Going Online

This is the first of many notices announcing that we will be handling much of the registration process for next school year via online access. Nearly all of what we formerly known as "The Principal's Packet" will be available online as of August 1st. We feel this will have several advantages over the previous method.

First of all, it will save money that used to be spent for postage. Even though it was sent bulk rate, there were so many inserts included in the packet that it was costly.

Secondly, it will save a great deal of volunteer hours that were spent collating the packets. Even though that service was free to us from the Mothers' Club, those same volunteer hours can be applied elsewhere.

Third, the information will be more current. In the past, the flyers had to be finalized so early because we needed time to make copies and get them ready for mailing. Now that everything will be online, it will be easier to keep all of the forms up-to-date.

We actually did a trial run for this type of endeavor with the Senior Packet that went online this spring. From all indications, it was successful and we received many compliments on the ease of use. That experience provided a good test for us and makes us confident we will be successful with the registration process.

However, another leap we are taking with the registration process is that all payments will be electronic. Parents (students) will pay for a yearbook, Tower subscription, or physical education uniform via credit or debit card. The voucher that used to be in the principal's packet will now be interactive, not unlike other shopping you would do online. If you want to purchase something, simply "add it to the cart".

One difference is that we ask you to print two receipts, one for your records and one to send with your son/daughter to registration. Of course, we will still require students to come to school for the on-site registration. That is where they will get their textbooks, locker assignments, and schedule. They will also pick up PE uniforms and spirit packs if they were ordered.

To many of you, this may sound like a simple change in procedure. But if you've been doing things a certain way for quite a while and with obvious success, the change can be unsettling. Registration for more than 1600 students is never easy, but we are hopeful the online registration will simplify the process and cut down on unnecessary paperwork and handling of money.

Wish us luck!

Finish Strong

This is the time of year when I often see at least a few seniors walking around with an early tan and glazed looks in their eyes. This year is probably no different.

As recently as yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak to one of our seniors that had been away on Spring Break. I just asked a simple question, something like "Well, you're getting near the end, how does it feel to be a senior?"

His response was a bit unusual but very honest, "Mr. Diver, I'm here physically but I'm not sure I'm here mentally".

That's exactly how I've usually felt upon the return from Spring Break. Some of our seniors never fully come back. Oh sure, they come to school but often they are just putting in their time. I would like to use this space to remind them to finish strong. It would be silly to blow a good thing with just a few weeks left of school before exams.

Although they have been accepted to college, more admissions offices than ever are looking at the 8th semester to insure acceptance. I can remember several cases over the past few years when students were denied their first choice of college/university because of weak grades during the second semester of the senior year. I don't want that to happen to anyone else.

So my advice is the same it would be to anyone in any job or with any task. Finish strong because you never know who is watching or exactly what the impact of their perception might be.

And good luck over these last few weeks.

Please Choose Carefully

Now that we are headlong into the scheduling process, I want to take a moment to remind parents and students to choose your courses wisely. For every one of my ten years here at South, we have reduced our teaching staff despite maintaining nearly the same amount of students. That can only mean bigger classes, and the natural result is there are fewer open seats in the master schedule.

Next fall, we will be staffed tighter than ever. We will likely lose the equivalent of more than two teachers, resulting in class sizes that are even larger than they are this year.

In the past, we encouraged students to aspire to coursework that maximized their potential. If it didn't work out, we could make what we call a "level change" to a lower level class with no harm to the student's grade point average. That is no longer the case.

We still want students to enroll in the highest level where they can be successful, but we do not have the same latitude with level changes. The reason is that the lower level classes will already be full.

The bottom line is that we ask students and parents to choose carefully. If upon reading this you feel that your son/daughter may have bit off more than they can chew, I encourage you to contact your counselor to get them placed into the most appropriate class. We just won't have room for these types of changes later this summer when the master schedule is finalized.

We are still making adjustments in the master schedule at this point, and will be for the next month or so. That means we can still adapt to changes in the number of student requests for a particular course. We use these course requests to determine our staffing and develop our layoff list. The Board of Education will approve the layoff list (something no one enjoys) later this month as required by the teacher contract.

So if you wish to make changes that we should be aware of, now is the time to act. Thank you for your interest in helping us become even more efficient.

Some Good News...Some Not So Good

If any of you have tuned in to last evening's Board of Education meeting, you know what I mean by the title of this entry. Prior to the meeting, we discussed the budget for the upcoming school year. That, of course, is the bad news.

