Friday Focus #12: 11.9.12

"Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them."

~ Aristotle

I hope everyone enjoyed the day off yesterday...  heard a lot of people say this morning that they felt rested and got a lot done yesterday!   Hopefully you had a chance to attend the Fall Play last week and/or will have an opportunity to see the choir performance this weekend.  These productions are truly a great reminder of the reason we all went into education -- KIDS!  Despite the headaches we encounter at times, we really do have a great job.  While difficult sometimes to see the direct impact we have on students day-to-day, what we do in the classroom and beyond for our students really is IMPORTANT!   An Evening of Motown Tickets are still available for the Choir Production for tonight @ 8 PM and Saturday @ 7 PM.  Presale tickets are $5 (email Cricket) or purchase at the door for $8.  We hope you will be able to come out and enjoy the music of the Temptations, Supremes, Jackson 5, and other wonderful Motown artists!   End of Trimester Info Exam Info For the Exam Schedule, look under the 'Schedules' tab at the top of the page.  You can refer students to the 'schedules' tab on www.CHSBulldogNews.org. If you have SENIOR TRI STAR STUDENTS 3rd period... they will take their exam on THURSDAY right after the conclusion of the shortened 3rd period.  We will proctor those exams in the office/lecture hall if you are unable to proctor them in your classroom.  Please send them down to us AHEAD of time! Students MUST be here during exams.  Students are NOT allowed to leave during intervention periods (or any other period).  Please have your students eat lunch at YOUR normally scheduled time.  On Friday, we eat during 3rd period... be sure to tell your students in advance what lunch YOU eat.   Grade Reporting Info If you believe a student might fail your course, please send the name via email to Wendy AND Lynne ASAP and no later than 2 PM on Friday, Nov. 16.  This will allow them to begin re-working schedules.  Grades are due by 9 AM on Monday, November 19th.   Special Ed Info It’s Progress Report time again!!! I know that you’re ecstatic and can hardly contain yourself!! So, here are a few dates to keep in mind: Red Progress Report folders will be distributed to all teachers Monday, November 12, 2012. We ask that Red Progress Report folders are returned to the clear bins on the side of the mailboxes by 7:25 A.M., Tuesday, November 20, 2012 so we can redistribute them to the Special Education Teachers. Please return the Blue Acura Folders to Renee/Jared anytime on/before Friday, November 16, 2012! Don’t worry about throwing any of the paperwork away, we will go through them and shred everything for confidentiality purposes! We are hoping to have the new 2nd Trimester "IEP at a Glances" out to the teachers by the end of the day Wednesday, November 28, 2012. Please check to see if students have the PASS/FAIL accommodation and be sure to communicate with the teacher who holds the IEP whether or not it is applicable for the student. Attendance Info Donna has a file in the Attendance folder on the Public Share Drive titled "1st Tri - 8 or more absences".  Please refer to this to determine if a student is 'over' on attendance.  Remember, our policy states that students do not get credit for days they are absent after 7 in a trimester.   Also find the file 'Attendance Updates' to see any changes that have been made to absence types.   Thank Donna for keeping such great records! Tech Tuesday No Tech Tuesdays until December 4th.   Calendar of Events Remember that Calendar Info can be found on the right hand sidebar of the blog... updated regularly... HAPPY BIRTHDAY 11/11   Michelle Voress

CHS Opening Day 2012

For those of you that like to have a paper copy of the agenda: http://goo.gl/hyBJv 

Important info from our Opening Day meeting (this will be updated later as well):

CHS Opening Day Meeting 2012 Agenda

• New Staff Intros

• Special Ed News & Notes

• Guidance News & Notes

• Handbook, Discipline, Attendance & all that fun stuff

• Frosh Orientation
• Teacher intros @ 8:30 AM
• Mini-schedule from 11 - 12 noon


• copy of Frosh Orientation schedule:  http://goo.gl/oJYmC




• Class Meetings: 
• 9th -- Wednesday
• 10th -- Thursday
• 11th -- Friday (last 15 minutes of 5th p.)
• 12th -- 7:45 AM (w/ picture?)




• Open House -- 6:30 - 7:30 PM on Wednesday 8/29
• Schedule: http://goo.gl/wtESz 




• Tech Tuesday: 
• List:  http://goo.gl/jfL14
• Request:  http://goo.gl/oVQ48 

• FIP with Kim & Kelly

• Then, Now, & the Future

No Credit vs. GOWNA

For years, we have had a very strict and hard fast attendance policy.  Miss over a certain number of days and you receive no credit for the course.  There has always been an exception to the rule that we can make the decision to Grade On Work Not Attendance (GOWNA).  If a student had a case and someone, or the student, presented the case to an administrator, teacher, or counselor, we could make the decision to grant them GOWNA.  In the past, most students that failed on attendance were failing anyway.  More recently, we find that more and more students are passing a class and then failing on attendance.  This only sets the student back academically and often times, puts the student on track for opportunity school or dropout.

With recent changes in standards and education (a push for grades based on knowledge gained and standards mastered as opposed to seat time), failing a student based on attendance seems to be counterintuitive to our goals and mission.

We are working to revise the attendance policy to better reflect a 21st Century education...  but in the meantime, the administration has decided to grant all students a GOWNA.  If a student misses a great deal of school, and is still able to master the content of the course, we will award them credit.

Thanks for your understanding in this matter.