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- Happy
last day of school! Students
celebrated in many joyful ways as they unwound after a week of
homework and finals to cap a year full of learning. Have a sun-
and fun-filled summer break, and we’ll see you in August!
- Next
week: School’s out but the school
board is still hard at work. Join board members at
6 p.m. next Wednesday, June 22, in the Administration
Building as they debrief the 2011 session with local legislators.
Following at 7 p.m., they will conduct their regular business meeting,
which will include the superintendent’s recommendation for a 2012
bond measure.
- High
school schedule conversation to begin this fall:
Three years ago, our high-school administrators—through
collaboration, focus groups, surveys, and constant monitoring and
analysis—created five belief statements about what makes for an
optimal high-school experience. They are in the areas of
Access, Connectivity, Citizenship, Resiliency, and Expression.
These belief statements have served as a filter for many decisions
that have incrementally changed the landscape of our high
schools—from online learning to partnering with our middle schools
to provide more flexibility in fulfilling graduation requirements
to rethinking summer-school enrichment opportunities.
Three
years ago, the superintendent also asked the high-school
administrators specifically to take a closer look at the use of
time and scheduling. That work was intentionally delayed to
allow for a more careful analysis of existing practices in our
schools. However, in this current period of diminishing
resources and growing academic expectations, it is now important
that we return to that charge and look closely at the precious
resource of time in our high schools in an effort to design a
common schedule for high schools. We do not yet know
what such a schedule will look like, but it should allow us to
better share resources, consolidate our professional support for
staff, and capitalize on our learnings from the last three years.
We
are starting in August by engaging our staff in conversations that
will be the foundation for a community process that will include a
committee of principals, teachers, staff, students, and parents.
There will be ample opportunities to learn together and provide
feedback. Please look for more information as we embark on this
work in the fall.
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