Weekly News and Notes

Greetings!

Attention to Details

Please make sure that you have read the MCAS instructions - posted on the High School conference earlier this week. It is important for EVERYONE to understand what changes are taking place with MCAS coming on March 19. Your attention to all those details is very much appreciated.

Next, please make sure that you are completing the appropriate forms and following the proper procedures for booking fundraisers, events, activities, and field trips. There should be no surprises! Peer Counselors will be working on a master hard copy calendar, in addition to the digital calendar found here and on Doug's blog, for everyone to reference as they make plans.

Finally, there will be training forthcoming for all MCAS proctors. Stay tuned for those details!

Ring Dance

The Ring Dance is scheduled for April 6, 2013. Teachers may have heard some rumbling that the date was inconvenient for students, as it presented scheduling conflicts. In truth, the date was established months ago to ensure that no school-sponsored events would come into conflict with it. To dispel any of the rumors, which folks may or may not have heard, the date of the Ring Dance is not being changed. Period. 

Discipline Data

A full report of discipline data will be out with next week's notes, but the preliminary data is solid - demonstrating that we are all doing a great job of keeping students on task and adhering to our behavioral expectations. Yes, we all know of a few repeat offenders who keep us on our toes, but the preliminary data shows that detentions have been cut by about 27% and suspensions are down from about 50 to 18. That said, 14 of the 18 suspensions have occurred in the 2013 part of school year, which, of course, is bound to happen as the year progresses.

With regard to what is submitted to the administration, please keep in mind that there are infractions and incidents which teachers can resolve on their own without office involvement. Also, there are some write-ups that are coming back with some editorial comments. Remember: just the facts!

Attendance Committee

The Attendance Committee has started meeting with individual students on their specific cases involving credit denial. In some cases, students simply have to provide us with the appropriate documentation, and we thank those of you who are taking accurate attendance on a daily basis in your classes for keeping the students and the records honest.

As decisions are made, student attendance records will be updated to reflect excused absences, as well as individual notification given when appropriate so teachers will know that credit is not in jeopardy.

Other:

This week's Weekly News and Notes can be found here: http://paper.li/MedwayHSDean/1346850266. I highly recommend the piece on Common Core, entitled "Can Student-Driven Learning Happen Under Common Core," as well as the piece from Education Rethink on "Assessing Learning vs. Assessment Taking."

Stay tuned to the MIAA website for all the updates as our boys basketball and boys hockey teams venture forward in state tournament play.

The long stretch of March has begun! Thanks for reading!