Dear
Students and Parents,
How
wonderful to have all of our students back on campus! There is so much energy
with students reconnecting with friends and settling into classes.
Many thanks to our RaptorAgents for serving as student ambassadors to our new arrivals!
Many thanks to our RaptorAgents for serving as student ambassadors to our new arrivals!
Standards Based Assessment and Reporting
As you
may recall, we are completing the process of implementing Standards Based
Assessment and Reporting in the High School this year. Students were introduced
to our reporting structure on the first day of school and will continue to
learn more about the process in their individual courses.
Parents
are invited to an overview presentation on Tuesday, August 21st at either 8:45
am or 4:00 pm in the BBT. The presentation will be followed by time for
questions and answers.
More
information about our reporting strands can be found on page 47 of the High School Handbook as well as in this document. Strand and Holistic Rubrics specific to
each class can be found linked to the course syllabus. All syllabi are up to
date and can be found here.
Students
will receive regular informal feedback from teachers in class in the form of
verbal comments as well as written feedback on small assignments (eg: exit
tickets, short quizzes). At least once before each summative assessment
students will also received formal feedback on a more comprehensive formative
assessment. Formative assessments are assessments for learning and are meant
for students to identify their strengths and areas of growth without the
pressure of submitting an assessment for a mark that will inform their final
score. Finally, 4 - 6 times per semester, students will complete summative
assessments (an assessment of their learning at specific point in time). Such
assessments will provide data to teachers for determining the final score of
the student. Additional information about feedback to students can be found on
page 54 of the High School Handbook.
Bring-Your-Own-Technology (BYOT) Program -
Repeat Announcement
All High
School students are required to bring in a laptop that meets a minimum set of
specifications to support student learning. Students may choose between a laptop
with either the Mac or Windows operating system. In order to configure
the devices, we ask that students bring their own device on these days:
- Thursday, 16 August: HS Grade 10, 11 and 12 Returning students -
New Device configuration
- Monday, 20 August: HS Grade 9 Returning students - New
Device configuration
If any
new students missed the configuration yesterday they can come to the HS Office
to make arrangements with the technology department once they have their device
in hand.
Please
remember to set your operating system language to English in order for our IT
department to configure devices. You may check out the specs and details on the
BYOT page.
Student Schedule Changes - Repeat Announcement
Please
note that the drop/add period for schedule changes is limited to the first six
days of school. This deadline is in place to help students settle into
their classes as soon as possible.
Schedule changes made during this time do not require parents
signatures. This means that it is very important for families to discuss
potential schedule changes before the student seeks out his or her
counselor. If a family feels strongly
that no schedule changes should take place without written parent permission
they are encouraged to contact the appropriate counselor.
Please
note that it is our expectation as a school that students would have made wise
choices regarding their schedules last spring during the registration process.
As such, we expect students to pursue schedule changes only when truly
necessary. We will not entertain changes
motivated by a desire to be in class with particular friends or to seek out a
particular teacher. Our counseling staff work very hard to balance our
schedule such that no class is overloaded or too small. This is to everyone’s advantage in terms of
student learning.
Save the Date: High School Back to School Night
- Repeat Announcement
Please mark your
calendars for the High School Back to School Night on Thursday, August 30th,
and come and experience an abridged version of a “day in the life” of your
student(s). Teachers will share an overview of their course and will
answer general questions you may have.
You can pick up your student’s schedule between 4:45 pm and 5:00 pm
which will be followed by a brief welcome in the Madras Hall. Classes
will start promptly at 5:30 pm and end at 7:25 pm. Please join us!
PowerSchool Reporting Dates - Repeat Announcement
Families
will receive regular updates about academic progress throughout the year.
Progress reports with grades and comments are sent home and posted online
in the middle of each semester. Report cards are sent home at the end of
each semester. Approximately once per
month in between these official reports, teachers will update their marks in
our new student information system PowerSchool for your review. We call
this a “Progress Update.”
For your
information the reporting periods this academic year will be as follows:
September
14 – Progress update
October
12 - Progress update
October
26 - Progress report with comments
November
16 – Progress update
December
14 - Progress update
January
23 - Report card with comments
February
15 – Progress update
March 15
– Progress report with comments
April 26
– Progress update
May 17 –
Progress update
June 6 –
Final report card
Sincerely,
Joelle
Basnight
High
School Principal
