Sunday, December 16, 2012
PantherReport ~ Dec 17-21
As I write this blog post I am struggling with where to start. Should I start by addressing the tragic event that occurred on Friday in Connecticut or with the usual heading, celebrating success? Thinking, as I am writing, about the most appropriate sequence of this post, I fear that addressing safety at CHS triggered by the tragic school event first, might overshadow the positive recent successes of Coconino. If I start with successes it could be viewed as trivializing the horrific event and the need for safety precautions at school. With that said, I feel compelled to start with sharing with you the sadness I feel for the families at the Elementary school in Connecticut. In the words of my principal colleague, John Coe , what occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary on December 14, "Is deeply upsetting and fundamentally unsettling. Beyond grieving along with this distant community with whom we share so many characteristics, there is but one pragmatic take-away for all of us in this, I think: we must always be vigilant in conducting the drills we conduct with integrity and with a mindset that they are not imposing interruptions to our schedule but, instead, the best kind of insurance we can give to our students and ourselves." Please know that along with our practice drills, we also have precautions in place at CHS to prevent intruders from entering our building. Our new front entrance system requires visitors to pass through the front office, sign in and wear a visitor name tag. Our new keyless doors are another attempt to increase safety and security at CHS. Please be reminded that our outside doors should never be propped open for any reason. Our CHS safety committee meets regularly and we will continue to examine safety at CHS and adjust and refine safety and security measures.
Celebrating Success
Congratulations to our CHS Choir, Band and Orchestra for their outstanding Holiday Performance last week. It was truly spectacular and lifted the spirit of the packed auditorium.
Our Fall 2012 AIMS results are in. These are the results from our Juniors and Seniors who had not yet passed. You will be happy to know, that while we still have a few who need to pass, our overall passage rate is quite commendable. Drum roll please....
Below I have listed the percentage for those who have Met or Exceeded
Seniors ~ Writing 90% Reading 93% Math 84%
Juniors ~ Writing 81% Reading 88% Math 73%
Way to go CHS Teachers!!!
We do not yet have the paper copies of individual scores, and it is not permissible to send scores electronically. If you would like to view the disk that contains the fall AIMS scores and download them on your computer, please let me know. The paper copies should be in this week.
Warm Clothing Drive
A very special thank you to Kelly Koelfgin and the Impact Students for spearheading the warm clothing drive. And thanks to you to all for supporting and collecting warm clothes for our CHS Community FREE store. Your efforts help many less fortunate in need of warm winter clothing.
Holiday Spirit
A big thank you to FRED and the CHS culinary teachers for organizing our special holiday party. A great time was had by all and Santa's annual visit to the party delighted everyone.
CIT Boat Races
The human sized cardboard boats built by our CHS CIT students, paddled proudly across the pool at FHS on Thursday. The expressions on the faces of the students as their boats floated or sunk, were priceless. It was great to see such enthusiasm and pride.
Special note
Chris and Bob Somerville have asked me to express there deep gratitude to CHS for the support and all the food provided for the memorial service for their daughter, Dana Shwartz.
This week's schedule and Final Exams
Good luck to you all this week. Monday and Tuesday are regular schedule days intended for review and preparation for final end of term assessments. Wed, Thurs and Friday students will dismiss at 11:00 AM. Please submit each grades each day. We will not have PLCs and there are no faculty meetings scheduled for this week.
Staff Survey
Please take a minute and respond to the brief staff survey sent in an e-mail from Tadd on December 13. Your input will give us an idea about your feelings regarding the Block schedule, Pathways and Interventions, Collaboration and the pulse of the school year in general. Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Dates To Remember
12/17 ~ First home Boys Basketball game V. Kingman (Girls are Away)
12/18 ~ Second home Boys Basketball gameV. Camp Verde
12/19 ~ Choir Concert in the mini @ 7:00 PM
12/20 ~ Girls V Soccer @ home V. Red Rock
12/20 ~ Boys V Wrestling @ home V Prescott
Sunday, December 9, 2012
PantherReport~December 10-14
A Deliberate Pause
Whew! This has been a highly emotional week. Many of us are struggling with trying to balance between moving forward in accordance with our professional responsibility and taking time to console one another and help heal the hurt felt by many in our school community. In some way we are all affected by what has transpired in our school and larger community over the past week. I just want to remind everyone to take a deliberate pause...to take care of yourselves and those around you and to be careful.
Congratulations to our CHS Boys Basketball team for their victory at the FHS Pepsi Holiday Invitational basketball tournament. CHS took home the championship trophy. Go Panthers!!
As we approach the end of the fall semester here are a few things to keep in mind...
PLCs-We do not have a planned meeting during PLCs this week. Please use this time to wrap up the work on your subject area ELOs and C.Os. Also Cris has sent out the current mark analysis for you to use for your collaborative team discussions about what is working and what adjustments and ideas you might have about improved student learning for next semester.
Interventions- If you would like to call a student out of their assigned Pathway, Intervention or Study hall, please use one of the light yellow card stock passes provided to you at the beginning of the semester. if you need more, please see Becky.
Finals-Plan to submit grades each day of finals week.
Prep Hour Meetings-In light of everything that has transpired and in honor of your time we will plan to have our prep hour training meetings on Tuesday, January 15. The topic will be "The Essence of effective instruction". Please mark your calendars.
Public Relations-If you have something happening in your classroom that you would like posted on the FUSD web page and or calendar, you can e-mail keberhard@fusd1.org.
Tax Credit-If you or someone you know is planning to make a tax credit donation to CHS, you have until December 31st. Arizona law allows a credit up to $400 for married couples and $200 for individuals
Teacher of the Year Campaign-In an effort to celebrate and recognize the work of exemplary teachers, the Coconino County Superintendent has initiated the County Teacher of the Year Program. Please see Becky or me if you would like more information about how to nominate a colleague for this well deserved recognition.
CHS Family ~ Many of you have expressed a desire to help the family of Dana Shwartz (Mr. and Mrs. Somerville, Jim Popham's in-laws and long time FUSD teachers). If you wish to help CHS will be providing salads and breads for the memorial service this Saturday, Dec 15. Please see Theresa Freas or Gaby Garcia for details. CHS expresses deep sorrow and condolences to the Somerville and Popham family.
Dates To Remember
12/10 CHS Choir and Orchestra Performance 6:30 PM
12/12 CHS Holiday Party
" Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
-Jane Howard
Whew! This has been a highly emotional week. Many of us are struggling with trying to balance between moving forward in accordance with our professional responsibility and taking time to console one another and help heal the hurt felt by many in our school community. In some way we are all affected by what has transpired in our school and larger community over the past week. I just want to remind everyone to take a deliberate pause...to take care of yourselves and those around you and to be careful.
Congratulations to our CHS Boys Basketball team for their victory at the FHS Pepsi Holiday Invitational basketball tournament. CHS took home the championship trophy. Go Panthers!!
As we approach the end of the fall semester here are a few things to keep in mind...
PLCs-We do not have a planned meeting during PLCs this week. Please use this time to wrap up the work on your subject area ELOs and C.Os. Also Cris has sent out the current mark analysis for you to use for your collaborative team discussions about what is working and what adjustments and ideas you might have about improved student learning for next semester.
Interventions- If you would like to call a student out of their assigned Pathway, Intervention or Study hall, please use one of the light yellow card stock passes provided to you at the beginning of the semester. if you need more, please see Becky.
Finals-Plan to submit grades each day of finals week.
Prep Hour Meetings-In light of everything that has transpired and in honor of your time we will plan to have our prep hour training meetings on Tuesday, January 15. The topic will be "The Essence of effective instruction". Please mark your calendars.
Public Relations-If you have something happening in your classroom that you would like posted on the FUSD web page and or calendar, you can e-mail keberhard@fusd1.org.
Tax Credit-If you or someone you know is planning to make a tax credit donation to CHS, you have until December 31st. Arizona law allows a credit up to $400 for married couples and $200 for individuals
Teacher of the Year Campaign-In an effort to celebrate and recognize the work of exemplary teachers, the Coconino County Superintendent has initiated the County Teacher of the Year Program. Please see Becky or me if you would like more information about how to nominate a colleague for this well deserved recognition.
CHS Family ~ Many of you have expressed a desire to help the family of Dana Shwartz (Mr. and Mrs. Somerville, Jim Popham's in-laws and long time FUSD teachers). If you wish to help CHS will be providing salads and breads for the memorial service this Saturday, Dec 15. Please see Theresa Freas or Gaby Garcia for details. CHS expresses deep sorrow and condolences to the Somerville and Popham family.
Dates To Remember
12/10 CHS Choir and Orchestra Performance 6:30 PM
12/12 CHS Holiday Party
" Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
-Jane Howard
Sunday, December 2, 2012
PantherReport~ Dec 3-7
Celebrating Success
Go Panthers!!!
Winter Sports and activities are off to a great start. This weekend's First Lego League Robotics tournament hosted by our Coconuts drew 25 teams from around the state and the guest list included Flagstaff's new Mayor, Jerry Nabors, several school board members and lots of community volunteers.
CHS Boys soccer is undefeated thus far, CHS girls soccer is on a roll, CHS wrestling team came in 3rd at the big FHS tournament and basketball for both the girls and boys is just getting going.
Student Conduct~Thank you to those of you who are standing in the hallways during passing periods. The adult presence in the hallways helps tremendously and the improved student behavior in the hallways is undoubtedly because of your presence. We still have some issues, but it's getting better.
PLCs~Thank you all for your work on aligning the curriculum at CHS with the instruction in our classrooms. While this might appear to be a simple task, it is more complex than what meets the eye. I truly appreciate your work and as you know, I strongly believe that our collaborative efforts in explicitly defining the essential core content that we teach and assess, can have a powerful impact on teaching and learning at Coconino. I hope that the quality Essential Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives that you all identified will be useful in focusing instruction in each discipline. A special thank you to our P.E. PLC for providing the Essential Learning Outcomes template and for your commitment and belief in the process. Next semester we will be moving from working on curriculum to focusing attention in our PLCs on instruction and assessment.
I will share with you thoughts and ideas about the Essence of effective instruction from familiar names such as Marzano, Schmoker, Hunter, Carter, Fullen etc. This will be our topic for prep hour meetings this Tuesday, Dec 4th in room 506 (The room right next to the main auditorium stage). You will need to bring the following: A lesson that you will teaching in the near future, something to write with, and an open mind.
CHS Newsletter
Lynette will be posting a December CHS Newsletter before winter break. If you have information to be included, please submit to Lynette by December 7.
Morning Announcements
Please remember that in order for a message to be announced in the morning, the information must be submitted before the end of the school day on the day before the announcement is to be read.
Looking ahead
There will be no required PLC meetings or faculty meetings during finals week, December 17-21. Please plan to submit grades each day for the two periods of final exams on that day.
Hope you can join us for the annual CHS Holiday Party on December 12 5:30 – 7:00 pm in the CHS cafeteria.
Dates to Remember
12/3,4,5 ~ CIT Capstone Project Presentations 5:00 PM Mini-theater
12/4 ~ Prep hour meetings Room # 506
12/4 ~ Girls BB @ home
12/5 ~ Faculty Meeting 1:15-2:15PM in the mini-theater
12/5 ~ Wrestling @ home
Go Panthers!!!
Winter Sports and activities are off to a great start. This weekend's First Lego League Robotics tournament hosted by our Coconuts drew 25 teams from around the state and the guest list included Flagstaff's new Mayor, Jerry Nabors, several school board members and lots of community volunteers.
CHS Boys soccer is undefeated thus far, CHS girls soccer is on a roll, CHS wrestling team came in 3rd at the big FHS tournament and basketball for both the girls and boys is just getting going.
Student Conduct~Thank you to those of you who are standing in the hallways during passing periods. The adult presence in the hallways helps tremendously and the improved student behavior in the hallways is undoubtedly because of your presence. We still have some issues, but it's getting better.
PLCs~Thank you all for your work on aligning the curriculum at CHS with the instruction in our classrooms. While this might appear to be a simple task, it is more complex than what meets the eye. I truly appreciate your work and as you know, I strongly believe that our collaborative efforts in explicitly defining the essential core content that we teach and assess, can have a powerful impact on teaching and learning at Coconino. I hope that the quality Essential Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives that you all identified will be useful in focusing instruction in each discipline. A special thank you to our P.E. PLC for providing the Essential Learning Outcomes template and for your commitment and belief in the process. Next semester we will be moving from working on curriculum to focusing attention in our PLCs on instruction and assessment.
I will share with you thoughts and ideas about the Essence of effective instruction from familiar names such as Marzano, Schmoker, Hunter, Carter, Fullen etc. This will be our topic for prep hour meetings this Tuesday, Dec 4th in room 506 (The room right next to the main auditorium stage). You will need to bring the following: A lesson that you will teaching in the near future, something to write with, and an open mind.
CHS Newsletter
Lynette will be posting a December CHS Newsletter before winter break. If you have information to be included, please submit to Lynette by December 7.
Morning Announcements
Please remember that in order for a message to be announced in the morning, the information must be submitted before the end of the school day on the day before the announcement is to be read.
