'Tis the Season

Celebrating Success: Even Santa made a guest appearance at our CHS Holiday Party.  It was truly a special night.  Thank you to Becky, Pat, Donna and all who helped make this such a wonderful party. Many angels received their wings that night :).
 Thank you to all who helped give our school a holiday feel by participating in the door decorating contest. You can't help but smile as you walk through the halls.
Reflecting on this week at CHS many thoughts come to mind; First Lego League CHS Competition was a great success in spite of the winter blizzard conditions, PLC day was super productive, winter sports in full swing, our CHS band recognized as tops in the state, PTO fundraiser craft fair bigger and better than ever, PBIS planning making headway and student attendance rate getting better, just to name a few. Way to go CHS!

Looking Ahead: Finals! Our first semester finals will be Wed, Thurs, Fri, Jan 11,12, 13th. We are still working on a precise schedule but you can plan for 85 minute finals and we will dismiss at 11:00 AM each day.

Riddle for the week: What did one mouse say to the other mouse?... Baby it's cold outside..We are seeing a few more of these unwelcome little visitors in the building. Please help keep them out by not allowing students to eat in your classrooms.  I realize that there may be some holiday festivities going on this week, if food is involved please have your students take the trash to the dumpster before dismissing.

Dates to Remember:
12/12 Monday~Panther PIT (PTO) mtg 5:30 PM
12/12 Monday~Band and Choir Concert 7:00 PM Main auditorium
12/13 Tuesday~Girls Soccer @ Home begins at 1:00 PM
12/13 Tuesday~Boys Basketball @ Home begins at 4:00 PM
12/15 Thursday~Girls Soccer @ Home begins at 1:00
12/16 Friday~Boys Basketball @ Home begins at 4:00 PM
12/16-01/02 WINTER BREAK


Happy Holidays to you all, have a great week!

Correction

Oooops...I was mistaken about the December delayed start days. The delayed start is Wednesday,  December 7th which is, in fact, the first Wednesday of the month. Sorry for the confusion!

Back at it!

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others."
                -Cicero
Thank you for all you do everyday.  I hope you enjoyed the brief respite of the Thanksgiving holiday and welcome back!
Just a reminder that tomorrow, Monday 11/28, the CHS Admin team will be meeting with groups of students throughout the day. The intent of these meetings is to include our seriously "at-risk", or more fondly referred to as "at-promise" students in the conversation of how to get back on track and what the options are if they do not. We will call students down to the mini-theatre beginning with Freshmen at 9:25 AM.  Please see the schedule and list of students sent via from Becky Gonzales on Tuesday, 11/22.


PLCs: Remember December is one of the odd months where our delayed start day is the second Wednesday instead of the first. PLCs  and delayed start are Wed, December 7.

Dates to Remember:
11/28 "At-promise" student meetings
11/29 Boys BSKB @ CHS
11/30, 12/1 Algebra Workshop SZ and Alg Teachers gone All day
12/02 Girls BSKB @ SHS 
12/02, 12/03 W.H. Wrestling Tournament at FHS 
12/03 FIRST Robotics League Competition 

Thankful for CHS

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."
                                                    ~ Henry Ford
This is my new favorite quote, shared with me from my friend and mentor Dave Roth. 


Thank you to you all for contributing to the "lively" conversations during our school wide PLCs last week.  Making time to reflect and talk about our school and our practice is critical for a healthy and productive environment. There is no doubt that our jobs have become quite complex over the years and it is harder and harder to stay focused on what matters most, our students and their futures. I want you to know I truly appreciate hearing your perspectives, thoughts and concerns. I look forward to sharing out on December 7th. Viva PLCs :)

With all that said there are some logistical and procedural items that have been brought to my attention that warrant a discussion. Therefore we will have an "Open Forum" Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, December 13 at 2:45 PM. I will not have an agenda for this meeting, I ask that you bring items you wish to discuss that are relevant to all for this meeting.

PBIS: Great news, we have 22 CHS teachers on our team.  There will be an informational meeting on Tuesday, November 29 @ 3:00 P.M. in the library.

Dates to Remember: 
11/21 Boys and Girls Basketball.  It all starts at 4:00 PM
11/23,24, 25 Thanksgiving Holiday


Happy Thanksgiving everyone, enjoy the break!

Reflection

Here we are in November, nearly three months into the 2011-2012 SY. So how are we doing? Is CHS moving forward in a positive direction? How is the PLC process going?  Several of you have shared your thoughts, questions and concerns about our PLC journey at CHS. Questions that have arisen include:  Why are we spending so much time in our collaborative teams answering questions? And, what happens with our responses and what’s the real purpose of PLCs?

