Weekly News and Notes

This week's information will focus solely on the scheduling process and timeline - so if you want to bookmark this to save for the post-exam period, or for a few minutes, that would be fine! This should give everyone a sense of the timeline we are trying to follow, as well as the program we have presented to parents.

SCHEDULING AND STUDENTS

On Thursday, January 23, we presented this presentation to parents of students in grades 9-11. It outlined the process and elective courses, as well as ways to help students build what a developmentally appropriate schedule would look like. Some takeaways:

• Sometimes, recommendations for AP classes in a discipline are given in a vacuum, in that the teacher making the recommendation isn't always aware of other recommendations or the full load of a student's life. A balanced schedule may not mean picking up every honors or AP class for which a student is recommended.
• We have literally dozens of electives. Beyond the core, students should elect classes that are of interest to them, will help maintain the number of credits they need to graduate, and will beef up their transcript.
• A learning pathway is not linear. Just because a student takes 1-2 honors or AP classes as a sophomore does not necessarily mean that the student should remain in that trajectory. Yes, some students will move from one AP class as a sophomore, to three as a junior, to four a senior, but it is okay to adjust based on interest- and it is entirely plausible to take AP in one discipline, but accelerated or standard in another.
• We build the schedule based on student requests. After we have the full bulk of requests loaded, the administration and ed leaders will determine which classes will or will not run. 
• Students select alternates to their electives. Should an elective not run, the program will fit them into an alternate. Should a student not select alternate, s/he runs the risk of forfeiting free will, because we will find him/her a class!

The timeline:

January 23: Grade 9-11 Evening Parent Meeting

Feb 3-4: Class meetings for grades 9-11

Feb 7: Grades 9, 10 & 11 review course selections with teachers

Feb 10-12: Students enter course requests into database

Feb 13: Course Tallies go to Counselors

Feb 24: Selections posted to Parent Portal

Feb 25: Grade 8 Student/Parent Night

Feb 28: Grade 8 Assembly to review course selection

March 3: Final day for course selection change requests 

Early March: Department Leaders and Admin determine what courses will or will not run next year

Mid-March: Guidance Counselors adjust course requests based on course availability


We indicated the following to parents in terms of specific questions: 

• Regarding specific course recommendations: contact the teacher
• Regarding the specifics of certain electives: Refer to the Program of Studies for a description, contact the Ed Leader or Dean with any questions
• Regarding the specifics of a student’s schedule, program, or course load: contact the counselor
• Regarding a discrepancy between the course desired and the course recommended: Start with the teacher and counselor 

We did not get into the specifics of the override process with parents. Should there be a discrepancy in your recommendation and any indication you get from the parent or student, let the counselor know. 
We will be  providing some talking points regarding course recommendation dialogue - that said, frequently most students and staff are in alignment with the following year's recommendation and the conversations about a different placement are limited. If you have questions in advance of course recommendations for specific students, consult with Aubrie, Shanley, Dot or Mike.


Scheduling and Staff

Obviously, our goal in building the schedule is to satisfy as many of the student requests as possible. We have also, however, made a commitment to the teacher schedules, in that we have attempted to provide staff with courses that are of personal interest/commitment. As we move forward, you can expect some dialogue on course assignments for next year, ways we can limit the number of preps, and opportunities to maximize common planning time. We would like to find more ways for staff members who share common classes to have common free periods or an assigned common plan/PLC time. It worked out this year in many disciplines.

Please understand that each "rule" or limit we put on the schedule makes the schedule more difficult to satisfy - particularly for classes that need multiple sections. Also, we would love to limit the number of singletons that make teacher schedules a bit chaotic, with the understanding that some classes do have to run as singletons, which impacts teacher schedules.

Rest assured that should a staff member be slated for more than three preps that a conversation will be had. Again, we will be working on some ways to solicit feedback on the build as it starts, but to be frank, and to quote Mick (love the scarf, by the way):

Some files that may be helpful:

Elective handout for parents can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/p8yjxf8
2014-15 Program of Studies can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/mxkymet  Presentation to families can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/mf55e4b






Some dates to remember:

• January 30: First day of second semester - will be a Day 3!
• February 3-4: Scheduling assemblies with students. We will also be holding an assembly with seniors during that week as well. Full schedule will be posted soon
• February 7: Course selection Day - all 7 classes will meet
• February 10-12: Course input in labs - schedule forthcoming
• February 13: Snow Ball Dance, 7-10
• February 17-21: Winter Break
• March 14: Early Release Day

Best of luck with the end of the semester, finalizing grades, evaluating mid-year exams, and using these next two weeks as a jumping off point for third quarter and the second half of the year!

Weekly News & Notes

So that's what a five day week feels like!

In all honesty, it had been a while since we had experienced a five day week without interruptions, and this week brought the unfortunate power outage. Thanks to all for their flexibility and willingness to help - including those of you who stopped by the foyer to see if there was anything you could do. The lunch duty crew of Mr. Nassiff, Ms. Bliss, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Lemos all were helpful in keeping that part of the day running smoothly - which, given the confusion and inability to communicate on a mass basis, was a challenge.

