Update ~ Dec 15-19, 2014

Celebrating Success
We have made it through the first semester of the 2014-15 school year.  Woo hoo!  Thank you to those of you who have expressed interest in helping to develop our action plan in response to our recent accreditation external review.  I truly believe that we are headed on the right path to meet the numerous challenges we face as educators in the 21st century. As Cris, Steve and I visit classrooms and walk around the building we find high quality teaching and learning and lots of meaningful interactions.  With this kind of commitment and resolve we'll just keep getting better and better. Press on! Panther Strong!

Finals
Please remember to submit and verify all grades no later than 3:00pm on Friday, December 19.

Planning Ahead
We hear you!  Due to concerns and MIF data regarding cell phone use and abuse at CHS, we are reviewing our school wide policy and giving serious consideration to making some adjustments tightening it up. The school structures committee will meet in early January to discuss this topic.  In the meantime we will kick off the new year at CHS with a "What the Tech?" campaign. On Thursday, January 8, homeroom teachers will hand out a tech policy worksheet.  During this time 3rd period teachers will review their classroom policy regarding hand held devices and electronics.  Between January 9-15 all other teachers will review classroom electronic device policies and students will complete the form for each class period. A reminder e-mail will be sent upon our return from winter break. 

Please mark your calendars: 

• January 7 ~ School Structures committee Mtg 2:30pm Room 204
• January 8 ~ What the Tech? 
• January 13 ~ Prep Hour Mtgs Room 204 (With the exception of 2nd hour, which will be held in room 200.
• January 27 ~ Faculty Mtg Mini-Theater 2:45pm 

My best to everyone during finals week.  I wish you all a wonderful winter break and hope the holidays fill your homes with peace and joy. 

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Update ~ Dec 8-12, 2014

Celebrating Success
It was great to see several CHS Teachers at the district website training last Thursday. We are working to update and upgrade our CHS Website to highlight the many wonderful things happening at our school.  CHS has some exceptional teacher webpages and I look forward to seeing even more. 

Flyers and Posters
We now have about 30 bulletin boards around our campus.  You are all welcome to use these boards to hang flyers, posters, student work etc.  If you have students hanging these announcements for you, please remind them to use these bulletin boards and refrain from taping anything on the walls and red pillars. Thank you!

Link Leader Freshmen Check-in 
On December 11 1:20-2:20 Our CHS Link Leaders will visit with our 9th grade students to provide information about What Every Freshman Should Know About Finals.  Keep an eye out for an e-mail from Theresa Freas with details. 

Professional Development
This year all FUSD High School Teachers in FUSD have full access to the  Edivation Professional Development Portal (Formerly PD 360).  It is really a valuable resource.  Next semester we will be using this resource together, but if you haven't logged in yet, you might want to go on, set up your log- in settings, and navigate around the site. Go to pd360,  log in with your email username; first initial, last name @fusd1.org. and set up your password. A good place to check out is the section called Learning Targets, then click Focus Objectives.  This will take you to a folder entitled FUSD TPEC.  Each indicator on TPEC has pre-selected resources aligned with our TPEC.  It is pretty cool! 

Reminder Faculty Mtg this Tuesday, December 9 at 2:30pm in the mini-theater

Calendars
12/8 SZ and Counselors out of the building all day. (Lake Havasu High School Visit)
12/8 Attendance Committee (Attendance probation letter review).
12/9 Faculty Meeting mini-theater 2:30pm (Followed by accreditation debrief)
12/10 CHS New Teacher Check-in Mtg mini-theater 2:30pm
12/14 CHS Holiday Party 3:30pm - My house-5150 Country Club Dr

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Update ~ December 1-5, 2014

Celebrating Success
Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving Break. Welcome Back!

Deck the Halls
CHS Student Council invites you all to join in on our annual Holiday Door Decorating Contest.  The contest will take place on December 4 during Pathway/Study Hall time. 

PBIS
Data shows that earbuds in the hallways is on the rise at CHS.  On Monday, Dec 1, during passing period between 2nd and 3rd periods we will "Flood the Hallways" with Pawsitive Panthers.  As you see students in the hallways exhibiting expectations please give out Pawsitive Panthers freely and generously 12/01. We will include reminders of the expectations in the morning announcements and follow up with appropriate consequences for students who are consistently not meeting expectations. 

TPEC
As you know "Questioning And Feedback" is one of the categories on the teacher performance evaluation. My colleague, John Coe recently included information in his weekly blog pertaining to Questioning and Feedback.  With his permission I am posting the information here in the Panther Report.  Below is a reminder about the differences between the Innovating and Integrating ratings on the TPEC as well as a good article about crafting questions that help provoke deeper thinking.  I hope you would find this helpful too. 
The TPEC Rubric for Innovating states:

Teacher provides consistent, immediate feedback to all students. Teacher uses Questioning Strategies that address higher order thinking and allow students to critically investigate the subject matter on a consistent basis.