However, during the Board meeting there were at least three pieces of good news. Our girl's State Hockey Champs were recognized at the meeting last evening as were two of our senior students that earned the Presidential Scholar Award. In both cases, students were duly honored for achievements that are nothing less than outstanding!

The third piece of good news is that the district's Foundation presented the school district with a check in the amount of $350,000 to further the implementation of classroom technology. With this latest contribution, we can expect to have every classroom at South outfitted with a Smartboard and the necessary accessories by early next fall. That is truly something we could not have accomplished without the efforts of Mr. Bob Bury, Mrs. Lisa Vreede, Mr. Pat Burke and others that dedicate their efforts to fund raising. I encourage you to watch a tape delay of the Board meeting to see their presentation first-hand.

The bad news is simply reflective of the economic struggles in Michigan. What Governor Snyder has originally forecast for schools will result in Draconian cuts. We are hopeful that the legislature will have some impact in peeling back those deep cuts, however, we know that cuts are in order with even a best case scenario.

At South, that means class sizes will get just a little larger and cuts of other personnel will mean a reduction in services. It just seems to be a sign of the times. For the 2012-13 school year, we have to look at our current schedule for the school day. We can't continue the seven-period day the way it is currently offered. The tutorials that about 50% of the students are enrolled in are not a good use of time or money. We simply must get more efficient with our schedule.

There will be much greater detail about the budget in the coming months. Until then, let's hope spring weather finally arrives.

A Successful Search and Hopefully, A Deterrent

As some of you may have heard, today we had our second lockdown exercise for the purpose of bringing drug dogs through the building. At just about 9:00 this morning, we put the building on "lockdown" meaning no one could be in the halls and no one could enter or leave the building.

Through coordination with the Grosse Pointe Farms Police and Grosse Pointe City Police (and dog handler Mike and his dog, Raleigh), we had a coordinated effort with many municipalities to adequately search the building in just over 75 minutes.

This is essentially how the search was handled. There were at least four dogs in the building and at least five dogs in the parking lots. In the building, we searched all lockers and locker rooms, and even selected five classrooms at random to be searched. In the case of the classrooms, we moved those students to the auditorium and had them leave their coats and backpacks behind. The dogs then went through the respective classrooms looking for drugs and/or paraphernalia. When the classrooms were finished, the dogs went through the hallways to search the lockers for contraband.

Outside, the dogs searched each of the lots adjacent to the building. We searched the S-lot, J-lot, K-lot and even cars parked along the boulevard and down Fisher road. Fortunately, there were very few "hits" and of those only one turned out to be positive.

I was in the lots for the car searches. If a dog hit on a car, the student was brought outside and asked to unlock the car. The student was also asked if there might be anything in the car prior to letting the dog inside. In only one case did we find anything, and that was a small amount of marijuana.

I want to publicly thank the police officers that were involved. As mentioned earlier, there were at least nine dogs and their handlers, along with many other officers from the Farms and the City. It was a well coordinated effort that I hope serves as a deterrent for our students.

All in all, I was pleased with the findings.

Day One In The Books

With the arrival of March this year, we have the onset of the MME, or Michigan Merit Exam. Today was the first day of state testing of high school juniors, with all members of the class of 2012 taking the ACT. From my personal observations, it appears we are off to a good start.

Students arrived on time and were ready to go, and as has been the case at South, we were blessed once again with very good attendance. That means the "make-up" testing window two weeks from now will not require a great deal of adult oversight.

It's amazing how standardized testing has changed over the years, especially when compared to high school administration of the MEAP not too many years ago. This battery of tests is taken much more seriously by students, and the accountability for adults in schools is dramatically different than it used to be. And more changes are on the horizon.

Wholesale changes will be implemented across the state by 2014, but we will begin to see changes next fall at the elementary and middle level with more rigorous testing. The new tests will be more closely aligned to the ACT than the old MEAP tests. What the Department of Education discovered over the years is that the MEAP was not a good predictor of "college readiness". And college readiness is the new standard, much more so than just graduating with a high school diploma.

I am hopeful the serious approach that was observable today translates into another class of strong scores. Like it or not, the reputation of our school district and community is closely tied to standardized test performance.