 I’ll start by saying that the purpose of the guided questions for our PLCs is to get a pulse of our school.  The responses are an analysis of sorts, to discover and identify our school’s strengths, weaknesses and areas of concern with respect to student achievement. The PLC process is part of our effort to establish productive professional relationships where we can be honest and build shared knowledge to help lay the foundation for true, genuine collaboration. Our administrative team values and honors your input and we feel that it is critical to work together to identify our current realities so we can make informed and appropriate decisions to build our capacity to help all of our students to learn and to become the vibrant, academically excellent school we envision.  Thank you for your continued commitment and trust in the process.

What’s next? This week our PLC time will be devoted to working on our school wide goals: Connectedness, Safety, Attendance and Increasing student achievement (Grades),  Please see the email sent on November 2, from Cris Ray to confirm which Goal you will be working on. When we reconvene in December each team will report out and we will share the results of the various PLC guided questions at that time. 

Noteworthy hype: Have you heard about the Kahn Academy? This is a fascinating phenomenon. If you haven't heard about this you gotta check this site out. This is a totally free tutoring and support site that is pretty mind boggling.  This one guy has created thousands of super high quality videos and lessons covering every core subject you can think of. I think it shows some promise for helping to  support teachers and students. Click here to go to the Kahn Academy. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. 

Dates to remember:

• Canned Food drive this month
• 11/15 Academic Booster Club Mtg @ 2:45 Large Conference room
• 11/15 Mr. CHS Pageant 7:00 PM
• 11/16 Delayed start/ School Wide PLCs 

Updates

Are you curious? How did the PBIS vote turn out? As a collective group are we in favor of Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) at Coconino? Drum roll please...Yes! 94% of you voted in favor of moving forward with PBIS. This is great news as it will most certainly help us in achieving our goal to create a vibrant school community that promotes academic excellence and exemplary citizenship.  PBIS will be the undercurrent that carries us toward this goal.
So, you might ask, what's next? The S3 grant will continue to meet and develop phase 2 of the Safe and Supportive Schools plan. Krista will also lead a PBIS team that will work toward implementing PBIS at CHS. Please let Krista know if you are interested in being part of this team. Thank you for your support!

Policy and Procedures: There have been,  and will continue to be numerous field trips involving CHS students. Please submit lists of participating students as far in advance as possible. If you would also send an email to the CHS-Xchange so your colleagues can plan accordingly, it would be much appreciated by all. Along these same lines, please call off on-line, request your sub and submit your leave requests as  soon as you know you are going to be absent. Thanks!

$$$: Several of you have come to me with me your needs for supplies and materials to support your class curriculum and projects. As you all know funds are in short supply. Although we assess a "Student Fee" for certain classes, many of our students are on Free or Reduced Lunch plans which renders them exempt them from having to pay a fee or reduces the amount they are required to pay. What can we do about this? I recently sent a letter to CHS families that explains the Tax Credit program and asked for Tax Credit contributions. I will put a copy of this letter in your boxes. In the meantime we will do whatever we can to support your needs.

Dates to remember:
11/11/11 Veteran's Day Holiday No School


Have a great week!


Here is a clip from a high school in Rochester, New York that I thought you all might enjoy...

Points of Light

Celebrating Success: Whew! First round of AIMS is behind us. The testing atmosphere was highly academic and our students took the AIMS very seriously. Thank you counselors for organizing and administering the exams and thank you also to the teachers who helped proctor.

Another "Point of light" for CHS...Last week our JROTC Cadets participated in an annual competition at Hopi High School honoring fallen Az. soldier Lori Piestewa.  I am proud to announce that our JROTC Panther Battalion (made up of four teams)  took first place in every event of the competition. Congratulations to the cadets and their instuctors Sergeant Alves and Chief Workman.

And more good news...Last Monday a large group of CHS students led by CHS Impact President, Dominic Fontino, spoke at the Flagstaff City Council meeting. The topic of the presentation was a commitment  to clean, non alcohol related events for high school students.  These students so proudly represented CHS and received accolades from the city council members for their professionalism and well articulated message. Thank you Kelly Koelfgen and Mike Vogler for leading our CHS Impact group.

FYI: Monday is the official beginning of our our winter sports season. Congratulations to our coaches and student athletes for a successful fall sports season. Go Panthers!

PLCs this week: We will meet in the mini-theatre on Wednesday 11/2/2011 at 7:30 A.M. Our PLC focus will begin with a presentation on Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) by the ADE. We will have some time to discuss PBIS and then vote on whether or not we would like to proceed with a plan for PBIS at CHS. Continental Breakfast provided (Thanks for starting the trend, math department).
Please be prompt.

Halloween: Even though we announced to students that face paint and head coverings would not be permitted at school, I anticipate there will be one or two students who show up in full costume on Monday. If you happen to encounter such students kindly ask them to remove the head covering or go to the washroom to wash off the face paint. Please only send students to the RTR or the front office if they are uncooperative or disobedient. Thank you!

