Knight Notes
October 23, 2017
HAPPY MONDAY!
Good morning---
I hope you had a wonderful break. I am sure you were more than ready for a little rest and relaxation, and I hope that you found it very enjoyable.I know I enjoyed the opportunity to spend some more time at home with my family. The weather was great, and we had some time to get outside and enjoy Fall.
As we move into the second quarter, please continue to follow the hallway expectations that are listed below, and please touch base with your students about the need to always travel with a pass during class periods.
In addition, please know that the feedback from our faculty meeting has been dis-aggregated,and i will be sharing next steps very soon. One of the initial steps was to share hallway expectations, but there will be other information coming.
I look forward to ar great quarter. Thank you for all you do to help our students to grow and learn.
--Andy
NEW STAFF
We currently have two new hall monitors. They will be in the building until the end of the year. They are Cara Noah Avalos and Jesse Stewart. They will start tomorrow. Please help them out by not sending students into the hallway without a pass. Both Jesse and Cara have been instructed to walk students back to class if they do not have passes.
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.
ATTENDANCE
FHN currently has 85.6% of students attending 90% of the time. This is below our goal for the school year.
With this in mind, please make these three simple steps part of your routine for 2nd quarter:
1) Touch base with each student when they return from an absence. Show them you notice when they are gone.
2) Reach out to families if their child’s attendance is impacting their success.
3) Remind students that No More Than 4 absences in a quarter will get them to 90%.
CLIMATE
Climate Committee will be finalizing the Staff Survey Questions at their meeting on Tuesday, October 24th. Stop by the main office at 2:30 if you would like to be a part of creating those questions.
Date – Staff Donuts, 10/25, 6:45 a.m. in LC
BEHAVIOR
Behavior:
There will be a Behavior Team meeting on Tuesday, October 24th after school in Room 5/8.
If you haven’t done so, please complete this brief survey on possible topics to cover in an upcoming “Things You Didn’t Know About Infinite Campus” Lunch and Learn.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf07bmIndMopUGNp5JLrkkYwAi7YKR2QhHlrm2oDcMOZ3jBIg/viewform
TECHNOLOGY
If you haven’t done so, please complete this brief survey on possible topics to cover in an upcoming “Things You Didn’t Know About Infinite Campus” Lunch and Learn.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf07bmIndMopUGNp5JLrkkYwAi7YKR2QhHlrm2oDcMOZ3jBIg/viewform
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.