Cyberbullying--Some Quick Facts

A couple of weeks ago, Assistant Principal Brandon Slone and I attended a Cyberbullying conference held at Baker College in Owosso, MI. The event was free of charge and sponsored by the diploma and class ring company, Josten's. In all, there must have been about 400 teachers, administrators and counselors in attendance.

The presenter was very effective, Justin Patchin, Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and co-host of the website www.cyberbullying.us

These are just a few of the things we learned during that day:
• early research learned that only 15% of cyberbullying gets reported to adults
• 93% of teens go online regularly; 63% go online daily
• 75% of teens have a cell phone
• QIK - this is a new program that streams live video immediately to the web (think about the danger inherent in that technology)
• Twitter is not that popular with teens - only 6% use it
• Youtube - only 11% use it weekly
• almost 50% of teens use the internet for school work
• girls use technology more than boys

The Digital Divide exists--the adults are Digital Immigrants while the Adolescents are Digital Natives. No real surprise there.

Regarding the concept of Cyberbullying:
• it must occur repeatedly over time to constitute bullying
• willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones or other electronic devices
• informal--kids think 80% are cyberbullied; 60% bully others
• kids rarely use email anymore; but adults over 65 use it heavily
• online gaming is also used for bullying - up to 34%
• the average teen sends 3400 texts per month, or six per hour
• 45% say they are bullied via text messages
• latest research, 19 - 28% admitted they were bullied
• 8 - 20% say they bullied others; girls more likely than boys
• not much difference between the races; whites a bit higher
• middle school is the place where it is at its highest
• the bullies tend to be poor students; as are the victims
• bullies try to be anonymous; victims can usually guess who they are
• easier to be cruel through text rather than face-to-face
• there is a new website, Chatroulette, with pictures/dialogue and click ‘next’ if you don’t like the person

Technology
• 85% of teens have their Facebook account marked ‘private’; three years ago it was only 39% marked private so they are becoming better users
• once something is posted online, it really can’t be deleted, i.e. go to Google and look under cache; Facebook will keep it so it can sell the information later
• having a professional page is doable, but it should not be the public site with a personal profile, etc.
• sexting-12% say they have received naked images; 7% have sent them
• about 50% have had sex before leaving high school--which is worse?
• advice to teens...delete it immediately and send a note not to send it again, passing it along constitutes child pornography, a felony

Responding to Cyberbullying:
• it’s more than just turning the computer off...that's bad advice; flippant and dismissive to the victim
• why should the victim lose computer privileges?
• Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex
• Tinker v. Des Moines - freedom of speech; ability to protest (i.e. Vietnam War) but that doesn't give you license to bully someone via technology

Litigation regarding schools, teens, and computer use:
• was school equipment used? that makes a difference
• was it truly detrimental to the educational environment?
• was there a crime committed?
• still have to protect the rights of a school employee to a degree
• must also be aware of sexual harassment
• is it a one-time offense or repeated acts? once it’s on the web, it’s out there...

When Can A School Respond?
• if school equipment was used, on school grounds, via cell phones at school, etc.
• must demonstrate a substantial and material disruption on campus
• inability to focus on learning
• when it interferes with teaching
• repetitive disciplinary measures are needed
• freedom of expression - must not interfere with the school’s mission
• 44 states have cyberbullying laws--Michigan does not
• the policy should include off campus behaviors
• New Hampshire has a good law that includes off campus behaviors
• most incidents can be dealt with informally
• create a “teachable moment”
• they have an online survey available to be used with students
• they also have scenarios that can be used for discussion

I encourage you to go to the website, www.cyberbullying.us as there is a great deal of information available. The most lasting impression for me was that it should not be ignored. Being the victim is just plain hurtful and unfortunately we have teenage suicides in our state to prove it.

Transition Time

A long time ago a mentor of mine told me that running a school was "like changing a tire with the car still moving". Since I first heard that comment, I've often felt there was a lot of truth to it. However, I'm not naive enough to think the same couldn't be said for many businesses and organizations.

Anyway, here we are at the midpoint of the school year already. At the same time students are prepping for exams, they are also looking ahead to select classes for next school year. Today is a dichotomy of sorts. The hallways are unusually quiet because we have 90-minute periods to allow for a comprehensive exam, yet at the same time the counselors are scurrying to make sure everything is ready for the scheduling process.

Building a master schedule for a comprehensive high school is like putting together a large, complex puzzle. There will be over 11,000 courses requested by our students that we then divide into about 400 individual sections. And quite a few of those courses will be offered only once per day, i.e. Symphonic Orchestra, Pointe Singers, and AP Physics.