The Rubric for Integrating states:

Teacher provides feedback to students. Teacher uses Questioning Strategies that on occasion address higher order thinking and allow students to investigate the subject matter.

 In the article Inquiring Minds Really Do Want To Know: Using Questioning To Teach Critical Thinking, the author, Alison King, points out, "Good thinkers are always asking What does this mean?, What is the nature of this?, Is there another way to look at it?, Why is this happening?, What is the evidence of this?, and How can I be sure?"  The article also includes a helpful table of examples of question stems designed to provoke critical thinking.  King has compiled a helpful table of examples of critical thinking questions.  
As a rule of thumb, it's helpful to remember that "thought-provoking or critical thinking questions require students to go beyond the facts to think about them in ways that are different from what is presented explicitly in class or the text... Critical thinking questions induce high-level cognitive processes, such as analysis of ideas, comparison and contrast, inference, prediction, evaluation, and the like."  Pre-planned questions can be a powerful strategy to evoke curiosity and promote passion about a subject. 

***If you have not yet set up your first formal evaluation please email your evaluator to do so asap.  Thank you!

Calendar (Go to CHS Webpage and click Schedule Star for all CHS Athletic Events.  Username  ~ CHS@fusd1.org, Password ~ panthers)

This week:
12/2 Department Chair Mtg 2:30pm
12/3 Academic Parent Night 5:30-6:30pm

Next Week:
12/9 Faculty Mtg 2:30pm
12/9 Accreditation Debrief, Following Faculty Mtg 
12/14 CHS Holiday Party 3:30-5:30pm

Looking ahead:
Click here for finals schedule

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." 
-Henry Adams

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Thanksgiving Week

Celebrations Short week, short blog

Date Change
Due to a scheduling conflict the December 2, accreditation debrief meeting has been rescheduled to December 9. We will have a regular faculty meeting and follow the meeting with the accreditation discussion for those who wish to stay. 

Power of your Presence
Please remember to be at your door during passing periods.  Teacher presence in the hallways absolutely changes behavior and helps to promote and maintain our positive school climate. For an added power play, during these next two days, say hi to everyone that you can.  Thank you!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break.  I hope you find time to relax and enjoy time with family and friends. I'll end this post with a silly joke and a quote from Jerry Blumengarten, #edchat moderator. (In case you're wondering, #edchat is a really great twitter chat held every Saturday morning). 

What did the turkey say to the computer?…“Google, google, google.”

"Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Giving Thanks, to everyone, everywhere! Here’s wishing that you keep the spirit of giving thanks alive every day of the year."

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Updates ~ November 17-21, 2014

Celebrating Success 

• Congratulations to Laura Locke and Interior design students for winning the Coconino Proud and College Bound door decorating contest! Thank you to everyone who participated; we have over fifty decorated doors helping us promote this week's college application campaign.

• A grateful heart and yummy pie, what a perfect combination, and a wonderful tradition.  Thank you Karen Rathbun and culinary arts students for sharing words of gratitude and delicious holiday pies with us all. 

• CHS CocoNuts Robotics Team are Superheroes.  Last week the CocoNuts won the superhero award for the Most Innovative STEM Club.  The award came with a check for $500 and an NFL helmet signed by Jake "The Snake" Plummer, retired Cardinals player. Christine Sapio and Dave Thompson were also finalists for the most dedicated STEM Teacher award. Congratulations!

Perfect Attendance 
It is time to recognize CHS students with perfect attendance for the first quarter of this school year. These students will be called to the cafeteria for a frozen yogurt treat on Thursday 11/20, at 1:45pm during Pathways.  Passes to eligible students will be delivered early this week.

Links and Study Skills
Link Leaders will be in 7th period Study Hall on Thursday, November 20th to provide study skill tips to all 9th graders. 9th grade students will be released to meet with their Link Leaders during pathway study hall period on 11/20.   More information will be provided in an e-mail early this week. 

FYI
Grand Canyon University will be at CHS, in the teachers mail room on Thursday, November 20, to provide information about continuing teacher education programs at GCU. 

Accreditation
I could not have been more pleased with the responses, thoughts and ideas from many of you following the AdvancedEd External report on November 6.  I so appreciate your positive attitudes and willingness to work together to work toward our school improvement goals; both internal goals and those imposed by the review team. Please join me on December 2 at 2:45pm in the mini -theater to debrief the information together and begin to consider a strategic plan to help meet the expectations set forth by the accreditation team.  In the meantime Cris, Steve and I will do our best to pop in and out of classrooms in between formal observations to gather our own data about student engagement at CHS. 

