Summer Update 21-22 SY

Let's find a way! I hope everyone had a relaxing summer and had a chance to unwind from the last year and a half. As a staff, I will be asking everyone to focus on what you can control and keep it positive.  You know I respect all of you, want the very best for you and will do all I can to make this year as smooth as possible.  Our students need us to help them through these crazy times and there is no better group to make that happen! That's what WarriorNation and #OwnitWHS is all about! See you next week. 

Opening day for staff is Wednesday, September 1! 

The entire district will not be getting together this year to kickoff the school year. There will be a WEA meeting at 11:30 in the MSMPR for HS and MS staff. We will meet as a staff at 9:35 in the Media Center.  Here is the complete Agenda for 9/1/21.

There will be bagels for everyone in the Media Center by 7:45am. 

We have every intention to start this school year off as if we are back to pre COVID-19 life. That does not mean I think COVID is behind us or I am not focused on the the safety of the students and staff.  The plan is full day, in-person instruction with the rotating drop schedule. I will talk about COVID protocols and procedures on Wednesday in greater detail. 

Goals for the 21-22 SY ( I will talk more about these next week)

Focus 9 

Highlights nine essential skills that will prepare our students to be successful in the classroom and beyond. We believe these skills will have a lasting impact and will benefit students in all aspects of life. Website we created for Focus 9. 

Change One Thing 

I want to give each staff member one request to change something at WHS that drives them crazy. Maybe it something that you have told me in the past that I didn't get to or forgot. It could be something small or big but should be realistic. My goal is to eliminate something that bothers you about WHS. 

During the 9/1 staff meeting, I will be handing out index cards for you to write down your request and then throughout the year I will try to make your wish come true. Please give some thought to this before September 1.

Here is my blog post that went out to students and parents. Welcome Back 21-22 School Year. 

What to expect for the first day with students:

September 2 we will follow a Special Schedule where all classes will meet. The rotation will start on Friday, 9/3, with Day 1.
*Note Wednesday, 9/15, will be another Special Schedule with all classes meeting. We needed to do this for picture day and school bus evacuation drills. The Physical Education Department will take care of both of these things.

The entire school year has been planned out related to the rotation schedule. See link to the calendar for the year: 2021 - 2022 Rotation Schedule

Like last year, we continue to post monthly calendars for staff and parents.  You can find the link on The Answers.

New Staff joining us at WHS

Karly Tyson - Spanish 

Dan Blatt - Technology Education 
We have two student teachers who will be with us for the 21-22 school year. 

Caitlin Ernest - Language Arts 

Danielle Burke - Biology 

Resources
The Answers - Your staff manual for everything you need to know related to WHS. Here you can find the ... Master Schedule, Duty List, Agenda for 9/1, Schedule for 9/2, Meeting dates, Emergency drill procedures and much more!

Safe Schools & BOE Policies - Reminder: The courses you need to watch need to be completed by 9/7
Policy Acknowledgment 2021-2022 - Complete by 9/7

Back-to-School Night will be virtual again.

Enjoy the last few days of the summer break and I am looking forward to a great year! #OwnitWHS

WHS Staff News - Week of 6/14

Last Week!!!

Friday was pretty special! To have kids and staff laughing, cheering and enjoying themselves was great to see. WarriorNation was back!  This year, school spirit and staff moral was at an all time low and I hope Friday was the moment it all started to come back in a positive way.  We all need that back in the 21-22 school year and I am counting on each of you to be part of a positive return in September!  

I have said it all year and will say it again, THANK YOU for finding a way this year. We did it together and came out stronger because of it.  

End of Year Checklist - A list of items to close out the school year. 

We will have staff meeting on Tuesday at 1:45 in the Little Th. Change of date, Wednesday at 1:45. 

Senior BBQ is being moved to Wednesday because of rain on Monday. This year the BBQ will be outside by the Greenberg Center starting at 12:30pm.  All staff is invited to stop by. 

Update on advisor positions

As part of a district initiative, over the summer job descriptions will be created for each of the advisor positions. Once these are finalized the positions will be posted. I am hoping we will be able to appoint staff members at the August BOE meeting. 