We will do our very best to make sure that these so-called "singleton" courses are not placed in the same class period if there are students that want both offerings. However, no matter how hard we try, there are always a few conflicts that are unavoidable.

So during this transition time, I ask for two things; 1) Assist your students with exam preparation as much as possible without placing undue pressure, and 2) Help them choose their courses for next year very carefully. Once the master schedule is assembled and staff are assigned, there is little wiggle room for schedule changes.

I wish you well with both endeavors.

When You Need It Most

For anyone that lives and works in and around GP Schools, the past few weeks have been unsettling and upsetting for many folks. I'm speaking particularly of a few employees, but the impact has also reached some of our parents. It simply hasn't portrayed our community in its best light and didn't lead to the positive Holiday Season many of us would like to have had.

So earlier today, after a succession of meetings dealing mostly with problems, I received an email from "out of the blue". It came from a former student-athlete of mine from more than 25 years ago. As far as I can remember, it's the first contact I have had with him in more than 20 years. His message was brief, but powerful for me, and it simply stated at the end that "you do hold a special place in my life".

That former student now has three kids of his own and lives in Indiana. He coaches his two oldest in a form of Neighborhood Club and uses some of the same drills that I used back when he was a player.

We also referenced a major project that he turned in for my World History class. Becuase of the uniqueness of the situation, I can still remember the title of his project and the substance of it.

This is my point in writing this now, I have often told teachers and coaches that we never know when we impact someone's life. We have to treasure our time with them, because something that might be inconsequential to us may turn out to be vitally important to them.

And the reason for the title of this entry? When I was most in need of a pick-me-up, it arrived with just a few words from someone long ago.

On A Quiet And Peaceful Day

As I sit here on December 21st, it's amazing how quiet and peaceful this big building can be. We have a few contractors here finishing up a couple of projects, but for the most part there are few distractions with little noise.

The solitude even gives me the chance to listen to some Chip Davis and Mannheim Steamroller music to kick off the holidays.

I can only hope that each of you have a peaceful and enjoyable Holiday Season. Best wishes to everyone for a Happy New Year!

The More I Learn, The More I Learn I Have To Learn

As some of you may know, I serve on the Board of Directors for the state principals' organization. We just completed two days of meetings in Lansing, and my head is swimming with some of the new information I have gleaned. And as I've mentioned in this space before, the level of accountability seems to have increased tenfold over the past 5-10 years.

At a meeting with the Assessment (Testing) Director for the Michigan Department of Education yesterday, we were apprised of new testing that will be here before we know it. While it sounds far off to say it won't take full effect until 2014, I can remember when Y2K sounded a long way off.

Recently, the state department "rolled out" new curriculum standards and benchmarks, primarily in the areas of English, Math and Science. The essence of these changes are that new requirements have been added to the curriculum and the curriculum is being pushed down to the lower grades. In other words, students will have to demonstrate that they know more than before, and they will have to know it earlier.

It won't be long before the MEAP that has been used at the elementary and middle school levels will be replaced by more rigorous tests. The testing style will also be dramatically different. Right now there are strict testing windows, by that I mean that everyone in the state is required to give the same test on the same day. The reason is that these tests are "computer-based", meaning everyone faces an identical set of questions so test security is of utmost importance.

In the future, the testing window will be the final 12 weeks of the school year. The reason for the flexibility is that the tests will be taken online and will be "computer-adaptive", meaning that the test questions will change based upon the ability of the student. The more able the student is, the more difficult the questions will be. The end result is that the tests will likely be shorter but the score will be much more reliable and a better gauge or true academic achievement.

In summary, much is changing. And as I stated earlier I have much to learn to stay on top of all of the changes. This much I know, the job of teachers and educators in general is far more difficult than ever before.

This Is Rare Air We're Breathing

This a great time to be a Blue Devil! While South has always been known as a great school academically, we haven't had a reputation for being dominant in some of the major sports. Sure, we have an outstanding newspaper, choir and instrumental music programs and other shining stars, but when it comes to athletics it has usually been the minor sports that have taken the lead.

I say this because tomorrow our football team plays in the Final Four. You have to go back almost 50 years (the '54 team was recognized as State Champs prior to a playoff system) to find a team that has reached this level.

