Weekly News & Notes

A few minor items of note:

1. The last day of school, right now, is scheduled for June 23. We think.
2. If you are at all interested in looking at grade distributions for specific courses or classes, or comparing mid-year exams to quarterly grades, or even looking at year-to-year performance (which is difficult to justify given the change in clientele), just ask. We can print out just about anything or export to Microsoft Excel. For a great template/method at dis-aggregating the data, Frank Hoek did some work with this last summer, and his analysis was terrific.
3. Thanks to all, as Dot mentioned, for the flexibility with scheduling. We know there were some hiccups and even some errors, but we have the basis for next year already being laid. The incoming 9th-graders will be presented with information the week after vacation, and by mid-March, the build will be well underway.
4. The 2nd annual Medway Clean Sweep will be April 12. Activity advisors: you can expect more information to be forthcoming!
5. To those who are traveling next week, do so safely. To those staying put, do so safely - and without much more snow to shovel!

Finally, just because we can all use a laugh at some bad reporting - pay no mind to the name of the young man coming down the hill on the sled:

Have a great week, all!

Weekly News & Notes

Another week, another snow storm.

These weeks are making life very difficult for classroom teachers in terms of building and sustaining momentum. Between weather, assemblies, and scheduling, there are no doubt challenges - and with vacation coming, there are a great many distractions for our students!

Coming Attractions

We have a faculty meeting next week scheduled for Tuesday. Also, we are planning to hold an optional meeting for professional status staff who are in year one of their process to outline expectations for the evaluation portfolio. Ideally, we can provide some tips and ideas for staff to make these more ongoing, so as to avoid cramming come May!

We have a tight scheduling timeline for these next few weeks, with the goal of being able to give more specific ideas to staff and students before school lets out. From a timeframe, we meet with the 8th graders the week after vacation, and we hope to have their course selections in March, which puts us several months ahead of schedule.
 
For those who plan far in advance, March 18, 19 and 21 will be the MCAS tests in English. A schedule for that will be coming next week. On one of the days, to avoid the same classes being impacted consistently across the week, there will be a change in one of the days' schedules/period sequence.

Scheduling Assemblies

For those of you who may have missed a scheduling assembly, one of the key points that was reiterated throughout was the concept of the developmentally appropriate schedule. There has been a concern raised from some students that five AP classes should be enough for a schedule, while other students have been vocal with us about the tension they are feeling in comparing their desired schedules to that of their peers. There is no one-size-fits-all version of scheduling. We want students to make appropriate schedules. But we also want students to build schedules that aren't designed to cause more stress than it's worth - or to pick classes because a friend took it, a parent suggested it, or because they believe it is next in the progression.

In short, make the best recommendations you can for your disciplines. At the macroscopic level, counselors, students and families will have to determine what is best for the student.

Finally, keep in mind that if a student does not agree with your recommendation, there is an override process, and we are explicit about the ramifications of that override - classes can't be "tried out," and then dropped if it isn't liked.   

 

Disciplinary Stats

We have been working over the past two years at simplifying and cleaning up the disciplinary statistics in MMS, which were often difficult to track because of repeat codes, complicated language, and other nuances that created more complexity in both tracking and reporting offenses. For example, in years past, the only suspensions that we were required to report to the state were those that involved so-called substance, criminal or violence complaints - tobacco, alcohol, drugs, weapons, vandalism, fights/assaults - or those that involved special education students, regardless of offense. Now, in anticipation of new laws governing school discipline (more on that to come), we are required to report all suspensions to the state, regardless of class of offense or student classification.

In short, the numbers are fairly consistent, with the exception of some outliers. For example, in 2010-11, there were 32 reports of vulgarity directed at staff, while last year that number was 20, and this year, the number stands at 8 at the mid-year point. An area where we have had a noticeable dip is the number of extracurricular/athletic chemical health violations, which was at 19 at the mid-year point last year, and is down to five thus far this year.

Some tips for writing referrals:

• Focus on the who, what, and when.
• The section of the referral that asks for a description of what occurred is the most important. Here it helps to think like an attorney: If this incident happens to result in some sort of legal action, the narrative will be the focal point of the inquiry. Write neatly and clearly and create a specific description of the behavior you witnessed. What you write should be factually correct and void of emotional statements such as, "this was really a stupid thing for Tom to do," or "Bobby is nothing but a liar." Also, avoid pre-judgment. The statement should read: "Bobby was not in class but marked present," not "Bobby cut class." In some cases (not all), the student did have a viable excuse as to his/her location - nurse, counselor, administrator, even a mistaken dismissal.

• Be factual, to the point and unemotional!
• Timing is important too: the sooner the problem behavior is discussed and consequenced, the greater the chances for an effective outcome. It is similarly helpful to refer problems one at a time -- not all thrown together in one behavioral lump sum.
• In terms of interventions that you can handle - the single most important ally we have is the parent. Parents would much rather hear about misbehavior or an issue first-hand from the teacher than third-hand from us. If you want to conference with a student, the parent of a student, or both together, and you want support - we are happy to have that conversation, frequently with the counselor present as well. That team approach frequently has better results!

Most of our students do not find their way to the office. Some find their way to the top of write-up slips more frequently. If we see a pattern, which individual staff won't notice, we will try to identify an opportunity to meet with multiple staff, to ensure that we have some consistency in dealing with those students! Ultimately, it becomes the handful that cause us the most consternation - and the best way to deal with them is through cooperation, with student, family, counselor, etc.

If you have specific questions, just ask. If you need specific support, just ask. And if you run into a consistent issue with a parent, or want to script or practice a conversation, just ask! 










Next week, we have the Snow Ball Dance on Thursday evening (7-10). Remember to check the calendar on Doug's blog, the Student Activities Website, and the High School website if you are looking for ways to support the school beyond the classroom.  

Finally, the high school website (and district site) changed over, and we are really trying to get everything back and updated. Unfortunately, not everything moved from old site. It's quite frustrating, but it will get there!

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!