Dates to Remember: 
11/1 SZ at educational symposium all day
11/2 Delayed start PLC in the mini theater 7:30 AM

What's up?

Celebrating Success: Congratulations to the S3 Grant Team, Panther Power and CHS! Our Safe and Supportive Schools (S3) action plan was officially approved by ADE last week. A special thank you to Sally Ake, Krista Dobosh, Eric Ashcroft, Diane Sorden, Kelly Koelfgen, Kelly Hamilton, Cris Ray and Ben Proctor for your hard work and dedication to help CHS become a more safe and supportive school. We will share details of the action plan with you at our upcoming faculty meeting on November 2nd.

The Buzz about Common Core: It is interesting that one of the hot topics in educational politics is Common Core and College and Career Readiness Standards, yet in the walls of the schools it seems like a remote discussion. When you have a few minutes you might be interested in reading about some highlights and important information related to these standards click here.

AIMS: For important details please read the green paper that you should have received in your mail box last week. A list of students taking the AIMS was sent in an e-mail by Karen Hughes last week as well. Remember Tues, Wed and Thurs will be combined lunch 11:50-12:20 PM. Thank you in advance for your understanding, cooperation and support.

Invitation: You are invited to the October Strategy of the Month with Tricia Roach. This month the strategy will focus on helping students understand academic vocabulary specific to your content area and using online tools designed to reinforce academic vocabulary. Thursday, October 27, 2:30-3:00 p.m. in the Panther Cafe.


FYI: 

• Because of FERPA Law students are not permitted to access the teacher version of Genesis. Teachers, please do not allow your teacher aides take role or enter grades in Genesis.
• We are just about ready to release ParentVue in Genesis. We are planning a parent info night about this program in early November (Exact date TBD soon). 
• New Safety Initiative: High Schools are eligible for a bonus of $200.00 per quarter if we have zero accidents. We could receive an additional $500.00 if we have zero accidents for the year. 

Dates to Remember:


10/24 Panther Power mtg 3:00 PM
10/25, 26, 27 AIMS for Seniors needing to pass and Juniors wishing to improve
10/27 Belfour Company at CHS all day
10/27 Volleyball v. FHS @ FHS
10/28 Chaperone debrief (Homecoming dance)

Panther Pride!

Celebrating Success:  Have you heard the CHS choir this year?   Congratulations to our choir students who came together for their first choir performance of the year last week. Beautiful voices eliciting lots of smiles from the audience, good stuff!!!
Congratulations also to our band who received superior status at the NAU Band Exhibition Day on Saturday at the Sky Dome.

A gift of time: Please note the change of agenda for our upcoming PLC Day on 10/19/201.  Because several teachers on our CHS leadership Team will be in Tucson visiting Cienega High school this Wednesday, we will work in our smaller collaborative teams instead of meeting in our large School wide Goal PLCs. This means you will have time to work in your subject area PLCs again looking at the most recent student marks, answering a few guided questions and discussing your team's action steps. You will also have a little time to work on your own in your classrooms.

FYI: This Friday 10/21/2011 we play FHS at the NAU Dome. Tradition is we have a pep assembly here at Coco to support our team. We will maintain the tradition, but with a sort of abbreviated pep assembly. As you know we are  working on maintaining a serious learning environment with as few disruptions as possible. Rather than changing the entire day's schedule we have decided to shorten 8th hr on Friday. I promise not to make a habit of this.  The pep assembly will begin at 1:50 P.M in the large gym. Our student Council assures us that not only will they encourage our students to support our Panthers on the football field,  they will also  remind our CHS students about the importance of passing the AIMS and their hope of becoming an "A" school. It was hard to say "no" to that.

Teacher Work Room: Please do not send your student aides to the mailroom to make copies. The copy machine should be used by teachers only and the teacher's lounge is intended for teachers only as well.

Website Updates: Thank you to those of you who recently updated your staff page on the CHS website. It is important that we have current information on our school's web pages. I have had calls from parents about outdated information and in all honestly it doesn't look very professional to have "old" newsletters and other stale information on our site. I realize this is time consuming and one more thing to stay on top of. If you need help with this Jen Parker is willing to help, she just needs to hear from you.

Thanks everybody!!!

Update

Celebrating Success: I am happy and proud to announce that one of our CHS Faculty members has been recognized by Stanford University as an outstanding educator who has made a significant impact on the intellectual, academic, social and personal development of a Stanford student. Congratulations to Christine Sapio for earning this honorable recognition from Stanford University.

Whoop Whoop! Homecoming week is behind us. Thank you to everybody for making this 2011 Homecoming week a successful one.  A special thank you to Diane Sorden, Gaby Garcia and  Student Council for a great parade, pep assembly and dance. Your efforts to make this a full week full of CHS spirit and Panther pride is appreciated by all. Congrats to our Panther Football and Volleyball teams for their wins last week!