This year's team has been on a rare journey to get where they are. First of all, we squeaked into the playoffs after losing our last regular season game, but have consistently played better as we moved through the playoffs. The experts always say that you should finish strong, and there is no doubt we have peaked at the end of the season.

Today, we will have a pep assembly. That in itself is a rare occurrence. Typically, our only 'pep assembly' is during Spirit Week and the purpose of that assembly is to honor all of the fall sports, the Homecoming court, etc. This assembly will be different because the primary focus will be the football team. The impetus for the assembly came from the student body at large, not the football players or coaches.

What is typical at South is the success of many of our other fall sport teams. The girls are competing today at the State Meet in Swimming and Diving, and the girls just completed an outstanding season in Cross Country. Our boy's Tennis team also finished very high in the state rankings. But maybe the best of the group is our girl's Golf team. Not only are they one of the top teams in the state, they are also young with even brighter futures in front of them.

All in all, it's been a most successful fall sports season. It's gratifying to see school spirit beyond the norm, and fun to watch student-athletes achieve such high levels of success. I hope everyone associated with the school is as proud as I am to be a Blue Devil.

Go South!

Day of Reckoning

Why the title? Isn't that kind of gloom and doom?

At South, it probably is. But for some students that have been underachieving or at least less than attentive, there may be a day of reckoning soon. I'm referring to the fact that report cards will be sent home with students for the 1st quarter in a couple of days.

By and large, South students do very well in their classes. There is strong support and high expectations from home, and that is carried over into the classroom by students. We are also blessed to have dedicated teachers that hold these same high expectations for students. The end result is a school where the majority of the student body is adequately and effectively preparing themselves for life after high school.

Since the advent of Pinnacle and Parent Connect, it is easy for parents to monitor the progress of their sons and daughters. If you choose, you can watch their attendance on a daily basis and make note of any missing assignments in class. For the parent that is invested in their child's education, the degree of transparency has never been greater. It's a far cry from the 'old days'.

I remember when the first update of a student's potential grade came with progress reports at mid-quarter. Until then, parents were often left in the dark unless they made a conscious effort to contact the teachers. And it was often too late by the time the progress report arrived home to make an improvement in the quarter grade.

Thankfully, those days are long gone. The level of accountability has dramatically increased over the last decade--for everyone. Students, teachers and even parents are held more responsible for the level of achievement, and much more promptly. It is a result of the "No Child Left Behind" legislation and the fact that technological advances makes access to data so much more available.

For your son and daughter, I hope it's a day of celebration at your house when the report card hits home. It will likely mean that all of us have been doing our job.

TimeTo Reflect

This morning, I had a press conference with student reporters from the "Tower". This is something I do regularly, but time slipped away this year and this was our first one. It's usually a pretty easy exchange of ideas between subjects I raise with them and questions they ask of me.

One of the first questions from students today was something like, "How has the year gone so far"? My response was that's it's been a good start, and I attribute that to a couple of major factors. First of all, we have had great leadership from the senior class. They set the tone at the beginning of the school year, and especially for Spirit Week. I have nothing but praise for the leadership of the class of '11.

Secondly, we've enjoyed a strong fall sports season. Believe me, the Homecoming assembly is much better when everyone feels the football team can win that evening. And that type of success has been enjoyed by other sports.

Our girls' cross country team and volleyball teams have enjoyed great seasons and we hope they can finish as strong as they started. Both boys' tennis and girls' golf enjoyed strong regular seasons finished very high in state competition. And tomorrow night the football team plays Detroit Cody in what we hope is the first of several playoff games. That type of success carries over to the entire student body and makes everyone "proud to be a Blue Devil".

One of the issues I raised with the students is that we are looking at renovating the bathrooms in the main building. Not a very glamorous topic, but one that would directly impact nearly everyone. We have a meeting later today with the architects and representatives of the Preservation Committee.

The major questions will be like this, What do we do about restoring, renovating, or replacing the marble walls and dividers? Can we afford it? On the one hand, it would maintain the look of the original construction, however, not many people can afford to use marble on walls any longer.

This is an old building and there is a lot of old piping behind those walls. It will be a major undertaking if changes are made, but compared to the rest of the building, the restrooms are in really bad shape. Nothing short of a major renovation will bring them back to life.

In summary, it has been a good start as we continue the work of day-to-day operations of a large high school. We try to celebrate our little successes while keeping an eye on the future.

