It's Been a Long Time--- January 2010

I have been quite negligent with my blog, and for that I give my apologies. December and January whizzed by, no excuses, but it is not too late to give you an update and mention some needs that I have in regards to parent communication.

First, we are ending our first semester with the posting of grades, now that our exams are finished. A snow day and an early release for snow, as well as the workshop day on Friday have extended the time for all projects, research papers, and exam correction, as well as grade posting so report cards should be out by the end of next week. Of course, parents can check grades on the computer, a fact that brings me to my next point concerning how we get parents into the school.

I completely understand that parents are busier than ever, and that PowerSchool helps them to access their student's grades in a way that may seem to negate the need for parent/teacher contact via phone or personal contact. However, I find that our Student Assistance Team often processes students who might have benefited from more parent/teacher communication before a grade is failing of a crisis occurs. I also know that perhaps due to PowerSchool, that many parents choose not to attend the Parent Teacher Conferences that we schedule in the fall and in the spring. Attendance has dropped dramatically at these events, and teachers and I find ourselves frustrated that we don't get to see more parents come in. The one-to-one contact seems very crucial to us, as often students to not communicate the exact reasons for poor grades or for failure and having parents talk directly to teachers insures clearer communication. Perhaps, many parents are emailing teachers with concerns, and that is the reason that attendance at these scheduled conferences is waning.

My question is, "Is there a better type of conference that would attract more parents in?" Some schools have tried a student-led conference in which the student discusses his/her grades with the parent and teacher present, talks about his/her own strengths and weaknesses and then sets goals with their parents and teacher present. We have tried this before, and did get better attendance, but surveyed parents and found that many were not supportive of the change. I would love to have suggestions as to what would work better for all of our parents. We have conferences scheduled for March 25, and we would love to make a format that would better address what parents want. For example, I would love for that night to include a presentation to parents about our major goal in our advisory and in our school that is to have all students form a plan for post-secondary training or college. Most parents have little idea about all of the options we have in our school to support their students in making a plan for after high school.

Please post on this blog with any ideas. I will be putting a link to a short on-line survey in the newsletter, on this blog, and via email to see if I can get your feedback about needed changes. There will be a link to the newsletter on this blog next week.

I will share a few news items to update you on what has been happening and what is to come for big events.

1. We are nearing the end of basketball, cheering, and swimming season. We have a potential shot at the tournaments with our boys' team, they are 9th place as of today, but we have the potential to move up in the ranks with two very important games this week.

2. Our swim team will compete in states during February break with or relay team and some individual competitors.

3. Our Cheerleading Team is preparing to become a competition cheerleading team next year and has attended many trainings to work toward that goal.

4. Next week is Winter Carnival week with a full day of activities scheduled for Friday, February 12th with school vacation following from February 13th-22.

5. We have 20 RSU 8th graders who are potential students considering Wiscasset High School on February 10, 2010. They will visit, shadow, eat lunch with our students, and ask questions to help them with their choice for high school next year.

6. Students are scheduling classes for next year beginning this week, so please check for you student's sign up sheet to see what they are planning.

7. Parent-Teacher Conferences happen in March, and your feedback is solicited, as stated in the earlier part of this blog.