Coming Together

I am continually reminded why working in a high school is a great job. On a daily basis, I interact with kids, in the hall or my office, who are engaging, funny, smart, quirky and provide perspectives on a variety of topics I had never considered. We also have opportunities to come together as a community quite often. Last night, Karen Murphy, one of our Health teachers extraordinaire, organized her pumpkin illumination evening which not only raises money for the Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund, but unleashes kids’ creative energy and provides an opportunity for the town to come together intergenerationally. After watching the first half of the girls’ soccer team dismantling of an over-matched Barrington squad (they eventually won 7-1) to advance to the state semi-finals, I walked over to the pumpkin illumination where approximately 270 pumpkins had been carved with images ranging from Bill Cosby to Gary the Snail to your more traditional spooky images. The path was filled with SKHS students, and parents – including many faculty members – with their children. It was a great evening where our kids’ creative and athletic talents were on full display. Not many people get to work in a place where they are able to get together after “work hours” to have fun and involve their families in a community setting. Our kids and teachers allow that opportunity many times throughout the year.

Identifying "at-risk" kids

At our monthly faculty meeting yesterday afternoon, we spent the majority of our time examining data on students who we’ve identified as needing additional support regarding attendance, academics and/or behavior. First we heard from teachers from the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) group, who reviewed current disciplinary data trends such as the number of kids who have three or more disciplinary referrals (38 students), the types of disciplinary infraction which are most prevalent (cutting class) and the time of day when most disciplinary infractions occur (during the last hour of the school day). The group encouraged teachers to not only submit to the office what we identify as major infractions (for instance insubordination, abusive language, cutting classes) but minor ones as well (for instance, first time non-compliance incident, first time dress code violations). The PBIS group has provided the faculty specific set of examples detailing the differences between minor and major infractions. Most teachers are not used to submitting paperwork on issues that they address within the bounds of their classroom but the more information we can compile on student behavior, the more accurate and timely our interventions can be regarding both individual students and school-wide trends. The PBIS group promised to provide data to teachers on a monthly basis.

We spent the last 15 minutes reviewing a spreadsheet which included any student who had five or more absences or tardies combined, and/or two or more failing grades on their most recent progress report and/or three or more disciplinary referrals. The list at this time includes roughly 15% of our population. I provided the data to give teachers both a micro and macro perspective on our “at-risk” students. This information will be provided every five weeks for teachers so that they can start to make some connections with some of their students regarding how they might be performing in other classes. Unlike elementary and middle schools, there are few mechanisms in place for teachers to avail themselves of student performance outside the walls of their classroom. Hopefully, this type of data will cause some conversations to occur between teachers and students, and teachers and parents that may not have been able to take place in the past.

I was in the halls in between classes yesterday and I saw one of the students on the list I was providing to faculty later that day. I asked him what was going on and that I knew that despite decent attendance, he was in danger of failing multiple classes. I asked him if I could expect an improvement and he told me, in an exasperating tone, that he was “on it” and that I was the eighth person to talk to him about his academic performance that day. I hope that we see more of that: multiple adults approaching and encouraging students who are struggling. It is an indicator that we are moving closer towards a community that is truly supportive of all students.

Teacher Learning Center

Over the past week, I've spent a good deal of time reviewing goals generated by teachers which they'll be working on during their Teacher Learning Center (TLC) time over the course of this year. TLC is the second form of teacher common planning time we have at SKHS. It is different than the common planning time that occurs on Wednesday mornings which is organized departmentally in that it is composed of teachers from different disciplines. The purpose of TLC is for teachers to pursue common school-wide goals during the time in the school day when many teachers in other districts are required to perform duties such as cafeteria supervision or hall monitoring. There are seven different TLC groups (one that meets for each period of the day) that are run by two teacher-facilitators that are trained and supported throughout the year. These facilitators are truly teacher-leaders at SKHS.

This is our third year of TLC; we altered the structure this year to provide teachers more opportunities to pursue personal professional growth with the common theme being that goals needed to be connected to their classroom and supporting student learning. Each teacher - or a small group of teachers who were working together - submitted their goals to me last week. It's been a real pleasure to read the goals which range from identifying and implementing instructional strategies to improve expository writing for ninth grade students to creating specific lessons to increase students’ ability to discuss, create and evaluate artwork to incorporating effective strategies for engaging families and students in order to improve home/school communication. We’ve posted many of the goals on our internal communication system to provide faculty an opportunity to see the variety of goals their colleagues are pursuing.

All teachers submit a detailed plan of action as well as a methodology for data collection and analysis. Each TLC meets a few times a week collectively to report out on progress and engage in a variety of structured activities designed to elicit feedback from colleagues to provide critical feedback and perspective on the goal. They use their remaining TLC time during the week to pursue their identified goals. While the goals and group protocols vary, they all are one more way we try to structure supporting SKHS students.

Freshmen

Because of state testing this week, we had a day where we separated lunches mostly by grade level. At fourth lunch, when all of the freshmen were gathered, a sophomore came up to me and Mr. Young, sighed, and said, “do I really have to eat with these freshmen? They are sooo immature!” What a difference three months makes from when she was one of those "annoying" freshmen!

I’ve spent the last few weeks meeting with freshmen in their SK 101 class, asking them what they think of SKHS four weeks into their career and soliciting their opinion on what they enjoy and don’t like. I have not found them to be annoying in the least – though of course the classroom is a bit different than the cafeteria. There’s a lot of similarities in their likes (more freedom, more sports and activities, more people to meet) dislikes (22 minute lunches, clogged hallways, more homework), and surprises (lack of bullying, one adapts to the size of the school quickly) about SKHS. I point out to them that students can take a direct role in influencing the culture of the school. I describe the student-led processes that have led to more clubs, a senior final exam exemption policy, and girls’ bathrooms that are cleaner and usable. I tell them that more than any other student group, they have the most to gain by making SKHS a culture of positive success. I point out that the successes of SKHS have as much to do with the student body as any other school stakeholder.

Of course it’s not that simple to change educational institutions. It’s incumbent upon the adults to set our students up for success. We’ve been pro-active in the measures we’ve taken to provide a smooth transition for freshmen, for example beginning a summer school program, teaming pilot and mentoring program this past year. As we head into October, we want to focus our efforts on kids who are struggling academically. The school counselors play a key role in this process, having identified – in partnership with their colleagues at the middle schools – a “watch list” of kids who may require additional support. The ninth grade team of four teachers, has identified and contacted homes where they are already noting some signs of struggle and frustration with the group so students they share. The increased communication and early intervention – and encouragement – are important factors when examining the trajectory of a student’s high school career. These are small steps but designed to be expandable so that we can more effectively and efficiently monitor kids’ progress, intervening when necessary and of course celebrating accomplishments which at times may go unnoticed. Hopefully, when these freshmen eventually become graduates, they will be able to think back upon their time at SKHS and recognize the contributions they made as well as the adults who provided the conditions for their individual and school wide successes.