Scarlet News and Notes
December 3, 2018
Assuring Learning Excellence and Readiness for a Changing World
I hope you are all shoveled out and had some time to enjoy the new snow. The snowfall was beautiful, but it sure was heavy!
Thank you to all of you who joined us on Friday at our Shining Scarlet Breakfast. It was awesome to see so many teachers in attendance, and parents and students love to have you there. Thank you to those of you who nominated students and wrote essays on their behalf.
Three weeks to go before the holiday break, and we all know this time of year can be stressful for many of our families, students and staff. Please be good to yourself, and take care of each other. To add a little fun, and to give you another day of the week when you don't have to think about what to wear, let's make every Wednesday in December "Ugly Sweater Day." If you would like to send me pictures of your ugly sweaters, either individual or group photos, I will post them to see who really wears the ugliest sweater.
The Week at a Glance
Monday
Events: NHS Induction Ceremony - 7:00pm - Auditorium
Tuesday
I will be out of the building from 11:00 to 2:00, attending the YWCA's Forum on Race with about 20 of our students
Wednesday
Ugly Sweater Day
I will be out of the building after 1:45 to attend principal meetings and DLT
Thursday
Game On! Get out to different classrooms, bring a friend
Principal Advisory Committee meeting - 10:15
Events: Girls' Hockey - 5:15 - ASA, Boys' Swim and Dive - 6:00 - MSU, Girls' Basketball - 7:30 - Gym
Friday
High Five Friday
Events: Holiday Festival of Music - 7:30 - Auditorium
Scarlets raised over $600 during No Shave November, and took the trophy from East this year. Thank you, Matt Kolb, for organizing this and for all who participated and donated!
West Staff Resources Site
Multi-Media Suite
Last Monday, our Department Reps were introduce to our new Multi-Media Suite (formerly known as the Mac Lab). Paul Christianson shared what is new in this space and how this space can be used by teachers and students. Paul will also be hosting an upcoming voluntary staff meeting for all staff to come in and check out this space.
We are putting together a committee to help support this new space. This committee will be made up of staff and students to monitor how the space is being used, to give ideas on how it can be used, and to determine if new equipment is needed. If you are interested in joining, please let me know by Friday, December 7th.
Champion Students
How good is the relationship we have with our champion students ?
Do we know their schedules?
Do we know what classes they struggle with?
Do we know what classes they love?
Do we know what they are interested in doing or a passion of theirs?
Do we know their grades?
Have we leveraged our relationship to help the students succeed?
Have we contacted another staff person to troubleshoot a grade, or a behavior issue, or to find out what works, or to understand how to keep them engaged?
- Have we shadowed our students to see them in action in other classes?
Standards Based Grading
The Reason Behind Standards Based Grading
Important Reminders
- It's mid-quarter time. If you have a student failing, please reach out to parents and ask them to partner with you to help support their child's success.
- Champion Students - make sure your student(s) are passing all of their classes! Do whatever it takes to support their success. If you're not sure what to do, ask your team! Ask other teachers, our counseling/support staff, our admin, we are all here to help. Be their Champion!
- Be your BEST (Be respectful, Engage in learning, Show integrity, Take responsibility) at West
- You Rock!