Friday, December 11, 2015

College Readiness

On Tuesday, I had an awesome opportunity to spend some time with our Triad colleagues.  Bill Green, the new principal of Roosevelt, organized a visit to Emerson and Franklin for us.  In four years, it was the first time I had ever toured Franklin or Emerson.  It was a great opportunity to see our schools and talk with other principals in our area of the district.  One of the questions we want to explore is "What are we really preparing our students for?"  Sometimes we make assumptions about what the middle school and high school are like and what they want from our students.  We also explored the question, "What do we want our triad to be known for?"  Around these topics, we had good conversation about leadership, community, programs, and curriculum.

It was powerful conversation but actions can also speak louder than words.  Students at Emerson especially were glad to see us.  We received many hugs, waves, and hellos.  The students were engaged in classrooms, they walked quietly and safely down the hallways at passing time, class size was smaller than I expected, and technology was being used.  It was a softer more joyful middle school experience than the media often makes it out to be.  

The Gallup Poll states that engagement (the involvement and enthusiasm for school) and hope (the ideas and energy students have for the future) links to student success.  Some elementary principals were concerned that we are knocking the joy of learning out of students far too early.  How do we create engaging environments for our students?  How do we ensure that they feel hope for their futures?  We have not received our Cooper Gallup Poll results yet but our district results stated that only 67% of students feel that the will most likely attend a four year college or university and 8% stated they will attend a two year college.  We need to continue to inspire hope in our students.  As Robert John Meehan said, "We are not JUST teachers.  We are managers of the world's greatest resource-children."

Check out this fun music video encouraging students to go to college and featuring the First Lady!

We would like to encourage all teachers to consider posting the colleges they attended outside their classroom.  At Emerson, there are signs with the teacher's name and the colleges they attended posted right by the entrance to their classrooms.  What a subtle and smart sign to encourage students to begin with the end in mind.

Mrs. Aherne
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Eastern Michigan University

Big Rocks:

Thank you to Sandy Crociata and Karen Danke for all of their hard work with the 6th grade vocal and instrumental concerts.  They did a wonderful job using student leaders to announce and provide some information about each piece.  The students did it with such poise and personality!  It was great to see such a wide variety of our students being highlighted with solos, duets, and speaking parts.

Thank you to the Enthusiasm Team for planning the staff holiday party.  We are looking forward to celebrating with everyone tonight!

As you all know, we continue to have days when we do not have sub coverage.  Additionally, we have had several instances where teachers have had unexpected health/family emergencies that required them to be out.  We would like everyone to make sure that they have at least one day of emergency sub plans on file.  Please turn them into the office by January 8th.

If you haven’t heard, Andrea Oquist will be appointed the new Superintendent on Monday night.  We are so excited that she has accepted the position.  She truly is all Livonia heart.  You are all welcome to attend.  She came to our principal’s meeting to discuss future enrollment.  The district has been working on some data dive enrollment projections.  We are down 340 students this year.  We have lost 1700 students since the beginning of the bond planning.  The district will be bringing in Plant Moran Cresa to do studies on boundary/attendance areas, live birth, and other information and make predictions about future enrollment.  Apparently, they can make predictions with 99.5% accuracy.  They will be looking at the capacity of our schools and how we are using facilities (building use assessment).  In addition, they will bringing together a team of stakeholders to make some data driven decision-making.  We will keep you posted with updated information!


Calendar for the Week of December 14, 2015:
Monday: 9:00-10:00 DSIT (Sarah at CO)
               11:00-1:00 Curriculum Advisory (Sarah)
                11:15 Student Lighthouse Meeting
Board of Education Meeting at CO to appoint Andrea Oquist as the new    Superintendent.
               Cooper PTA Red Wings Game
Tuesday: 3:45-5:00 Lighthouse Meeting
Wednesday: 8:00 IST
                     11:15 Student PTA Meeting
                    6th Grade Vocal Assemblies
Thursday: 8:00 Staff Meeting
                 9:35 Bel Canto Choir Visit
                 6:00 PTA Meeting
Friday: 7:30 Staff Breakfast

             8:45 LEAD time

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