Calendar
11/18 College Application Campaign Parent Night
11/19, 11/20 College Application Campaign CHS Seniors

Planning Ahead
Please mark your calendars for our annual CHS Holiday Party. Sunday, December 14, 3:30pm, My house.  

Press On! Panther Strong!

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Update ~ November 10-14, 2014

Celebrating Success ~ Think of the tune from the sound of music "The hills are alive with the sound of music" now change the words to the same tune...The halls are alive with the signs of college...Hmmm hmmm hmmm. Wow, not only do the doors look great, the conversation in the hallways has been more about where the teachers at CHS went to college than ever before. Thanks to everyone for helping to promote our upcoming college application campaign. Your participation makes all the difference.  Several colleges have already agreed to waive the application fees and scholarships and financial aide will be discussed during the two college application days, November 18 and 19. 

ADE Information ~ On November 3, 2014 Az Board of Education announced the adoption of our new statewide achievement test to replace AIMS.  The test is called the AzMerit.  The testing window will be the entire month of April beginning this April, 2015.  As I learn more details, I will share information with you.  In the meantime click AzMerit for information and resources regarding the new test.

PBIS Update ~ The Panther Tracks Team wants to remind us that giving out the Pawsitive Panther cards helps to create and promote a positive school culture.  Publicly recognizing students for positive contributions to our school and for doing the right thing sends a strong message of recognition and appreciation to our students.  Hopefully you found a bundle of Pawsitive Panther Cards in your mailbox.  Please choose 5 students in your 3rd hour class that meet or exceed expectations on a daily basis and give them a Pawsitive Panther.  Thank you for helping to create a positive learning environment at CHS. 

PBIS Survey ~ We want your input. Please take a few minutes to complete the PBIS Monkey Survey that will be sent out on Monday, November 10 in an email from Dawn Lacivita. This survey will ask for your input regarding our CHS behavioral expectations, behavioral flowchart, and three tiered approach to student discipline.  The survey will remain open for one week.  Please complete the survey by Monday, November 17th. Your responses are crucial to help guide future decisions and direction of the the Panther Tracks Team. 

Legion Of Kindness School-Wide Activity ~ To help support our efforts to create and maintain a kind and compassionate school climate our Legion of Kindness student group has developed a school wide activity for the month of November.  This Thursday, November 13 during designated homeroom time in 3rd period, please watch the video from Nick Vujicic.  Click here for the video. Following the video use the lesson guidelines below to help facilitate a class discussion and school wide Turkey Feather activity to pause and share thoughts about what we are grateful for. 

Discussion Topics and Activity (Following the Video)

Act of Kindness (Script for discussion)

Thanksgiving is coming up soon, take time to tell someone why you are thankful for them: write down thoughts and give it to them, take them out for a coffee, make them something to eat, offer to help them out with something.

Quote for Thought: Often people ask how I manage to be happy despite having no arms and no legs. The quick answer is that I have a choice. I can be angry about not having limbs, or I can be thankful that I have a purpose. I chose gratitude. - Nick Vujicic

Ethical Question: Are you nice to someone only because they are nice to you? If someone isn’t being nice to you is it ok to be mean in return?

Discussion: How have you been impacted by thankfulness/kindness shown to you?

Target of Kindness:

Please write down what you are thankful for on the "feather" provided and give it to your teacher. Each feather from every CHS student will be used to create a "Turkey of Thankfulness" that will be on display in the south commons.

Teachers: Please collect all of the "feathers" at the end of the activity.  Students from the Legion of Kindness will come by to pick them up during pathways. Be sure to get the "feathers" from your mailbox on Wednesday.

Accreditation phase I ~ While I was reading the Character Counts blog this weekend entitled What will Matter,  I came across a passage that I read over several times. I found the excerpt below to be apropos for us as we digest and process the information shared from our accreditation external review report:

"The wisdom of the oldest advice in the world: “Think ahead.” The maxim telling us to count to three when we’re angry and to ten when we’re very angry is designed to prevent foolish and impulsive behavior. But anger is just one obstacle to good choices. Others are fatigue, frustration, impatience, misunderstanding, disagreement,  etc.  When faced with important decisions it is critical to reflect on what we have done and what we are about to do. Just like we teach our children to stop and look both ways before they cross the street, we should remember that we must stop to sort out the facts, to evaluate the evidence and examine options so we can choose the most effective and ethical course of action. Stopping to think before we act also allows us to muster our moral will power to overcome emotions and temptations.  The “stop” is a break in the action that allows us to ask ourselves a few crucial questions that could set us on a better road."