Looking ahead
There will be no required PLC meetings or faculty meetings during finals week, December 17-21. Please plan to submit grades each day for the two periods of final exams on that day.
Hope you can join us for the annual CHS Holiday Party on December 12 5:30 – 7:00 pm in the CHS cafeteria.
Dates to Remember
12/3,4,5 ~ CIT Capstone Project Presentations 5:00 PM Mini-theater
12/4 ~ Prep hour meetings Room # 506
12/4 ~ Girls BB @ home
12/5 ~ Faculty Meeting 1:15-2:15PM in the mini-theater
12/5 ~ Wrestling @ home
Sunday, November 25, 2012
PantherReport-Nov 26-30
Celebrating Success
Welcome back everyone! Hope you had a restful and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.
FYI
The three week Intervention cycle begins again this week. Please keep an eye out for an email from Dave Tessmer with the new spreadsheet.
PLCs
This week Wednesday 11/28 PLCs are set up for you all to work with colleagues in other buildings or as desired to best meet the needs of your team. Next week we will be meeting during prep hours on Tuesday, 12/5 and briefly as a faculty on 12/5.
Ringing in the holidays
Our CHS FRED committee is organizing a special Holiday Party (Italian style) on Tuesday 12/11. Hope everyone can come and enjoy the celebration. Invitations will be in your boxes soon.
That's all for now, have a great week!
Welcome back everyone! Hope you had a restful and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.
FYI
The three week Intervention cycle begins again this week. Please keep an eye out for an email from Dave Tessmer with the new spreadsheet.
PLCs
This week Wednesday 11/28 PLCs are set up for you all to work with colleagues in other buildings or as desired to best meet the needs of your team. Next week we will be meeting during prep hours on Tuesday, 12/5 and briefly as a faculty on 12/5.
Ringing in the holidays
Our CHS FRED committee is organizing a special Holiday Party (Italian style) on Tuesday 12/11. Hope everyone can come and enjoy the celebration. Invitations will be in your boxes soon.
That's all for now, have a great week!
Monday, November 19, 2012
PantherReport Nov 19-20
Celebrating Success
Woo hoo! Last Thursday was the best thus far. Although attendance is still a concern it appeared that students knew where to go and what to do. Thank you for taking role and tracking attendance during ASP, that really helps a lot. Thank you also to all the Panther Pathway teachers, we have had some very positive feedback from students and parents about Pathways.
Winding down
When we return from the Thanksgiving break we will have only four weeks of school remaining for the fall semester. Please review the finals schedule and plan accordingly. Students will dismiss at 11:00am on Dec 19,20 & 21.
Planning ahead... Although all grades will be due by 1 p.m. on Friday, December 21 it would be very helpful to complete any grading you can each day as students finish exams. End of semester grade instructions will be sent out soon.
60-20-20
Speaking of grades-The common grade book and category weighting is still a hot topic at secondary admin meetings. Your input taken from last year's questionare about the three categories has been looked at very closely. You can anticipate some kind of adjustment to the percentage weights for school year 2012-13. In the meantime it is important that you continue to distribute assignments and grades is all three categories. Remember that at least two grades in each category will help avoid skewing grades heavily in one direction or the other.
That's all for now.
Hope you all have a nice and restful Thanksgiving holiday!!!
"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others".
-Cicero
Woo hoo! Last Thursday was the best thus far. Although attendance is still a concern it appeared that students knew where to go and what to do. Thank you for taking role and tracking attendance during ASP, that really helps a lot. Thank you also to all the Panther Pathway teachers, we have had some very positive feedback from students and parents about Pathways.
Winding down
When we return from the Thanksgiving break we will have only four weeks of school remaining for the fall semester. Please review the finals schedule and plan accordingly. Students will dismiss at 11:00am on Dec 19,20 & 21.
Planning ahead... Although all grades will be due by 1 p.m. on Friday, December 21 it would be very helpful to complete any grading you can each day as students finish exams. End of semester grade instructions will be sent out soon.
60-20-20
Speaking of grades-The common grade book and category weighting is still a hot topic at secondary admin meetings. Your input taken from last year's questionare about the three categories has been looked at very closely. You can anticipate some kind of adjustment to the percentage weights for school year 2012-13. In the meantime it is important that you continue to distribute assignments and grades is all three categories. Remember that at least two grades in each category will help avoid skewing grades heavily in one direction or the other.
That's all for now.
Hope you all have a nice and restful Thanksgiving holiday!!!
"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others".
-Cicero
Monday, November 12, 2012
PantherReport~November 13-16
Celebrating Success
A special thank you to Karen Rathbun and her classes who helped kick off the three day weekend with delicious pie for all. Hope everyone had a chance to relax during this long weekend.
A special thank you also to our school nurse, McKenzie who worked very hard and ensure that our students were able to attend school. The initial list of students who missing required immunizations was well over 60. Thanks to her letters home, phone calls, e-mails and relentless tenacity the final count was three students. Her efforts are greatly appreciated!
We continue to see great teaching and learning as we observe classes. Brian Locke and the CTE department have developed a note taking tool that helps students organize and process their thoughts as they learn new information. Kelley Smith's Lesson Plan design is both comprehensive and concise at the same time, and definitely fits under the innovating category on the teacher evaluation tool. I'm sure they would both willing to share should you be interested.
PLCs
This Wednesday will be used to complete the work on answering the question What do we want students to know and be able to do ?( Essential Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives) The next phase will be answering the question How will we know ? In other words how do we asses or measure student academic growth? The next phase will begin on December 5, because next Wednesday, Nov 21, no school, then Nov 28 is collaboration with colleagues outside of CHS.
Please mark your calendars:
Dec 4 Prep hour meetings ~ Location TBD
Dec 5 PLC Faculty Meeting 1:10PM ~ mini theater.
Dates to Remember
11/15 Mr. Coconino Pageant ~ Day time performance 1:20-2:20PM
Evening Performance 7:00 PM
Thanks everyone for your efforts in supporting the vision of Coconino High School:
To create a vibrant school community that exemplifies academic excellence and model citizenship.
Have a great week!
A special thank you to Karen Rathbun and her classes who helped kick off the three day weekend with delicious pie for all. Hope everyone had a chance to relax during this long weekend.
A special thank you also to our school nurse, McKenzie who worked very hard and ensure that our students were able to attend school. The initial list of students who missing required immunizations was well over 60. Thanks to her letters home, phone calls, e-mails and relentless tenacity the final count was three students. Her efforts are greatly appreciated!
We continue to see great teaching and learning as we observe classes. Brian Locke and the CTE department have developed a note taking tool that helps students organize and process their thoughts as they learn new information. Kelley Smith's Lesson Plan design is both comprehensive and concise at the same time, and definitely fits under the innovating category on the teacher evaluation tool. I'm sure they would both willing to share should you be interested.
PLCs
This Wednesday will be used to complete the work on answering the question What do we want students to know and be able to do ?( Essential Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives) The next phase will be answering the question How will we know ? In other words how do we asses or measure student academic growth? The next phase will begin on December 5, because next Wednesday, Nov 21, no school, then Nov 28 is collaboration with colleagues outside of CHS.
Please mark your calendars:
Dec 4 Prep hour meetings ~ Location TBD
Dec 5 PLC Faculty Meeting 1:10PM ~ mini theater.
Dates to Remember
11/15 Mr. Coconino Pageant ~ Day time performance 1:20-2:20PM
Evening Performance 7:00 PM
Thanks everyone for your efforts in supporting the vision of Coconino High School:
To create a vibrant school community that exemplifies academic excellence and model citizenship.
Have a great week!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
PantherReport~Nov 5-9
Celebrating Success
Teacher Observation and Evaluations are in full swing. The new Performance Evaluation requires that administrators observe for an entire class period. Cris and I are really enjoying spending this significant amount time in your classrooms. It is really a joy to see the excellent teaching and learning going on at CHS every day. We are sincerely looking forward to the many observations to come.
*Please remember to have a copy of the lesson plan for the day when we arrive for the observation
Way to go CHS Panthers! Can you believe the number of cans collected during the October food drive? Our Panthers collected over one thousand eight hundred food donations for needy families. Congratulations!
PLC Work
Thank you all for your dedication and hard work to identify the Essential Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives for the courses taught at CHS. Tadd and I were able to meet with a few Collaborative Teams last week to review the ELOs and C.O.s. If you haven't heard from us yet, it just means we haven't had the opportunity to read your team's work, but we will, and promise to share feedback soon.
Reminders
Panther Pathways and Interventions
In support of our continued efforts to streamline Thursdays, we need to wait until next week, November 15th, to switch students in and out of interventions for the next cycle. We are going to try to incorporate some of our Freshmen into Interventions. Dave Tessmer will discuss this, along with important information about the process with everyone on Wednesday, November 7th during the faculty meeting.
Bring Your Own Devise (BYOD) WI-Fi
The switch has been flipped and the time has arrived when students will be able to access the districts wireless network on their personal devises. Please keep your eyes out for more info on the district guidelins regarding BYOD for students.
FYI
I will be out of the building, attending a Leadership workshop in Phoenix, on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. George Moate will be here in my absence. Then Next week on Tuesday, November 13, Cris and I will be visiting a high school in Tucson and Steve will be attending an S3 Training. George Moate and Bob Kuhn have the helm on the 13th.
Dates to Remember
11/7 Faculty Mtg 1:30 PM in the mini-theater
Enjoy the quiet week as we transition into Winter Sports season.
Teacher Observation and Evaluations are in full swing. The new Performance Evaluation requires that administrators observe for an entire class period. Cris and I are really enjoying spending this significant amount time in your classrooms. It is really a joy to see the excellent teaching and learning going on at CHS every day. We are sincerely looking forward to the many observations to come.
*Please remember to have a copy of the lesson plan for the day when we arrive for the observation
Way to go CHS Panthers! Can you believe the number of cans collected during the October food drive? Our Panthers collected over one thousand eight hundred food donations for needy families. Congratulations!
PLC Work
Thank you all for your dedication and hard work to identify the Essential Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives for the courses taught at CHS. Tadd and I were able to meet with a few Collaborative Teams last week to review the ELOs and C.O.s. If you haven't heard from us yet, it just means we haven't had the opportunity to read your team's work, but we will, and promise to share feedback soon.
Reminders
- This Wednesday 11/7 there will be a faculty meeting beginning at 1:30PM In the mini-theater.
- Thursday 11/8 we have a special guest speaker, Coronel Richard Toliver, in the main auditorium. The Social Studies and JROTC teachers have chosen students from their classes to attend. Between these two departments we will fill the auditorium. I guess we could call this a sell out performance. This will be much like a field trip. The names of the students who will be attending will be sent to Jolene. The speaking engagement will begin at 1:30, but students will report to their Social Studies or JROTC instructors in the North Commons at the beginning of ASP.
- No School Monday, November 12 in observance of Veteran's Day.
Panther Pathways and Interventions
In support of our continued efforts to streamline Thursdays, we need to wait until next week, November 15th, to switch students in and out of interventions for the next cycle. We are going to try to incorporate some of our Freshmen into Interventions. Dave Tessmer will discuss this, along with important information about the process with everyone on Wednesday, November 7th during the faculty meeting.
Bring Your Own Devise (BYOD) WI-Fi
The switch has been flipped and the time has arrived when students will be able to access the districts wireless network on their personal devises. Please keep your eyes out for more info on the district guidelins regarding BYOD for students.
FYI
I will be out of the building, attending a Leadership workshop in Phoenix, on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. George Moate will be here in my absence. Then Next week on Tuesday, November 13, Cris and I will be visiting a high school in Tucson and Steve will be attending an S3 Training. George Moate and Bob Kuhn have the helm on the 13th.
Dates to Remember
11/7 Faculty Mtg 1:30 PM in the mini-theater
Enjoy the quiet week as we transition into Winter Sports season.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
PantherReport October 29-Nov2
Celebrating Success
Listening to students in Jim McNease's class arguing enthusiastically about issues, people and current events makes you realize that our students do care about the world around them and its influence on all of our lives. Students in Jim McNease and Lori Wright's co-taught U.S.History class were asked to read about and discuss hot topics such is immigration, abortion, education etc. and formulate opinions based on the information they read and talked about. Students respectfully and intelligently shared their opinions with one another. It was truly encouraging to see so many students participate in this type of discourse.
IEPs
Just another reminder about what an important role you play in the IEP Process. Your input is very valuable and provides critical information for the success of our students. By law there needs to be a general education teacher at each of these meetings. If you know in advance that you are unable to make an IEP meeting, please make contact with the case manager (either through email or in person) as far in advance as possible and give a report on the student's strengths and weaknesses. Your presence is preferred, but in your absence a written report will help the IEP team make appropriate decisions about each student's individual education plan. Please know that when you are paged to attend a meeting, this is just a friendly reminder.
Thanks for your support of our special education students here at CHS!