AP Teachers (Reminder)

On Tuesday, June 15 and Wednesday, June 16 we will have a materials pickup day(s). 12:30 - 12:45 outside the Little Th. If you would like to speak with your future students you can use those two days or schedule a Google Meet with the entire group after 1:30 any day during the week of June 14.

*Students were informed (Monday 6/14 at 8am) via the Google Classroom I created: AP Information HUB. 

Wednesday and Thursday 

All seniors will be in school for the last time together attending their classes.   There were a few periods where class size was an issue, so for those teachers you have two options.  You can take your class outside or I have assigned you an alternative room. 

Period 1 - Room 145 (JN) can use the Little Th

Period 2 - Room 205 (PL) can use the Little Th

Period 3 - Room 140 (PL) can use the Little Th

Period 6 - Room 143 (DO) can use the Little Th

Period 7 - Room 140 (PL) can use the Little Th

Period 7 - Room 311 (NC) can use room 425

Period 8 - Room 311 (TC) can use the Little Th

Schedule for Friday 

• Everyone will be working from the building. There will be no afternoon responsibilities. 
• The Art Wing will be off limits after Thursday afternoon so Grad Ball can decorate.  Teachers that teach in the art wing will need to find a place for their virtual classes.
• At 1pm, the senior car parade will take place and finish up at the lower lot.  Feel free to stick around for the seniors. 
• Graduation starts at 7pm. If you are taking part in the ceremony, please be back by 6:30pm and meet in the Media Center so we can organize the line of march.  There will not be a reception prior to the graduation this year. 

WHS News - New Schedule for May 3

New Schedule for next week - A few reminders 

Blog post shared with parents
Bell Schedule (5/3 - 6/18)

May and June Calendars
May 2021 
June, 2021 

Lunch Duty Assignments 

Here is the link to the lunch duty assignments.  There are two tabs:

One is the lunch duty assignments that I created and shared with everyone a few weeks ago.  Do not make any changes to this tab.

The second tab is blank, as suggested in our staff meeting I will let you fill in your name to a duty that you are comfortable with, but all slots need to be filled in in order for this to work. You can use this afternoon and tomorrow to work on it but by Friday morning, I will need to finalize the duty assignments. 

Numbers of students in the building per cohort/grade (These numbers change daily b/c of quarantining):

Grade 9 - Pride Day (40 Students)

Grade 10 Pride Days (33 Students) 

Grade 9 Spirt Days (36 Students)

Grade 10 Spirt Days (45 Students)

Yesterday, the CDC did come out with new guidelines for masks outside, as of right now the plan is for students to still have masks on outside after they eat. Could that change when we get updated NJ Health Department guidelines, yes. It is not something to worry about right now.

I will add to this post if I forgot anything or need to make any changes. 

WHS Staff News - Week of 4/19/21

And down the stretch we go! I hope you enjoyed your Spring Break and found time to rest, relax, get things done or just be lazy. It was your time and it was well needed. As we start back up again, let's remember the article I shared, "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teachers" and focus on those habits. We covered 3 habits so far; Find joy in others' success, Cultivate perspective and reframe, Ditch the easy caricature. I'm going to jump to #7 in the article, Maintain Passion and Playfulness. Please read the excerpt I took from the article below. It's timeless to good teaching and more than ever, we all need to be reminded of it.

Habit # 7 - Maintain passion and playfulness.
The Seven Habits of Highly Affective Teachers

Having fun with your subject and your students will give students permission to engage, even invest, in their learning, and it will elevate your spirits. There's so much stress involved in teaching today's students; moments of true passion and playfulness bring back much-needed humanity.

Save your sanity, then, by incorporating students' names into your test questions and their community culture into their projects. Use props in lessons, take on the manner of a different character from time to time as you teach, and add something startling to two of your lessons this week.

Invite a colleague to burst into your class at a specific time and blurt something related to the lesson then leave quickly as you respond to the commotion with, "That was bizarre, but by good fortune, we can use the information!" Put a mysterious box in the middle of the room with yellow police tape around it and a sign that says, "Warning: Open one week from today, only in the presence of an adult." Activities like these build a sense of wonder and curiosity in students.

Show students you don't take yourself too seriously by daring them to find a mistake in your lessons. Insert random humorous slides into your media and lesson presentations, and embrace non sequiturs from students and yourself. Let students step into your shoes by teaching a portion of a lesson (perhaps using a family-friendly puppet you have on hand). Or have a student emcee a unit review game while you take a seat as a contestant.

