Captain's Log
PASS CHRISTIAN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
AHOY, PIRATES!
Did you see that SEC playoff game between the Tide and the Bulldogs?! It was a battle! Just when it looked like the Tide would lose, they went in at halftime and made adjustments based on their competition’s gameplay. Yet, despite losing their starting quarterback, they came back and won the game! As I was looking for something to say to you this week that might serve to be profound and mission-driven, I stumbled across Nick Saban’s words that speak volumes. He stated, "You can do extraordinary things when everybody is committed to the SAME THING!" With that mouthful, there is not much else to say this week. We can do anything we desire when we have a common focus. We cannot afford to lose our focus by turning to what our peers or administrators are doing or not doing. We have to all stay focused on meeting our mission by providing our students a high-quality education, which begins with us being intentional about our preparation - planning and our instruction. How do you plan? Could a substitute or administrator pick up your plans and know what to do? They should be able to. CSO team members, could someone read your plan for your department and know what course of action to take? Again, the person should be able to.
As we close our first semester and prepare for our final leg of this year’s journey, let us be reminded of Saban’s words. Then, let us act accordingly. Have a great first week of December!
With that, I submit the Log. #stayhungry #eXcellencemarksthespot #committedtoeXcellence cje
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Heritage Dinner & State of the District: We will conduct our first of two Heritage dinners this week. Faculstaff with 10-15 years of Pirate eXperience has been invited to attend. We look forward to having a very candid and productive conversation. Bring your ideas for continuing our legacy of eXcellence.
Date: December 6, 2018 Time: 6 pm
PCHS Students Take State Tests: Let's cheer on the high school students in English II and US History! They will take their state tests this week. We appreciate the work that has been done to honor our legacy and move our students toward accomplishing our mission. Thanks go out to the PCHS instructional team!
Mid-Year i-Ready Diagnostic: Continuing cheering for the K-8 students who will take their i-Ready Diagnostic exams beginning this week. Please remind the students of the importance of them doing their best to ensure we have accurate and actionable data from which to plan.
Mid-Year Job Fair_Tour of Excellence: We are in the process of inviting candidates to visit our district during school hours. The candidates will attend a meet and greet this Friday that will involve school tours, a district overview, and lunch with the principals. If you know of a high-quality teacher who would fit well within our culture, please share his/her name with your principal or Ms. Bang.
Attendance Matters: Chronic Absenteeism
Low-Cost Intervention to Improve Elementary Students’ Attendance
“While the term ‘chronically absent student’ brings to mind a teenager cutting school, propensity to be chronically absent actually begins to emerge early in kindergarten and is often as prevalent in early grades as it is in middle and high school,” say Carly Robinson (Harvard Graduate School of Education), Monica Lee (Stanford University), Eric Dearing (Boston College), and Todd Rogers (Harvard Kennedy School) in this American Educational Research Journal article. “As it stands, we know absenteeism robustly predicts many consequential educational outcomes, but much less about how to effectively improve attendance.”
The researchers led an initiative in ten West Coast school districts (urban, suburban, and rural) targeting the following mistaken parent beliefs: undervaluing the importance of elementary school attendance (compared to middle and high school); underestimating the total number of days their children are absent; and thinking that other children’s attendance is worse than their own children’s. Each parent in the treatment group received six mailings over the course of the year with (a) the total number of days the child had been absent up to that point (excused and unexcused); (b) a cartoon showing a child moving from kindergarten through high-school graduation; and (c) these messages about the importance of school attendance:
- November: Attendance in early grades affects student learning.
- February: Absences in earlier grades can build long-lasting habits that result in absences in later grades(mentioning Common Core standards).
- Early March: Absences result in missed learning opportunities that cannot be replaced.
- Late March: Attendance is linked to literacy skill development.
- April: Attendance in early grades affects students learning(again, mentioning Common Core).
- May: Strong attendance is associated with higher likelihood of high-school graduation.
The mailings went to parents whose children had medium to low attendance. The researchers decided to omit a comparison of each child’s attendance with classmates’ after learning that it made no difference to parents’ actions.