Professional/Personal Leave
If you know in advance that you will be absent from school, please, please, please call off as far in advance as possible. This will help ensure that we have an adequate number of substitutes to cover classes. As you know many CHS teachers are being asked to to sub on their prep period causing a lot of undue stress on one another. Should you need a quick tutorial on how to call off on-line, please see Becky or Jolene.
Halloween
It is fine if students want to come to school in costume, but dress code still applies. If you are planning to dress in costume please help set the example, please do not wear hats or head coverings etc. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Planning ahead
Next week we will have a faculty meeting on Wednesday, November 7 at 1:30PM. There are several required trainings that need to take place before winter break, we will take care of this requirement during the faculty meeting. Then on Thursday Nov 8, our students will have an opportunity to hear from a special guest speaker, Colonel Richard Toliver, author of the book An Uncaged Eagle. This is an inspirational memoir of victory over adversity – The prevailing message is one of hope . Colonel Toliver's story is very moving and he is eager to share his story with our students. If you would like your students to attend, please sign up with Becky. Students who are signed up will go from ASP to the assembly. (Please note, this is next week, not this week).
Dates to Remember
10/31 PLCs:Collaboration time with colleagues from other schools
11/01 CHS Parent College Night
Professional/Personal Leave
If you know in advance that you will be absent from school, please, please, please call off as far in advance as possible. This will help ensure that we have an adequate number of substitutes to cover classes. As you know many CHS teachers are being asked to to sub on their prep period causing a lot of undue stress on one another. Should you need a quick tutorial on how to call off on-line, please see Becky or Jolene.
Halloween
It is fine if students want to come to school in costume, but dress code still applies. If you are planning to dress in costume please help set the example, please do not wear hats or head coverings etc. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Planning ahead
Next week we will have a faculty meeting on Wednesday, November 7 at 1:30PM. There are several required trainings that need to take place before winter break, we will take care of this requirement during the faculty meeting. Then on Thursday Nov 8, our students will have an opportunity to hear from a special guest speaker, Colonel Richard Toliver, author of the book An Uncaged Eagle. This is an inspirational memoir of victory over adversity – The prevailing message is one of hope . Colonel Toliver's story is very moving and he is eager to share his story with our students. If you would like your students to attend, please sign up with Becky. Students who are signed up will go from ASP to the assembly. (Please note, this is next week, not this week).
Dates to Remember
10/31 PLCs:Collaboration time with colleagues from other schools
11/01 CHS Parent College Night
Sunday, October 21, 2012
PantherReport~October 22-26
Celebrating Success
In our brief visits to your classrooms Cris and I have seen some really dynamic strategies being used to increase vocabulary and writing opportunities. Kelly Koelfgin and Mike Vogler use a cool tool called a Vocabulary Cube that provokes students to think deeply about what they are reading and articulate why a specific topic is important and relevant. Gaby Garcia is using the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey for her ASP. Students read and discuss the principles of the book together. Her ASP Students are thoroughly engaged and have expressed how much they are enjoying and benefitting from the Academic Support Period. Keep up the great work everyone!
Panther Golf For the first time ever our Golf Team is going to the state playoffs. Congratulations and Go Panthers!
Welcome Please join me in a warm welcome to our new Bookstore Manager, Carrie Crowther and our new Attendance Aide, Diana Middleton. We are happy you're here.
This week is Red Ribbon Week. The red ribbons are in your mailboxes. Second hour teachers please distribute to your students on Monday during 2nd hour.
PLCs Thank you for the excellent work in clearly identifying the "What" students are expected to learn in each of your classes. This Wednesday please continue the work of articulating Essential Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives. If your Collaborative Team has completed this task you are free to work together to share ways you plan to assess whether or not your students are learning the outcomes.
We will not meet together this week. Also remember that the last Wednesday of each month is set aside for teachers to collaborate with colleagues in other buildings. We will meet as a Faculty on Wednesday November 7 @ 1:30PM in the mini-theater. Please mark your calendars.
AIMS week has arrived. This week is AIMS for all 11th and 12th graders who have not yet passed. We will be testing in the small gym as well as in room numbers 407, 506 & 619.
Tuesday~Writing Wednesday~Reading Thursday~Math
Please note we will have combined lunch on Tuesday as well as the usual Wed and Thursday. See schedule for details and proctor assignments.
AIMS Schedule
New info on the PantherReport I am working on a new section for this the blog that contains frequently used forms and other commonly used documents. The Frequently used forms will be located on the upper right hand side of the blog above the photo box. You will soon be able to access late bus passes, MI forms, CHS announcement form, CHS letterhead etc...stay tuned.
Dates to Remember
10/23,24,25 ~ AIMS
10/25 ~ V VB v. FHS 6:00 PM
10/26 ~ Teacher Focus Group in large conference room both lunches (Pizza provided)
10/26 ~ V FB @home v. Chino Valley
In our brief visits to your classrooms Cris and I have seen some really dynamic strategies being used to increase vocabulary and writing opportunities. Kelly Koelfgin and Mike Vogler use a cool tool called a Vocabulary Cube that provokes students to think deeply about what they are reading and articulate why a specific topic is important and relevant. Gaby Garcia is using the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey for her ASP. Students read and discuss the principles of the book together. Her ASP Students are thoroughly engaged and have expressed how much they are enjoying and benefitting from the Academic Support Period. Keep up the great work everyone!
Panther Golf For the first time ever our Golf Team is going to the state playoffs. Congratulations and Go Panthers!
Welcome Please join me in a warm welcome to our new Bookstore Manager, Carrie Crowther and our new Attendance Aide, Diana Middleton. We are happy you're here.
This week is Red Ribbon Week. The red ribbons are in your mailboxes. Second hour teachers please distribute to your students on Monday during 2nd hour.
PLCs Thank you for the excellent work in clearly identifying the "What" students are expected to learn in each of your classes. This Wednesday please continue the work of articulating Essential Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives. If your Collaborative Team has completed this task you are free to work together to share ways you plan to assess whether or not your students are learning the outcomes.
We will not meet together this week. Also remember that the last Wednesday of each month is set aside for teachers to collaborate with colleagues in other buildings. We will meet as a Faculty on Wednesday November 7 @ 1:30PM in the mini-theater. Please mark your calendars.
AIMS week has arrived. This week is AIMS for all 11th and 12th graders who have not yet passed. We will be testing in the small gym as well as in room numbers 407, 506 & 619.
Tuesday~Writing Wednesday~Reading Thursday~Math
Please note we will have combined lunch on Tuesday as well as the usual Wed and Thursday. See schedule for details and proctor assignments.
AIMS Schedule
New info on the PantherReport I am working on a new section for this the blog that contains frequently used forms and other commonly used documents. The Frequently used forms will be located on the upper right hand side of the blog above the photo box. You will soon be able to access late bus passes, MI forms, CHS announcement form, CHS letterhead etc...stay tuned.
Dates to Remember
10/23,24,25 ~ AIMS
10/25 ~ V VB v. FHS 6:00 PM
10/26 ~ Teacher Focus Group in large conference room both lunches (Pizza provided)
10/26 ~ V FB @home v. Chino Valley
Sunday, October 14, 2012
PantherReport-October 15
Celebrating Success
Did you know that we have two students who are Olympic Athletes? Yes, Kyle Yazzie and Ethan Kowena have qualified for the World Special Olympics. These students are headed to North Korea this winter to compete in the Cross Country Ski Competition. Congratulations to these hard working CHS students! Another point of light this year that I thought you all might like to know about is that CHS has a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship Award. CHS Student, Marcus Braatz, was recognized among the highest scoring HS students in the U.S. on the PSAT which qualified him as a semi-finalist. He then advanced to finalist based on his high academic performance and outstanding academic promise. Way to go Marcus!
Pre-Observation Conferences
Cris and I have enjoyed our brief conferences with many of you to set up your teacher observation profiles. The original sign up sheet is posted in the mail room. If you have not yet set up a time to meet you can do that with Becky. We will begin our rounds of informal and formal observations at the end of this month. We are looking forward to spending time in your classrooms.
PLCs
This Wednesday 10/ 17 we will continue our work on developing Content Objectives based on our Essential Learning Outcomes. I will be sending you a document before Wednesday, that helps clearly define both Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives. I hope you will find this to be a useful tool. Tadd and I will be available in the mini-theater on Wednesday at 1:00 PM to answer questions or help clarify this task, should you need us. Otherwise plan on meeting with your subject level teams Wednesday afternoon.
Future work: Several of you have asked when we are going to begin work on creating benchmark formative assessments. Once we finish the work with the underlying question#1. What do we want students to know and be able to do?, we will transition to question #2; How will we know if they have learned what we want them to know and be able to do?
Dr. Schmoker
For some of you Mike's presentation was inspiring and provoked some thought as to ways to incorporate his ideas into your teaching, and for others it went over like a lead balloon. As we all know there is no magic bullet and teaching and learning are mighty complex. It is my hope that we continue to have open and honest conversations that lead to concrete action steps toward improved student achievement at CHS.
Idea
I am thinking about hosting a kind of CHS Teacher Focus Group discussion. Last year we held lunch time focus groups with students which were very valuable. I am wondering if we did something similar for CHS teachers would you participate? I would be available during both lunches maybe one day per month to talk about current CHS issues and hot topics. I'll plan on starting this next Friday, October 26th in the mini theater. You do not need to formally RSVP, but I would like to know if this is of interest to you.
This week at CHS
For your planning this week remember we have two events. Wednesday, October 17 is PSAT testing in the small gym. Although this is primarily for juniors, freshmen and sophomores are eligible to test as well. The last day for students to register is this Monday, October 15. We will make an announcement Wed morn to send all pre-registered students to the small gym for testing. No change in bell schedule.
Friday, October 19 we continue the tradition of having a pre FHS, pep assembly. We will follow a combined lunch schedule this day. Gaby Garcia will send the schedule to you all on Monday.
Planning ahead
Next week is AIMS. 10/23-Writing, 10/24-Reading and 10/25 Math. Any junior or senior who has not yet passed AIMS is required to test (A letter to those students went home in early October). Any junior student wishing to improve their score my also test. I will send the testing and proctoring schedule out early this week, but for your planning purposes the only day that the schedule will be modified is Tuesday October 23. We will have a combined late lunch, meaning periods 1,2,3, 4/5 will all come before lunch. Other than that there is not a whole lot of change to the bell schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday will not change at all.
Deep breath...
This Thursday we begin the new cycle for Panther Pathways and Interventions. Thanks to Dave Tessmer and his scientific mind, we have a concise and hopefully accurate list of students and where they are supposed to go. ASP teachers it is critical that you spend the time on Thursday to inform each student where they should go for their new Panther Pathway, Intervention or Study Hall.
Dates to Remember
10/16 VB all levels @ home v. Tuba
10/17 PSAT 8:00 AM
10/17 Frosh FB @ home v. FHS
10/19 Pep Assembly (Combined lunch)
10/19 V FB v. FHS 7:30 PM in the NAY SkyDome * FYI game price at the dome is $8.00 for everyone. Our Athletic passes do not work at the dome.
Did you know that we have two students who are Olympic Athletes? Yes, Kyle Yazzie and Ethan Kowena have qualified for the World Special Olympics. These students are headed to North Korea this winter to compete in the Cross Country Ski Competition. Congratulations to these hard working CHS students! Another point of light this year that I thought you all might like to know about is that CHS has a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship Award. CHS Student, Marcus Braatz, was recognized among the highest scoring HS students in the U.S. on the PSAT which qualified him as a semi-finalist. He then advanced to finalist based on his high academic performance and outstanding academic promise. Way to go Marcus!
Pre-Observation Conferences
Cris and I have enjoyed our brief conferences with many of you to set up your teacher observation profiles. The original sign up sheet is posted in the mail room. If you have not yet set up a time to meet you can do that with Becky. We will begin our rounds of informal and formal observations at the end of this month. We are looking forward to spending time in your classrooms.
PLCs
This Wednesday 10/ 17 we will continue our work on developing Content Objectives based on our Essential Learning Outcomes. I will be sending you a document before Wednesday, that helps clearly define both Learning Outcomes and Content Objectives. I hope you will find this to be a useful tool. Tadd and I will be available in the mini-theater on Wednesday at 1:00 PM to answer questions or help clarify this task, should you need us. Otherwise plan on meeting with your subject level teams Wednesday afternoon.
Future work: Several of you have asked when we are going to begin work on creating benchmark formative assessments. Once we finish the work with the underlying question#1. What do we want students to know and be able to do?, we will transition to question #2; How will we know if they have learned what we want them to know and be able to do?
Dr. Schmoker
For some of you Mike's presentation was inspiring and provoked some thought as to ways to incorporate his ideas into your teaching, and for others it went over like a lead balloon. As we all know there is no magic bullet and teaching and learning are mighty complex. It is my hope that we continue to have open and honest conversations that lead to concrete action steps toward improved student achievement at CHS.
Idea
I am thinking about hosting a kind of CHS Teacher Focus Group discussion. Last year we held lunch time focus groups with students which were very valuable. I am wondering if we did something similar for CHS teachers would you participate? I would be available during both lunches maybe one day per month to talk about current CHS issues and hot topics. I'll plan on starting this next Friday, October 26th in the mini theater. You do not need to formally RSVP, but I would like to know if this is of interest to you.
