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!