Also...Thank you teachers for your work during our collaborative team time. The responses to our five PLC questions will help drive us forward in our efforts to create the best CHS learning environment possible.

And another thank you...Per your requests, our PTO has purchased a year's supply of butcher paper and a rack to house the paper for your use. And, in case you haven't heard Lydia Hemphill secured a donation of a beautiful baby grand piano for our CHS music programs.  The instrument is quite exquisite and greatly appreciated by our "music" teachers and students. Please stop by Doug Riddle's room and take a peak.

Good News from Tricia Roach and our Secondary Intervention Team:

This year, every Flagstaff USD secondary school has created a Secondary Collaborative Intervention Team (SCIT). The purpose of SCIT is to identify and work with those English Language Learners (ELLs), Fluent English Proficient (FEP) students, and Native American students who have not passed AIMS or who are having difficulty in your classes with academics and attendance.  Funding for this program comes from already-existing monies in the budgets for ELL and Indian Education programs.

Our team consists of Ella Mase (Home-School Coordinator), Leslie Grabel (ELL Specialist), LaShia Scharfenberger (Native American Academic Advisor), Tricia Roach (Instructional Coach), and Stacie Zanzucchi (Principal). We have chosen 30 students (9-12) with whom to begin work. 

It is our goal to support students in being successful in your classes and passing AIMS. Our intensive interventions will include: 

• Meeting with students to identify problem areas, strengths, and goals;

• Observing students in your classrooms; 

• Ongoing monitoring of student progress;

• Talking with parents about student issues;

• Talking with you, the teachers, to plan strategies to assist students in achieving your academic objectives;

• Identifying resources that help to meet specific student needs; and

• Maintaining data to assess the impact of our interventions.

You will soon receive a list of the 30 students in an email. Please expect a member of the team to be contacting you if a targeted student is in one of your classes. Together with you, we hope to truly make a difference for these kids. Thanks for your dedication to CHS students!

 

This week should be relatively calm...

• Monday~ SZ Out of the building in the afternoon for Admin Council
• Fall Choir Performance 7:30 PM Main Auditorium
• Wednesday~ SZ Out of the building for ADE Common Core Standards training
• PSATs in the cafeteria all morning PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE ONE COMBINED LUNCH , 2ND LUNCH. ( All students will go to 2nd lunch)
• Thursday~ Volleyball @ Home 
• Friday~ Varsity Football @ Home

Policies and Procedures:

*The new keyless entry system will soon be taking the place of our old key system. You have probably noticed several of our entry doors no longer have actual key holes. If you have not made a trip to the District Office to receive your key card, you should do that ASAP. See Bondo with questions. 

* Please remind students that our hallways are closed during lunch. Students may eat and socialize in the South Commons and Cafeteria. During inclement weather we will open the North Commons as well. 


Have a great week!

October 5~Delayed Start

Wednesday, October 5, 2011
PLC Schedule:
7:30 - 7:45 A.M. All meet in the Mini Theater
7:45 - 8:35 A.M. Collaborative Teams meet (Data Analysis)
8:45 - 9:30 A.M. Faculty Meeting in the Mini Theater

"Quality teaching is not an individual accomplishment, it is the result of a collaborative culture that empowers teachers to team up to improve student learning beyond what any one of them can achieve alone"
                        -Carroll (2009)

Full Steam Ahead

Great News...
Cris Ray is back. yay! Welcome back Cris we missed you!
Also a warm welcome to Jessica Sargent our new English Intervention-Teacher (Read Right) and
Tammy Jones our new school receptionist.

CHS P.A.W.S (Promoting Assets with Sculpture) Mountain Lion, disguised as a Panther, has returned to CHS. If you haven't seen this beautiful piece of art painted by Vicki Lascota's art class, you will soon. The PAWS Panther representing the asset of CREATIVITY will be permanently and proudly displayed at CHS. We are trying to decide between the North or South Commons for his new den :).

Thank you all for your contributions to our focused conversation last week during our PLC time. Great professional discourse about how best to collaborate to ensure that our students are learning at high levels. The "Big Idea" comments were thoughtful and thought provoking. We will continue to work together to incorporate your ideas, thoughts and concerns as we strengthen and improve our school. As you are well aware the single most important factor of student success in school is ultimately the classroom teacher. CHS admin is committed to providing support for all of you so that you continue to grow professionally and be the best you can possibly be.

Q&A
Will we have tutoring and or Elect-to-Learn (ETL) this year?

• Gear up is working on securing "Volunteer" after school tutoring.
• AIMS tutors are being hired now. There is $ to pay CHS teachers to tutor our students.  If we don't have interested teachers we will hire outside of the building.  We hope to organize tutors during the school day as well as after school. 

What is the date for Fall AIMS and what are we going to do about seniors who have not passed the AIMS?