What was the impact? The effects were larger in low-income families and with students who had chronic absences. Most significantly, the mailings decreased chronic absenteeism by 15 percent.
“Reducing Student Absenteeism in the Early Grades by Targeting Parental Beliefs” by Carly Robinson, Monica Lee, Eric Dearing, and Todd Rogers in American Educational Research Journal, December 2018 (Vol. 55, #6, p. 1163-1192), available for purchase at
https://bit.ly/2zpMhLC; Robinson can be reached at carlyrobinson@g.harvard.edu.
ATTENDANCE (GOAL: >=95%)
EXCELLENCE MARKS THE SPOT
Congratulations, Dayna Clark!
Way to Go, Mrs. Ashley Patterson!
PCHS Cross Country Has Great Showing at State Championships
Congratulations to the Pass High boys and girls cross country teams on their performances at the state championships in Clinton!
The Lady Pirates finished as the 4A state runner-up (tying a school record finish) and were only 4 points away from a state championship. Sophomore Haley Clark (6th overall), 8th grader Avery Saulter (11th overall) and freshman Kealey Skinner (13th overall) were selected to the 4A All-State Team. The other Lady Pirate state runners were Abby Batten, Draveyn Shabazz, Maddy Greene, and Aubrey Baughman.
The boys finished a school record 6th overall and missed the top 5 by only 6 points. The Pirates were led by seniors Mikey Seignious (15th overall) and Sean Necaise (28th). The other state runners were Andrew Crusan, Zach Thomas, Ryan Waltman, Bryce Wilson, and Kendrick Lowery.
PIRATES GIVE HOPE
PCHS Swim Team Makes a Splash at State
Class I (1A – 4A) State Swim Meet Results
The 2018 Pass Christian swim team had another successful season! The program is only three years old and is experiencing some great results. This season 10 of the 12 swimmers on the roster qualified for South State in Biloxi, MS. Eight of these swimmers qualified to go to the State Swim competition in Tupelo, MS.
Haden Cuevas finished second in the state in the boys 100-yard backstroke to earn the silver medal. Cuevas also finished third in the 100-yard butterfly to earn the bronze medal for two podium finishes! What a great finish for the swim team!
Girls:
50-yard Freestyle: Ronnie DeFelicibus 9th Katie Greene 14th
100-yard Freestyle: Ronnie DeFelicibus 8th Katie Green 13th
200-yard Freestyle Relay: Katie Greene, Grace Lawing, Alyssa Foster, & Ronny DeFelicibus 8th
200-yard Medley Relay: Margot Bullock, Grace Lawing, Katie Greene, & Ronny DeFelicibus 7th
Boys:
100-yard Backstroke: Haden Cuevas 2nd Silver Medalist
100-yard Butterfly: Hayden Cuevas 3rd Bronze Medalist
100-yard Freestyle: Logan Dubuisson 12th & Bowen Cai 15th
100-yard Breast Stroke: Logan Dubuisson 11th & Bowen Cai 12th
THE WEEK IN PHOTOS
Upcoming Events
Earn a Classroom Makeover!!
CAR TAG INCENTIVES: For every 10 tags sold, your name will go into a drawing to receive funds to help with a classroom makeover or purchase supplies/materials for your program. (Amount: $1500) We will end this promo at the end of December. (Be sure to have your name written on the back of your sales.) Employees who purchase a tag or tags may wear work-appropriate jeans on Fridays with your Pirate Gear. The school with the largest number sold will receive a pizza party donated by board members Lizana and O'Dwyer.
Proceeds from the PIRATE PRIDE TAG will go toward classroom innovation grants to help us with our STREAM initiative or support athletics and the arts depending on who receives the grants.
Where's the Superintendent?
Contact Info
Email: cevers@pc.k12.ms.us
Website: www.pc.k12.ms.us
Location: 6457 Kiln Delisle Road, Pass Christian, MS, USA
Phone: 228-216-9184
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/passpiratepride
Twitter: @pcppridealerts