This week at CHS
For your planning this week remember we have two events. Wednesday, October 17 is PSAT testing in the small gym. Although this is primarily for juniors, freshmen and sophomores are eligible to test as well. The last day for students to register is this Monday, October 15. We will make an announcement Wed morn to send all pre-registered students to the small gym for testing. No change in bell schedule.
Friday, October 19 we continue the tradition of having a pre FHS, pep assembly. We will follow a combined lunch schedule this day. Gaby Garcia will send the schedule to you all on Monday.
Planning ahead
Next week is AIMS. 10/23-Writing, 10/24-Reading and 10/25 Math. Any junior or senior who has not yet passed AIMS is required to test (A letter to those students went home in early October). Any junior student wishing to improve their score my also test. I will send the testing and proctoring schedule out early this week, but for your planning purposes the only day that the schedule will be modified is Tuesday October 23. We will have a combined late lunch, meaning periods 1,2,3, 4/5 will all come before lunch. Other than that there is not a whole lot of change to the bell schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday will not change at all.
Deep breath...
This Thursday we begin the new cycle for Panther Pathways and Interventions. Thanks to Dave Tessmer and his scientific mind, we have a concise and hopefully accurate list of students and where they are supposed to go. ASP teachers it is critical that you spend the time on Thursday to inform each student where they should go for their new Panther Pathway, Intervention or Study Hall.
Dates to Remember
10/16 VB all levels @ home v. Tuba
10/17 PSAT 8:00 AM
10/17 Frosh FB @ home v. FHS
10/19 Pep Assembly (Combined lunch)
10/19 V FB v. FHS 7:30 PM in the NAY SkyDome * FYI game price at the dome is $8.00 for everyone. Our Athletic passes do not work at the dome.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
PantherReport October 8
Celebrating Success
College Visitation Day was a great success. A number of the college representatives commented about our students; their enthusiasm about the information being shared and overall pleasant attitudes. A special thank you to CHS Counselors for organizing the event and encouraging active participation by all seniors.
Academic Interventions
The benefits are becoming apparent. Thank you everyone for hanging in there. Increased student achievement is the purpose behind the Thursday Structure. As Priscilla Aydelott so aptly describes "Every student who has come for intervention with an F has left with a passing grade as well as a much improved attitude about their ability to achieve. The interaction of intervention also has improved my relationships with my struggling students. I'm talking 100 % here". Thank you for sharing this success Priscilla.
PLCs
Our work on defining and articulating the "What we want students to know and be able to do" in our classrooms will continue. Analyzing our Essential Learning Outcomes and developing comprehensive Content Objectives will help us promote the desired knowledge, skills and attributes that we expect our students to acquire as a result of being actively engaged in every course we offer at CHS. This valuable work will be on- going as we continue to work together in our collaborative teams.
This week we will pause from our small CT work and work together to begin our journey with Dr. Schmoker. Please plan on arriving to the mini-theater before 1:15 on Wednesday. Dr. Schmoker will begin his presentation promptly at 1:15 P.M.
PBIS
The PBIS team is asking that we take a few minutes each period on Wednesday 10/10 and Thursday 10/11 to do a "Behavior Blitz". This is simply devoting a few minutes of class time to remind students of our CHS expectations. During the blitz we'll concentrate on Hallway Expectations. Please reinforce with students that the only beverage containers permitted in school are those with a twist cap and that ear buds and headphones can be used outside, but are not permitted in the hallways. Remember the ear bud issue is relatively new and the explicit expectations were developed just this year. Our students will need many friendly reminders before it becomes a natural instinct to put these away upon entering the building.
Text Books
If the text book you use for your class has an online version, please post the access code on your teacher web page.
Teacher Observations
This week Cris and I will begin conferencing with you in preparation for observations. Steve will be holding down the fort while we conference and when we have completed our conferences, Steve will hold conferences for teachers on his list to observe. You can refer to the Teacher Handbook to find out who will be observing and evaluating you this year. We look forward to visiting with you all and scheduling classroom observations.
Dates To Remember
10/8 CHS Choir Concert
10/9 Girls VB all levels @home vs. Camp Verde
10/10 Dr. Schmoker all faculty presentation 1:15 P.M. Mini-theater
10/11 Frosh and JV FB vs. Winslow @home
10/12 Varsity FB away vs. Winslow
"It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end."
~Ursula K. LeGuin (1929)-American Writer
College Visitation Day was a great success. A number of the college representatives commented about our students; their enthusiasm about the information being shared and overall pleasant attitudes. A special thank you to CHS Counselors for organizing the event and encouraging active participation by all seniors.
Academic Interventions
The benefits are becoming apparent. Thank you everyone for hanging in there. Increased student achievement is the purpose behind the Thursday Structure. As Priscilla Aydelott so aptly describes "Every student who has come for intervention with an F has left with a passing grade as well as a much improved attitude about their ability to achieve. The interaction of intervention also has improved my relationships with my struggling students. I'm talking 100 % here". Thank you for sharing this success Priscilla.
PLCs
Our work on defining and articulating the "What we want students to know and be able to do" in our classrooms will continue. Analyzing our Essential Learning Outcomes and developing comprehensive Content Objectives will help us promote the desired knowledge, skills and attributes that we expect our students to acquire as a result of being actively engaged in every course we offer at CHS. This valuable work will be on- going as we continue to work together in our collaborative teams.
This week we will pause from our small CT work and work together to begin our journey with Dr. Schmoker. Please plan on arriving to the mini-theater before 1:15 on Wednesday. Dr. Schmoker will begin his presentation promptly at 1:15 P.M.
PBIS
The PBIS team is asking that we take a few minutes each period on Wednesday 10/10 and Thursday 10/11 to do a "Behavior Blitz". This is simply devoting a few minutes of class time to remind students of our CHS expectations. During the blitz we'll concentrate on Hallway Expectations. Please reinforce with students that the only beverage containers permitted in school are those with a twist cap and that ear buds and headphones can be used outside, but are not permitted in the hallways. Remember the ear bud issue is relatively new and the explicit expectations were developed just this year. Our students will need many friendly reminders before it becomes a natural instinct to put these away upon entering the building.
Text Books
If the text book you use for your class has an online version, please post the access code on your teacher web page.
Teacher Observations
This week Cris and I will begin conferencing with you in preparation for observations. Steve will be holding down the fort while we conference and when we have completed our conferences, Steve will hold conferences for teachers on his list to observe. You can refer to the Teacher Handbook to find out who will be observing and evaluating you this year. We look forward to visiting with you all and scheduling classroom observations.
Dates To Remember
10/8 CHS Choir Concert
10/9 Girls VB all levels @home vs. Camp Verde
10/10 Dr. Schmoker all faculty presentation 1:15 P.M. Mini-theater
10/11 Frosh and JV FB vs. Winslow @home
10/12 Varsity FB away vs. Winslow
"It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end."
~Ursula K. LeGuin (1929)-American Writer
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Mid Week PantherReport
Reminder
Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 3, is PLC Day. The format for our collaborative work this Wednesday is outlined below:
1. From 1:00PM - 1:45 PM meet in subject area teams. Using your agreed upon Essential Learning Outcomes, create a minimum of five Content Objectives (C.O.s). Some of the essential outcomes require numerous C.Os. This means that some of you will take one outcome and develop five, or more, C.O.s for that one essential learning outcome. Some outcomes need only one C.O. This is the part that will be determined by your team.
2. The recorder of the group will write the results of your work and submit this to Tadd Ragan.
3. If time allows, discuss how you are working to increase opportunities for students to write as often as possible in as many class periods as possible.
At 1:45PM we will meet in the mini-theater for a faculty meeting. The topics to be discussed are PLC work, Our current reality at CHS (including Pathways/Interventions) and our work with Dr. Schmoker. We will aslo hear from Lydia Hemphill-Smith (Our PTO Pres) and Dr. Ken Garland FUSD Director of finance.
See you tomorrow!
Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 3, is PLC Day. The format for our collaborative work this Wednesday is outlined below:
1. From 1:00PM - 1:45 PM meet in subject area teams. Using your agreed upon Essential Learning Outcomes, create a minimum of five Content Objectives (C.O.s). Some of the essential outcomes require numerous C.Os. This means that some of you will take one outcome and develop five, or more, C.O.s for that one essential learning outcome. Some outcomes need only one C.O. This is the part that will be determined by your team.
2. The recorder of the group will write the results of your work and submit this to Tadd Ragan.
3. If time allows, discuss how you are working to increase opportunities for students to write as often as possible in as many class periods as possible.
At 1:45PM we will meet in the mini-theater for a faculty meeting. The topics to be discussed are PLC work, Our current reality at CHS (including Pathways/Interventions) and our work with Dr. Schmoker. We will aslo hear from Lydia Hemphill-Smith (Our PTO Pres) and Dr. Ken Garland FUSD Director of finance.
See you tomorrow!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
PantherReport-October 1
Celebrating Success:
Woo hoo!!! Homecoming week is behind us and a great success at that. Thank you everybody for your support, patience and flexibility this
week. A HUGE thank you to Gaby for all your work to bring it all together for
our students. The high spirited energy in the gym during the pep assembly was telling of how much this school means to so many people.
Coconino Academic Booster Club held the first annual
tailgate party before the football game on Friday. Close to $800.00 was raised to help support and recognize academic achievement at CHS. Thank you to all of you who helped with
this event and if you happen to run into our PTO President Lydia Hemphill-Smith,
please thank her for all she does for our school.
Now back to
business. AIMS is quickly approaching. This year we have testing tables, which
means we will not need to disrupt the learning environment by moving desks out
of classrooms. The big Bleaker Box in the North Parking lot will be used for
storage of these tables. Letters to juniors and seniors who have not yet passed
AIMS will go out this week.
Between Writing, Reading and Math, we have about 300 students who will
be required to take the AIMS. Please let students know that we have free
academic tutoring on Mondays and Thursdays after school in the counseling
conference room.
October 23~Writing
October 24~Reading
October 25~Math
Sore Subject
Thursday Interventions/Panther Pathways. Argggg! Please know
that I understand the burden this has placed on all of you and I am sorry. We are looking carefully at ways we can
improve what we’re doing with our students on Thursdays. The study halls seem
to be working fairly well. Interventions, for those who show up, are valuable,
but the trick is getting students who REALLY need interventions to get there.
The system is flawed and honestly at this moment I am not sure the remedy. We are exploring ways to improve all
parts of the Thursday programs. Thanks to those of you who have offered
possible solutions. Thank you to Dave Tessmer for your effort in creating comprehensive lists to help us all to know where our students are supposed to be
during ASP and Pathways.
PLCs
Contrary to how I feel about Thursdays, I strongly believe
that what we are doing with our collaboration time on Wednesdays is very
worthwhile and look forward to continuing this work. This Wednesday October 3, you will meet first in your
subject area PLCs, then we will gather together in the mini-theater at 1:45PM.
When in your PLCs please review your agreed upon essential outcomes and develop
Content Objectives based on your essential learning outcomes. All the while
keep in mind our school wide goal of increasing opportunities for students to
write.
This week at CHS
- October 3 is College Visitation day at CHS. Wednesday Morning from 8am-9:15am we will host 13 colleges. All seniors and their parents are invited to attend. The event will be in the large gym and it is free to all CHS senior students.
- Wednesday following our PLCs we will have a faculty meeting beginning at 2:00 P.M. At 2:30 P.M. Ken Garland, FUSD Director of Finance will visit to give us an update on the upcoming Bond Election.
- The October Northern Arizona Food Bank Food Drive starts tomorrow. If you are participating, please remind your 1st hour students.
Observation/Evaluations
At the meeting on Wednesday there will be a sign up sheet
for 15 minute pre-observation conferences. Cris, Steve and I look forward to meeting with each of you
to establish the components of your observation and evaluation.
Need your good thoughts
Maggy Loritz, CHS behavior Support Teacher had surgery last Friday to remove an intrusive tumor in her colon. She is recovering nicely and hoping to return to school in five to seven to weeks. Our best to Maggy for a speedy and full recovery!
Have a great week!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Celebrating Success
Yay! Thursday ASP and Pathways last week was the best yet. Thank you again for your perseverance, patience and flexibility. Thank you also for your wisdom and enthusiasm in sharing ideas about how to increase opportunities for students to write at CHS. While we talked about the need to focus on writing to increase student achievement as measured by the AIMS, the truth is, ultimately our goal is in line with many educational scholars such as Wineberg and Martin 2004, who state that the job of educators is to "To cultivate students abilities to participate in the literate activities that our society demands. This means teaching students to be informed readers, writers and thinkers."
Freshmen Pathways
A special thank you to Karen Hughes and Steve Craig and counselors for putting in motion the theme "Commit to Graduate". Last week during Panther Pathways each of our Freshman students signed a giant diploma and made a pledge to graduate in 2016. This was a cool event. Thank you to all the teachers who helped by hosting a group of freshmen and to all the support staff who organized and served over 400 root beer floats.
