This is year number four for me at MHS and I'm gaining a longer view of what is happening at MHS. Your high school is steadily improving and building on success. Each year we have reviewed what we do and how we do it to improve the educational opportunities for young people. Our ACT practice days, the free ACT approved by our school board, better collaboration and course offerings at HCC, achieving statewide recognition for behavior improvement, and added technology for our students and teachers in key academic areas are all indicators of strong community support and teacher commitment to our students. Teacher leaders are rising up in MHS and making an impact on learning and other teachers.
It's difficult for many to understand the high schools of today. We often hear so many dire reports about high schools and their "lack of progress" or "failing high schools". It can be difficult sometimes to see our own high school as a verifiable positive in the lives of young people -- it is, despite some difficult challenges. Probably the toughest challenges we face which distract and tear down a quality education for young people today are drug use, the loss of traditional and supportive families, abuse, and poverty -- these all crumble our efforts to engage young people, yet we still try and believe in our kids. Every child can be educated and can achieve at high levels, despite disadvantages or circumstances and despite making some poor choices. I've been proud to work with committed educators and a community of parents seeking to engage our young people in meaningful experiences in our district.
A lot happens in a school year so I've posted portions of our past board reports this quarter with instructional reports below for your review.
September 2013
Current Enrollment: 666
Administration Team
Dr. Terry Robinson, Principal:
Whole Faculty Study Groups (WFSG) had their first meeting on
Wednesday, September 11. Mrs. Gina Gilman, our curriculum facilitator will continue
to support this effort and small groups of teachers will work to implement the
principles found in Schmoker’s work Focus.
Teachers attended training on August 30, 2013 with Mr. Ned Miller.
The focus on this professional development day was student engagement
techniques and teamwork. Teacher teams met in the afternoon to work on goals
and action steps related to their assessment data. Teacher teams will present
their plans for improvement on our professional development day on September
20, 2013 and Mr. Miller will return for part II of his training.
Student Involvement Day (SID) –was held on August 6. Class clubs
and organizations were on hand on the front lawn to meet with potential new
members. Some clubs and organizations sponsored games and some provided snacks.
A big thanks to student council and the student council sponsors for helping
organize SID – Mrs. Yancey, Mr. Clow and Mr. Hagedorn.
The MHS administration team is currently operating two Twitter
sites online to better disseminate information. One Twitter account is related
to general announcements and academic information, the other account is used to
disseminate sports information. Links to helpful parent and student information
is included along with pictures of some events .
Twitter feed of general
announcements and academic information:
MexicoMoHS
Twitter feed of sports
information:
mexicohssports
Students will choose a teacher of the month for September during
the next week. Students have an expanded rating and comment card to nominate
their teachers.
The English and Social Studies department teams met for ½ day team
work days on August 28, 2013 focused on improving their curriculum and action
steps to help more students succeed in these subject areas. Mrs. Gilman and Dr.
Robinson assisted in facilitating these team meetings.
Mrs. Williams media classes have seen increased enrollment this
school year and students are continuing to develop short video segments called
“This is MHS” about positive improvements and academics at MHS. Student
reporters Shelby Gish and Miranda Lierheimer produce this segment. The two
student reporters have a poster with a QR code which takes the person using the
code directly to their latest video highlighting MHS. These posters have been
placed in area businesses with the owner’s permission. Past “This is MHS” segments
have covered science dissections, MHS students participating in JROTC, new
graphic calculator use in Math, and technology use at MHS.
In other technology news, teachers received training on August 30,
2013 on the use of Google functions from Mrs. Jenn Kraft. Teachers received
familiarization training on Google forms, sites and email functions. In
addition, Ms. Dana Hunt provided Smartboard slates training. Slates
are used by teachers to interact with Smartboards from anywhere in the room and
provided wireless interactive control
teachers can write on or manipulate which appears on the Smartboard as well as
the teacher’s slate.
Response to Intervention
Twenty-five students are part of this
course offering to assist students with their study skills and transition to
the high school. These students were identified by Mexico Middle School and
will be working with Mrs. Christine Beshears.
PBIS – Positive Behavior
Intervention and Support Team – Coordinator Patty Swisher
This year our focus on PBIS will be to increase our
recognition of students' positive behavior to a 4 to 1 ratio (4 positives to 1
negative). We will continue to promote and remind students about making
appropriate choices in regard to the school-wide expectations. This will
include a weekly focus area announcement in the bulletin. Lastly we will
strengthen our Tier 1 school-wide strategies and practices with an emphasis on
classroom management. Our goal is to get ready for Tier 2 implementation
and maintain our Bronze recognition.
