We're At It Again

Sometimes, it seems like we never get a break around here. Here we are toward the end of mid-winter break, and the building is a mess. The cause of the noise and dust is the renovation of the boys' gym and adjacent locker room. The final goal is to turn the old gym into the multi-purpose room for Fine Arts and the renovation is in full swing. The old basketball floor has been completely removed, a new entrance has been cut into the exterior wall, and we will soon undergo demolition of the majority of the balcony.

However, right now we are dealing with approximately 20-25 contractors that are preparing for the demolition. The old pool is also part of this project, to serve as our Student Commons by the time school opens in the fall.

For the remainder of this school year, some student lockers had to be relocated and students will lose access to one corridor in the main building. Once again, we ask our students, staff and visitors to "please excuse our dust". In the end, the improvements will be worth the inconvenience of the renovation.

I hope everyone had a chance to get re-energized and comes back refreshed from the February break.

Important Choices

Sometimes it feels like we're trying to change a tire while the car is still moving. Maybe that's how it is in many businesses, but it's definitely how it feels in school administration. Once February arrives, it's time to schedule students for the next school year.

Building a master schedule for more than 1600 students is a complex process. Consider that we take more than 10,000 course requests from our students and use them to create almost 400 different sections. Consequently, once the master schedule is developed we have little flexibility with schedule changes.

So we ask you to choose wisely. When possible, ask your current teacher for the proper recommendation of the next class in the continuum. We will do our very best to create a schedule with optimal opportunities for your sons and daughters, but we need the most accurate information available.

I encourage you to make careful choices with your sons and daughters. If you do your part, it enables us to do ours.

Need Some Parents; Need Some Students

I've written before about the results of our Quality Assurance Review, or QAR. This refers to the visiting team of educators that came to South last December.

The accreditation process outlined by the State of Michigan consists of seven standards. Two of these standards, Governance and Leadership and Stakeholder Communications and Relationships, call for greater student and parent involvement in school improvement decisions. With this in mind we are expanding the leadership team for our high school, the people that make up our school improvement team. Specifically, we are looking for two parents and two students to work with our staff on school improvement initiatives. The following are some of the specifics regarding membership on this team:

• We are seeking two students in grades 9-10-11 and two parents of students in grades 9-10-11 to be added to the school improvement team
• The term for those selected will be the balance of this school year and the duration of the 2009-10 school year
• Meetings are held monthly, usually on the third Monday of the month, at 3:15 PM
• There may be occasional task-specific meetings of short duration in addition to the monthly meetings
• There will be one full-day meeting in August for the purpose of data interpretation and goal setting for 2009-10
• One of the early responsibilities of parents and students will be development of a survey that will be administered to all parents and students in the spring of 2009
• Survey results will be used in the development of school improvement goals for 2009-10
• Representatives selected are expected to serve as liaisons to other South parents and students

Applications for these positions are available through the South website by using the Parent tab and clicking on the School Improvement Team application. Student applicants are also to use the South website, using the Student tab and clicking on the School Improvement Team application.

Applications are due in the principal’s office by the end of the day on Friday, Feb. 27. Current members of the school improvement team will make selections from those that apply, with notification of the selections to all involved by Friday, March 6.

Should you have any questions, please contact me via email at al.diver@gpschools.org at your earliest convenience. We look forward to your participation.

A New Start

It may be hard to believe, but we're halfway through the school year already. By most measures, we had a good first semester. One area of concern, however, dealt with attendance patterns for many of our students.

With encouragement from the Board of Education, we attempted to change our attendance policy from previous years. In the past, students that accumulated three (3) unexcused absences earned an "attendance F" despite their academic standing in the class. The same held true for students that accumulated eleven (11) excused absences. Members of the Board of Education felt the previous policy was too punitive and damaging to a student's grade point average.

So with the start of the 2008-09 school year we relaxed the attendance policy. Although it never officially became Board policy, the directive was to eliminate the concept of "attendance F's". The end result was that there was really no cap on the number of days a student could miss during this previous semester.

What we learned during this trial period is that too many of our students lack the maturity to act responsibility. We had far too many students "skip" individual class periods or entire days, resulting in a large spike of unexcused absences.

More problematic, however, was that we witnessed a significant increase in the number of parents that called in their sons and daughters for excused absences. Comparing '08 to '09, from the start of school until just before the holidays, there was an increase of more than 20% home call-ins. The number of students that exceeded the previous threshold for excused absences increased dramatically. Missing that much school has an extremely negative impact on student performance.

For example, a significant number of our students missed more than 60 hours of class time in the time frame listed above. And there really is no excuse. In the real world, employees would be terminated early on.