Speak with just as much enthusiasm about your topic during 7th period as you did in 1st period—after all, it's your students' first time hearing this lesson. Find ways to turn seemingly boring material into a great romance or heroic drama. Get manipulatives into students' hands, and ask them to build physical models of abstract and intangible things (justice, algebra, metaphor, or genetics).

Ask students to think creatively by ranking a cantaloupe, a beach ball, a suitcase, and a copy of the Magna Carta in order of importance to one of the characters in a book. Or have them compose a dialog between two punctuation marks about who's more important. Make learning fun for yourself and your students whenever you can. I can't control everything that goes on in education, you can't control that either. But what you/I can control is; Your Attitude, Your Effort, Your Behavior and Your Actions. We have overcome so much this year, let's finish with smiles, laughter, memories that our students will take with them for ever.

Free Positive PD

The Power of Positive Summit from John Gordon.  Great speakers, short videos sent to your email each day.  You can watch them on your time, decide which ones apply to you and rewatch any of them until a certain date. 

Testing Meeting (PSAT 10 / SAT)
On Wednesday, 4/21, at 2pm, there will be a testing meeting to review the testing schedule and proctoring responsibilities. Mrs. Gastman and Mr. Hagen will be running the meeting. There is a Meet link on the calendar. It will not be a long meeting.

PSAT 10 and SAT coverage schedule (4/23 & 4/27)
Here is a draft of the schedule. I am only asking grade level teachers and some elective course teachers to cover. 

April PSAT/SAT Coverage (See link in Email)

For each testing day we will run a full virtual day for all students not testing (AM and PM classes). The expectation is that you will be teaching your classes synchronously as though it were a normal day.
4/23 (Spirit B) - 2, 4, 6, 8 PM 3 & 7
4/27 (Pride B) - 2, 4, 6, 8 PM 1 & 5

Celebrate "21" continues on Wednesday, 4/21 

All staff are welcome to stop by the turf on Wednesday at 5:45am, yes 5:45am for a Sunrise with the seniors. Bagels will be served.  

My Spring Break 

I kept myself busy with getting a few things done around the house and decided to Pay it Forward with thanking people that believed in me, before I believed in myself.  I finished three posts, but there will be more to come.  If you are interested in reading them you can find them here:  https://carrollkc.medium.com/

WHS Principal's Blog 

Music Parents Association - Cloth Drive 

Staff News - Week of 3/28/21

The start of the 4th marking period! I'm not sure where the year went.  

Please take time this week to reach out to parents for any of your students that are struggling or have lost focus.  The counselors, CST, Mr. Clancy and I have been reaching out to students that needed a reminder about the importance of school and the hole they have dug themselves.  Unfortunately, we will have students failing classes and even a few retentions.  Everyone this year has gone above and beyond for their students.  Some students choose to do nothing, for which there will be consequences.

Habit # 3 - Ditch the easy Caricature

The Seven Habits of Highly Affective Teachers

Spend some time to start the 4th marking period getting to know your students even deeper than you already think you do. Make connections, make sure students know you care. 

Ask them some of the following questions:

What do they love to do outside of school?
What brings joy to their life?
What's one thing they wish you knew about them? 
What are their goals after high school?

When a student becomes more to us than the class clown, mean girl, drama queen, geek, or jock, it is easier to remember that each student matters and is worth our time. They are not just one more paper to grade. We think of them specifically as we plan our lessons, and we look forward to watching them progress. Time in their company is time well spent.

Referendum Updates 
Town Hall Meeting tonight at 7pm.  See link for all the details. 