Perhaps I chose the the quote above because it rang true for me and my initial reaction to the report. It might not be true for you, but I wanted to share.  As I said in my email to you all, I am very proud of all of the work you all do and the collaboration and camaraderie we have here is not matched by too many other schools. With the external review behind us, accreditation in place for the next five years, and the work ahead, I look forward to working with each and every one of you to achieve our school goals. With this is mind we will have an optional get together on Tuesday, December 2, at 2:45pm to talk about the preliminary AdvancedEd report and next steps. 

Dates to Remember

11/10 ~ Door decorating Judging 

11/11 ~ Veteran's Day No School

11/12 ~ CTE Testing begins
11/14 ~ Door decorating Judging 

11/18, 19  ~ College Application campaign days

Press On! Panther Strong!

Update ~ November 3-7, 2014

Celebrating Success
AIMS, Dodgeball v. FHS, Volleyball v. FHS, Halloween, Pep Assembly and FB v. FHS all in the same week...The week is behind us, definitely cause for celebration.
Congratulations to Coach Smith and our Panther Football Team for taking home the big W Friday night v. the Eagles...Woo hoo! Congratulations also to Coach Kriesel and the Lady Panther Volleyball Team for a great season.  They are headed to the state playoffs this weekend.  And, for the first time in as many years, under the disciplined coaching of Andrew Benford, our Girls and Boys X-Country Team placed 6 and 7th in the regionals and headed to state as well. Coach Jim Popham and the CHS Golf team had a successful season finishing in the top 20 teams in the state. Our stunning Cheer and Dance teams, under the direction of Lori Wright and Erin Moate continue on for the winter sports season.  A special congratulations to you all and good luck to all who are moving on. Go Panthers!

AdvancedEd Accreditation
The moment of truth is upon us.  This week is the long anticipated external review week. On November 5 and 6 the AdvancedEd Team will be at CHS both days all day. We have created a schedule for the team to follow and classrooms to visit, but rumor has it that they will randomly select classes and people to talk with while they are here.  Should you be one of the lucky people to be randomly selected please welcome our guests and answer any questions that they may have.

Student Attendance and Tardies
I believe you are aware we have been actively working to decrease excessive absences and tardies at CHS. Thank you all for your help with these efforts and for all of your help and support for lunch detention.  During the GDM meeting we discovered that there are some discrepancies in attendance data. The front office has received several phone calls from parents checking to verify absences due to calls home by the RTR.  It seems in some cases students who were confirmed absent all day, are only marked absent in four of the six periods, or three of six etc. (This has been the case for several students).  In order to fix this problem, we need your help.  Please remember to take attendance at the beginning of each period everyday and mark students tardy as soon as possible. Also, please leave a note on your door when you are taking your class to an alternative location. This is a tremendous help to our office staff when parents are here to pick up students for appointments etc. A great big THANK YOU to the front office for everything you do, you are one of the many bright stars of CHS.

Coconino Press
I am excited to announce the debut edition of the new Coconino Newspaper called the Coconino Press. CHS Student Leo Mercer and his student journalists and editing team have ambitiously taken on this task. With the help and support of the Azdaily Sun, the first edition should be in circulation by mid week.

Bus Evacuation Drill
Remember we have a required Bus Evacuation Drill on Monday, November 3, beginning 2nd period. Click here for detailed schedule.

Faculty Meeting/Prep Hour Mtgs
We were scheduled to have prep hour meetings this week.  Instead we will have a faculty meeting on Thursday, November 6,  2:30-3:00pm.

College Application Campaign
The halls are alive with our State University and Community College pennants, banners and posters.  Thank you Laura Locke and the interior design class students.  We are looking forward to the door displays in the next few weeks.

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Have a great week...Press On! Panther Strong!

Update ~ October 27-31, 2014

This Week

• October 28, 29, 30 AIMS ~ All juniors and seniors who have not passed will take this round of AIMS.      10/28 ~ Writing     10/29 ~ Reading     10/30 ~ Mat
• October 30 ~ Annual end of winter season pep assembly
• October 31 ~ CHS V. FHS Varsity Football game in the NAY Skydome.  Hope to see everyone there to cheer on our Coconino Panthers!

College Application Campaign

CAC door decorating contest has officially begun. It would be great to see lots of decorated doors representing the colleges attended by faculty and staff or children of faculty and staff or just favorite colleges and universities. This will help jump start our College Application Campaign.  The evening kick off event for our students and families will be November 18, 5:30-6:30pm in the CHS Mini-Theater. 

