The Rumor Mill

Imagine my surprise when reading the police blotter in last week's "Grosse Pointe News" detailing a serious incident at South. The short story spoke of a supposed threat made by a student that he would return "with a gun and his homeys" following a fight with another student. That was the rumor mill, and frankly I don't know how that even reached the paper.

Here is the skinny on what happened...one student approached another in the cafeteria during lunch. A brief altercation took place, but punches were not even thrown. On the way out of the building, the first student would not stop when asked by school personnel. Student number two thought he heard from others that the first student said something similar to the quote cited in the paper. However, when administrators questioned students that were in the vicinity, we could never get anyone to validate anything close to the alleged threat.

In addition, when we met with the student and parent that supposedly made the threat, he reiterated that no threat was made. In addition, the parent never tried to hide the whereabouts of her son, as stated in the police blotter. On the contrary, the parent was most cooperative with school personnel.

This is another example of sensationalism that often reaches the newspaper and the media in general. It happens so often that I normally refrain from responding, however, in this case the information was unusually erroneous.

Just as we teach our students to critically read information they find on the Internet, I hope our parents read and listen with a certain skepticism information they encounter about our schools.

Dropout Factories?

If you've been reading the newspaper in Michigan, or following the local TV news, there has been much written about the dropout rate of Michigan high schools. Some in the news media have even referred to our schools as "dropout factories". A couple of weeks ago Channel 7 even dedicated an hour of prime time with guests such as Bill Cosby and State Superintendent Mike Flanagan to discuss the issue. This is critically important and deserves our attention.

I am happy to report the latest statistics for South High School. We were just informed of the "official" dropout rate for students from the class of 2007. In this case, South's graduation rate was 96.55% in comparison to the state average of 74.98%. For obvious reasons, we are proud of our graduation rate. However, we also realize that even one dropout is too many.

This isn't like the 1950's when the state graduation rate hovered around 50%, yet non-graduates (dropouts) could walk across the street and get a well-paying and career-long job with the auto industry. We have to do better, and all of us know it. At least all of the adults know it. Some teenagers still have to be convinced that there is life beyond next week and that decisions made today may impact their future.

On the right side of this blog page, under the 'Articles of Interest' there is a podcast titled, "The Haunting Impact of School Dropouts" featuring State Superintendent Flanagan. It is worth the 10 minutes of your time that is required to hear his message. The dropout rate should be a concern to all of us.

A Tech Visit

During the last in-service, four staff members from South traveled to Bloomfield Hills Andover High School to see how their teachers have implemented the use of interactive whiteboards. This piece of technology is now in place in every classroom in the Bloomfield Hills district. We were joined there by four staff members from North and two from central office.

The implementation at the high schools began on January 2nd of this year, meaning they have had only about four months to get adjusted to the new tools. However, all of us were very impressed with its use so far.

For our visit, Andover made eight of their teachers from various disciplines available to us to show us how they use the whiteboards. Although each of them use it in different ways, the benefit to students and staff is obvious. The technology is used to provide much more detailed information at a quicker pace. Teacher and student thoughts and ideas can be quickly saved and shared again at a later date. It was readily apparent that interactive whiteboards facilitate increased engagement for students.

We also talked to their tech staff about student use of blogs, wikis and youtube. Simply stated, Bloomfield Hills schools have more open access for students. They have a filtering system, but students are not as "locked down" as they are in GP. The result is that blogs and wikis can be used to supplement what takes place in the classroom. Students can respond to the teacher and other students from their class from their homes.

I have attached a recent article from eschoolnews that speaks to the benefits of students using blogs. You can read it by clicking to the right under Articles of Interest on the link titled, eschoolnews.

Warm Weather and Appropriate Attire

Most of the school year, the dress code is not even an issue at South and for that I am thankful. However, with the onset of the recent nice weather, we are forced once again to look at our dress code to guide our actions. At a recent meeting with the department chairs, the topic came up once again. This is what we're seeing lately--shorts that are too short, tops that are too skimpy, and pants that are worn too low.

As soon as I can figure out what to say and how to say it, I will make a video announcement for the students to serve as a reminder to dress appropriately. However, it will really help us if the parents help in choosing what is appropriate for school.

As a father of three daughters, I realize that what is available in stores often drives the fashion trends. And I understand that short-shorts have made a return to the fashion scene. But that doesn't mean they have to be purchased for the purpose of wearing them to school.

Remember that we are school with approximately 1700 students, and logic tells us about half of them are of the opposite sex. Teenagers don't need any more distractions than they already face when it comes to learning and the onset of spring fever. Please make sure they leave the house properly covered up.

We appreciate your support.

National Honor Society Induction

On Tuesday, April 15, we will host our annual National Honor Societ induction ceremony. This event is always one of our favorites and will be held in the auditorium at 7:00 PM. This year we will recognize 74 juniors that have met the criteria in the four categories necessary for membership into NHS. Those categories are: Scholarship, Character, Service and Leadership.

Although NHS is a national organization sponsored by the national organization of high school principals, each school establishes its own criteria. Rest assured when I tell you that the criteria for membership at South is more stringent than any of the three previous high schools where I have been principal. Because we have such strong students and of high moral character, the area where students fall short is with service or leadership. Membership into NHS requires evidence of a significant amount of service and leadership either within or outside the school setting.

So, congratulations are in order for those inducted. And for those invited but not selected in this round, non-membership simply means you were measured against the very best the state has to offer. There will be another opportunity in the fall for you to demonstrate your strengths to the Faculty Council and we wish you the very best in that endeavor.

News from the Tower

As most of you know, we have a very accomplished student newspaper called "The Tower". In their pre-Easter break edition, they tackled the sensitive issue of student achievement on the Michigan Merit Exam (MME). In particular, they addressed reasons for achievement gaps among the various subgroups. In nearly every case, the reasons behind gaps in learning has everything to do with the classes taken by the students. For obvious reasons, if they haven't been taught the material that is measured on the test, they will do poorly. The solution for us then is to make sure ALL students have access to a similar curriculum. We have made strides in this regard in recent years but need to do a better job to insure that "no child is left behind". I encourage you to get a copy of that particular edition of The Tower to get a closer look at the students' perspective.

Assembly for Students on March 14

Dr. Martin Luther King made a speech on March 14, 1968 in the gym here at South (it was known as "the High" back then). This speech took place just weeks before he was assassinated. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of his speech, we are having an assembly for students on Friday, March 14. The presenter will be Michael Fosberg and his one-act play is titled, "Incognito". Students in grades 10 and 12 will see the assembly during third period while students in grades 9 and 11 will see the assembly during sixth period. I would like to thank the Mother's Club for providing the funds for this activity.