West Hancock Community and Parents,
It has been a great beginning two weeks of school. I really get a good feeling from our staff and students and I know this year will be a great one!
In case you haven't figured it out this is my blog for the year. This will replace my Recker's report. It will be available on the school website. The nice thing about blogs is that you can go back and see what the previous blogs have been. Plus it gives me a little more flexibility in how I do things. Please be patient with me as I discover all of the things that blogging will allow me to do.
Do the best you are capable of every day!
This is our theme for the year. I expect each teacher, student and parent to do their best each day to help our students succeed in all areas of their lives. All we can ask for is the best effort, so that is what we are looking for. Don't be afraid to ask your students about giving their best efforts in class, in activities and in how they deal with their fellow citizens.
Attendance Policy Changes
As many of you know we changed our semester test attendance incentive. It changed in two ways and I wanted to make sure that was clear to everyone.
1. Student's attendance will have no bearing in how they are assessed by teachers at the end of the semester. This is the big thing everyone notices, but I feel it is secondary in importance to number two.
2. Teachers will be given much more choice and freedom in how they asses students and what format of assessment they will use. Teachers no longer have to give large cumulative tests if there subject matter does not fit well with that type of assessment. Teachers may choose to use projects, portfolios, take home tests, essays, term papers, masterpieces or anything they can come up with to give students the chance to show what they have learned in the course of a semester.
I am really excited about the opportunities this will give our teachers and in turn our students.
How we do attendance in the office is no different. If someone is going to be gone we expect that the parents will contact the school either the day of the absence or before. If we do not receive a phone call or the student fails to bring a note, the absence will be unexcused and we will proceed that way. We expect that parents will not allow their children to miss school with out a valid reason. If students are "skipping" they will be disciplined like they have in the past. We expect parents will continue to work with us to provide the best education we can for all of our students. I think we all agree, the more time a student can be in school the more they will grow academically.
Advisory Program
Our advisory program will be a little different this year. We will meet each Friday with our advisee students. The focus will be combine our relationship and character building with more academic things. We will discuss MAP tests, Success Center referrals, ITEDS, scheduling, and future plans with our students. The first two sessions combine MAP goal setting and planning with a "get to know each other" activity to welcome new students. We are very excited about our advisory program and the changes we have made.
MAP Tests
We will begin MAP tests on September 20th. Please make sure you speak with your student about the importance of these tests. As I stated advisors have spoken with students and we want to all do our best. Last year especially during the spring test we felt that students efforts were not where they should be. We had several capable students who did much more poorly in the spring than in the fall. We really hope that we are not decreasing student achievement over the course of the year. Hopefully with more focus on the test and increased discussions among teachers, parents and students our scores will be as good as they can be.
Heating Ventilation and Cooling
Our high school underwent some major updates to our climate control capabilities. We are still one year away from completion but many of the things that happened this summer were underground and in areas not seen by students and teachers. Beginning next spring some of the changes will be much more visible. By the end of the process we will have geo thermal heating and cooling throughout most of the school. This is a very exciting time. We will all have to be flexible as construction will begin in the school roughly May 1st.
Homecoming
Homecoming will begin this Sunday. I will be posting a complete schedule later in the week on my blog so look for that. We will be playing Marcus Meridan Cleghorn on Friday and the dance will be Saturday night from 8:30-11:30.
Lets do our best to make this a great year!
Mr. Recker
Here is our schedule for the week.
Weekly Schedule
Monday – No school
Tuesday – XC @ Belmond Klemme
VB vs. Forest City – H – 6:00
JV FB @ Garner – 6:00 pm
Wednesday
Thursday – VB @ Garner – 6:00 pm
Friday – 1 hour dismissal
FB @ Lemars Gehlen
Saturday – VB tournament @ Belmond Klemme
Sunday – Powder Puff / He Man VB