Press On!  Panther Strong!

Update ~ October 20-24, 2014

Celebrating Success
The good news keeps coming...Congratulations to CHS Transition Team for their recognition by The City of Flagstaff Disability Awareness Commission.  CHS Student, Nathan Martinez, Student of the Year, CHS Teacher Ken Link,  Educator of the Year, and CHS Transition Coordinator, Russ Randall, Advocate of the Year.  This is a well deserved recognition for all of you, a sincere congratulations!
Also congratulations to Christine Sapio, Dave Thompson and the CHC Coconuts Robotics Team for their selection as finalists for 2014 STEM Superhero Awards in the category of Best STEM School, Most Innovative STEM Club and Most Dedicated STEM teacher.  
Thank you for helping to make us Proud to be a Panther! 

Reminders

• October 22 ~ We will have a short (20 minutes) training regarding Galileo and student performance reports. Although this is an optional training, I highly recommend all teachers attend. 10/22 @ 10:50am in the library.
• October 23 ~ Academic Follow Up ~ This Thursday, October 23, Link Leaders will be visiting 7th period Study Hall for an Academic Follow-Up Lesson. Please keep an eye out for an email from Theresa Freas with details.  
• October 28, 29, 30 AIMS ~ All juniors and seniors who have not passed will take this round of AIMS.      10/28 ~ Writing     10/29 ~ Reading     10/30 ~ Math

CHS Hallway Expectations Blitz
Please take a few minutes throughout the week to remind students about our hallway expectations. Thursday during 3rd period homeroom,  a review of all of our hallway expectations will be a good finale to the expectation blitz. 
Respect ~ 

1. Honor personal space.

2. Use appropriate and non-offensive language, volume, and tone.

3. Limit PDA (Hug & Release).

4. Be kind and courteous.  
Responsibility ~ 

1. Arrive at destination on time.

2. Move with purpose.

3. Keep walkways clear.

4. Walk on the right.

5. Safety First-headphones and ear buds must be non-visible.
Integrity ~  

1. Be where you are supposed to be.

2. Be truthful and kind when speaking about others.

3. Prevent and report any bullying, emergency, theft, vandalism, inappropriate activity, or unsafe condition. 

Academic Follow Up
This Thursday, October 23, Link Leaders will be visiting 7th period Study Hall for an Academic Follow-Up Lesson. Please keep an eye out for an email from Theresa Freas with details.  

FYI
Due to some family matters, I will be out of the building this week.  George Moate will be here is my stead. 

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Update ~ October 13-15, 2014

Celebrating Success

"The Quality of any school system cannot exceed the quality of the people within it." 

There is no doubt that CHS is made up of quality people and this was highlighted last week.  Not only were all of the homecoming events well attended,  they were organized, fun and seamlessly orchestrated. The culminating event, the 2014-15 Lip dub was nothing short of amazing.  How about that drone? A special thank you to Gaby and our student council members and all of our dance chaperones. And, thank you Dean and Digital Media students and to every teacher and adult in our building for your patience and flexibility. Even though it was homecoming week our distinguished guest, House Representative Bob Thorpe, was thoroughly impressed with Coconino High School and everyone he met; teachers, students, support staff and custodians. Thank you Christine for all your work to help show off our great school!

TPEC

Please remember to provide a lesson plan to your evaluator before your formal observation (Or upon our arrival to your classroom). The best way to send your plan is by opening the Evidence/Artifacts section of the TPEC and attaching the document there.  I might also suggest you carefully read the TPEC Rubric and note that if technology integration is not evident in the observed lesson, a description or some type of evidence must be provided to your evaluator in order to be eligible to receive "Innovating" for the technology category. The same is true for Assessment of Learning. Below are two documents that I hope you find helpful. If you have questions or need help with planning for your observation,  please let Cris, Steve or me know prior to your observation date. 

Components of a highly effective lesson plan click here

Lesson Plan Template click here

     

PSATs

The PSATs will be administered this Wednesday, October 15 at 8:00am. The schedule for the day will be an abbreviated six period day - e-mail update will schedule will go out today.   All PSAT participants have been notified and an announcement will be made Wednesday morning reminding participating students to come to the small gym for testing. 

Looking Ahead

• Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated nationally and in our district the week of October 20 through October 24. This year’s theme is “Do the Right Thing.”   This theme ties so well with the our CHS guiding principle, Integrity.  The Red Ribbon Campaign serves as a catalyst to mobilize communities to educate youth and encourage participation in drug prevention activities.  Continued support is being provided by the local Flagstaff's Citizens Against Substance Abuse (CASA), Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff Police Department, Coconino County Sheriff’s Department and FUSD.  For more information and a list of activities click here.  The red ribbons and pins will be in your boxes this week. 

