The Reds Tale
May 25, 2017
Newark High School
Email: thomas.roote@newarkcsd.org
Website: http://newarkcsd.org/Domain/84
Location: 625 Peirson Avenue, Newark, NY, United States
Phone: 315-332-3240
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nhsreds
Twitter: @Newark_HS
From the Desk of Mr. Roote
As a former director of curriculum and instruction, I place an extraordinarily high value on demystifying the knows and be able to do's with clearly articulated curriculum. Exactly what this look like at NHS varies. Sometimes we cite curriculum and instruction with talk of a unit plan, series of lesson plans, scope and sequence and maybe even with a high quality summative assessment. No matter which of the preceding it is, your curriculum should be a clear framework for what you will do in the classroom. Given your new learning this year in learning targets and differentiated instruction as well as your past work with me on high quality assessments, I would like to challenge you to pull out your "road-map" during Regents week and start marking it up. I will leave you with one question: "Will you start next school year with a day by day list of learning targets that you can post?"
From the Desk of Mr. Wagner
In the spirit of our last PD, which was focused on our new ADAP, I wanted to share a couple review strategies I used to help students expand their knowledge and understanding by tracking their own data. Both strategies focused on increasing their academic achievement on the multiple choice section of the U.S. and Global Regents exams. During the first week of review, we would focus on a few key topics per day and I would use a sample of 10-12 practice Regents questions as a formative assessment. Students would then use the data from the practice questions and select an intervention to help them grow in areas they are deficient in. For example, one of the interventions was to attend an after school review class that focused on the specific topic. Another, would be to review the material with me and complete practice questions on an online system that I tracked. This worked well overall as it gave students an opportunity to identify topics they are deficient in as we worked through the review process. After the first week, students would begin taking a series of 50 question practice exams. I did a minimum of four exams and provided students a chart to track their progress. The goal was to increase achievement on each exam. If students were able to demonstrate growth, I would replace their lowest test score with their highest practice test score. Having the students tack their own data provided them with ownership over their progress. In addition, if the student was not making progress, it allowed us to sit down and look at three or four exams to identify trends. Besides individual student data, this also allowed me to identify gaps if the majority of students were missing questions on a specific topic. I could then respond to the group with a lesson designed to close that gap. Please consider involving students in a data-driven process to allow them an opportunity to monitor and own their progress.
Mash Up
In the event the awards ceremony on June 7 goes long, lunch 5 will run from 11:02-11:32 am. This will impact 5/6 and 6/7.
Please sign up with Kyra if you are willing to bring in some small food/drink items for the Cap and Gown Walk on June 7. Drinks, desserts and snack items are most needed.
I am excited to announce that we have secured three school counselors for next school year:
- Ms. Morgan Messineo (probationary). Morgan graduated from Warwick Valley High School and she received her MSEd from the highly respected school counselor development program at the University at Buffalo.
- Mr. Joseph Feeney (LTS). Joe is a Boston College graduate where he received a degree in Theology. He went to high school at McQuaid. He just completed his MSEd in School Counseling and had a highly successful internship with Batavia High School.
- Ms. Cathryn Hugunine (probationary). Caty went to Penfield High School and graduated from Cortland with a mathematics degree. She continued her education and recently completed her MSEd in School Counseling from Brockport. Caty also completed an internship at Batavia High School.
Also, congratulations to Ms. Shannon Hersh who has accepted a probationary mathematics position. I am currently working to hire for Mr. Bean, Ms. Mikler-Crandon and Ms. Jensen.
Social Emotional Learning and the Plan for Excellence
With school based kindness and empathy initiatives trending all around us I thought I would start to showcase this work on a weekly basis. Below is my third entry...
- From Ms. Ellis: "Given our recent and continuing focus on social emotional learning, I came across a resource published this month by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The report looks at 25 widely used tools for social emotional learning. It breaks down the skills taught by each program and the research behind it. I just wanted to share it in case you are interested in learning more about the approaches out there. It also includes a nice background on SEL."
Calendar Share
Wednesday, May 24 from 8:00-11:00 am. Health & Wellness Fair. Contact: N Reinholtz.
Friday May 26 from 12:15 to 2:30 pm. Freshmen Bowling Party. Contact: Will Bean.
Wednesday, May 31. World No Tobacco Day-Wear Red, White and Blue. Contact: N Reinholtz.
Thursday, June 1. Last Reds Tale. Contact: T Roote.
Thursday, June 1 from 2:30-3:00 pm in the LGI. Covey/Kindness Initiatives Launch. Contact: T. Roote.
Friday, June 2 in the am. Tom and Ryan at NMS for Secondary Principals. Contact: T Roote.
Tuesday, June 6 from 2:30-3:00 pm in the LGI. Last Staff Meeting. Contact: T Roote.
Wednesday, June 7 from 7:30-11:00 am. Academic Awards Assembly. Contact: K Springett.
Wednesday, June 7 from 11:00-3:00 pm. Cap and Gown Walk. Contact: T Roote.
Wednesday, June 7-Graduation: Click for important dates and times for seniors.
Saturday, July 1. Goodbye to the U: Drive. Contact: IT.
The Newark High School Mission, Vision and Values
The Newark High School Mission: We are a school community with deeply held hometown pride, committed to readying young people to be life-long learners with experiences aimed at continuously motivating us to hone our skills in the complex tasks of teaching and learning. Our community is devoted to providing supports for the aspirations of our adolescents as they mature into adults with ambitious plans for college and careers.
The Newark High School Vision: Staff embody the school values and impart confidence while providing an inviting classroom environment with clear expectations and specific academic and behavioral goals. Students embody the school values through intellectual and emotional perseverance. Families embody the school values while remaining actively involved as advocates for their children and supporters of the school programs and staff.
The Newark High School Values: Safe, Responsible, Trustworthy, and Respectful.
Email: thomas.roote@newarkcsd.org
Website: http://newarkcsd.org/Domain/84
Location: 625 Peirson Avenue, Newark, NY, United States
Phone: 315-332-3240
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nhsreds
Twitter: @Newark_HS