North High School
Staff Bulletin - February 24, 2020
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Literacy Goal: North High School will raise the percent of students proficient on the Open Response from fall to spring by 10% in 2019-2020.
Actions Being Taken to Improve Literacy
- Daily Writing - Writing activities every day to boost our student writing
- Departments with different responsibilities in teaching areas of the OR Rubric
- Advisory students tracking their progress on OR
- Working on quality task creation and examining student work from those tasks
Math Goal: North High School will raise the percent of students proficient on the High School Math Assessment from fall to spring by 10% in 2019-2020.
- Understanding and applying the Common Core's 8 Mathematical Practices in all classrooms
- Advisory students tracking their progress on the BME Assessment
- Develop an auxiliary leadership team to focus on math data assessments
- Working on quality task creation and examining student work from those tasks
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Parent Teacher Conference Information
We will be following the same format as the Fall:
Staff will provide grade reports to parents at the front doors. Teachers will be in their classrooms and meet with parents as they visit. Here is what teachers need to do over the following week to prepare:
Grades – Monday, February 24 at 4:00 PM grades will need to be in Canvas. We are going to print grade reports this Spring.
Advisory – Call up each student, one-by-one to call or text a parent to invite them to conferences.
Freshman and Sophomore Teams – Target high needs parents for personal invites. Possibly even schedule a few “team” problem solving meetings with appropriate people.
Conference Day Information:
Teachers need to be in their rooms, ready to go at 3:05 on Wednesday and 8:00 AM Thursday.
- Meals and Personal Needs – We have scheduled times, and informed parents, that you will be unavailable between 11:00-11:45 AM for Lunch (on your own) and 4:30-5:00 PM for Supper (provided).
Conferences end at 5:45 PM on Tuesday and 8:00 PM on Thursday. We will stop handing out grade reports at 7:45 PM. The doors will also close at that time. Administration will announce to inform parents that conference will be ending soon and when they end.
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2020-2021 Staffing and Scheduling Update
Staffing: I have submitted initial numbers to Jim Vanderloo for preview. This was done to prepare a plan for the anticipated additional staffing that will be provided due to the increase enrollment. He will use these numbers to develop his plan for requesting staff for the secondary schools as a whole. As we clean up our data, I will fine tune our needs area. Right now, North High is in the unique position where we need a little bit of everything.
Scheduling: After staffing, we will continue to clean up the raw data. One part of cleaning up the data (student course requests) will be to have teachers vet the information. I will reach out to the Department Heads and provide some course request rosters (lists of students requesting the courses) to determine the right students are selected. We want the student requests 100% accurate. This year, we are planning to have the computer system do the majority of the work. This will require us to do the work ahead of time. This also includes staff assignments. My goal is to keep this year and next year as similar as possible so that teachers have continuity with grade levels and content areas. I will work with department heads on issues as they arise regarding staff assignments - these will most likely be driven by licensure and needs. We are also developing plans to streamline interventions. This would impact how we approach study halls and study sessions and deciding and working through those issues will be best made prior to building a schedule. We want to look at the possibility of creating guided study sessions (lab-like), honor study halls (kids who don't need help), or other similar interventions that appropriately utilize staff as a resource for interventions and reteaching opportunities. This ties into the shift of homeroom to advisory.
This time of year (with staffing, scheduling, negotiations, hiring, evaluation completion) can be stressful. Remember to reach out if you have questions, concerns, or ideas.
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Ryan Will be Gone More...
This is one of those weeks where it is easier to say when I will be in the building:
This week, I will be in the building Monday morning until noon and Thursday until 4:00.
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Last Week's Average Daily Attendance: 89.26% (-1.12% from last week); On Wednesday, the attendance rate was 83.86%.
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CPR in Advisory
Week of -JPL (S209)
17-Feb Schriener-JPL (S209); Nieman-AW (Rm 335)
2-Mar Olorundami-JPL (S209); T. Clark-AW (Rm 335)
16-Mar Monk-AW (Rm 335); Malone-Mason/Banks/Bush-Hanson (A-L)-JPL (S209)
30-Mar Malone-Mason/Banks/Bush-Hanson (M-Z)-JPL (S209); Malone-Mason/Banks/Bush-Hanson (A-L)-AW (Rm 335)
13-Apr Malone-Mason/Banks/Bush-Hanson (M-Z)-JPL (S209); Seniors-AW (Rm 335)
27-Apr Seniors/ELL-JPL (S209); Seniors/ELL-AW (Rm 335)
11-May Seniors/ELL-JPL (S209); Seniors/ELL-AW (Rm 335)
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Weekly Strategy Challenge - Practice This Strategy In Class!
Strategy - Communicating with Parents
Communicating with parents and students make or break relationships. The book Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott says, "The conversation is the relationship." That is a quote I often reflect on when things are going really well or really bad. It usually stems from our lack of communication and conversation. Here are some tips to keep the conversation and relationship strong. Communication is not always easy and something we all can continually focus on.
Reduce surprises
None of us like surprises - especially when it relates to our own children. Knowing when students misbehave or perform poorly academically reduce tension between home and school. No matter our perception of whether a parent would want to know, they should know. Put yourself in the shoes of the parent and ask, "If this was my student, would I want to know?" We all know that, in this day of technology, no one should be surprised with information. Our parents can access grades and information from Canvas, Infinite Campus, Weekly Grade Emails, Weekly Attendance Emails, text blasts, push notifications, Twitter, and Facebook. However, nothing beats the human connection of a phone call or face-to-face conversation.
Use the best tools
Stated above, we have a plethora of tools to communicate with parents. We know that TalkingPoints has also become a great tool for breaking the language barriers between school and home. Email helps that as well making communication available anytime. What we have to keep in mind is that, regardless of the tool, the communication must be two-way and meaningful for it to work. This can be frustrating when you've "tried everything to connect with that parent."
Use students to increase communication
My elementary students bring home Thursday folders. Their teacher each have a Facebook page for sharing upcoming events and classroom happening. We also interact through Class Dojo. We know that things change from 2nd to 10th grade. How can we use students to interact and share information with parents? In "googling' that answer, the most common answer (after social media) is creating lessons that engage students to a depth that encourages additional conversation at home.
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Department and Safety Meeting Notes
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Advisory Calendar of Events
Tuesday:
Last Minute Invites - Reach out to parents of students failing in advisory for conference attendance
Wednesday:
Last Minute Invites - Reach out to parents of students failing in advisory for conference attendance
Thursday:
No Advisory
Friday:
No Advisory
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Upcoming Dates
Below are currently scheduled events that will take place during the school day. These will interrupt academic work.
- Denison High School Mariachi Band - Advisory, March 27 during Advisory
- Tuesday, April 21 - ACT for Juniors - No other students in attendance
- Tuesday, April 28 - ISASP Testing - Writing and Language Tests - The ISASP testing dates will have alternative schedules. It will be similar to last years with a testing block in the morning and shortened blocks in the afternoon.
- Wednesday, April 29 - ISASP Testing - Math, Reading, and Science
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Monday Morning Music
And I will go on shining
Shining like brand new
I'll never look behind me
My troubles will be few
Goodbye, stranger, it's been nice
Hope you find your paradise
Tried to see your point of view
Hope your dreams will all come true
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Reminders and Checklists
All Staff:
- Safe School Training is released. Here is the link: https://siouxcityschools-ia.safeschools.com/ There are five training's on this year's module. Total time indicated is 129 minutes. Due dates are varied.
- All New Course - ACES
Certified Staff:
- Sign up for duties with Chris. If you sign up now, you will have a choice. If you wait, you will be assigned to an open duty.