• Fall AIMs for 10,11 12 grade students who have not passed AIMS are October 25, 26 and 27. 
• We have a high number of seniors who have NOT passed AIMS. If your department has a plan for interventions that could help students become prepared to pass the AIMS please share this with Cris or me so we can work with you provide the necessary support. 

Is Trish Roach going to offer the  strategy of the month again this year?

• Yes as a matter of fact, the first one will take place this Wednesday, September 28th at 2:30 PM in the Panther Cafe. Please see email sent by Patricia Roach 9/22 for details. 

When will parents have access to Genesis Grade book? 

• ParentVue is ready to roll. We have a pilot group of parents who will be logging on to see student records with respect to grades, assignments, absences and general student progress. These parents will us give feedback about their experience with this new system. Please stay current with assignments and enter your grades regularly and consistently. 
• The goal is for all CHS parents to have access to ParentVue by mid to end of October.

Are we doing anything about our class sizes? 

• Some of our class sizes remain quite large while others are relatively small. Our "entry level" classes are the largest. We will certainly look at our course offerings for SY 2012-13 and do our best to avoid the uneven distribution of our students, however large class sizes are here to stay. 
• Please plan to attend the CHS Budget meeting this Thursday September 29th at 2:30 PM in the min-theater presented by Ken Garland, FUSD Financial Director. His words about the budget "I realize you have many important instructional goals to address; but in the next two months the Governing Board and Administration will be discussing important priorities related to Schools.  These priorities must be established going forward, and related to especially the FY 2013 M & O  Budget that will be determined by enrollment and State Budget conditions.  Having more staff informed about budgets and the choices going forward will be to everyone’s benefit. " I sincerely hope and encourage you to attend this meeting. 

What is the protocol for morning announcements?

• Greg Rieff will continue to be the "official" morning announcer. If you have students who would like to be a "guest" announcer this should be pre-arranged and approved by CHS Admin. 
• All information to be announced must be provided to Tammy Jones no later than 3:00 PM the day before the information should be announced. 

FYI: We will be conducting a few random hallway "Sweeps" this week to gather our lolly gaggers and bring them to Popham's RTR for some redirection.  If they are first time offenders, they will be released to go back to class. If they are repeat RTR customers, they will remain in the RTR for the remainder of the period. Before the "sweep" occurs, Bondo will get on the intercom and make the announcement. We plan to start on Tuesday of this week.   

Planning Ahead:

Next week, October 3-7 is CHS Homecoming week. During Homecoming week we will be on a modified schedule in order to have combined lunch each day. The week will conclude with Friday Pep Assembly and Parade. The schedule will be in your box soon. Our student council has been working hard to organize a fun, positive and spirited week of events. Thanks in advance for your cooperation and support. 

CHS Website management and upkeep workshop will be held during prep hours on October 11th  in the library. If your teacher page is current and you don't need a refresher training, it is not necessary for you to attend this workshop. 

Dates to Remember:

9/27 Volleyball @ Home V. FHS

9/28 Strategy of the month 2:30 PM Panther Cafe

9/29 Budget Meeting w/ Ken Garland 2:30 PM Mini-theater

9/30 Ken Robinson @ NAU (SZ out of the building with CHS team attending workshop)

Lots of positive feedback from parents about our CHS Open House.  Thank you all for being there to visit with parents and share what’s happening in your classrooms.

Kudos to Denise Mattingly, Karen Rathbun, Margoth Carrasquilla and Carry Mortenson.  I received a call from a parent who asked if I would recognize and acknowledge this special team of people. Her words were “They are so committed to the kids, they go above and beyond everyday to make my child and all the children in the class feel important and successful. “  You truly make a difference!

Policies and procedures:  Remember the phrase monitor and adjust? In our attempt to monitor our school’s environment and student conduct a number of things have risen to the surface, some more innocuous than others and some behaviors displayed by just a few students while others displayed by many.  We have noticed it is common practice for many of our students to return from lunch with bags of food, cans of sodas, bottles of juice and a variety of other consumables to “enjoy” in their classrooms.  This practice brings with it a host of problems. Some more obvious than others; Distractions from learning, lack of focus, overflowing trash cans, increase in rodents in the building, stains in the new carpet and more work for our hard working custodial staff.  Because students are so accustomed to this practice and undoubtedly do not fully understand the problems, it will be difficult to break the trend. All that said, I would like to gradually break this custom and ask your assistance in helping to make this happen. We can start by informing the students of the problems, discuss what appropriate “snacking” in class might be and letting them know that in the not too distant future we’ll be tightening up on this practice.  Thank you in advance for your help and support!

PLC day: We will meet in the mini-theater at 7:30 AM for our school-wide PLC on Wednesday 9/21  (No faculty meeting this time). We’ll pick up where we left off at our last PLC meeting by reading and discussing the PLC article by Rick and Becky Duffor. Please bring the following items to the PLC: Your copy of the article (We’ll have extras if you can’t find it), the PLC Implementation and Expectations guide, a writing utensil and a smile.

