Hi Everyone,
After many improvements and a labor of Hercules by our teachers, staff and determined custodial crews WE OPENED THE DOORS on August 25th!
As a general rule, educators love kids and yes, we go through withdrawals over the summer when the focus of our life work is delayed in getting here.
I watched all our teachers breath dust, move furniture, sweat and toil over their classrooms and common areas in the building while our custodial crews provided guidance and the professional polish the building needed to get us going for the school year.
While we are still organizing here and there, we are functional and school has begun.
You may have heard we kicked the school year off with an all school assembly to raise school spirit and remind our students Mexico high school is a great place to learn and it's ok to show your school spirit.
We are continuing to enforce our disciplinary code in order to maintain an exceptional environment for students to learn. Many times we have simply given warnings these past few days, however, there have unfortunately been some suspensions. Overall however, our building has been very safe and orderly with everyone contibuting to the solution by providing good supervision for our students.
I will be meeting with our local church youth leaders this Wednesday for a brainstorming session on how they can help us connect to youth at the high school in a meaningful way. In my personal experience growing up, I always found my youth pastors to be solid professionals with sincere hearts for students.
If you saw a red binder come home with tabs in the arms of your child, be sure your son or daughter begins to use it to stay organized or ASK THEM how they're staying organized for their classes. The NUMBER ONE reason grades are low in high school - almost any high school, is because students fail to keep track of assignments, study materials and turn in their work. We provided the binders this year to help students stay on track. There is also a copy of the student handbook for you and your son or daughter to review.
Several teachers are beginning to work on their own blogs to let you know what is happening in their classes. In the next few months we hope to update our website a bit more with links to these blogs.
I hope you find this information helpful and please provide any feedback you may have about the start of our school year.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Parent Letter 2010-11 and Registration Information Packets
Parents and Guardians,
I've posted the letter I included in registration packets (folders) for your convenience below. I hope you find the information we compiled for you helpful and feel free to offer any feedback you may have about what we included and how we could improve our communication in this area of registration.
INFORMATION FROM THE REGISTRATION PACKET BELOW:
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope you and your family had a refreshing summer. Our faculty and staff have prepared this folder to help you stay connected and informed about the high school. If you have any suggestions for other things we could have included, please contact the high school office, or email me at trobinson@mexico.k12.mo.us. I also post a regular online newsletter (blog) at http://bulldoghighschool.blogspot.com. This online newsletter is posted to provide information about the high school.
Renovations:
The high school has undergone a great deal of building renovations and we are very pleased thus far with the progress that has been made. New windows, a new heating and air conditioning system and the replacement of very old furniture has been accomplished this summer. Our open house and parent teacher conferences will be combined this year into one event so we can ensure you have time to view the improvements and our workers have time to complete all projects.
New Seminar Class:
In addition to building progress, the high school teachers and I have been working to enhance our guidance and assistance to students so they are successful in high school. We will be implementing a Seminar Class during the last period of the day toward this purpose. Too often, students in high school can have difficulty managing several classes at once, studying for challenging classes, and connecting to their peers and teachers. They can get lost in the shuffle and become disconnected and frustrated. Our teachers and administrative staff are planning our work during the seminar class to be one of providing focus and direction to our students – to prevent the anonymity and the “lost in the shuffle effect” often seen in many high schools. We want to know our students and foster significant relationships and engagement among our students.
The Seminar Class will meet each day for approximately 30 minutes per day at the end of the day and this time will be used for the following purposes:
1. We have planned to teach learning skills such as note taking, organizational skills and memory/study skills so students are more successfully in their high school classes.
2. This class will also be a time our teachers will engage students in all-school efforts such as collecting donations to assist the needy in our community and other projects.
3. Finally, we plan to check student progress more regularly during this time to ensure students stay on-track to graduate on time and earn grades of a “C” or better. We believe that connecting to students and letting them know we care about their progress is the best way to increase achievement.
I’m looking forward to serving your child and family in the coming school year and please feel free to contact me whenever you have a question, comment or concern about the high school. We are here to serve your needs.
I've posted the letter I included in registration packets (folders) for your convenience below. I hope you find the information we compiled for you helpful and feel free to offer any feedback you may have about what we included and how we could improve our communication in this area of registration.
INFORMATION FROM THE REGISTRATION PACKET BELOW:
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope you and your family had a refreshing summer. Our faculty and staff have prepared this folder to help you stay connected and informed about the high school. If you have any suggestions for other things we could have included, please contact the high school office, or email me at trobinson@mexico.k12.mo.us. I also post a regular online newsletter (blog) at http://bulldoghighschool.blogspot.com. This online newsletter is posted to provide information about the high school.
Renovations:
The high school has undergone a great deal of building renovations and we are very pleased thus far with the progress that has been made. New windows, a new heating and air conditioning system and the replacement of very old furniture has been accomplished this summer. Our open house and parent teacher conferences will be combined this year into one event so we can ensure you have time to view the improvements and our workers have time to complete all projects.
New Seminar Class:
In addition to building progress, the high school teachers and I have been working to enhance our guidance and assistance to students so they are successful in high school. We will be implementing a Seminar Class during the last period of the day toward this purpose. Too often, students in high school can have difficulty managing several classes at once, studying for challenging classes, and connecting to their peers and teachers. They can get lost in the shuffle and become disconnected and frustrated. Our teachers and administrative staff are planning our work during the seminar class to be one of providing focus and direction to our students – to prevent the anonymity and the “lost in the shuffle effect” often seen in many high schools. We want to know our students and foster significant relationships and engagement among our students.
The Seminar Class will meet each day for approximately 30 minutes per day at the end of the day and this time will be used for the following purposes:
1. We have planned to teach learning skills such as note taking, organizational skills and memory/study skills so students are more successfully in their high school classes.
2. This class will also be a time our teachers will engage students in all-school efforts such as collecting donations to assist the needy in our community and other projects.
3. Finally, we plan to check student progress more regularly during this time to ensure students stay on-track to graduate on time and earn grades of a “C” or better. We believe that connecting to students and letting them know we care about their progress is the best way to increase achievement.
I’m looking forward to serving your child and family in the coming school year and please feel free to contact me whenever you have a question, comment or concern about the high school. We are here to serve your needs.
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