Guidance and Counseling Team:
Our counselors spoke
at freshman and new student Orientation on August 26 at our Open House in
Emmons along with teachers and administrators.
In addition, Mr.
Neely and the counseling team provided additional information concerning A+ and
Mrs. Turlington provided information regarding ACT online prep. The guidance team was also available
to help parents with email addresses and parent
portal at Open House.
Guidance Team completed all beginning of the year schedule changes
Kris Turlington and Gail Lankford attended Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act training in Jefferson City, MO
Guidance Team completed all beginning of the year schedule changes
Kris Turlington and Gail Lankford attended Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act training in Jefferson City, MO
Activities/Athletics
Fall Sports are off
to great start. Boys Soccer, Girls Golf & Boys & Girls Cross Country
started the season with wins and all teams continue to improve.
Auditions for the
Fall Play, “The Secrets of Mildred Wild” are being held. The play will be November 15th, 16th
& 17th.
Homecoming will be held October 18th
with parade @ 3:00 pm and the Football game starting at 7:00 pm. This will also be Senior Night for Band,
Color guard, Football & Cheer with our students and pare
Academics
Mr. Robert Cotez, Band Instructor:
Dr. Terry Robinson, Principal:
Parent-teacher conferences were held in the MHS cafeteria and band room on October 1st and 2nd.. Survey data was taken wirelessly via laptops set up for parents after conferences. These surveys were used to assess parent satisfaction with their conference experience. 522 parents attended parent teacher conferences, 171 parents took all or some of the survey. I've shared some of the key survey indicators about our PT Conferences below:
Please respond to the following statement. Teacher(s) were respectful of me as a parent or guardian during parent-teacher conferences..
Month/Year: October 2013
Current Enrollment: 665
Students of the Month: September 2013 - Abby Gooch and Christian McKeown
Teacher of the Month: September 2013 - Mrs. Sara Given
Academics
Ms. Julie Pappas - Vocal Music
On October 2, Noteworthy performed for the "Thank you, Volunteers" lunch at the Veteran's Home. The students enjoyed getting to eat Elk's Lodge lunch, and the standing ovation the crowd gave after their last song – At the Hop.
Ms. Michelle Yount, Biology Club Sponsor:
The Biology club will travel to the St. Louis Zoo for a field trip this month.
Mr. Robert Cotez, Band Instructor:
The marching band participated in a marching competition with over 30 bands in attendance in Fayette, Missouri this month. Evaluators of our band stated they are noticing improvements to our band performances.
Mrs. Sara Given, Speech & Theatre Teacher:
The MHS Advanced Children's Theatre class has taken on a new outreach project this year called "Drama Dawgs". We held auditions in September for the newly formed "Drama Dawgs" program. We auditioned over 50 3rd, 4th and 5th graders for the 27 spots on the team. The panel of judges for auditions consisted of the MHS veteran members of the Advanced Children’s Theatre class who worked with other students in the class to host auditions, evaluate performances and make the decisions for who would be on the first Drama Dawgs team. The elementary students in Drama Dawgs are learning basic acting techniques to prepare them for a performance to be held on December 16 on the Emmons stage. This will be a community performance and will consist of various Fractured Fairy Tales and stories that are directed by students in the Advanced Children's Theatre class. Much in the style of our traveling Children's Theatre Troupe, the elementary Drama Dawgs will learn how to suggest character and setting through simple set and costumes changes. In addition to performing for the community on December 16, the Drama Dawg students will join the high school students in a performance at their elementary when when tour in December. The program is supervised by Sara Given, but the high school students are serving as teachers and directors and essentially running the program.
Ms. Bridget Bingham, Special Education Teacher:
My math students will be listening to a story to help start the unit on budgeting. After listening to the story, they will have to count up how much money the family found in the house, then construct a budget for the family to be able to use at a restaurant. They cannot go over budget. They will have a scoring guide to help them, along with highlighting tape. In addition, my classes have prepared soil and planted mums to grow from our Vocational Agriculture greenhouse. We planted them near the circle drive of MHS.