Budget Information: F.U.S.D. Finance Director, Ken Garland, will hold a Budget Information Meeting for CHS Faculty and Staff on Thursday, September 29 at 2:30 PM in the mini-theater. I strongly suggest that you attend so you will have a better picture of the current and future financial status of FUSD and the implications for our school.

Dates to remember:

9/21~ Delayed start.  PLCs in the mini-theater 7:30 AM

9/21~College Night 6:00 P.M.

9/22~Volleyball @ Home

9/23~Varsity Football @ Home

 Have a great week, Go Panthers!

Rolling out September

Thank you all for being present and focused for our first delayed start collaboration day last week. We will continue to work on streamlining and clarifying our policies and procedures so that we are all on the same page and most importantly that we are fair and consistent in implementation. (Please read attendance blurb below). 
Congratulations to our CHS Teachers who completed the 17 mile Imogene Run in Colorado on Saturday. Way to go!

So what is our attendance policy?  Here's the scoop: Excused and unexcused ABSENCES count toward a student being placed on attendance probation.  Once a student reaches 10,  the committee will determine whether to award or deny credit based on the type of absence.  Also, for this year TARDIES will count as a tardy only and will not count as an absence. The committee will be looking carefully at this policy and refine it as necessary for next year. Please read the letter below that defines the current  policy.
CHS Attendance Policy


Open House: This Wednesday, September 14 is CHS Open House.  We will follow the traditional  Open House format beginning with opening remarks in the Mini-theater at 6:00 P.M. Parents will then follow a six period schedule with each period lasting ten minutes. If all goes well the evening should conclude by about 7:30. Please remind your students to invite their parents to attend.

Other Events: Our counselors are hosting a College Night on Wednesday, September 21 6:00 PM at CHS. All grades are encouraged to attend.  Topics to be covered will include: Necessary courses for college entrance, Financial aide, NCAA Clearing House and Scholarships.

Dates to remember:
9/13 Volleyball at Home
9/14 Open House 
9/16 Football at Home

Go Panthers!

Next Steps

Thank you everyone for your patience as we continue to work through balancing classes and ensuring that students are appropriately placed. We have added a zero hour Spanish 1, an additional U.S. History, English 9, Sculptures and Ceramics and still working on Math and Science. It is most certainly a work in progress, I know we'll get there soon.

A quick reminder:

• Delayed start for students this Wednesday 9/7.  Teachers will meet for our monthly faculty meeting @7:30 A.M. in the Mini-Theater followed by a school-wide Professional Learning Community Meeting.  Topics to be discussed: Positive Behavior Support, S3 Grant, Student Conduct and Discipline Referral Process, PLC and delayed start expectations. 
• If you have not signed the Highly Qualified Attestation form, please stop by Becky's office to complete the form this week. 
• CHS Open House is scheduled for Wednesday, September 14,  6:00 PM-8:00 PM

CHS Admin update: Cris Ray will be out of the office for a couple of weeks. Cris recently had surgery and is recovering at home.  I encourage you to share well wishes by email and if you would like to add to our CHS  "Get Well Soon and Hurry back" basket, Pat is putting together a collection of goodies to send to Cris at the end of this week. 

Hope you have another great week!

Week 3 ahead...

 Before I get into the business of the week I just want to share with you some of the cool things I have noticed happening at Coconino.  It's great to walk through the halls and see and hear you all teaching and the students learning with such vitality.  Your commitment shows.  Even in the short moments I have been able to pass by or peak in your room I've noticed current Content Objectives posted and heard vibrant discussions about new content being presented.  We even had a substitute last week who went out of her way to tell me how impressed she was with the students and teachers at CHS. That's cool. Thanks for the work you do!

More Successes: How bout those Panthers? Congrats to the Varsity Football team for winning the first game of the season. Woo hoo...Go Panthers!

FYI:

• Sir Ken Robinson: Eric Ashcroft,  Cat Weidinger, Kelly Koelfgen, Kelley Smith, Lori Wright, Katie Piehl and I will be attending on 30 Sept. Be sure to complete your leave requests ASAP!
•  
• Teacher Evaluations: The district is forming a committee to create a new teacher evaluation instrument(s?) to comply with the new state law (SB 1040).  There's a process for us to go through to select our two Coconino representatives. One of the two representatives will be an administrator and the other a Teacher .  If you would like to be considered for the committee you will need to complete a request form. Should we have more than one teacher interested, which I have a feeling we will, the selection will go to a vote. September 2nd is the deadline to send in our selections, so we have to act pretty quickly on this. Please e-mail me if you are interested. 
• Positive Behavior Support at CHS: Our ultimate goal is to to maximize academic performance and minimize problem behaviors. Being proactive and working to create a positive climate at CHS will direct our discipline referral process. In your boxes you will find a step by step PBS Discipline referral process guide as well as a stack of pink Dress Code Cards. Jim Popham, (Yes he is back, yay!) will be available in his room during the prep hour meeting day, Sept 1st, to answer questions about the referral process.  Thanks in advance for your time and attention to creating a positive learning environment for our students! 

