Thank you for another outstanding week, Building Leaders:
I had the opportunity to attend the iNACOL conference this week. The focus for the conference was innovation in high schools and here are several “takeaways” happening around our great nation:
- Many communities are saturated by Charter Schools because traditional schools are choosing not to innovate. I believe our district is “ahead of the curve” in this regard as our parents/students can choose between many pathways towards graduation.
- Districts are working on creative ways to differentiate PD for teachers and develop unique pathways for teacher leadership in PD.
- Competency based grading is becoming the norm in many parts of our nation.
- There is an organization called The Mastery Transcript Consortium that has been working on a new transcript with high schools and colleges/universities. U of O is one of the universities involved in this work. Here is the latest prototype.
- I appreciated this quote from one of the keynote speakers: “Demography does not equal destiny.” Carlos Moreno, CEO, Big Picture Learning
To Do:
*Principals, I am proposing to align the ACR and Choice Schools processes so we complete both prior to forecasting beginning in March. For this to happen, we would need to schedule all of our 8th grade orientation nights in January. Yes, we will continue to schedule each of the Bend area HS orientations on separate nights and that includes Marshall, Skyline and REALMS. I am presenting the proposal to cabinet on Monday afternoon. Here is the proposal, if you would like to weigh in.
Information:
*At the high school level, we have been “flexible” in recent years, in regards to expecting our teachers to attend District SIW’s. I would like your help in changing that dynamic. We have a key structure in place to facilitate teacher collaboration through our District SIW time, now we need them to show up! I want your help getting our high school teachers to attend those trainings/meetings outlined for their subject areas. The next District SIW is Dec. 19.
*Principals, during our one-on-one conversation this month we will be visting about your school report card, budgets and I would like to do a walk through of 2-3 LA classrooms. Here are our scheduled times:
- Nov 1, 8:00 – Etinier, 1:00 – McDonald
- Nov 6, 8:00 – White, 10:00 -Reese, 1:00 – Montgomery
- Nov 7, 8:00 – Hicks, 10:00 – Cassaro
- Franklin – still need to schedule.
*I have added a standing agenda item to our HS Principals meetings related to our three Choice Schools. The purpose is to have an open discussion about myths/rumors/questions related to programming and students accessing our Choice Schools. The intention is for us to work together to clear these up and make sure our processes are transparent.
*Here is a note from our ELL expert, Kinsey: We are gearing up for our second year of STAMP testing, which is a language proficiency test. Newcomers, and/or ELL students who might be at-risk or credit-deficient, can potentially earn fine arts/elective credits for their native language proficiency. We offer this opportunity twice a year: November and April and the district will pay for a student to take the test once. Last year, 65 students participated, and an average of 3.4 credits was awarded per student!
The ELL specialist is the primary point person for coordinating and administering this assessment in each building. They will work with your counselors, grad coaches, and Latino Liaisons to identify students and record credits earned. ELL specialists might reach out to your building’s test coordinator if they need support. But mostly, this is just to inform you about this opportunity that will be happening in your buildings next month. If you have questions, your ELL specialist has more details, and I’m happy to help as well.
*The Health Advisory Committee is in need of members. Skip Offenhauser needs at least one admin and one teacher from each level to help screen and recommend supplementary materials for Health instruction. Here is the potential commitment for this year:
- November – all committee meeting to review our screening process in the past and make recommended changes for the future (2 hrs)
- January – review submitted applications ( 2hrs)
- February – listen to presentations, screen materials, make recommendations to school board (half day maybe a full day depending on the number of presentations.
- March – update to supplemental materials master list based on school board approval (1 hr)The Health Advisory Committee is in need of members. Skip Offenhauser needs at least one admin and one teacher from each level to help screen and recommend supplementary materials for Health instruction. Here is the potential commitment for this year:
That is the tentative schedule for this year. For future years the predicted schedule would be to have three meetings:
- Fall – review submitted applications and send invitations to present to the committee
- Winter – listen to presentations, screen materials, make recs to school board
- Spring – update supplemental list
Please let Skip Offenhauser know if you are interested in being part of this committee and/or if you have any teachers at your school who would like to be part of this committee. Teachers will timesheet their time after school and TLC will pick up the cost of any subs that might be needed.
Reminders:
- The deadline to apply for the Teen Intervene Pilot is Wednesday, Oct 31. Submit those to Lauren Wood directly.
- Don’t forget to RSVP with Debbie Watkins for the reasonable suspicion training that will occur on Nov. 28 (2:00 – 5:00pm) if you are interested. See Debbie’s email (sent to you on Oct. 18, 4:00pm) for further details.
Calendar:
- Legace and Mathisen’s Learning Lab is Tuesday, Oct 30 at 7:15, @ MVHS.
- Boen and Mikalson’s Learning Lab is Tuesday, Oct 30 at 7:30 @ Skyline HS.
- Our next HS Principal’s meeting is Wednesday, Oct 31 at 7:15 @ Jackson’s Corner.
- Daylight Savings time ends on Sunday, Nov. 4.
- We have our next Leadership meeting on Monday, Nov. 5. The main focus of this meeting will be around connecting you with the PD topic groups that you selected (when you completed the survey) at our last Leadership. Hopefully you have been notified about which PLC you are in! If not, give me a call.
- Our next HS Admin meeting is Monday, Nov 26 at MVHS, 3:15.