We will need teachers this week again to help with this Thursday's Freshmen Pathway event. We have 26 guest professionals from our community who will be visiting our freshmen and sharing their stories. If you do not have an assigned Pathway, intervention or study hall please let me know.
Whoop whoop again!!! Congrats to Frosh, JV and Varsity Football teams for another big "W". Congrats also to Varsity Volleyball for their win this week as well.
Homecoming
This is CHS Homecoming week. Remember we have combined lunch each day and the week concludes with the CHS Homecoming parade first pep assembly on Friday. For the pep assembly please accompany your students to the gym and sit, or stand, if you prefer, with your class. Click here for this week's bell schedule.
IEPs
I realize there are MANY meetings happening throughout the building and we are busier than ever, but I want to remind you what an important role you play in the IEP Process. Your input is very valuable and provides critical information for the success of our students. By law there needs to be a general education teacher at each of these meetings. If you know in advance that you are unable to make an IEP meeting, please make contact with the case manager (either through email or in person) as far in advance as possible and give a report on the student's strengths and weaknesses. Your presence is preferred, but in your absence a written report will help the IEP team make appropriate decisions about each student's individual education plan. Please know that when you are paged to attend a meeting, this is just a friendly reminder.
Yay! Thursday ASP and Pathways last week was the best yet. Thank you again for your perseverance, patience and flexibility. Thank you also for your wisdom and enthusiasm in sharing ideas about how to increase opportunities for students to write at CHS. While we talked about the need to focus on writing to increase student achievement as measured by the AIMS, the truth is, ultimately our goal is in line with many educational scholars such as Wineberg and Martin 2004, who state that the job of educators is to "To cultivate students abilities to participate in the literate activities that our society demands. This means teaching students to be informed readers, writers and thinkers."
Freshmen Pathways
A special thank you to Karen Hughes and Steve Craig and counselors for putting in motion the theme "Commit to Graduate". Last week during Panther Pathways each of our Freshman students signed a giant diploma and made a pledge to graduate in 2016. This was a cool event. Thank you to all the teachers who helped by hosting a group of freshmen and to all the support staff who organized and served over 400 root beer floats.
We will need teachers this week again to help with this Thursday's Freshmen Pathway event. We have 26 guest professionals from our community who will be visiting our freshmen and sharing their stories. If you do not have an assigned Pathway, intervention or study hall please let me know.
Whoop whoop again!!! Congrats to Frosh, JV and Varsity Football teams for another big "W". Congrats also to Varsity Volleyball for their win this week as well.
Homecoming
This is CHS Homecoming week. Remember we have combined lunch each day and the week concludes with the CHS Homecoming parade first pep assembly on Friday. For the pep assembly please accompany your students to the gym and sit, or stand, if you prefer, with your class. Click here for this week's bell schedule.
IEPs
I realize there are MANY meetings happening throughout the building and we are busier than ever, but I want to remind you what an important role you play in the IEP Process. Your input is very valuable and provides critical information for the success of our students. By law there needs to be a general education teacher at each of these meetings. If you know in advance that you are unable to make an IEP meeting, please make contact with the case manager (either through email or in person) as far in advance as possible and give a report on the student's strengths and weaknesses. Your presence is preferred, but in your absence a written report will help the IEP team make appropriate decisions about each student's individual education plan. Please know that when you are paged to attend a meeting, this is just a friendly reminder.
Thanks for your support of our special education students here at CHS!
This week at CHS
9/25 Volleyball @ FHS
9/26 PLCs (Collaboration with colleagues in other schools or in regular CTs)
9/26 PBIS Mtg 3:00 PM
9/26 Frosh FB@ home
9/28 Homecoming Parade 1:00PM followed by Pep Assembly 1:20PM
9/28 Homecoming V Football game @ home v. Mingus
Trivia question continued...
Last week the question was what does the number 37 represent? The same question again but the number has changed. What does the number 30 represent?
This week at CHS
9/25 Volleyball @ FHS
9/26 PLCs (Collaboration with colleagues in other schools or in regular CTs)
9/26 PBIS Mtg 3:00 PM
9/26 Frosh FB@ home
9/28 Homecoming Parade 1:00PM followed by Pep Assembly 1:20PM
9/28 Homecoming V Football game @ home v. Mingus
Trivia question continued...
Last week the question was what does the number 37 represent? The same question again but the number has changed. What does the number 30 represent?
Sunday, September 16, 2012
PantherReport
Celebrating Success
I had a chance to visit with some of you about your ASPs. The feedback is important, the good, the bad and the ugly. Kelley Smith has it going on in his room. Last week he conferenced with each student; checking grades, attendance and discussing what's going right while identifying areas that need a little more effort. Kelley said his students were very receptive and appreciative of the attention. This is what it's all about. Thanks Kelley and all, for helping our students become more successful.
Go Panthers! Another whoop whoop for our Panther Football Team. Friday night win against Lake Havasu, Congratulations!
TPEC
For those of you who were unable to attend Dietrich Sauer's Teacher Performance Evaluation presentation on Friday, there will be a make up presentation after school in the near future. I will let you know as soon as I hear from Dietrich about the time and place.
PLC Update
This Wednesday we will meet in the mini-theater at 1:30 right after the BBQ. We will continue our work examining AIMS data and how this data fits into our day to day instruction.
Also, just a reminder that the last Wednesday of each month will be set aside for teachers to work with colleagues in other buildings or within our building who are not necessarily on your subject area Collaborative Team. This will not be formally organized by administrators. It is an option for you all if it fits into your plans for the year, but not a requirement. If you wish to meet with colleagues in the middle schools or at FHS, you will need to make those arrangements. Wednesday 9/26 is the last Wednesday of September.
Thursday Intervention and Panther Pathways
Yes, still in the monitor and adjust stage. As Cris mentioned each week gets a little smoother. This week is the last cycle of the three week intervention cycle. This means that next week 9/27 students might be leaving intervention and entering Pathways. If you assigned students to intervention and they have since improved their grades, they will be eligible for Panther Pathways. Cris will let you know how to notify the ASP Teachers if students will be moving out of interventions after next week.
Academic Tutoring
Please encourage your students who might need additional academic help to attend our after school tutoring on Mondays and Thursdays. Currently the tutoring takes place in the small conference room in the counseling office, as we get more students we will expand to other locations. Also, beginning next Thursday, September 27 Ann Hurst and Lorena Vera-Trejo will work with small groups of 11th and 12th grade students who still need to pass the AIMS. These sessions will take place during Intervention time on Thursdays.
Flashmob
Could be fun. I have a crazy idea for the pep assembly before the CHSv. FHS Football game on October 19. If you are curious and want to know a little more, please stay in the mini right after PLCs on Wednesday and I'll explain.
Content Objectives
As you know C.O.s, Learning Targets and Essential Outcomes have been the topic of many conversations this year at CHS. Interestingly Dr. Schmoker has spent a great deal of time researching and writing about Content Objectives and their relationships to highly effective instruction. He says
"Clear Learning Objectives should be built around a topic, skill or concept selected from our agreed upon curriculum; the assessment or demonstration of what will be learned during the lesson should be clear, or at least implicit. " I would venture to guess we would all believe this to be true. Our work with Dr. Schmoker will be fun and reassuring that we are on the right track. Our first meeting with him will be Wednesday, October 10, at 1:00PM. Please mark your calendar.
Looking ahead
Next week 9/24-9/28 is CHS Homecoming week. Gaby will be sending out a schedule of events, times and places soon.
This week...
9/17 Eng Dept mtg 2:30 Tim Aydelott's room
9/19 Faculty BBQ in the cafeteria 1:00PM
9/19 PLCs 1:30PM in the mini-theater
9/19 Frosh FB @ home 3:30
9/20 JV FB @ home 3:30
Trivia Question What does the number 37 represent for CHS?
The first person to email the correct answer gets a special prize.
I had a chance to visit with some of you about your ASPs. The feedback is important, the good, the bad and the ugly. Kelley Smith has it going on in his room. Last week he conferenced with each student; checking grades, attendance and discussing what's going right while identifying areas that need a little more effort. Kelley said his students were very receptive and appreciative of the attention. This is what it's all about. Thanks Kelley and all, for helping our students become more successful.
Go Panthers! Another whoop whoop for our Panther Football Team. Friday night win against Lake Havasu, Congratulations!
TPEC
For those of you who were unable to attend Dietrich Sauer's Teacher Performance Evaluation presentation on Friday, there will be a make up presentation after school in the near future. I will let you know as soon as I hear from Dietrich about the time and place.
PLC Update
This Wednesday we will meet in the mini-theater at 1:30 right after the BBQ. We will continue our work examining AIMS data and how this data fits into our day to day instruction.
Also, just a reminder that the last Wednesday of each month will be set aside for teachers to work with colleagues in other buildings or within our building who are not necessarily on your subject area Collaborative Team. This will not be formally organized by administrators. It is an option for you all if it fits into your plans for the year, but not a requirement. If you wish to meet with colleagues in the middle schools or at FHS, you will need to make those arrangements. Wednesday 9/26 is the last Wednesday of September.
Thursday Intervention and Panther Pathways
Yes, still in the monitor and adjust stage. As Cris mentioned each week gets a little smoother. This week is the last cycle of the three week intervention cycle. This means that next week 9/27 students might be leaving intervention and entering Pathways. If you assigned students to intervention and they have since improved their grades, they will be eligible for Panther Pathways. Cris will let you know how to notify the ASP Teachers if students will be moving out of interventions after next week.
Academic Tutoring
Please encourage your students who might need additional academic help to attend our after school tutoring on Mondays and Thursdays. Currently the tutoring takes place in the small conference room in the counseling office, as we get more students we will expand to other locations. Also, beginning next Thursday, September 27 Ann Hurst and Lorena Vera-Trejo will work with small groups of 11th and 12th grade students who still need to pass the AIMS. These sessions will take place during Intervention time on Thursdays.
Flashmob
Could be fun. I have a crazy idea for the pep assembly before the CHSv. FHS Football game on October 19. If you are curious and want to know a little more, please stay in the mini right after PLCs on Wednesday and I'll explain.
Content Objectives
As you know C.O.s, Learning Targets and Essential Outcomes have been the topic of many conversations this year at CHS. Interestingly Dr. Schmoker has spent a great deal of time researching and writing about Content Objectives and their relationships to highly effective instruction. He says
"Clear Learning Objectives should be built around a topic, skill or concept selected from our agreed upon curriculum; the assessment or demonstration of what will be learned during the lesson should be clear, or at least implicit. " I would venture to guess we would all believe this to be true. Our work with Dr. Schmoker will be fun and reassuring that we are on the right track. Our first meeting with him will be Wednesday, October 10, at 1:00PM. Please mark your calendar.
Looking ahead
Next week 9/24-9/28 is CHS Homecoming week. Gaby will be sending out a schedule of events, times and places soon.
This week...
9/17 Eng Dept mtg 2:30 Tim Aydelott's room
9/19 Faculty BBQ in the cafeteria 1:00PM
9/19 PLCs 1:30PM in the mini-theater
9/19 Frosh FB @ home 3:30
9/20 JV FB @ home 3:30
Trivia Question What does the number 37 represent for CHS?
The first person to email the correct answer gets a special prize.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Vibrant CHS
Celebrating Success
I think there is at least one part of our vision that is quickly coming to fruition. That would be the "vibrant" part. It has certainly not been a dull start to the school year. A big huge thank you to everyone for your patience and support as we work through our new Thursday school day plan. While the first iteration of Intervention and Pathways was good for our students it took it's toll on us. A special thank you to Kerry Kriesel, Tim Fox, Daniel Vandervalk and Eric Ashcroft who gladly welcomed over 300 students between the four of them and then quickly came to talk with us to come up with some solutions to the over population problem. And thanks to all of you who pitched in to help out. In order to help ensure students made it to the proper destination on Thursday we assigned some teachers to monitor the hallways and exits. A few of these teachers will be reassigned to help with the larger Pathways, and some will stay on duty for a while. We are also going to add a new pathway or two to help. Other than the overcrowding issue, Thursday was pretty cool!
Positive comment
I thought this worthy of mention; Nick Bowling, Student Teacher for Abel and Assistant Volleyball Coach was excited to tell me last week that for the first time in the eight years that he has been coaching EVERY SINGLE PlAYER was eligible to play after the first round of eligibility checks. Gotta love that!
PLCs
I know you all need some time to come up for air. How about we take "five" this week? We will not meet together as a faculty and you can you use your Wednesday afternoon however you see fit. No notes necessary. We will reconvene next Wednesday and we'll sart with a faculty BBQ provided by Paul Pavlich and James Ingram. Not this week, but next 9/19/2012.
TPEC (Teacher Performance Evaluation Committee)
Just a reminder that Dietrich Saouer will be here on Friday 9/14 during prep hours. Please plan to be in the mini-theater during your prep for Dietrich's presentation about the new teacher Observation/Evaluation tool and process.
