Dear Students and Parents,
Congratulations Mr. Krebs and the High School Choir on their debut one-song concert! In case you missed it, you can watch the performance here.
Celebrating India Week
In celebration of India Week, we will begin next week with an assembly to kick things off. The popular historical storytellers “Storytrails” will present “Colonial Tales,” which narrates the story of the British, Dutch, Portuguese, and French in India. They will revisit the struggles for power and supremacy and discover fascinating stories overlooked by history textbooks.
Student to Faculty Feedback - Broad Stroke Results
Many thanks to our students for completing the first semester student to teacher feedback survey process. I am thrilled to report an all time high level of satisfaction!
The average response of strongly agree/agree was 90% or higher on all 27 questions posed.
The highest performance (96-97% strong agree/agree) were on questions related to:
Being well prepared for class/modules
Being approachable
Showing passion for the subject area
Posting modules on PowerSchool
Creating an environment conducive to learning
Being helpful
Three cheers for the faculty for providing a virtual program in which students express such positively!
Areas of growth, qualified by the acknowledgement that these questions still elicited a 90% strongly agree/agree response, include:
Providing timely and helpful feedback
Clearly communicating expectations
Ensuring formative assessments prepare students for summative assessments
Varying instructional approaches in the different modalities of the modules.
Next week teachers will highlight for their students identified areas of strength as well as areas they plan to make adjustments to. Once again, many thanks to our students for completing this process.
Accessing Strand and Course Rubrics in Preparation for Mid-Semester Reports
Later this month families will receive mid-semester progress reports which will share strand and course scores. Please note that AISC determines these scores using the recent, most consistent summative evidence. For this progress report, this will likely be determined based on only one or two summatives but, as the semester progresses, more summative scores will be earned.
When a teacher determines strand and course scores they use the holistic rubrics linked to their syllabi as a guide. I strongly suggest that families review these syllabi when considering performance. All syllabi can be found here.
Save the Date - October Parent Coffee - Repeat Announcement
Please join the counselors, Mike and I on Tuesday, October 27th at 8:45 am for our October Parent Coffee (link; passcode=HS). As mid-semester progress reports will be sent home later that day, the counselors will share information about how to speak with teens about their academic feedback. This will be followed by plenty of time to dialogue on the topic.
Mid-Semester Progress Reports - Repeat Announcement
Parents will receive mid-semester progress reports via email the afternoon of October 27th. Please note that this report is a snapshot of achievement to date and that there is ample time for students to progress in the second half of the semester.
For each course students will receive a score for the three achievement strands (knowledge & understanding, thinking & transfer and communication) as well as an overall course score. These scores are based on performance to date on summative assessments and are determined in consultation with the strand and course rubrics linked to the course syllabus.
Students will also receive ratings on their learning habits in each course. This includes preparedness, collaboration and initiative & resilience.
Finally, students will receive a comment from each teacher to give context to their achievement. Please note that these comments contain a combination of drop and drag departmental comments and personalized teacher written comments for each student.
Student Parent Teacher Conferences - Repeat Announcement
As campus will remain closed through October, we have rescheduled our student parent teacher conferences to create more opportunities to meet with teachers. A link to sign up for conferences will be emailed home on October 21st and posted again in the Principal’s Notes on October 23rd.
Conference slots will be 10 minutes in length on Wednesday, October 28th from 3:30 - 5:30 pm and on Thursday, October 29th from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
Arts, Sports & Activities - a Message from the Athletics Office - Repeat Announcement
See what students think about Virtual ASA's
If you are interested in having your child(ren) of all ages engage in FREE virtual activities for Season 2, please check out the Athletics & Activities Blog for more information and the Registration Form. ASA Season 2 will begin Monday, October 19th.
Sincerely,
Joelle Basnight
High School Principal
