Friday, September 20, 2013

Highlights 9/20/13

School News:

  • Congratulations to Mrs. Kish on the announcement of her pregnancy.  Best of luck to the future parents Danielle and Andor.
  • Ted Opderbeck was honored with a 2012-2013 Gold Star Teacher Award.  Teachers receiving this award achieved a 90% pass rate (in a class with at least 10 students) on the w!se Financial Literacy Certification Test.  Gold Star Teachers will be honored at w!se’s annual Money POWER Conference for Financial Literacy in New York City, on Tuesday, November 5.
  • Waldwick High School will also be honored at the MoneyPOWER Conference for excellence in Financial Literacy.  Read more about the Blue Star School Award for Waldwick High School
  • The Dip-Off will take place Wednesday, September 25th after school.  Again, you do not need to be present at the dip-off if you plan on preparing a dip.  Mrs. Bimbi will be in the cafeteria before school the morning of the 25th to accept and store your dips until the afternoon.
  • The Waldwick High School newspaper will be publishing a "Guess Who" section in the first issue. The staff writers would like to include a photograph of each teacher or staff member when he/she was young, this way the students can guess who is in the photo. The answers will then be posted a week after the paper is published.
    If you are interested in participating, please e-mail your photograph to waldwickecho@gmail.com. Please send all photographs by the end of next week. You can either scan the photo into the computer or you can take a picture of it on your cell phone.
50th Anniversary
Waldwick High School is celebrating its 5oth Anniversary.  We have a week long celebration planned for the week of October 14.  All the details can be found here - WHS 5oth Anniversary

School Safety
Over the past week, staff members and I have been noticing doors propped open with sticks/rocks/door stops/etc.  Please do not prop doors open.  If you see doors open please close them.  If you see students doing this, please speak with them or send them to me. 
Please remind students not to open doors for anyone, let the Main Office buzz them in. 
   
Back to School Night - Thursday, September 26
All staff please report by 6:30pm
Make a Great First Impression - classroom, presentation, appearance
Class overview/Technology in use
Talk with parents about: expectations, accountability, ways to communicate  
Back to School Night Bell Schedule

Classroom Observations
The Administrative Team has been busy over the first two weeks of school getting into classrooms and having open and honest conversations with teachers related to instruction & strategies.  As of this morning, the administrative team completed over 40 observations.  

Personal Growth Time @ WHS
At this point, everyone has read or heard me speak about the Personal Growth Time @ WHS (Google 80/20 model).   At this point I need to finalize the list so I can change duty assignments.  If you are interested in taking part, please fill out the Google form by Friday, September 27

Professional Development

Upcoming Local Conferences

Edscape Conference  @ New Milford High School on Saturday, October 19, 2013
This year's conference will be held on Saturday, October 19, at New Milford High School (NJ).  Registration is only $35 for a superb keynote (George Couros) and 2 featured speakers (StevenAndersonShellyTerrell), 60 concurrent sessions, breakfast/lunch, and giveaways.  It would be great to see as many WHS staff at the conference as possible.   

EdcampNJ @ Linwood Middle School, North Brunswick Twp on Saturday, November 23, 2013  Registration is open.  If you are interested, please go online and reserve your spot.  Did I mention its FREE. 

Blog posts that made me think/reflect: 


Twitter/Blog Posts

Staying Connected to WHS News

WHS 50th Anniversary

Sunday, September 8, 2013

New Staff @ WHS 2013-2014 SY

We have three new staff members joining the WHS staff this year.  I know all three are going to be great additions.  Below are three blog posts introducing Ms. Lentino, Ms. Fernicola and Mr. Freeman.  



Thursday, September 5, 2013

13-14 SY Opening Day Presentation

My 2013-2014 kickoff presentation to my staff.  

Have a great first day and make the best first impression ever. #ownit