Walkthroughs
It has been great to be able to observe many of you teaching. Last week we traveled around in a large group that included Dr. Schmoker, visiting classrooms. He was very complimentary about the teaching and learning we saw during these brief walkthroughs. As Derek Born shared with you all, these informal walkthroughs are NOT part of your formal observations. They are merely for us to see what 's happening in the classroom on a regular basis. One of my goals this year is to be in your classrooms as often as possible. Cris, Steve and I will continue to make every effort to be in your rooms for brief observations. And just so you know, throughout the month of September in our walkthroughs we are checking out your content objectives and the learning focus of the learning of the lessons we observe. Keep up the good work!
Tutors
Beginning this Monday and every Monday from here on out we have tutors available for our CHS students. The tutors are from the Northern Arizona College Resource Center (NACRC) and they are volunteering their time to tutor our students. Tutors will be in the small counseling office from 2:20-5:00 P.M. every Monday. Please refer any student you feel would benefit from this service.
Finally I want to share a quote I came across this weekend...
"The real path to greatness, it turns out, requires simplicity and diligence. It requires clarity, not instant illumination. It demands each of us to focus on what is vital-and to eliminate all of the extraneous distractions."
Hang in there everyone, its going to get better. Have a great week!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Updates September 4-7
Celebrating Success
Congratulations! Our Back-to-School Fall Open House was successful and well received. The atmosphere of the evening was noticeably professional and academic. The parents who were there were happy and several people went out of their way to pay compliments to our CHS teachers and to tell me how much they appreciated all of you. Thank you for being there and showing our CHS families what an excellent school we are.
CHS at the County Fair
Thank you Vicki for setting up the beautiful CHS art exhibit. Another shining star for CHS.
Master Board/ Class Sizes
Thank you for your patience as our counselors continue to work hard to balance class loads. This is a complex process and takes some time. Also we are aware that some of the ASPs are quite large. We will do our best to make some adjustments so that students are more evenly distributed.
ASP/Panther Pathways
This week our regular ASP schedule will begin and the period will last twenty minutes. Panther Pathways, Structured Study Hall and Interventions will begin this week as well. You will receive a list of where each of your ASP students will go for Enrichment or Interventions this week.
New CHS Faculty
Please join me in a warm welcome to Steve Craig, CAVIAT Counselor and Barrett Tritle, S3 Positive Response Team Leader. Welcome, we are glad you are here.
Staff Web Pages
Jen Parker will be hosting an after school Web Page refresher workshop for teachers. Date and time TBA soon. Everyone is welcome to attend and if you sponsor a school club or activity please plan to attend so Jen can help update information on our school site.
Teacher Observations/Evaluations
Formal observations will not begin until after our TPEC Training during prep hours on Friday, September 14. In the meantime CHS admin will be popping in for informal observations. Thanks in advance for sharing your classroom with us.
Duty
Morning and afternoon duty should last around twenty minutes. Even though our after school buses are arriving later this year, you do not have to wait for the last bus to leave for your duty to end. Of course, you are welcome to stay as long as you wish, but, please know, you may leave your duty post by 2:45PM.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through some of the beginning of the school year speed bumps.
Dates to Remember
9/3 Safety Committee Mtg 3:00 PM Room 309
9/5 PLCs in the afternoon. Meet briefly in the mini-theater 1:10-1:25 PM
9/5 Frosh VB @ Home 4:00 PM
JV VB @ Home 5:00 PM
9/6 V VB @ Home 6:00 PM
9/7 V FB @ Home 7:00 PM
Go Panthers!!!
Congratulations! Our Back-to-School Fall Open House was successful and well received. The atmosphere of the evening was noticeably professional and academic. The parents who were there were happy and several people went out of their way to pay compliments to our CHS teachers and to tell me how much they appreciated all of you. Thank you for being there and showing our CHS families what an excellent school we are.
CHS at the County Fair
Thank you Vicki for setting up the beautiful CHS art exhibit. Another shining star for CHS.
Master Board/ Class Sizes
Thank you for your patience as our counselors continue to work hard to balance class loads. This is a complex process and takes some time. Also we are aware that some of the ASPs are quite large. We will do our best to make some adjustments so that students are more evenly distributed.
ASP/Panther Pathways
This week our regular ASP schedule will begin and the period will last twenty minutes. Panther Pathways, Structured Study Hall and Interventions will begin this week as well. You will receive a list of where each of your ASP students will go for Enrichment or Interventions this week.
New CHS Faculty
Please join me in a warm welcome to Steve Craig, CAVIAT Counselor and Barrett Tritle, S3 Positive Response Team Leader. Welcome, we are glad you are here.
Staff Web Pages
Jen Parker will be hosting an after school Web Page refresher workshop for teachers. Date and time TBA soon. Everyone is welcome to attend and if you sponsor a school club or activity please plan to attend so Jen can help update information on our school site.
Teacher Observations/Evaluations
Formal observations will not begin until after our TPEC Training during prep hours on Friday, September 14. In the meantime CHS admin will be popping in for informal observations. Thanks in advance for sharing your classroom with us.
Duty
Morning and afternoon duty should last around twenty minutes. Even though our after school buses are arriving later this year, you do not have to wait for the last bus to leave for your duty to end. Of course, you are welcome to stay as long as you wish, but, please know, you may leave your duty post by 2:45PM.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through some of the beginning of the school year speed bumps.
Dates to Remember
9/3 Safety Committee Mtg 3:00 PM Room 309
9/5 PLCs in the afternoon. Meet briefly in the mini-theater 1:10-1:25 PM
9/5 Frosh VB @ Home 4:00 PM
JV VB @ Home 5:00 PM
9/6 V VB @ Home 6:00 PM
9/7 V FB @ Home 7:00 PM
Go Panthers!!!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
PantherReport_8/26/12
Celebrating Success
Our CHS students are the best. The entire student body made us all proud during the PBIS presentation last Thursday. A great big thank you to our Link Crew for putting together the student friendly PBIS presentations. These students are truly role models for their peers. A special thank you to Krista, Theresa and Gaby for an outstanding job.
Did you hear that our Varsity Football Team beat Page 51-0? Congratulations!
PLCs ~ WOW! Working On the Work...Awesome work last week in your Collaborative Teams. We all know that in order to evaluate and measure student learning, we have to be clear on what it is they should know and be able to do. Thank you for working together to look carefully at our standards and in some cases, curriculum maps, to create a list of the agreed-upon Essential Learning Outcomes for the courses you teach. Although there is no exact recipe or step by step manual for ensuring that all students are learning at high levels, there is extensive research and agreement among educators that we must be very clear about the knowledge, skills and dispositions students must acquire to be academically successful. Along with focusing our teaching on these Essential Learning Outcomes we must also monitor the learning, or lack there of, of these stated outcomes. This week we will not meet together as a faculty, but you will meet separately in your PLCs to complete the work you began last week. If you have completed your list of Outcomes, please spend the time discussing your plans for evaluating student progress toward acquiring these skills and knowledge. The guiding questions for this exercise are; How do we know if our students are learning? What do we do if the are not? and, What do we do if they are? Your team recorder will take notes and submit them to Tadd. Thank you everyone!
"PLC is not something you do, it is something you are."
~Thomas W. Many EdD
FYI
Our CHS students are the best. The entire student body made us all proud during the PBIS presentation last Thursday. A great big thank you to our Link Crew for putting together the student friendly PBIS presentations. These students are truly role models for their peers. A special thank you to Krista, Theresa and Gaby for an outstanding job.
Did you hear that our Varsity Football Team beat Page 51-0? Congratulations!
PLCs ~ WOW! Working On the Work...Awesome work last week in your Collaborative Teams. We all know that in order to evaluate and measure student learning, we have to be clear on what it is they should know and be able to do. Thank you for working together to look carefully at our standards and in some cases, curriculum maps, to create a list of the agreed-upon Essential Learning Outcomes for the courses you teach. Although there is no exact recipe or step by step manual for ensuring that all students are learning at high levels, there is extensive research and agreement among educators that we must be very clear about the knowledge, skills and dispositions students must acquire to be academically successful. Along with focusing our teaching on these Essential Learning Outcomes we must also monitor the learning, or lack there of, of these stated outcomes. This week we will not meet together as a faculty, but you will meet separately in your PLCs to complete the work you began last week. If you have completed your list of Outcomes, please spend the time discussing your plans for evaluating student progress toward acquiring these skills and knowledge. The guiding questions for this exercise are; How do we know if our students are learning? What do we do if the are not? and, What do we do if they are? Your team recorder will take notes and submit them to Tadd. Thank you everyone!
"PLC is not something you do, it is something you are."
~Thomas W. Many EdD
FYI
- Educational Consultant Dr. Michael Schmoker will be working with our district to help realize the Governing Board's Goal of Increased Student Achievement. Dr. Schmoker will be working with us here at Coconino as well as Thomas and Kinsey Elementary Schools. As soon as I have dates and I learn a little more about the plan, I will let you all know.
- Teacher Evaluation of Performance is the name of the newly developed Teacher Evaluation tool. Dietrich Sauer, Director of Human Resources, will be at CHS to train us all on the new tool and the process for evaluation during our first prep hour meetings on September 14. Please mark your calendars.
Field Trips
We are starting to get a lot of requests for field trips. If at all possible please try to schedule field trips for Thursday afternoons. I realize this will not always be possible. We are trying hard to have fewer classroom disruptions and it will take all of us working together to make this happen.
Dates to Remember
8/27~AASC Conference @ CHS
8/27~S3 Mtg 3:00 PM
8/29~PLCs
8/29~PBIS Mtg
8/30~Academic Support Period Begins
8/30 ~CHS Open House 6:00-8:00 PM
8/31~V FB @ Home V. Paradise Valley HS
Go Panthers!!!
Go Panthers!!!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
PantherReport 8-20
Celebrating Success
Can you guess what this number represents 4500? That is approximately how many text books were distributed last week during text book distribution days. WOW!!! Thank you Jen Parker and crew for your hard work. And, thank you teachers for all your help in making this process work. CHS students should be well equipped to learn now :)
The first week of school was super. It was really cool to see so many of the creative and innovative ways you rolled out the PBIS expectations and began to build relationships to help nurture student-teacher interactions. A great feeling of positive energy during the first week of school was evident. Thank you everybody. I hope in the near future we can build in time to share all your talents and expertise with one another.
As education researcher Robert Marzano says "Positive relationships between teachers and students are among the most commonly cited variables associated with effective instruction … A weak or negative relationship will mute or even negate the benefits of even the most effective instructional strategies."
Student Conduct
We all know that in order to create the learning environment we desire, we need to teach and "train" all of our students of our expectations. This takes some time and requires constant and consistant reminding of proper conduct, food in designated areas, responsible electronic usage dress code etc...during our PBIS University we discussed using the first few weeks of school to do this. Several teachers have already expressed frustration of our inconsistencies. I stopped no less than a dozen young ladies regarding the length of their shorts last week and explained that our dress code requires that shorts should be no shorter than where there finger tips touch along their sides. The young ladies were polite and promised they would find more appropriate attire. However, when I asked if anyone else had mentioned the dress code policy to them , they all said no. I realize that they might not have been telling the whole truth, but if we, as staff and faculty, believe that dress code is uber-important, it's going to require that we ALL do our part. I will post signs on our main entry doors reminding students of our dress code policy. Wednesday morning during first hour we will do a school wide dress code check. All students in violation will be asked to go to the mini-theater to meet with administrators. I will do a Connect-Ed robo call home Tuesday night. We will continue to work together to create the CHS we want to see.
FYI
Can you guess what this number represents 4500? That is approximately how many text books were distributed last week during text book distribution days. WOW!!! Thank you Jen Parker and crew for your hard work. And, thank you teachers for all your help in making this process work. CHS students should be well equipped to learn now :)
The first week of school was super. It was really cool to see so many of the creative and innovative ways you rolled out the PBIS expectations and began to build relationships to help nurture student-teacher interactions. A great feeling of positive energy during the first week of school was evident. Thank you everybody. I hope in the near future we can build in time to share all your talents and expertise with one another.
As education researcher Robert Marzano says "Positive relationships between teachers and students are among the most commonly cited variables associated with effective instruction … A weak or negative relationship will mute or even negate the benefits of even the most effective instructional strategies."
Student Conduct
We all know that in order to create the learning environment we desire, we need to teach and "train" all of our students of our expectations. This takes some time and requires constant and consistant reminding of proper conduct, food in designated areas, responsible electronic usage dress code etc...during our PBIS University we discussed using the first few weeks of school to do this. Several teachers have already expressed frustration of our inconsistencies. I stopped no less than a dozen young ladies regarding the length of their shorts last week and explained that our dress code requires that shorts should be no shorter than where there finger tips touch along their sides. The young ladies were polite and promised they would find more appropriate attire. However, when I asked if anyone else had mentioned the dress code policy to them , they all said no. I realize that they might not have been telling the whole truth, but if we, as staff and faculty, believe that dress code is uber-important, it's going to require that we ALL do our part. I will post signs on our main entry doors reminding students of our dress code policy. Wednesday morning during first hour we will do a school wide dress code check. All students in violation will be asked to go to the mini-theater to meet with administrators. I will do a Connect-Ed robo call home Tuesday night. We will continue to work together to create the CHS we want to see.