• 301: There will be four pay dates for Prop 301 this year.  A max of 13 hours is available at $50/hr for a total of $650.00.  Prop 301 eligibility has changed.
   The Prop 301 pay dates for 2011-2012 eligible employees are listed below:
  
  
  Friday, September 16, 2011 (due to Payroll on 9/7/11)-Collaboration days + Menu Hours
  Friday, December 9, 2011 (due to Payroll on 11/30/11)-Menu Hours
  Friday, March 2, 2012 (due to Payroll on 2/22/12)-Menu Hours
  Thursday, May 24, 2012 (due to Payroll on 5/16/12)-Menu Hours.  *If you are using  tutoring hours for 301 pay, they must be recorded on the "official" 301 tutoring logs. The forms will be in your mail boxes soon. 
  
  
  Teacher's Aides and Independent Studies: I have signed an inordinate number of forms for both of these positions. Please be reminded that you are responsible for the whereabouts of ALL students under your supervision.
  
    I will be out of the building on Thursday, September 30 to attend an S3 Grant training at the Department of Education in Phoenix. 
  
  
  Dates to remember:
  9/1 Prep Hour Meetings
  9/1 Volleyball Home
  9/5 No School! Labor Day
  
  Have a great week!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
     

 

Week 1 review and looking ahead...

Thank you all for a great week!  Looking back over the first week of the new school year I see lots of signs of a great year ahead. Thanks for the positive feedback about our motivational speaker, Mark Sharonbrough. The students appeared to be captivated and a few of us even shared some belly laughs. Thanks Theresa, Krista, Gaby and Sally for making that happen. Thanks too for helping our new Freshman Class, all 412 of them, feel welcome and comfortable at CHS. The first two days together as a staff weren't too shabby either. I enjoyed observing you working together to define who you are as individual teachers and collectively as a faculty. Thanks Senor Pavlich for feeding us all with your famous Pavlich BBQ. A special thank you too to our Student council for the back -to- school breakfast and to the Varsity Football players for helping us welcome our students and giving out schedules. And one last thank you for now,  thank you to everyone who helped make this year's golf tournament the best ever. You were out there in full force to help. Erin Moate and the Dance Line kept smiling and welcoming all the players as they kept track of raffle ticket sales and matched the prizes (It was a sophisticated set up).  Yes, it truly takes a village...

What's next? Our priority this week will be to complete student registration to make sure each student has a schedule of classes. Then, go through the master board with a fine tooth comb to balance class loads.  Some of you have reported class sizes of 40 +.  We have to find out if these are actual bodies in these classes or names on a roster.   It looks like we will be opening an addition section of Eng 9, US History and Sculptures and Ceramics thus far.  Please let your students know that we are working on this and that CHS has about 100 more students than expected this year.

In case you're looking for me I thought I should let you know that I hope to be outside in the morning before school and in the afternoon at dismissal daily.  I will also be visiting classrooms during first hour as regularly as possible and  I plan to join George, Cris and Steve for lunch duty. 

Common Grade Book Question: Why do we have a default  points?  Thiis is the response back from Brad Kamradt 1) the Genesis system requires default points -- to leave them blank or enter a zero will trigger the system to set default points for any given assignment type to 1 point! -- AND 2) teachers are free to override default points for any  assignment in their gradebook.

Reminders: 

• We are on a bell schedule.  Please do not dismiss students before the end of the period signaled by the bell.  This will help greatly in our efforts to keep the halls clear.
• September 1~ Prep hour meetings.
• September 14~ Open House
• Good excuse for a faculty night out: Complimentary Subway Sandwich meal at the new Subway  Cafe across the street in the cedar Shopping center between 4:00 -8:00 PM for CHS Faculty and a guest.

Thanks again for a great first week! Hope week two is equally as good.

Free Food... Really!!!

While wrapping up what appeared to be a great first day back I received a surprising phone call. Here is the short version of that call... Mark Roden, owner of the brand new Subway Cafe at the Cedar shopping Center, has invited all CHS faculty and one guest for a free meal on Monday, August 22nd from 4:00-8:00 PM. This is a new store with a new concept and he thought we, CHS, might like to be the very first customers, no charge, really! I asked "What's the catch?" Mark's response was "Good will in a new neighborhood".  Right place at the right time.  So if you would like an after school snack, or early evening supper swing on by the new Subway store (next to Brandy's) on Monday. You'll need to show your School I.D. to get in as this will not be open to the public. Pretty cool huh?
Thanks everyone for a super first day of the Year of the Panther!
A few reminders for tomorrow or today as the case may be...