These next few weeks will bring some uptakes in academic anxiety with the onset of midyear exams. To eliminate any confusion - the Handbook states that the only exams that may be exempted for seniors are final exams. We understand that some of the exams at the mid-year point are, in fact, "finals" for those courses, but past practice has had students taking some form of summative at this point - be it a traditional test, project, or alternative assignment. Also, many would argue that the purpose of having these larger, summative exams are to "prepare students for college," so the idea of having many students NOT taking them seems to do them a complete disservice.

With that said, there are arguments on both sides of the mid-year equation, which have been waged here and elsewhere over the years. The question always becomes the value added - while trying to use the test as a way to gauge student progress and inform instruction, hopefully. This year, we hope that the first two quarters' grades and the midyear exam grade will provide an adequate jumping off point in discussing with students their course recommendations for next year.

Which brings us to...

Scheduling for Next Year

The scheduling calendar for next year will be moving up in terms of the timeframe in an attempt to continue doing better with it. There were many successes this year - and some aspects that need improvement - with regard to scheduling. With that in mind, there will be some optional forums in which people can participate to help give a big picture to the schedule and help to understand what some of the different variables are from a teacher perspective. This isn't with regard to the schedule itself (meaning the rotation), but what people see as needs and wants from their own schedules and courses. It's impossible to satisfy everything and everyone, but there are obviously always aspects to it that we would like to improve.

Be on the lookout for a full timeline for staff and students alike with regard to the scheduling of the building for next year.

MCAS Dates

MCAS for English will be coming very soon - March 18, 19 and 21. For those of you who like to plan far, far in advance, those are days 2,3, and 5 in the schedule. However, that would mean that C block class would be missed all three days, so this is what the schedules will look like that week:

March 18: Regular Day 2 schedule - MCAS during B,C,D
March 19: Regular Day 3 schedule - MCAS during C,A,E
March 21: Day 5 schedule with a change: B,G,C,A,E,F - MCAS during B and G

C block drops on March 20 as well, so giving it the 2 long blocks that week helps accommodate the schedule without impacting the part-time staff or the overall schedule too much. It also allows teachers of sophomores who have a C-block sophomore group to see those groups a similar number of times. (F becomes the only period that MCAS doesn't impact).

Also with regard to timing, many have voiced that with advisory always falling in the morning, the same classes lose time. We are exploring a couple of options for second semester to help alleviate that pressure. If you have ideas, please send them our way!

There will also be forthcoming information about the PARCC administration, which Medway is piloting this spring. Those days are as yet to be determined. The full listing of instructions for MCAS will be forthcoming.

Midyear Dates

At the risk of folks not seeing this on (a) Doug's blog, (b) the email blast going out to the high school, (c) the HS conference, (d) the P drive, (e) potentially forwarded on department conferences, or (f) using last year's as a guide, here is the midyear exam schedule here as well:

Mid-year examinations begin on Thursday, January 23, 2014. The schedule is as follows:

Thursday, Jan. 23:
•    A Exam, 8:15-9:45; 
•    B Exam, 10:00-11:30
Friday, Jan. 24:
•    C Exam, 8:15-9:45; 
•    D Exam, 10:00-11:30.
Monday, Jan. 27:
•    E Exam, 8:15-9:45; 
•    F Exam, 10:00-11:30.
Tuesday, Jan. 28:
•    G Exam, 8:15-9:45; 
•    Make-up Exam, 10:00-11:30. 

Buses will be on site for early dismissal at 11:30 on Jan. 23, 24, and 27. Morning bus runs are normal times.

On Jan. 28, bus pick-up at the high school is at 9:45, as there is only one exam and a makeup period scheduled for that final day.

 
Second semester schedules

Some teachers have asked about second semester schedules. While still working on study hall assignments - which are close to done - some things we can report:

1. Everyone will have, at minimum, one PLC/Common Plan.
2. Some of the Common Plan times have been moved to accommodate changes in the master schedule with respect to semester classes.
3. Studies for the period immediately after lunch (Period 5) will meet in classrooms, as will studies during the lunch block.
4. Senior privilege permission forms for second semester, if students ask, will be available next week in the main office.
5. The Academic Success Center will be staffed for about 18 of the 42 periods. If you have any interest in being involved with it, let Mike know; we'll try to add some additional periods where possible.

We are really hoping to continue evolving and formalizing common planning time to give people more time to collaborate and plan during the school day. Please - if there is something you need with regard to planning for a specific class, course, assessment, etc. or a peer observation you wish to do to help with you own goals - see one of us and we will do our best to make it happen. Please understand that not every wish can be granted, but it will at the very least be looked into.

January 16 School Committee Meeting

The high school will have several items on the agenda at the School Committee meeting on January 16, including the hopeful approval of the Program of Studies for next year and the proposal of a Service Distinction Diploma. Questions on the Program can be directed to your Department Leader, and questions about Service Distinction can go to Mike, Spencer, or Christine Ryan. There will also be some information forthcoming about Honors Recommendation from the 8th grade.



Weekly resources can be found here. Given the time of year we are in with students, there is a particularly appropriate piece entitled "five steps to foster grit in the classroom." Highly recommend it. For those of you who are sometimes struggling with the benefit of mobile devices and BYOD in the classroom, I suggest these tips - in particular, the first one, of establishing norms, is particularly helpful.

See you at the Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, and have a great weekend!