FYI
- If you need Content Objective Posters they are available in the office on the shelf above Lost & Found.
- Anyone interested in attending the Bullying Prevention Conference featuring Barbara Coloroso on September 29, please let me know ASAP.
Dates to Remember
- 8/22 ~Common Assessment administration. (Delivery of assessments and scantrons 8/20 )
- 8/22 ~ PLCs
- 8/23 ~ Common Assessment administration cont'd
- 8/23 ~ PBIS Training for students
Looking ahead
- On August 27 CHS is hosting the Student Council Spirit Conference (AASC). Our SC members will be attending this conference during the school day along with visiting students from other Arizona Schools.
- August 30 ~ CHS Open House 6:00-8:00 PM
Have a great second week:)
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Panther Power 2012-13
Celebrating Success
School hasn't even started yet and we already have lots to celebrate. Thank you for your presence and focus during our Back-To-School days. As we work together on continuous improvement toward student success and academic excellence it is reassuring to see our teachers spending time together sharing professional knowledge and continuing to learn about trends in education that have proven effective. There is no doubt that by working together and supporting each other we will continue on the road to greatness. "Collaboration and the ability to engage in collaborative action are becoming increasingly important to the survival of public schools. Indeed, without the ability to collaborate with others, the prospect of improving student achievement is not likely."-Schlechty, 2005
As you are all working to prepare for the new school year, our students are also already preparing for a great year. Our 11th and 12th grade Student Link Crew organized and hosted the best ever Freshmen Orientation on Friday the 10th. CHS Student Council got together several times throughout the summer to plan for what they hope to be successful year. (Keep a look out for the CHS Lipdub). They also got up bright and early on Thursday the 9th to cook and serve breakfast for all of us.
I eagerly look forward to a great year and am confident that we will continue to accomplish a great deal together. It truly takes a village!
Updates
1. Please help reinforce to the students that they are responsible for the actual textbook they are issued. (This is a great place to talk about Responsibility as one of our targeted expectations for PBIS!) Students may NOT turn in another student's book at the end of the year. Please have students write their names inside the books, and please do not allow students to store their books in your classroom. This also causes problems at the end of the year with determining responsibility and assessing fines for damage and/or loss.
2. If possible, it would be great if we could utilize the online versions of the textbooks. It helps reduce the wear and tear on the books and is a convenient way for many of our students to have a "copy" of their textbook both at home and at school. If you do not know the access codes, the publishing company can provide them for you.
School hasn't even started yet and we already have lots to celebrate. Thank you for your presence and focus during our Back-To-School days. As we work together on continuous improvement toward student success and academic excellence it is reassuring to see our teachers spending time together sharing professional knowledge and continuing to learn about trends in education that have proven effective. There is no doubt that by working together and supporting each other we will continue on the road to greatness. "Collaboration and the ability to engage in collaborative action are becoming increasingly important to the survival of public schools. Indeed, without the ability to collaborate with others, the prospect of improving student achievement is not likely."-Schlechty, 2005
As you are all working to prepare for the new school year, our students are also already preparing for a great year. Our 11th and 12th grade Student Link Crew organized and hosted the best ever Freshmen Orientation on Friday the 10th. CHS Student Council got together several times throughout the summer to plan for what they hope to be successful year. (Keep a look out for the CHS Lipdub). They also got up bright and early on Thursday the 9th to cook and serve breakfast for all of us.
I eagerly look forward to a great year and am confident that we will continue to accomplish a great deal together. It truly takes a village!
Updates
- Class Size: Remember increased student enrollment is actually a good problem to have. If you have high numbers please don't panic and please be patient as we resolve the good problem. I promise and, double promise, that your concerns are being heard. I am in daily conversation with our superintendent about enrollment and our extraordinarily high class sizes. She assures me that if these numbers prove to be accurate during the first few days of school we will look at hiring new faculty in order to create additional sections in order to bring class sizes to a reasonable number. In the meantime do welcome all of your students and do not send students to see the counselors unless they do not appear on your roster.
- Text Books: On Thursday Aug. 16, during enrichment/intervention time students will be issued their textbooks as part of the scheduled rotation that afternoon. After receiving their ID cards, students will come to the library where we will have a copy of their schedule and will issue them the necessary textbooks. * If you will not be using the assigned textbook in your class this year, please let Jen know by Tuesday, Aug 14 so we do not issue books that are not needed.
1. Please help reinforce to the students that they are responsible for the actual textbook they are issued. (This is a great place to talk about Responsibility as one of our targeted expectations for PBIS!) Students may NOT turn in another student's book at the end of the year. Please have students write their names inside the books, and please do not allow students to store their books in your classroom. This also causes problems at the end of the year with determining responsibility and assessing fines for damage and/or loss.
2. If possible, it would be great if we could utilize the online versions of the textbooks. It helps reduce the wear and tear on the books and is a convenient way for many of our students to have a "copy" of their textbook both at home and at school. If you do not know the access codes, the publishing company can provide them for you.
- Thursday Plan: We will need everyone's help this Thursday, August 16th beginning at 12:55. Cris will be sending out the plan to you all for this day. Students will be rotating to stations to do the following: Take pictures and receive student IDs, get text books, log on info for Student Vue and learn about Academic Support Period and Panther Pathways.
- PBIS: As we anxiously await the installation of the "Expectation" signs, Krista and Gaby have provided us with paper copies of the classroom wide and hallway expectations to review with our students. Please find time to teach these expectations with your students, then post the expectations in the location where you would like your permanent sign installed. The laminated Behavior Flow Chart is in your box as well. There is also a letter from me to our student body regarding PBIS. Please distribute these letters during third hour.
- RTR/RTC Will be utilized this week for "Intake" of students who are attempting to skip class. Bondo and Mr. Popham will be circulating in and around the building in hopes of thwarting thoughts of missing class and gathering students who are not where they are supposed to be.
- Wednesday PLC meeting: We will meet together in the mini-theater at 1:00 on Wednesday, August 15 to discuss our school wide plan for PLCs and early release Wednesdays.
- Parent Information Session regarding the Modified Six Period day. August 15 @5:30 Mini-Theater.
Here's to a great year!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
On your mark, get set-Feel the Power-GO!
Greetings CHS
On the eve of the first day back for the 2012-2013 School Year, I welcome you all to what promises to be an excellent School Year.
If you have been in the building in the past few days you have probably noticed our new front entrance. Construction is coming to an end and we are really pleased with the results. I think you will all agree that our new entrance is inviting, open and safe. We have added some inspirational quotes on the walls of the building as well, and to help promote timeliness and responsibility new clocks have been installed in the main hallways. A special thank you to Krista Dobosh, Steve Bonderud and our awesome custodial staff for sprucing up the building over the summer.
Soooo, what else is new at CHS?
A lot
I am really excited to start the new year and look forward to a great school year.
Agenda for Wednesday and Thursday below:
On the eve of the first day back for the 2012-2013 School Year, I welcome you all to what promises to be an excellent School Year.
If you have been in the building in the past few days you have probably noticed our new front entrance. Construction is coming to an end and we are really pleased with the results. I think you will all agree that our new entrance is inviting, open and safe. We have added some inspirational quotes on the walls of the building as well, and to help promote timeliness and responsibility new clocks have been installed in the main hallways. A special thank you to Krista Dobosh, Steve Bonderud and our awesome custodial staff for sprucing up the building over the summer.
Soooo, what else is new at CHS?
A lot
- New Gingerbread (Building improvements)
- New Benches all around Campus
- New Fire Alarm System (really)
- Refined Policies, Procedures and Expectations
- Protocol for implementing Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS)
- New "Modified Six" bell schedule
- A plan to monitor student learning and a schedule that ensures student academic success
- New faces to CHS ~ A big welcome to you all!!!
I am really excited to start the new year and look forward to a great school year.
Agenda for Wednesday and Thursday below:
Back-to-School Days
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
8:00-9:00 FUSD Superintendent Barbara Hickman – Opening address
9:15-9:45 CHS Faculty and Staff introductions
9:45-12:00 HQ Attestations, work in classrooms
12:00-12:45 Lunch provided in the cafeteria
12:45-1:00 Your other “Dream Job”
1:00-2:00 Student achievement at CHS
AZ Learns Status
Common Assessments
2:00-2:30 CHS Next Steps – Thursday Early Release Plan
2:30-2:45 Safety and Security @CHS
2:45-3:00 Career Ladder Presentation
Thursday, August 9, 2012
7:30-8:00 Breakfast provided by CHS Student Council
8:00-8:30 PBIS opening and plan for the morning
8:30-11:30 PBIS University
11:30-12:30 Lunch on your own
12:30-3:00 Work in your classrooms
1:00-2:00 Department Chair meeting
2:00-3:00 New Teacher CHS orientation and Q & A
Friday, August 10, 2012
7:30-11:30 CHS and FHS will convene at FHS
11:30-1:00 Lunch on your own
1:00-4:00 CHS and SMS will convene at CHS
"We have exactly enough time-starting now". :)
- Dana Meadows, Dartmouth College
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Mid Summer but, New School Year News
Hello Fabulous CHS Faculty and Staff,
As summer comes to a screeching halt, I bet you would like to know what to expect for our first three teacher work days. As you know it all starts next week on August 8th. Below you will find a schedule of events for the first two teacher workdays, August 8th and 9th. I also want to remind you that this year we will be on a "Modified Six" Schedule. Click here to view the new Bell Schedule. I am really excited about the way our Thursday Afternoon schedule is looking. A special thank you to Mike Vogler, Kelly Koelfgen and Tim Aydelott for coming in over the summer to help design Thursday afternoons to best meet the needs of the students and to best utilize the expertise of our faculty. I will fill you in on the details of the Thursday Academic Support Period, Interventions, Structured Study Halls and Panther Pathways wenst we meet on the 8th.
I've been humming David Bowie's song Ch Ch Ch Changes all summer. You'll see why in the next line of this blog. I am sad to announce that the following people are no longer at CHS: Danny Blackgoat, Michele Corcoran, Donna Denoble, Shannon Etson, Amy Horn, Rod Horn, Ann Hurst, Denise Mattingly, Jason Mills, Nicole Mills, Bill Mulkey, Katie piehl, Evelyn Ramirez, Trish Roach, Jessica Sargent, Diane Sorden, Julie Vlieg, Eileen Westphal and Will White. We also have a number of para-professionals that have moved on. These teachers will be greatly missed at CHS. As I write this note i am in the process of hiring replacements for all of these positions. I am keeping my fingers crossed that by August 13th (First day back for students) we will have a full faculty and staff and I will be able to ask your help in welcoming all of our new Panther Faculty and staff. Until then, please join me in welcoming the following new CHS Faculty; Pat Cochran, Loren Hudson, Elizabeth LeMaster, Lang Suby, Laura Sauer, Craig Howdeshell and Patty Harper (Returning from a Year's LOA). I will catch you up on all the other ch ch ch changes once everyone else is in place.
A few more tidbits to keep in mind as you are planning for the first few weeks of school:
I am truly looking forward to a great and positive school year. In the meantime I wish you all an enjoyable, safe and restful last few days of summer.
Back to School Teacher Schedule
Wednesday August 8
8:00-9:00AM ~ FUSD Superintendent Barbara Hickman Opening address and welcome back @ CHS Main Auditorium
9:15-9:45AM ~ CHS Faculty Welcome Back SY 2012-2013 remarks (We will stay in the main auditorium)
9:45AM-12:00PM ~Work in your classrooms
12:00-12:45PM ~ Lunch provided to CHS Faculty and staff in the Cafeteria
12:45-3:00 ~ CHS School Year Overview, Plan and Nitty Gritty
Thursday August 9
7:30-8:00AM ~ Breakfast provided
8:00-11:30 AM ~ PBIS University
11:30-12:30PM ~ Lunch on your own
12:30-1:00 PM ~ Department Chair Meeting
12:30-3:00PM ~ Work in your classrooms
Friday August 10
301 Day ~
As summer comes to a screeching halt, I bet you would like to know what to expect for our first three teacher work days. As you know it all starts next week on August 8th. Below you will find a schedule of events for the first two teacher workdays, August 8th and 9th. I also want to remind you that this year we will be on a "Modified Six" Schedule. Click here to view the new Bell Schedule. I am really excited about the way our Thursday Afternoon schedule is looking. A special thank you to Mike Vogler, Kelly Koelfgen and Tim Aydelott for coming in over the summer to help design Thursday afternoons to best meet the needs of the students and to best utilize the expertise of our faculty. I will fill you in on the details of the Thursday Academic Support Period, Interventions, Structured Study Halls and Panther Pathways wenst we meet on the 8th.