• Bells will chime
• Please help keep the hallways clear by reminding students that we now have closed hallways during lunch. Students are to go to the cafeteria, the South Commons or outside during lunch.
• The Counselors are working hard to fix schedules and balance class loads, please be patient.
• We have high enrollment and are still trying to fill schedules. If a student appears in your class, but you think they are misplaced, welcome them anyway, and let us know at the end of the day by e-mail. Please do not send students to the counseling office tomorrow. 

Happy Friday!

1st Day with Students 8-18-2011

In a few short days 1400, or so, students will be walking through the doors of CHS. I am excited and, after visiting with several students during registration week, I think they are too.

Below you will find the schedule for Thursday, August 18th. Remember this is an unusual first day schedule due to our Links Crew Freshmen Orientation and motivational speaker assembly.  You will notice that first hour is very long (Approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes).  This time frame includes a 1 hour assembly and about 80 minutes of instructional time. Within this time there are two assemblies scheduled, some of you will be attending Assembly A and others Assembly B.  I will give you your assembly letter on Tuesday 8/16 when we meet.

Also note that ALL Freshmen and their Link Crew Leaders will be participating in orientation activities all morning until 11:40 A.M. They will be eating lunch separately as well.

CHS 1st Day Schedule:

Classes with Assembly A:
1st Hr:
7:50-8:00 Students check in to 1st hour
Assembly: 8:05-9:05
Students will return to 1st Hr after the assembly
9:05-10:15 (Instructional time)

Classes with Assembly B:
1st Hr:
7:50-9:10 (Instructional time)
Assembly: 9:15-10:15

Same Schedule for everyone rest of the day:
2nd Hr:
10:20-11:10 50 min
Lunch:
11:10-11:40 30 min
3rd Hr:
11:45-12:20 35 min
4-5 or 5-6: 12:25-1:00 35 min
7 (OKA 5th hour)
1:05-1:40
35 min
8 (OKA 6th hour)
1:45-2:20 35 min

* We will clarify this schedule on Tuesday. 

Hope you enjoy the last little bit of the summer respite. See you Tuesday.

Back-to-School Events and Info

I've spotted a few wild sunflowers, or Black-Eyed Suzies, as some like to call them, around town as of late. This is an annual Flagstaff sign that school is around the corner. I'm guessing you are beginning to wonder about the plans for Back-to-School days.
As I am sure you are well aware the first day of school for students is August 18th.  The optional 301 day for teachers is Monday, August 15th.  If you are planning to attend but have not yet signed up through ERO, Gretchen M. requests that you do ASAP. The official 2011-2012 School Year begins on August 16th for teachers. We will meet as a faculty on the 16th at 9:45 AM following the all-FUSD meeting at CHS scheduled for 8:00-9:00 AM. The agendas for the two teacher work days are as follows.
Day 1 (August 16)
8:00-9:00 AM ~ All-FUSD meeting @CHS
9:15-9:45 ~ Breakfast hosted by CHS Student Council
9:45-11:00 AM ~All-CHS Faculty meeting @CHS Mini-Theatre.  Topics to include policies, procedures, safety and a host of relevant nitty gritty.
11:00 AM-12:00 PM ~Lunch on your own
12:00-3:00 PM All-CHS~ Genesis grade book training

Day 2 (August 17)
8:00-8:30 AM~ Continental Breakfast
8:30-11:00 AM ~All-CHS Faculty- Focused Conversations: CHS Goals, Professional Collaboration, Professionalism and the Arizona Teaching Standards.
11:00-11:30 AM~ Department Chair interest mtg intended for all who are interested in serving as  Department Chairs.  Others may work in their rooms.
12:00 PM ~All-CHS Faculty Photo followed by BBQ lunch
1:15-2:15 ~Leadership Team meeting
The balance of the afternoon is for you all to work in your classrooms.

Some other things you might like to know ahead of time...

• The topics for our focus during these two days were chosen based on feedback from staff and student surveys as well as numerous discussions amongst administration, parents, faculty and staff.
• The district has approved two delayed start days each month (The 1st and 3rd Wednesdays) in order to create time for faculty and administrators to collaborate.
• Day 1 for CHS Students (August 18th) will include Freshmen orientation hosted by our Link leaders. There will also be a dynamic guest speaker for our sophomores, juniors and seniors. We will have combined lunch on this day.
• Students will NOT be required to wear lanyards for the SY 2011-12
• We will be bringing back the Bells. 
• During our CHS Admin Retreat, Steve, Preston, Cris and I dubbed this school year The Year of the Panther!

 Did you know?

• CHS Special Olympics Panthers Softball Team is headed to Illinois to participate in the National Special Olympics. Go Panthers!