Technology And Our Kids

There has been a great deal of debate about technology and its impact on our youth. But no matter what side of the argument you take, there is no refuting that it is here to stay. And given that, it is important that adults gain a better understanding of what it's about, and how to manage it.

I am going to pass along a link that was sent to me by our TV Production teacher, Steve Geresy. It contains a clip from ABC News on the impact of technology related to performance in school. It's just a two-minute video clip with Diane Sawyer but contains a lot of information (you will likely have to wait through a 15-second infomercial).

On the right side of this page under articles of interest, click on the ABC News clip or paste the following address in your browser: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9617831

Of more serious consequence is what is going on with "sexting" by teenagers across the world. This occurs when students take nude or semi-nude pictures and send them to others electronically.

I am going to make reference to a slide show that was sent to me by my wife. The slide show is part of the Macomb County Health curriculum and contains a powerful message, at least in my mind. You can find the presentation via the South H.S. website under parent information. Use the pull down menu and then open the link to "sexting - parent info". You will be able to view it in either a slide show or pdf. format.

I think it's a "must see" for anyone with adolescents in the house and strongly encourage you to share it with your sons and daughters.

Students and Identification

For those of you that have been around for a while, you're probably well aware that we have been requiring students to wear ID badges. That policy has now been in effect for almost three full years, and it periodically gets revisited.

Last June, the policy was discussed in earnest because North H.S. staff was considering whether to drop their policy. One of their primary reasons was that their school now used a single entrance for all student traffic with an adult presence at that entrance. Of course, we don't have that luxury with our cramped parking lots and multiple entrances.

Anyway, when it was discussed with staff last June, there was resounding support to keep our current policy. While no formal vote was taken, my guess is that about 84 of 90 staff members in attendance voted to keep the policy.

As you know, we recently surveyed all of our stakeholders about a variety of issues. One survey was dedicated just to students, and one of the more notable results from the student survey was that they wanted to end the ID policy. It was a predictable response, but notable nonetheless.

Just recently, we held a staff meeting to discuss the results of the student survey, and we took time to discuss the strong student response to the current ID policy. After much discussion on both sides of the issue, we decided to put the matter to an anonymous vote of the staff.

Everyone was asked to vote "yea" or "nay" to the current policy as we go forward. To my surprise, the results were pretty dramatic. 82 members of our staff voted to keep the policy as it stands, while 26 supported a change. That means that we still have 76% of our staff that believes we can better manage students if they wear an ID badge. So we will continue with current policy.

I realize this is not the response students were seeking from the staff. I also realize most of them would rather not be responsible for turning in homework, or reporting to class on time. A few years ago, the major complaint was that students could no longer wear hats in class.

In any large organization, it's important for someone to exhibit the willingness to make tough decisions for the betterment of all. I believe that is what our staff just did...even though it's a hassle to enforce the policy, it provides for a more secure environment. And students learn better in a secure environment.

Changing The Tire With The Car Still Moving...

Here we are at the start of a new semester. In some ways the time has flown by, but in other ways it's taken a while. In either case, on Monday students will begin their new semester. For some of them, it will mean different classes and different teachers. However, for most students the majority of their schedule will be unchanged as students typically enroll in yearlong classes.

At the same time everyone is gearing up for the new semester, we are also enrolling students for the 2010-11 school year. That's the way it goes in the business of schooling, you're preparing for next year even though you're only halfway through the current school year. Hence, the analogy to changing a tire while the car is still moving.

I want to take this opportunity to remind students and parents to choose their classes carefully. Guidance counselors and teacher will be offering the same advice. Please heed it.

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at more than 10,000 course requests from our high school students. We take all of those course requests and determine staffing based upon requests. If there are enough students interested in a course to offer it, we do so. If there is not enough student interest, the course doesn't run.

We then take all of those course requests and determine the 375+ sections that will be needed within our master schedule. And then we will build a master schedule that 'fits' those sections into an 8:00 - 3:05 school day.

The aspect of creating the master schedule that takes the greatest emotional toll in these difficult economic times is creation of a layoff list. Each of the past six years we have been in the downsizing mode, requiring layoffs from nearly all of our bargaining groups. That's why we need you to choose classes carefully. It affects people's livelihood.

In a downsizing mode, we have to eliminate sections with low enrollment and collapse sections when possible. That creates far less flexibility in the master schedule than we had just a few years ago. It also means that when school begins in the fall we cannot accommodate schedule changes except in the rarest of circumstances.

So again I ask you, please choose your courses carefully becuase what you decide in the next few weeks will be reality in the fall of 2010. Good luck!

What Is A Tardy Sweep?

Periodically, we are asked by the staff to "crack down" on students that are late to class.

Don't get me wrong, compared to any other high school in my experience, this is far less of an issue at South than elsewhere. However, when teachers are investing all they have into student achievement and engagement, it's frustrating to have students walk in late to class. At the very least it's a disruption, but it can also cause somewhat of a restart to the class.

So occasionally we conduct a "hall sweep". It's pretty simple. We pick a certain period of the day and once the bell rings, teachers are asked to lock their doors and refer all tardy students to the auditorium. Once students report there, the administrators assign detentions to students caught in the hall sweep because obviously these students were tardy to class.

Each time we do this we get some complaints from students or parents. Of course, if a student has a legitimate excuse to be in the hall (i.e. sent to their locker by the teacher) the detention is cancelled. However, there are always some students that claim it was their first time being late and they are being unduly punished.