Special Visitor Today

We were fortunate earlier today to receive a visit from the State Superintendent of Schools, Mike Flanagan. Of course, this was not without significant notice and an element of fanfare.

Mr. Flanagan is trying to visit a different district each month, and this month was GPPSS' turn. He began his day today at Poupard Elementary with a look at Title I program implementation, and then traveled to North HS for a visit to AP classes and to see firsthand the infusion of new classroom technology.

A luncheon was served in Cleminson during his visit at South, complete with musical accompaniment from a string quartet of South students. Another group of students from our Commercial Foods program prepared a great lunch for about 35 attendees, including a majority of the Board of Education. Following the luncheon, Mr. Flanagan visited one of our classrooms before making his final stop at Brownell MS.

During his speech to the luncheon crowd, Mr. Flanagan sang the praises of the district, across all levels. This comes from a man that has directed the most significant changes in K-12 education during my 38 years in education.

Mr. Flanagan was clearly one of the loudest voices behind implementation of the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC). This is the curriculum that takes full effect with the class of 2011, this year's seniors. Across the entire state, standards were raised significantly with the requirement of four years of math, and either Chemistry or Physics among three years of science instruction.

Frankly, those changes weren't that dramatic in a school system like GPPSS. However, for a significant majority of schools state-wide, it was a leap of faith to assume all students could complete this rigorous curriculum.

The purpose behind the changes was no secret. We had to create a more educated workforce in order to attract more business to our state. Long gone were the days of a manufacturing marketplace that could provide a healthy living wage for employees with only a high school education. We needed a stronger talent pool to attract new business.

I remember very well the outcry from many of my colleagues that served as high school principals when the legislation first passed. There was a great deal of doom and gloom, with predictions that our dropout rates would increase significantly. There were also many attempts to "water down" the MMC to make it more achievable.

Mr. Flanagan and few others stood tall against the protest. And the voices of protest were loud and clear--people didn't like the rigor of the new requirements!

Now here was are just a few years later and there are many success stories across the state. Students and teachers have stepped up to meet the challenge. It hasn't been easy, but it is getting done.

Accountability for educators has never been higher and distrust of the system has never been greater. Movies like "Waiting for Superman" don't help. It also doesn't help when we are experiencing such difficult economic times and there is such angst in all of our communities. People want someone to blame, and our schools become an easy target.

As I reflected on today's visit, I couldn't help but think how far we've come in a few short years. Teachers are working harder than ever before, and students are attempting and completing more rigor than ever before. It is a success story, and it was nice to get validation today from one of the principal architects of the change.

All in all, it was an enjoyable and gratifying visit.

Spirt Week...And All That It Entails

Well, we are near the end of the day 1 of Spirit Week, the day dedicated to the junior class. By all accounts, it was a good start to what will become an exhausting week for some. It is particularly exhilarating and tiresome for those closest to the action. I'm talking about the students that do the brunt of the work for their class, the class advisors, and parent chaperones that give so much of their time.

The juniors were well dressed this morning, spirited, and well behaved. Everything that I observed was done in good fun and appropriate for the setting. I can only hope the rest of the week goes as smoothly.

Tomorrow, the sophomore spirit will be on display with freshmen on Wednesday and the seniors on Thursday. However, the biggest day is reserved for Friday. On that day the entire school is usually adorned in blue/gold and the day is capped off with a pep assembly at the end of the day followed by the parade and game.

It was just short of ten years ago that we moved the game and parade away from Saturday afternoon. Although the decision was questioned by some at the time, I can't imagine those activities moving back to their original Saturday slot. After all, high school football is all about "Friday Night Lights".

Last Friday, for example, we had an overflow crowd at North for the annual North/South game. This game is a tradition that goes back almost 40 years, and has recieved acclaim as one of the best rivalries in the State of Michigan.

Fortunately, South was the victor this time because North has had our number for a few years. Remember, in order for a game to be a big rivalry, the competition must be pretty equal (just ask UM fans in regard to UM/OSU).

So we're hoping for a great week. If you or your sons/daugters are heavily involved in the Homecoming festivities, remember to pace yourself. It can too often be a week that requires significant recovery time if priorities get out of order. It's supposed to be fun, not exhausting. Enjoy...

So Far, So Good

It's nice to report a very successful beginning to the school year so far. As mentioned before, the building looks great. Even more importantly, the upbeat attitude and enthusiasm of both staff and students has been palpable.

