Weekly Bulletin for October 30, 2017

Congratulation to Mrs. Kennedy and Class Act on 

their outstanding performance of The Star Spangled

Banner at Saturday's Cleveland Monsters 

hockey game.  

"Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way." -Booker T. Washington

Congratulations to Chloe Lemieux on being
recognized as a National Merit
Commended Student.

Important Dates

October 30 - Marching Band Concert

November 6 - Department Chair Meeting

November 11&12 - HS Musical - Little Women

November 13 - Excel Tecc Recruitment Day

November 14 - Staff Meeting

November 22 - 24 - Thanksgiving Break - No School

November 30 - HS Choirs Concert

Important Information

Connectedness Chart -Evidence shows that students who feel cared for by adults in their school and those that feel part of the school's culture will perform better academically, have higher attendance rates and will less likely be involved in disciplinary issues. Mr. Callahan and Ms. Sargent have created an extremely valuable tool that can be used by all staff to identify any student needing to feel connected to our building. Please take a moment to identify students you have made a connection with. Please revisit this chart in a week and identify and reach out to any student needing a connection. Click here to access the chart.

Attendance - Please take period attendance every day in every period. Thank you!

SAT and AIR - Last week, College Board announced that it is partnering with the American Institute of Research (AIR) to deliver their suite of assessments. AIR Assessments are also utilized by the State of Ohio to deliverer the end of course exams.  Although it was not discussed in the press release, I would expect that College Board to eventually consider using AIR to deliver their AP course exams.  Click here to read about the new partnership.  AIR Assessments require students to answer many different types of questions including those they consider tech enhanced.  As mentioned the October 16th weekly bulletin, Edulastic provides opportunities to experience AIR like questions.  If you are not using another program to administer your assessments, give Edulastic a try.  

Speaker Series -  This week we will begin the WGHS Speaker Series during the advisory periods. Sarah Thrasher has put together a nice lineup for the month of November that includes topics relevant to our students.   Typically, 9th and 10th graders will meet on Tuesdays and 10th and 11th grade students will meet on Thursdays.  The schedule will be published to the HS Parent/Student Calendar with descriptions.  This week, however, the 9th and 10th graders will meet on Wednesday and the 11th and 12 graders meeting on Thursday.  Teachers are expected to attend the series and sit with their advisory group.  If you meet with more than one grade level of students during advisory, Mr. Dahlhofer will meet with you to discuss your situation. Teachers, please sit with the students throughout the room.

IEP and 504 Students - Classroom teachers are required to follow students' IEP and 504 accommodations.  A landmark court case in 1993 (Doe v. Withers) found a classroom teacher liable for failing to accommodate a special education student.  The history teacher (Withers) was required to pay $35,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.  All of our teaching staff needs to be able to clearly identity and explain how their special education and 504 students are receiving classroom accommodations.  Your IC class lists will tell you who is on a plan.  All accommodation paperwork was delivered to you at the beginning of the year.  Please see Ashley Dudas or a principal if you need a copy of a child's IEP or 504. 

Education Foundation - The West Geauga Education Foundation very excited to share that WGEF has almost $20K this year for grant disbursements for the West G district! If you have an innovative idea that you would like to bring to the classroom, it is likely the education foundation will be interested in providing the funds.  Click here to access information about the foundation as well the application.  Grant requests are due mid-November and again in February.

Good Professional Reading (or Listening)

The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast
Every Classroom Matters Podcast
The Bedley Bros. EdChat