I don't believe a detention is too big a penalty for tardiness to class, and hopefully it will serve as a deterrent to future tardiness. I mention this because we will have another hall sweep in the near future, and I'm hopeful that an up-front explanation may prevent some of the complaints after it is implemented.

I believe it's obvious to all that punctuality is a good lifelong skill to possess, and this is something all high schools try to enforce. Students have seven minutes to move between classes here at South and that is ample time to get wherever they need to go. Often times, the tardy students are those that spend time socializing with friends and waiting for the last minute to start to class.

We believe this is an effective deterrent, we know that teachers and hall monitors request it, even though students caught in the sweep dislike it. It's one of the ways we use to curb tardiness to class.

The Survey Says...

I hope everyone was able to enjoy the New Year and that it was a happy one for you and your families.

Just before the Holidays, we were able to make each of the surveys available to the public. These are the surveys administered in early October and that are designed to provide feedback to our School Improvement Team.

If you go to the South webpage, there is a message embedded in the document that references the surveys. The message instructs you to go to the links on the left side of the page to see each of the four surveys:
1) Parent
2) Teacher
3) Student
4) Support Staff

At our staff meeting on January 5th, we took a good look at both the parent and teacher survey results. At an upcoming meeting, we will continue with the student and support staff results.

For the most part, each of the surveys are complimentary of the quality of education here at South. There was high praise for the curriculum standards and high expectations for students. There are, however, areas that we must address and dissecting the survey results is the first step.

In hindsight, we wish we would have asked students the same three open-ended questions that were asked in the other surveys:
1) What do you like best about South?
2) What do you like least?
3) What suggestions do you have for improvement?

Having that information from the students would have given us a more complete picture of the similarities and differences of opinion. Oh well, we can do that next time.

I encourage you to take some time to go through the survey results. At the minimum, I think you will find it interesting to see how others feel about South High School.

How Do I Get In This Place?

We finally have our new security system in place, much like other buildings in the district. We will implement this plan when students return from the Holiday break on January 4th. The change concerns exterior doors and when they will be locked or unlocked.

Expect the doors to be unlocked in the morning until 8:15, or 15 minutes after the day begins. Obviously, PLC Mondays will be treated differently, but doors will still lock 15 minutes after school begins.

After that time, anyone wishing to enter the building will have to “buzz in” at one of three entrances. There are three spots where there are buzzers and cameras:
1) entrance A, which is the door to the main building under the bridge from the I.A. building
2) entrance E, the door near the old greenhouse closest to Grosse Pointe Blvd.
3) entrance S, the door to the Boll Center or new pool building.

These will be the only doors to enter once school has started and when classes are in session.

Other doors between buildings will be programmed to unlock one minute before class is dismissed, and up until two minutes after class starts. In other words, students will be able to go outside between buildings during regularly scheduled passing times.

The same will be true at lunch. The exterior doors will be unlocked during lunch, but only until two minutes after 5th period begins. If students are still outside after that time, they will have to “buzz” the office to be allowed back into the building.

There are two other changes…one temporary and one more permanent. The front doors to the building will remain locked until we get back to spring-time weather. We just cannot handle all of the snow and slush being dragged into the front entrances during the winter. That is the temporary change.

The permanent change is that entrance Q, the door nearest the choir room, will remain locked during the school day, including lunch periods. If students are moving from the I.A. building to the main building or S-building, they will have to use the bridge between buildings or enter through entrance A, located right below the bridge crossover.

If students arrive after classes are in session, and have to “buzz in” for entrance, they are to identify themselves giving name and grade. One of the secretaries will be able to allow entrance at that time. They are to then go to the Attendance office and sign in.

At the end of the day, all doors will lock at 4:00 except for students with practice schedules.

In short order, all of us will be used to these changes. In reality, we are one of the last schools to limit access in this manner so it’s probably long overdue.

In closing, I hope you are able to enjoy your time with friends and family while school is not in session, and wish you the best of the Holiday Season!

And Now, A Word From Our Parents

With the onset of the Holiday Season, we are getting very close to a full release of the parent data from the school survey. Although there isn't room in this spot for all of the details, I will provide a few of the highlights.

The Basics:
- 402 parent responses overall, with 72% being female
- 91% of those responding were white in regard to ethnicity
- the largest portion (33%) of those responding listed a senior as the oldest child
- when asked what they liked best, the most popular narrative responses were the curriculum, teachers, and high standards

The Good:
- 92% feel the school has a positive impact on property values
- 92% feel the education offered to students is of high quality
- 92% feel the school is clean and the grounds are well maintained
- 92% feel we have good textbooks and adequate supplies
- 89% believe the quality of schools influenced their decision to live in this community

The Bad:
- only 10% feel that substance abuse is NOT a problem, while 64% believe it IS a problem
- only 15% feel there are NO problems with bullies at school, however, 24% claim they do not know if it is a problem
- only 26% feel we are doing a good job teaching career/vocational courses, while 40% either did not know or the question did not apply to them
- only 45% of parents are confident students see a relationship between what they are studying and their everyday lives
- only 46% feel we are preparing students to deal with issues or problems they will deal with in the future

Our hope is to have the results ready to post on the website shortly after the Holiday break. We have been pleased with the number of responses as more than a third of our parents, well over half of our students, and nearly all of our staff members responded to the survey.

We thank you for taking the time to complete the survey and wish everyone the best of the Holiday Season!