Our first day, half of it spent with Freshman Seminar, was a great opening. We have heard many good things about the class of '14 from our middle school colleagues, and we have been more than impressed so far. They were quiet and polite when asked, yet excited and eager at the same time.

We can only hope this early success bodes well for the future for everyone.

Looking Good!

Well, here we are just a long weekend away before the students arrive. There is always a measure of excitement just prior to the beginning of a new school year, and that's a pretty good description of where we are right now.

For the past five days since the freshmen received their schedules, we have had many visitors daily as the new students mark a trail through the halls as sort of a dry run of their schedule. They have been observed practicing and re-practicing their locker combinations and getting the interior of their lockers ready for the crush of the new year. All of it is designed to avoid any pitfalls on the first day of high school (or embarrassment).

From our standpoint, we are very close to being ready. The custodians are buffing up the hallways, teachers are finalizing classroom decorations, and the contractors are putting the wraps on their projects. The building itself has never looked better in the my ten years at South. I can't tell you how much the lighting on the first floor of the main building improves the appearance.

Contractors are in the S-lot as I write installing the new fence that surrounds the lot on the boulevard side. They will work nearly the entire Labor Day weekend getting it ready for students and staff. Although the new gate is not likely to be installed by then, the rest of the lot looks 100% better than before.

A smaller project over the Labor Day weekend calls for refinishing the exterior doors to the main building. As many of you have noticed, they are weathered to the point they look unsightly. Most of the exterior doors should be finished by the time students arrive.

All in all, I think we're ready. There are still just over 120 students to register on Tuesday morning, but we have already processed 1530 students into the system for this school year.

In closing, I hope it has been a nice summer for everyone because at this point we are just about ready to plunge headlong into the school year.

Those Taillights Look Even Better

My oldest sister, Janice, had six kids of her own but as she grew older, there were even more grandkids to follow. And after an unusually hectic weekend with a houseful of kids, she often made this remark, "Those headlights looked good, but those taillights look even better". I felt the same way this week.

Just over a week ago there was a lot of excitement surrounding the arrival of the film crew and cast for LOL. Nearly everyone was excited to see the prop people make changes to the building, and to see all the trucks converge on the site late in the evening. Of course, the excitement only increased when onlookers actually idenified the trailer that Miley Cyrus would use while on site.

All in all, it was an enlightening experience. I never realized it would take 100-125 crew people daily to make what is considered a low-budget film (about $14-15 million). I also learned what the "grip" people actually do, and how different and clearly separate their tasks are from lighting, sound, location, and videography staff.

It was also gratifying to see current or former South students in the role of "extras", but I observed how boring and tedious the job of an extra can really be. They had to dress warm (fall clothes despite hot, humid weather) and walk the same route over and over again until the 'take' was just right. Believe me, it didn't look very glamorous.

However, after more than a week of having virtually the entire school operation disrupted for the movie crew, it was nice for it to come to an end. Today, there is some normalcy coming back in the building and we can prepare in earnest for student registration next week.

In summary, I found the movie crew to be easy to work with and very forthcoming with information, however, by the time they left on Wednesday evening, "the tailights looked even better".

In The Midst of Dust And Debris...

...there is a lot going on. If you ventured into our building right now, you would have to wonder if we could be ready for students in just a few weeks. The first floor hallway of the main building looks like a war zone because of demolition required for the ceiling and light project. There is plywood on the floor, plastic covering lockers and doorways, and dust and debris throughout. That's the bad news.

The good news is that most of the first floor is finished, and I'm sure you will be pleased with the final product. The ceiling has new white tile and the new lights are a major improvement, both with the level of brightness and the aesthetic appearance.

If you pulled up outside, it is readily apparent the S-lot and courtyard are still in need of major work. Contractors are here today working in the courtyard, attempting to have it ready for the movie shoot next week. Paving in the S-lot will also begin next week as we try to meet the deadline of registration week (August 23-27) to have it accommodate student parking.

I had a meeting with a teacher this morning who couldn't believe we'll "make it" in time for the start of school. However, that's how it has often looked during my tenure at South. We typically have experienced some sort of major construction project, but still manage to be ready for students and staff. And it looks like this year will be no different.

The summary is that much is going on and significant progress is being made. We are truly fortunate to live and work in a district that can support facility improvements, as it definitely has a positive impact on the learning environment.

We'll see a major difference in just a few weeks.