• October 22 ~ We will have a short (20 minutes) training regarding Galileo and student performance reports. Although this is an optional training, I highly recommend all teachers attend. 10/22 @ 10:50am in the library. 
• October 28, 29, 30 AIMS ~ All juniors and seniors who have not passed will take this round of AIMS.      10/28 ~ Writing     10/29 ~ Reading     10/30 ~ Math 

Press on! Panther Strong!

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Update ~ October 6-10, 2014

Photo Opp 
We will be taking an ALL FACULTY AND STAFF PHOTO tomorrow 10/6 at 7:30am on the football field. Please join us.  The homecoming spirit theme for this day is Surfin' USA (Patriotic Day).  Come in Red, White and Blue, or come as you like. See you all bright and early...

Homecoming Spirit Themes

Monday:  Surfin' USA (Patriotic Day)

Tuesday:  Kokomo (Beach/Island Day)

Wednesday:  When I Grow Up… (Career Day)

Thursday:  Heroes & Villains (Hero/Villain Day)

Friday: Be True To Your School (School Spirit Day)

Please remind students that our dress code still applies: No hats, head coverings, masks, face paint that looks like a mask etc,. (light make-up is acceptable).  

Also remember that Monday and Tuesday are combined lunch days.  Click here for full schedule for  CHS Homecoming Week. 

Friday Freeze
Remember that this Friday 10/10, during the extended "freeze" time in the schedule for the filming of the lip dub, teachers will be showing the short video highlighting our CHS Dance Expectations. On Tuesday, 10/7, Krista Dobosh will send an email with all pertinent information and the link to the video. 

Mark your Calendar

• Tuesday, October 7 ~ Faculty Meeting 2:30pm Mini-theater
• Wednesday, October 8 ~ New Teacher Meeting 2:30pm Mini-theater

Feedback Needed
Our students need your input.  We are in the process of conducting our annual Student Risk Screening Scale (SRSS). In order for the Group Data Team to make appropriate decisions for intervention is is critical to have teacher input. The SRSS is an integral part of the data. We are asking all 3rd period teachers to take a few minutes to complete the rating scale for each student.  If you have not yet submitted this information please follow the directions below and/or contact Krista for assistance.  
--Instructions for submitting and completing the SRSS:
1) Open KOIMaster2014 click here
2) Locate teacher name by alpha
3) Fill in data for your 3rd hour students only
4) SAVE AS KOIMaster2014yourlastname (ie. KOIMaster2014Dobosh) and send as an attachment back to me Krista DoBosh at kdobosh@fusd1.org

Celebrating Success
Congratulations to everyone for the successful College and Career Readiness Fair. Nearly all 1450 CHS students visited the fair while asking thoughtful questions and gathering information about post-secondary opportunities. The best comment I heard following the event was, "For some students it was like Christmas; they were seated in the north commons pouring over and enthusiastically sharing the college and university literature they had collected with one another."  A special thank you to Denise VanWoerkam and the counseling department for organizing and hosting this successful event.

Congratulations also to our JROTC Panther Battalion Team. The cadets took home a number of victories during the annual Keams Canyon competition:
Raider Competition (Athletics) - First Place and finished the race well ahead of the competition AND without any prompting, doubled back to cheer on all of the runners in the race. 
Marksmanship - First Place
Varsity Color Guard - First Place
Freshmen Color Guard - Second Place
Regulation Drill - Second Place
Armed Drill - Third Place

Happy Homecoming week, hope to see many of you at the various events this week.

Press on! Panther Strong!


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Mid week update ~ October 1, 2014

To help prepare for our homecoming extravaganza, Gaby Garcia sent out an email dated October 1, with a list of events and bell schedules for the week. I know, and you all know, that the numerous events will be a distraction from our academic focus.  For some this is perfectly fine and for others, it is troubling.  I hope that you will not resent the time and energy required for a successful homecoming week, and will join in to help promote unity, pride and spirit as part of creating a vibrant school community. Please look carefully at the schedule provided in Gaby's e-mail and plan accordingly.

Additional events for next week

• Monday, October 6 ~ CHS Staff and Faculty Photo.  Hopefully before first period, waiting to hear back from LifeTouch Photographers.  I will include time and place in this weekend's Panther Report. 
• Monday, October 6 ~ Photo re-takes.  Students will be called down by alpha. Sorrrrry in advance for the intercom interruptions.
• Tuesday, October 7 ~ Faculty Meeting 2:30pm mini-theater. FUSD Gov board visit, Nurse McKenzie and CHS School Psychologist will share required information. 
• Thursday, October 9 ~ Christine Sapio and CHS will be hosting Representative, Bob Thorpe in honor of  Take your Legislator School Day (TYLTS). 