Administration Team
Dr. Terry Robinson, Principal:
Mid-semester Exams, ACT Prep and Training for Teachers
Teachers are preparing mid-semester exams for all classes to assess objectives taught during the first quarter of the school year. SCANTRON machines and the accompanying software will be used to analyze assessment results at the department level to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement. These assessments will reflect the format and rigor of the ACT and EOC assessments, but are based on what teachers have taught in their classrooms thus far. Also, Mr. Ned Miller will hold small group meetings on October 16 with teachers to assist them in implementing engagement strategies in the classroom. This is a follow-up meeting from two previous trainings Ned has conducted at MHS. Two members of the English department will attend training on October 16 in Lake of the Ozarks with reading specialist Judy Bruner. Seniors participated in a practice ACT at MHS on October 8. The results were analyzed the same day using SCANTRON data for students to better understand their scores and where they can improve.
Parent-teacher conferences were held in the MHS cafeteria and band room on October 1st and 2nd.. Survey data was taken wirelessly via laptops set up for parents after conferences. These surveys were used to assess parent satisfaction with their conference experience. 522 parents attended parent teacher conferences, 171 parents took all or some of the survey. I've shared some of the key survey indicators about our PT Conferences below:
Please respond to the following statement. Teacher(s) were respectful of me as a parent or guardian during parent-teacher conferences..
1 - Strongly DISAGREE 4 (2.4%)
2 - Disagree 1 (0.6%)
3 - Neutral 1 (0.6%)
4 - Agree 20 (12.0%)
5 - Strongly AGREE 137 (82.0%)
Please respond to the following statement: The communication of teachers about my child's progress was helpful to me as a parent or guardian.
1 - Strongly DISAGREE 4 (2.4%)
2 - Disagree 2 (1.2%)
3 - Neutral 5 (3.0%)
4 - Agree 40 (24.4%)
5 - Strongly AGREE 113 (68.9%)
Please respond to the following statement: I understand how my child's grades are being determined by his or her teachers.
1 - Strongly DISAGREE 4 (2.4%)
2 - Disagree 3 (1.8%)
3 - Neutral 11 (6.6%)
4 - Agree 73 (43.7%)
5 - Strongly AGREE 76 (45.5%)
Please rate your overall experience at parent-teacher conferences.
1 - Very negative 0 (0.0%)
2 - Negative 1 (0.6%)
3 - Neutral 9 (5.6%)
4 - Positive 59 (36.9%)
5 - Very Positive 91 (56.9%)
Guidance and Counseling Team:
Approximately 110 seniors participated in a Practice ACT on October 8. This practice is to help prepare our students for the Board Funded ACT that will take place on December 14th. -- Phil Neely, Senior Counselor
Mark Holman attended MO Connection Training this month
EXPLORE testing was completed for freshmen this month
PLAN testing was completed for sophomores this month
Kris Turlington and Phil Neely attended the MU Counselor's Luncheon
Phil Neely attended Tech Ed Advisory Meeting
Counselors attended the HCC Area Counselor Meeting
Mr. Neely met with Senior Seminar Groups
Senior Parent Night was held in September and about 80 parents attended
MACC enrollment for Dual Credit Classes
The ACT was given on September 21st at MHS.
Guidance hosted 7 college/university visits, 3 military visits, 8 agency visits in September
The ASVAB test was given at MHS: 143 of 167 seniors were tested on October 3
15 new students were enrolled in September
9 students transferred from MHS in September
Activities/Athletics
Mr. Jeff Anderson – Vice Principal/Activities Director:
The girls golf team placed first at district competition and all five girls were all-district; Abby Gooch, Abby Hoer, Kaylee Stone, Jessica Slagle, Layne Ray, Kaylee Stone. Eight student-athletes are currently participating in after school intervention study hall (AISH).
Upcoming MHS Events and Activities:
Homecoming - Friday, October 18th; "Coming Home for the Holidays", Freshmen - National Sports Day, Sophomores - 4th of July,
Juniors - Christmas and Seniors - Halloween.
Spirit Days - Monday; Hippie Day, Tuesday; Duck Dynasty Day, Wednesday; Class Color Day, Thursday; Grandparents Clothing/Thrift Shop, Friday; Red and Gray Day (class colors: 9 - white, 10 - gray, 11 - black, 12 - red)
Wednesday, October 16th - Powder Puff Game @ 7
Friday, October 18th - Parade @ 3, Game @ 7, Coronation held after the game
