SCHS Freshmen Parent Orientation

SCHS Parent Orientation is Wednesday March 14th @ 7:00 pm in the SCHS Cafeteria. In a change from years past, SCHS is asking students to accompany their parents.

Snow Days and Activites

As I sit at my desk during this "ice" day, trying to clear off at least a spot that I can set my diet coke down, I've gotten a few phone calls regarding athletic events scheduled for today. At the Middle School, whenever we a snow/ice day, all after school activities are cancelled. Having spent a good part of my life at the high school level, I know that's different than what they do. We'll do our best to reschedule.

Box Tops....Round 2

Thanks to everyone that helped contribute boxtops this go-around. We topped $1000 for the year....which is awesome considering I didn't give anyone any lead time. Please start saving them for next year as we will be collecting them again in the fall. A special thanks to Emily Russell for organizing the collection and Mrs. Russell for all of her behind the scenes work.

NJHS Blood Drive

Our NJHS is hosting a Blood Drive in our Aux Gym today that goes until 7:00 pm. If you have the time to save a life (I just had flashbacks of being a kid and being shamed into something) please stop in anytime after school until 7:00. I'm sure it'll be appreciated. All joking aside...stating the obvious...it's an extremely worthy cause and any and all donations are needed.

Half Day Wednesday, February 29th

It seems like forever since I've posted anything new...sorry. I've been really busy....we had a snow day.....I was out of the building at a conference....I forgot my password..... ok...maybe some of that is true, but mostly it's because I'm a slacker (that's much more believable).

We have a half day for students this Wednesday for staff professional development. Students will be going to hours 4, 5 and 6.

Ski Club/Mid-Winter Break

The Ski Club will be going to Mt. Holly this Friday (February 17th). Mrs. Mule will be at Sue's Coffee House between 1:00 and 1:30 to sell lift tickets and arrange rides.

New MEAP Cut Scores

The MEAP scores will be coming out soon and there is an excellent chance that you will be surprised when you see the results. If you haven't heard, the "cut scores"...what determines if a student was advanced, proficient, etc. have been raised. To help try to explain the reasoning behind the decision to raise the cut scores and what it means, please click on the link below to watch a video that will hopefully fill in a few blanks.

New MEAP cut scores

RESA Tec Open House

Just a reminder that our St. Clair County RESA is holding an Open House Thursday, February 9th from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. This is a special event for students in grades 8-10 and their parents. You'll be able to tour the school, learn about TEC's programs and speak to their instructors. If you think you might be interested, it would be time well served to attend.

7th Grade Parents....DC Reminder

If you haven't registered your student yet, please give it another thought. Two quick things: 1) It is an absolutely awesome trip. 2) We're getting close to having to create a waiting list. We still have spots left, but one of my fears every year is that when we fill up the buses, we'll get a few more people that register late and they won't be able to go. Please, please, please, register. If we can take 150....don't be number 151. If we can take 175...don't be number 176. Even though we're past the due date on the registration form you can still register (it was a soft due date). If money is an issue, we can work with you. Give me a call. I want every kid to have this experience.

Superbowl Sunday....Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrg

Yes...I'm posting on Sunday...Superbowl Sunday. The reason I'm posting? My DVR/Cable Box just died. I spent 20 minutes on the phone with Comcast to find out that I'm hosed. Not that big a deal...I mean if I miss it tonight, I can always watch it next year. Maybe I can find it on the radio..........(can you hear the sarcasm in my typing?)

It's times like this that I have to remind myself of my pledge of not letting the little stuff get me down....making sure I keep my glass half full. It could be worse...it could be the Lions in the Superbowl.

Overdue Books

Need some help. The other day I got a list of all the overdue/missing books from our Media Center. It was startling how many books were on the list. In talking to Mrs. Westrick, who is our Media Center Specialist as well as SCHS's Media Center Specialist, she mentioned that one of the biggest shocks to incoming Freshmen is there is consequences for overdue books. Fines, can't take exams, withhold report cards, can't check out any more books, etc. One of my jobs is to prepare students for the high school. I'm seriously thinking about instituting some sort of minimal fine for overdue books. Here is where I need your help. We've made a quite an effort to get kids to turn in late books and consequently, the list is becoming manageable. Would you please take a minute to talk to your student, look under that pile of dirty clothes in the middle of their room and encourage them to bring in any books that are currently late. Any and all help you can give us would be appreciated.

Boxtop Collection

We are going to have a boxtop collection/competition the week of Feb 13th. The last collection got us a check for over $700 (wow....). The first hour classes that brings in the most boxtops will get a donut party. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for all your help

Snowsport Club This Friday

Due to the weather (no snow!) There will be no ski club this week (February 3rd). Good news is that the long term weather for next week looks like we'll have several nights of snow-making weather

New Tardy Procedure

One of my goals is to prepare our students for high school. Being an ex-high school guy, I can tell you that one of the biggest bumps in the road that Freshmen experience is with the attendance policy/tardies. At the high school, when a student gets two tardies it equals one absence. Students are allowed 6 absences before they lose credit. The reason I bring this up is that we try exxxxxtremely hard to get kids to class. We have a 1 minute warning bell, I'm in the halls every hour to encourage kids to get to class, but we still have a bunch of student tardies...and that number is about to go up. In the past, it was up to the teacher to do a referral when a student gets two tardies. It was possible that a teacher could forget to write a referral or miss the fact that it was a student's second tardy. We have worked it out so that the process is now automatic. When a student gets their second tardy, a referral will automatically be generated. While this might seem like a pain in the short term, our hopes is that it will help in the long run (the high school).

Your welcome in advance.