So there will be a change second semester. Although we won't know the details for another couple of weeks or until the Board of Education adopts the new regulations, there will be a cap on absences once again. And although we won't issue "attendance F's", students that exceed the cap will be removed from any class where absenteeism is excessive.

We really need cooperation from parents with this change. Missing a single day equates to six hours of instruction, with five days leading to 30 hours missed. Those are lectures, labs and discussions that just can't be made up no matter the efforts of all involved. Please help us maximize student achievement by doing your part.

An Option For Students

This only pertains to students, or their parents, that are in the class of 2011 (current sophomores) or beyond.

The purpose of this letter is to inform you of your right to request a Personal Curriculum (PC) for your son or daughter. In January 2007, the Michigan legislature passed laws related to new high school graduation requirements. These new requirements are called the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC). The MMC contains more rigorous standards for graduation with a high school diploma. The MMC must be followed beginning with students who were in the 9th grade in the fall of 2007, our current sophomores, or the class of 2011.

We hope that the new MMC requirements will improve the quality of education for ALL Michigan public high school students. We are also aware that some students have special talents and interests that warrant additions to the curriculum. Other students may have disabilities that require some accommodations to keep the MMC meaningful and fair. If you believe your son or daughter needs a Personal Curriculum, you must make a request for consideration of a PC, then a team is formed to determine what curriculum changes are appropriate. The MMC requirements and allowable PC modifications are listed below.

The new MMC law requires the following when considering a Personal Curriculum:
• The PC must be requested by the parent or guardian.
• The PC may not be needed if the MMC for a student can be addressed with other reasonable arrangements.
• When needed, PC is written by a group of knowledgeable people that includes the parent and school staff.
• The PC must adhere to the MMC content standards as much as is possible for the student. In other words, the essential content expectations for graduation must still be met.
• The PC may exceed the requirements of the Michigan Merit Curriculum.
• The PC may contain some special provisions for students with documented disabilities.
• The PC must be approved by the Superintendent of the school district.
• The PC may be adjusted during the course of the student’s high school education using the same process, as appropriate.

More detailed descriptions of the Michigan Merit Curriculum and a Personal Curriculum are available via the website at http://gpschools.schoolwires.net/gpsouth/site/default.asp by clicking on the “Parents” tab and then Personal Curriculum. Deadline for the application is February 2, 2009.

Enjoy The Break

Just two days away from Christmas, I don't think there's much doubt it will be a white one this year. As a matter of fact, it's snowing right now, adding to the nearly 10" already on the ground.

To all students and staff, we made it! Some were concerned that going these extra two days might result in extreme absenteeism. After all, many school districts dismissed their students for the holiday break on Friday, December 19, a snow day for nearly everyone across the state.

The major concern for Grosse Pointe was whether we would meet the 75% attendance threshhold that is established by the State of Michigan. The regulation from the state is that 75% of a district's students must attend for the day to "count" toward the days/hours requirement.

I am happy to report that our attendance was better than expected. While we might average about 92% attendance on any given day, we were better these past two days than many feared. On Monday, 12/22, we had about 86% of our students attend and today we had about 82% in attendance. In either case, we were in good shape.

So off on vacation we go. In talking to students and staff, it seems many more are staying close to home this year. But no matter what you are doing over the next 10 days or so, have fun and be safe.

Here's wishing you the very best the New Year has to offer.

Much To Be Thankful For

At a time of such economic upheaval, especially in Michigan, it is easy to get embroiled in negative conversations. It disturbed me to watch how representatives of the "Big Three" were treated by members of Congress, especially when the legislators may secretly believe they have more to gain from a collapse of the Big Three than if they were to remain solid.

I have a vested interest in this discussion. Many members of my family were employees of the auto industry and my youngest daughter and son-in-law are new engineers with GM. There isn't a day goes by that I don't worry about their economic future with the company. It even goes so far that I worry about my oldest brother's GM pension and health care. It appears that no one is really protected financially anymore.

However, there are times I am extremely grateful. I am hopeful that the new leadership in Washington will lead us to better times. Time will tell if serious changes are possible, but the optimism and positive messages that I have observed so far can only help a cautious public. It has been my experience that confidence is the best predictor of success. Until we are confident, we have little chance of moving forward with the bold steps that are likely necessary to climb out of this hole.

I am also thankful I work in a community that is so supportive of education. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we have "great" kids. They are bright, respectful, and committed to doing well. They have educational aspirations far beyond high school, making our jobs much easier.

As we enter the Holiday season, I wish all of you the very best of the New Year. We must be confident that '09 will be an improvement over the challenges of '08. And for that, we will be thankful.

Happy Holidays!