Weekly Update: February 26

My Principal’s Coffee this week was titled “Building a Supportive Environment for Your Teen”.  The central message I shared with parents was providing space for their teens to successfully fail.  These are the last few years for these parents to be in close proximity to their kids.  In effect, I shared that now is a great time for students to experiment and fail because the parents are nearby to process this failure with them afterwards.  Ultimately, this is how teens learn best, failure, reflection and adjustment.

I am continually impressed with how our staff models this “parenting best practice”.  This week I worked with a number of student groups whose advisors had set them loose to experiment within parameters.  From our GIN group planning to host an event at SSIS to Heartbeat Vietnam organizing SSIS Idol, a group of Mizuki’s friends planning his vigil and the senior class finalizing its set of privileges you do an amazing job of providing students with independence.  While I know this can be nerve-wracking at times for an advisor, our students benefit greatly with the opportunities you entrust them.

Have a restful weekend,

Jacob

Staff Action Needed

• Complete this form to suggests names of potential mentors for next year’s 9th graders.  See Link Crew section below for more details.
• Begin Writing 3rd Quarter Comments and Update Gradebooks for Quarter 3, March 23 (see section below)
• The “Pulse”: Complete the following Google form about Office Hours and Lunch Time for the 2016-17 school year by Friday, February 26. (see section below)
• IB teachers, please compile your examination papers, attach the form (attached to this email) modified to your specific subject paper and print enough copies for each student in the class plus an additional two for proctors. Please hand these in to IB office by 3 pm, Friday 26th

Friday, February 26
Day 3- BCDA
Breakfast: Hosted by the English Department, 7:30am (Faculty Room)
Spirit Assembly (Alternative Schedule)
SSIS Idol, 7-9pm (Auditorium)

Saturday, February 27
MRISA Track and Field
Mizuki Candle Light Vigil, 6:30-7:30 (Auditorium)

Monday, February 29 REGULAR SCHEDULE
Day 4- FGHE
HSLT, 3:15-4:45 (HS Office Conference Room) Agenda Here

Tuesday, March 1 GROUP MEETING SCHEDULE
Day 5- CDAB
Group Meeting Schedule – IB Mock Exams MPR
University Visit: University of Minnesota and University of Oregon (9:20 in HS Library) and Colleges that Change Lives (CTCL) fair, Group Meeting Time (Auditorium)
12th Grade SOC Meeting, Lunch (Counseling Conference Room)

Wednesday, March 2
Day 6- GHEF – IB Mock Exams MPR
HS Faculty Meeting, 3:15-4:30 (MPR) Agenda Here
Maths, World Language, Counseling Departmental Dinner: Jacob’s House, (4:45-7pm)

Thursday, March 3
Day 7- DABC
Group Meeting Schedule – IB Mock Exams MPR
University Visit: EU Business School, Lunch (Library)

Friday, March 4
Day 8- HEFG – IB Mock Exams MPR, (non-instructional lessons focussed on IA / EE completion for IB students back in class)

Saturday, March 5
Faculty Follies, 7-9pm (Auditorium)

On the Horizon
English and Science Department Dinner, March 10 (4-6pm) at Jacob’s House
Comments and Grades Finalized for 3rd Quarter, March 23 at 3pm
3rd Quarter Report Cards Emailed to Parents, March 24
Parent Teacher Conferences, March 24 (4-8pm) and March 25 (8am-1pm)

Staff Flexibility– Thank you for your flexibility this week, as we cancelled the author assembly, added class meetings to discuss support of our students in need and a rescheduled spirit assembly.  I recognize and appreciate your efforts to prioritize our students during a challenging time.

March 2 Faculty Meeting– You are normally able to see the agenda for the upcoming faculty meeting in the Dragon’s Lair.  We (HSLT) have some finalizing to do at our meeting this coming Monday.  Topics that will be covered at our faculty meeting will be related to our advisory/pastoral program, Link Crew and birthday celebrations.

Link Crew is Coming– Link Crew is a systematic yearlong 9th grade program that supports the successful transition of 9th graders to HS.  Erin, Jodi, Alison and I have been working to establish a program for the 2016-17 school year for the last few months.  We will be assigning each incoming 9th grader a mentor in their “House” to help guide them through their freshman year.  The mentors (Link Crew Leaders) will be 10th and 11th graders next year.  We are establishing an application process for students who are interested in this leadership opportunity.  We are looking for leaders that represent a wide range of students.  We hope to expand on our traditional leaders on campus (i.e. StuCo, NHS, etc).  We are looking for students that show leadership potential, are compassionate and support others.  Please complete this form if you could recommend the names of current 9th and 10th graders that might be a great fit in this role.

The “Pulse”: Info Needed about Office Hours/Lunch Time– One of the tasks the high school leadership team is completing now is the 10-day bell schedule for 2016-17.  We are considering a number of options as we build the bell schedule for next year.  One option includes embedding office hours into the regular school day.  The HSLT would like you to take this survey to evaluate office hours for the 2015-16 school year and consider some different options that will help us create a draft schedule to share with staff later this year.  Please complete this form by Friday, February 26.

Grade Book Comments and Grades– Wednesday, March 23 is the end of the 3rd quarter. All grades and comments are to be posted on PowerSchool by 3pm on this day even though they are still “grades in progress”.

All work is to be graded prior to October 8th in order to be inputted to PS by this date.  There are to be summative assessments recorded by this date, as well as any formative work.

If students are missing a summative assessment then it is OK to use “I” (incomplete) as a final grade (as per assessment policy in the high school). Zero may be used as a grade only for formative work not completed.

Comments for each student will be necessary on PowerSchool reports as has been the practice.  Comments are to be personal and learning-focused and should allow for parents and students to understand areas of strength and areas in need of growth. As this is an official school report, official PowerSchool names are to be used to reference each student.

For example: If mentioned in the formal way (“Quang Liu Tuan Gip), then (“Derek”) would be fine at the beginning of the comment and subsequent mentions may be the nickname, or formal name, only. This will conserve valuable character space.

If an “I” is given (see above paragraph) then the circumstances should be referenced in the comment for that student. Comments should appear in the S1 column in PowerSchool and should not exceed 500 characters.