreamers, college is usually their first exposure to an institution populated primarily by white students, professors and administrators, which leaves them feeling isolated. Plus, they get homesick, especially when family members back home run into personal problems. Having a coach on campus helps with both academic and personal challenges.
The KIPP charter school network, which has long been a pioneer in watching over its alumni in college, recently announced it was expanding the effort. At Colorado State University, KIPP and the university will pay for a “persistence advisor.” The job description: “to troubleshoot challenges students face related to academic progress, financial aid, and finding a sense of belonging on campus.”
That’s three entirely separate groups of first-generation students — charter, AVID and Dreamers — experiencing success in college for pretty much the same reasons.
And again, that raises the question: If we know what needs to be done, why aren’t we doing more of it?
- Richard Whitmire
Looking Forward
FINALS WEEK (NO STAFF MEETINGS)
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25
5:30 pm — Community Forum—Student Success Act: Investments for Success at SEHS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26
3:45 pm — Getting Hired for the Holidays Workshop
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27 — LAST DAY OF TERM 1
7:45 am — Safety Team
THURSDAY–FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 29 — THANKSGIVING BREAK!
NEXT WEEK...
Monday, December 2 — NO SCHOOL (Term 1 Final Grading Day)Tuesday, December 3 — FIRST DAY OF TERM 2
Friday, December 6 — SPLASH! Grant Applications Due
Saturday, December 7, 7:30 am — SAT Testing
Jill Reents
Holly Albone
Robin Francisco
Kudos
Lost Diamond Caper - Thank you to everyone who participated in the Lost Diamond Caper. I received so many emails and pictures of staff doing great things with students. Your participation on a full and long week is greatly appreciated. Thanks also for taking this event in stride. It was intended to bring levity and a morale boost. If you were too busy as we entered the penultimate week of the term we completely understand.
Prize Winners: please be sure to visit Greg's office as he has a grab bag of goodies for the winners.
Best Code Names - Nancy Drew, James Bond, Lord Richter, Austin Powers, Itsa
Greatest Level of Investment - Mona Lisa, Groot
School Improvement - Jelly bean, Eggheadjr., Moonpie, Truffles, Cookie Monster
Snacks - Team Awesome! (Vanilla Thunder, Regist-rawr, Sticky Rice, Mama Bear, Captain Fantastic)
College Pride - Thunder Cats
Grand Prize Winner - Bear, Golden Eagle, Oreo, Dosuloi, Overwhelmed
CONGRATULATIONS Boys Cross Country - The boys Cross Country Team won First Place in the OnPoint Community Credit Union Academic All-State Award. Congratulations to the entire boys Cross Country Team. You have represented your school and we are enormously proud of you.
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - My apologies for missing Emily Martini in my acknowledgements last week. Emily provides a considerable effort with the Drama/Thespian team. I am always impressed with her performances. Excellent work Emily.
Fall Concert - Bravo!!! This weeks Fall Concert was wonderful. Thank you to all for the hard work and talent that went into the excellent performances and a lovely evening. Thank you for all the work with the kids Mr. Mudd and Mr. Steinberger!! You inspire them and it shows.
Churchill High School
Website: https://chs.4j.lane.edu/
Location: 1850 Bailey Hill Road, Eugene, OR, USA
Phone: 541-790-5100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChurchillHighSchool
Twitter: @CHSLancers