Hope you can all come out for the CHS annual Bonfire on Wednesday Night. 

Press On! Panther Strong!

Update ~ September 29-October 3, 2014

This week at CHS
College and Career Readiness at CHS is in full swing. This Thursday, October 2nd starting at 1:00pm we will hold our first CHS College and Career Readiness Fair in the large gym.  We are looking forward to a successful inaugural event and hope to continue the tradition for years to come. Please accompany and remain with your students for this exciting event and follow the schedule provided: 

• 1:00-1:20pm ~ All senior classes. (Senior junior mixed cohorts are invited at this time as well)

• 1:20-1:40pm ~ All junior classes

• 1:40-2:00pm ~ All sophomore classes

• 2:00-2:20pm ~ All freshmen classes

If we all do our best to stick to this schedule the event will be a success!  We hope you will help promote this important event for CHS students and the visiting college and career representatives who will be here to share information.  Don't forget to wear your college attire on Thursday too!

Balfour
Also on October 2, there will be a brief meeting with Balfour to share important graduation information with our CHS Seniors. This assembly will be in the large auditorium from 9:00-9:35am for ALL seniors. 

Looking ahead
Just a reminder that homecoming week is around the corner, October 6-10.  I will post a special Panther Report mid week, this week, with a schedule of events and any changes to the bell schedule to help with your planning.

Celebrating Success
Thank you teachers for honoring the need to provide students with hallway passes when students are moving about.  The teachers in the hallways during pathways noted that last Thursday all of the students heading to math intervention had their red passes and were released when called. Other students in the hallways graciously showed their passes when asked. Nice!

Have a great week!

Update ~ September 22-26, 2014

What's happening at CHS? 

CHS is participating in an innovative campaign known as the Arizona College Application Campaign, which we have fondly abbreviated into yet another acronym ACAC.  The overall goal is to get every senior at CHS to apply to college on November 19 and 20. As we move toward these dates we hope to generate some interest and excitement around school.  Please consider helping this effort by participating as described below:

• T-Shirt Thursdays:  Wear your alma mater t-shirts or t-shirts from any college on Thursdays

• Door decorating:  It’s not just for Christmas anymore!  Begin collecting pennants, pictures, or anything from your chosen college or colleges that you could use to decorate your door.  We’ll shoot for having our doors decorated in early November to coincide with our accreditation (ECap?) visit on November 5 & 6.

• Talk about your college experience and engage students in conversations about what they might hope for in college. 

Group Data Meetings (GDMs)

Each wednesday at 2:15pm we hold GDMs in room 200. Anyone interested in attending is welcome.  The purpose of the meeting is to discuss and decide on appropriate academic and or behavioral interventions for students who have been identified as at risk (or at promise as the case may be).  Next meeting is Wednesday, September 24. 

Looking Ahead

• On October 2nd, from 1pm to 3pm in the Large Gym there will be a College and Career Readiness Fair. Please spread the word and allow all students the opportunity to attend.
• October 6-11 is homecoming week.  We will conclude the HC school week with a parade, pep assembly and filming of our second CHS LipDub. 

Mark Your Calendars

• 9/25 PantherPaw Raffle during home room

Celebrating Success

• College and Career Readiness Parent Night was a great success, thank you CHS Counselors!
• I have received some positive feedback about the Rachel's Challenge Kick off event from last week, thank you Joyce Daoust and students in the Legion of Kindness for organizing this event. 
• AdvancedEd 6000 word narratives are looking good.  CHS admin greatly appreciates everyone's input, time and effort to help complete this work. 

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Update ~ September 15-19, 2014

Celebrating Success
 A special thank you to the Friday Duty Team. It may sound like a little thing, but having a full force of teachers on duty makes a big difference. Friday duty teachers rock!
Speaking of duty, many have asked if an IEP meeting trumps duty?...It is really important for general education teachers to attend IEPs.  If you have a conflict and cannot be on duty during your assigned day, it would be very helpful to try to switch with someone and/or let Cris, Steve or I know so we can find coverage. 
Thank you!

Hot Topics
PBIS will be the topic for the optional meeting on Wednesday, September 17 at 2:30pm in room 204. Anyone interested in discussing and sharing suggestions about our CHS Three Tiered Discipline Flowchart (In the handbook), RTR, Minor Infraction Forms(MIFs), Group Data Meetings (GDMs) etc, is invited to attend. 
From the Panther Tracks Team: A colossal thank you to teachers who have been especially mindful about reminding students of the earbuds in the hallway expectations. 