I've been humming David Bowie's song Ch Ch Ch Changes all summer. You'll see why in the next line of this blog. I am sad to announce that the following people are no longer at CHS: Danny Blackgoat, Michele Corcoran, Donna Denoble, Shannon Etson, Amy Horn, Rod Horn, Ann Hurst, Denise Mattingly, Jason Mills, Nicole Mills, Bill Mulkey, Katie piehl, Evelyn Ramirez, Trish Roach, Jessica Sargent, Diane Sorden, Julie Vlieg, Eileen Westphal and Will White. We also have a number of para-professionals that have moved on. These teachers will be greatly missed at CHS. As I write this note i am in the process of hiring replacements for all of these positions. I am keeping my fingers crossed that by August 13th (First day back for students) we will have a full faculty and staff and I will be able to ask your help in welcoming all of our new Panther Faculty and staff. Until then, please join me in welcoming the following new CHS Faculty; Pat Cochran, Loren Hudson, Elizabeth LeMaster, Lang Suby, Laura Sauer, Craig Howdeshell and Patty Harper (Returning from a Year's LOA). I will catch you up on all the other ch ch ch changes once everyone else is in place.
A few more tidbits to keep in mind as you are planning for the first few weeks of school:
- The pre-assessment portion of the Common Assessments will administered on August 22 and August 23. ( District wide )
- The Common grade book weighted distribution will be ~ Practice = 20%, Performance = 20% and Measurement = 60% 4) Common Summative, End of Course Assessments = 15% of total grade
- CHS Fall Open House (Back to School Night) is scheduled for Thursday, August 30 @ 6:00PM
- PBIS will be in full implementation at CHS this school year. We will have a thorough training on Thursday morning, August 9.
I am truly looking forward to a great and positive school year. In the meantime I wish you all an enjoyable, safe and restful last few days of summer.
Back to School Teacher Schedule
Wednesday August 8
8:00-9:00AM ~ FUSD Superintendent Barbara Hickman Opening address and welcome back @ CHS Main Auditorium
9:15-9:45AM ~ CHS Faculty Welcome Back SY 2012-2013 remarks (We will stay in the main auditorium)
9:45AM-12:00PM ~Work in your classrooms
12:00-12:45PM ~ Lunch provided to CHS Faculty and staff in the Cafeteria
12:45-3:00 ~ CHS School Year Overview, Plan and Nitty Gritty
Thursday August 9
7:30-8:00AM ~ Breakfast provided
8:00-11:30 AM ~ PBIS University
11:30-12:30PM ~ Lunch on your own
12:30-1:00 PM ~ Department Chair Meeting
12:30-3:00PM ~ Work in your classrooms
Friday August 10
301 Day ~
7:30 AM-11:30AM ~ Teachers from both high schools will meet and will be grouped by departments. Locations TBD. Please keep an eye out for an e-mail from Gretchen Markiewicz with more details.
* Please plan to bring your text or a sample of text from your specific content area for the 301 day
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Final PantherReport SY 2011-12
Celebrating Success
I had a chance to go to the theater last night, the CHS mini-theater that is, to see the play Arsenic and Old Lace. Kristi Long and her students did an outstanding job. Another Point of Light for Coconino.
Panther Pride indeed. Every day at CHS there is reason to celebrate success. This week alone gave us much to brag about. The awards and scholarship assembly went extremely well. Thanks again, Diane and thank you to you all for reminding our students about our expectations for appropriate conduct. With 1400 students in the same place at the same time, anything could happen, the kids were super and we had zero issues. And most importantly so many of our students received awards and or scholarships. It was truly heart warming. Our CHS choir students continue to shine, the concert on Wednesday was lovely (I wasn't able to attend, but heard this from several parents), The award winning CHS Robot made a special guest appearance at the the Coconuts Robotics reception in honor the many community supporters. We concluded the week with the festivities at Spring Bash. The students and the adults appeared to be having a great time on our beautiful campus in the abundant sunshine. Thank you Gaby and crew. And that's just this week...hope you all had a nice restful weekend :)
FYI The common grade book has been cause for much discussion at district administrative meetings this year. The common grade book is here to stay. In the most recent discussion it looked like we are heading toward assigning the following percentages: Practice 20% Performance 20% Measurement 50%. If you feel strongly about this, please email me sometime in June with your thoughts so I can advocate for us at CHS.
Year End Check Out: Please read over the check out procedures distributes at the faculty mtg on May 29th so we can close out the year as smoothly as possible. See Becky if you did not receive a packet.
Bike to Work/School Week is this week. Coco has a large contingency of bike riders and it would be great to see this grow. The weather is supposed to be beautiful. For this year’s Bike to School Day, four “Golden Sprocket” trophies will be awarded to the schools with the largest percentage of bike riders in the following categories: High Schools, Schools with enrollments of 400+, Schools with enrollments of 200-399, and Schools with enrollment under 200. See Marti Millhous' email dated 5/30 12:13 PM for more details. Teachers are encouraged to ride too and if you park outside in the bike rack your bikes will be counted. (They count in the morning, so you can move your bikes inside after 1st hour)
The organizers will have on-site representatives counting the number of bikers on campus on the morning of Tuesday, June 5th. All students who ride throughout the week are encouraged to log-in to the website and register as bike-to-school participants every day; however, winners of this one day challenge will be determined through the individual school’s bicycle counts. Let's talk it up... please encourage your students to ride all week and especially on Tuesday. The winners of the Tuesday Challenge will be able to show off their shiny Golden Sprocket trophies.
Summer Work The Intervention/Enrichment task force will meet on Thursday June 28 @12:00-3:00 PM. We will meet in the library.
The Policies and Procedures committee will meet on July 19th @ 12:00-3:00 PM. We will meet in the library.
All are welcome!
This week at CHS Please see finals schedule attached to email sent by Becky Gonzales 5/31.
As we close out this school year and I conclude the last PantherReport of the year, I want to express a sincere thank you. It is a privilege for me to work with you all and I am grateful and proud to be at Coconino High school as your principal. I would like you all to know that I have had the opportunity to carefully read the annual principal performance review completed by all of you. I promise to use your feedback to improve as your principal next year. I am confident that we will accomplish a great deal together at this very special school, CHS.
Have a wonderful and safe summer.
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much"
-Hellen Keller
I had a chance to go to the theater last night, the CHS mini-theater that is, to see the play Arsenic and Old Lace. Kristi Long and her students did an outstanding job. Another Point of Light for Coconino.
Panther Pride indeed. Every day at CHS there is reason to celebrate success. This week alone gave us much to brag about. The awards and scholarship assembly went extremely well. Thanks again, Diane and thank you to you all for reminding our students about our expectations for appropriate conduct. With 1400 students in the same place at the same time, anything could happen, the kids were super and we had zero issues. And most importantly so many of our students received awards and or scholarships. It was truly heart warming. Our CHS choir students continue to shine, the concert on Wednesday was lovely (I wasn't able to attend, but heard this from several parents), The award winning CHS Robot made a special guest appearance at the the Coconuts Robotics reception in honor the many community supporters. We concluded the week with the festivities at Spring Bash. The students and the adults appeared to be having a great time on our beautiful campus in the abundant sunshine. Thank you Gaby and crew. And that's just this week...hope you all had a nice restful weekend :)
FYI The common grade book has been cause for much discussion at district administrative meetings this year. The common grade book is here to stay. In the most recent discussion it looked like we are heading toward assigning the following percentages: Practice 20% Performance 20% Measurement 50%. If you feel strongly about this, please email me sometime in June with your thoughts so I can advocate for us at CHS.
Year End Check Out: Please read over the check out procedures distributes at the faculty mtg on May 29th so we can close out the year as smoothly as possible. See Becky if you did not receive a packet.
Bike to Work/School Week is this week. Coco has a large contingency of bike riders and it would be great to see this grow. The weather is supposed to be beautiful. For this year’s Bike to School Day, four “Golden Sprocket” trophies will be awarded to the schools with the largest percentage of bike riders in the following categories: High Schools, Schools with enrollments of 400+, Schools with enrollments of 200-399, and Schools with enrollment under 200. See Marti Millhous' email dated 5/30 12:13 PM for more details. Teachers are encouraged to ride too and if you park outside in the bike rack your bikes will be counted. (They count in the morning, so you can move your bikes inside after 1st hour)
The organizers will have on-site representatives counting the number of bikers on campus on the morning of Tuesday, June 5th. All students who ride throughout the week are encouraged to log-in to the website and register as bike-to-school participants every day; however, winners of this one day challenge will be determined through the individual school’s bicycle counts. Let's talk it up... please encourage your students to ride all week and especially on Tuesday. The winners of the Tuesday Challenge will be able to show off their shiny Golden Sprocket trophies.
Summer Work The Intervention/Enrichment task force will meet on Thursday June 28 @12:00-3:00 PM. We will meet in the library.
The Policies and Procedures committee will meet on July 19th @ 12:00-3:00 PM. We will meet in the library.
All are welcome!
This week at CHS Please see finals schedule attached to email sent by Becky Gonzales 5/31.
As we close out this school year and I conclude the last PantherReport of the year, I want to express a sincere thank you. It is a privilege for me to work with you all and I am grateful and proud to be at Coconino High school as your principal. I would like you all to know that I have had the opportunity to carefully read the annual principal performance review completed by all of you. I promise to use your feedback to improve as your principal next year. I am confident that we will accomplish a great deal together at this very special school, CHS.
Have a wonderful and safe summer.
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much"
-Hellen Keller
Monday, May 28, 2012
PantherReport~Penultimate
Celebrating Success
Hats off to our Choir CHS Choir students. Last week they attended the "Music in the Parks" Festival in California and our Womens Chorus (the women from Chamber Singers) came in first place with a Superior rating...
Men's Chorus (the men from Chamber Singers) - First Place with a Superior rating
Chamber Singers - First Place with a rating of Superior
Sam Kumasaka - Outstanding Student Accompanist for his clarinet accompaniment for the Men.
The Men and Women tied for highest scores in the festival and Men's Chorus was named Best Overall HS Choir. Way to go Doug Riddle and students!!!
A special thank you to John Edwards and his students for going out on a limb and completing the Ever-Fi program sponsored by Alliance Bank (First school to complete the program in the state of AZ). This brought lots of positive attention to CHS.
Winding down
Thank you all for your input for Enrichment/Intervention Thursdays for next year. Many great ideas and thoughtful feedback. Please remember to turn in your year end reflection questions. Your feedback about this school year, your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are really important and we are committed to using your input to help plan for a better next year and beyond.
Awards and Scholarship Assembly~Wednesday, May 30 9:00 AM
Thank you to Diane and counselors, Amy Horn and Bondo for your work on streamlining the upcoming awards and scholarship assembly while making sure that all who deserve recognition are honored and included. Also a special thank you to Julie Vlieg, for helping refine the assembly bell schedule so that we have the least possible disruption to the leaning environment on the day of the assembly. It really does take a village. Teachers please note that teachers will be sitting with their classes during the assembly on Wednesday. The areas are marked on the map sent in the Thursday's e-mail ( 5/24 @ 2:20 PM) from Tammy Jones. Thank you in advance for your help in maintaining appropriate and respectful student conduct at this special all- school assembly.
Dates to Remember
5/29 Faculty meeting/End of Year info 2:45 PM Mini-Theater
5/30 Awards and Scholarship Assembly 9:00 AM CHS Gym
6/01 Spring Bash~Schedule to Follow
Hats off to our Choir CHS Choir students. Last week they attended the "Music in the Parks" Festival in California and our Womens Chorus (the women from Chamber Singers) came in first place with a Superior rating...
Men's Chorus (the men from Chamber Singers) - First Place with a Superior rating
Chamber Singers - First Place with a rating of Superior
Sam Kumasaka - Outstanding Student Accompanist for his clarinet accompaniment for the Men.
The Men and Women tied for highest scores in the festival and Men's Chorus was named Best Overall HS Choir. Way to go Doug Riddle and students!!!
A special thank you to John Edwards and his students for going out on a limb and completing the Ever-Fi program sponsored by Alliance Bank (First school to complete the program in the state of AZ). This brought lots of positive attention to CHS.
Winding down
Thank you all for your input for Enrichment/Intervention Thursdays for next year. Many great ideas and thoughtful feedback. Please remember to turn in your year end reflection questions. Your feedback about this school year, your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are really important and we are committed to using your input to help plan for a better next year and beyond.
Awards and Scholarship Assembly~Wednesday, May 30 9:00 AM
Thank you to Diane and counselors, Amy Horn and Bondo for your work on streamlining the upcoming awards and scholarship assembly while making sure that all who deserve recognition are honored and included. Also a special thank you to Julie Vlieg, for helping refine the assembly bell schedule so that we have the least possible disruption to the leaning environment on the day of the assembly. It really does take a village. Teachers please note that teachers will be sitting with their classes during the assembly on Wednesday. The areas are marked on the map sent in the Thursday's e-mail ( 5/24 @ 2:20 PM) from Tammy Jones. Thank you in advance for your help in maintaining appropriate and respectful student conduct at this special all- school assembly.
Dates to Remember
5/29 Faculty meeting/End of Year info 2:45 PM Mini-Theater
5/30 Awards and Scholarship Assembly 9:00 AM CHS Gym
6/01 Spring Bash~Schedule to Follow