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, AKA AZVAB 
Due to the AZVAB testing next Thursday's (9/18)  bell schedule will be a slightly different than usual:

3rd- 7:50-9:15

4/5- 9:20-10:45

Combined lunch 10:45-11:20 

7 - 11:25-12:50 

12:55-1:15 20 minute home room

Please note that the usual 20 minutes for home room is not included for 3rd period, but has been added to Pathway time. 

Remember last year when we did school wide activities to encourage kindness and compassion? We are starting up again this year in earnest. The kick off plan is to utilize the extra 20 min on 9/18 to increase student compassion towards others, thereby limiting the incidences of bullying and harassment on campus. The classroom activities have been adapted from Rachel’s Challenge. Classroom activities will be rolled out approximately twice a month to share during homeroom time. This is the first of several lessons, future lessons will be provided to you in the form of a small gift. Please begin this lesson at 12:55 and end at 1:15 on Thursday September 18th. 

Click here  for the Legion of Kindness intro video. Please see the copy of the presentation below, also in the email sent Friday, 9/12. 

Steps to follow:

1. Open attachment

2. Make sure your computer is connected to your overhead projector

3. Open power point.

4. Select Slide show, if  the first slide seems blank be sure to slide your mouse over the slide and press the play    symbol

5. First slide is a video

6. Second slide is the classroom activity

Contact Joyce Daoust if you need help accessing the video. 

Mark you Calendar

9/18 College and Career Readiness Parent Night 6:00pm South Commons

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Update ~ September 8 - 12, 2014

Celebrating Success
I had a chance to sit in on a few CTs last week. It was inspiring to hear you all sharing ideas, solutions to problems, refinements to essential learning outcomes and instruction, benchmark assessment development and basically collectively exploring ways to improve student learning...That's what I'm talking about :). Thank you everyone!

Student Success
It is time to complete the Student Risk Screening Scales for our students. The goal is to identify students in need of intervention as early as possible in the school year. We are asking third hour teachers to complete the forms and submit to Krista Dobosh.   The RSSS should take about ten minutes to complete and the hope is to have these completed by September 18. Please be on the look out for an email from Krista Dobosh with details.   Thank you in advance for your help and support for our students. 

Prep Hour Meetings
This Tuesday 9/9 we have prep hour meetings. With the exception of second hour we will be meeting in room 204.  2nd period will meet in the back lab in the library.  We'll be learning about an online tool available to FUSD secondary schools for professional development through Edivation ( Formerly PD 360). We will also spend a few minutes on IEP information through Synergy. I encourage you to bring your laptops to the prep hour meetings. 

Mark your calendars
9/9 Prep hour mtgs
9/11 First home Volleyball game
9/12 First home V Football game 

You can access our school's schedule star for all CHS sports and activities.  Go to our CHS website-on the left of the page under shortcuts-click schedule star.  The Username is chs@fusd1.org and Password is panthers.  

Press on! Panther Strong!

Update ~ Sept 2-5, 2014

Celebrating Success

Lots of freshmen parents and a sprinkling of other CHS families came out for open house last week. Thanks for putting your best foot forward and helping to welcome our new families to Coconino High school.

Observations and Evaluations

Formal observations and performance evaluations will begin after September 9.  In the meantime Cris, Steve and I will continue popping in and out of classrooms. A teacher asked me the other day if we are looking for anything in particular. We are always hoping to see students engaged in learning and some sign of a visible content objective. These walkthroughs are not evaluative and we really are just visiting and observing to see what’s happening around CHS.  As a side note we have seen a lot of what appears to be students engaged and posted objectives. Thank you!

CSAs

Please bring all completed CSAs and booklets to the back conference room.

PBIS

The Responsible Thinking room (RTR) team is actively working to decrease student absences.  Many phone calls home, student conferences and lunch detention have taken place. The goal is to send a strong message that attendance is critical for student success.  A homeroom reminder would help to support these efforts as well.

Please continue to recognize exemplary student behavior with Pawsitive Panthers.  See Krista Dobosh if you need more cards.  Teachers in the hallways during passing periods is imperative to maintain a positive climate and help keep the halls safe. 

Senior Sunrise

The class of 2015 is starting a new tradition; Senior Sunrise.  Please join our senior class for the first annual Senior Sunrise this Friday, September 5 at 5:00am.  Exact location TBA.

Mark Your Calendars

Looks like a quiet week this week J

Looking ahead…

9/9 Prep hour meetings

9/12 First home Varsity Football Game v. Peoria 7:00pm

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