Here are all the social media posts related to the Referendum

Leadership Opportunity (Please mention this to your female students)

Junior Achievement's Women's Future Leadership Academy is a free weekly virtual series open to all NJ high school students. Students register themselves for as many sessions as they like. Info is attached or visit janjacademy.org

Weekly topics build confidence, financial acumen, and employability skills through JA's curriculum.  Guest speakers are from NJ businesses and industries.
Sessions held Tuesdays from 2-3pm beginning March 30.
Provides a high quality extracurricular activity students can include in their college applications or resumes.
Students who attend five or more sessions and submit a final project receive JA's Certificate of Leadership.
Schedule: (PDF of all sessions)
March 30: Becoming a Leader (celebrating Women's History Month)
April 6: Executive Career Panel featuring women leaders from BMS, Janssen, ADP, Commvault, and AIG
April 13: Goal Setting for Success
April 20: Networking with Confidence
April 27: Financial Empowerment / Special Session with CNBC
May 4: Ace the Interview
May 11: Women in STEM
May 13: Special Session with Johnson & Johnson
May 18: Collaboration and Design Thinking
Plus optional weekly Friday reflection sessions led by JANJ Intern from Princeton University

Recent WHS Principal's Blog Post 

Celebration 21 (March)

WHS News - Week of 3/22/21

Happy Spring! I hope everyone had a great weekend and was able to enjoy the sunshine.  I was at a soccer tournament all weekend and got some sun. I now have a "Mask" face tan.  lol Something all of us will need to deal with moving forward. 

I saw the quote above on Twitter last week and though it connected with habit #2.  The struggle is real for some of your students. Keep that in mind as we finish up the marking period and you think about Habit #2.  

Habit #2 - Cultivate Perspective and Reframe (Weeks of 3/15 & 3/22)
From the Seven Habits of Highly Affective Teachers

Phase 2

Next week we start Phase 2.  Please familiarize yourself with the schedule and remind your students about the switch.  

Blog Post regarding - Return to School Plan - Phase 2 

March/April Monthly Calendar 

April Monthly Calendar 

The two major changes are cohort days for Pride and Spirit and the periods rotating 1,3,5,7 and 2,4,6,8 every other day. 

Pride students will report for in-school learning every week on Monday and Tuesday. Every other week they will also report on Wednesday. This would begin on April 7th.

Spirit students will report for in-school learning every week on Thursday and Friday. Every other week they will also report on Wednesday. This will begin on April 21st.

Next week will feel like September all over again, but we will get through it. I will be sending daily Remind messages (which I do every day) with the bell schedule and which cohort should be in.  Also, remember that the first week is a four day week, no school on Friday! 

Senior Portraits - Class of 2022

This is going on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week in the Greenberg Center.  The appointment schedule is posted on Google Calendar.

Master Schedule for 21-22 School Year 

We have begun working on the schedule for next year.  Nothing is finalized yet, we are looking at numbers, sections and trying to make it work.  This week we will be posting on Genesis the student recommendations for their academic courses.  

Positive Referrals are always welcome. I have been giving out Ownit pins and cards over the past two week.  The students love getting them.  Thank you to those who submitted referrals. 

End of Year Items 

Next week we start End-of-Year meetings for the non-tenured staff.  Please make sure you have your PD hours updated and PDP plan is complete.  This is a good reminder to all staff to think about your PDP and make sure you are on task to complete it and your PD hours are up-to-date. 

WHS News - Week of 3/15/21

Strive to be Mr. Jensen!!!

 

 Habit # 2 - Cultivate Perspective and Reframe (Weeks of 3/15 & 3/22)

From the Seven Habits of Highly Affective Teachers 

Think about whether it's better to be right or to be kind in our interactions with students and colleagues. Sometimes our students need a win more than they need a correction, so we might be kind today and right tomorrow. Perspective provides hope where there is little and it helps us commit to the long haul. Teachers who have seen formerly frustrating students come back to visit as successful adults trust in the whole enterprise of schooling and growing up. Setbacks are momentary flashes of concern, not dictates of a locked-in future.

Don't forget about Habit #1, Find the Joy in others success! 

Wednesday, March 17 - All staff can work virtually (Happy St. Patrick's Day)

Update on student's returning 

As of this morning we have close to 100 students returning for the 4th marking period. 

PSAT and SAT coverage schedule (4/23 & 4/27)

Here is a draft of the schedule.  I am only using grade level teachers and some elective courses to cover.  April PSAT/SAT Coverage (Draft)

For each testing day we will run a full virtual day for all students not testing (AM and PM classes). The expectation is that you will be teaching your classes synchronously as though it were a normal day.
4/23 (Spirit B) - 2, 4, 6, 8 PM 3 & 7
4/27 (Pride B) - 2, 4, 6, 8 PM 1 & 5

Referendum Social Media Posts - All social media posted related to the referendum can be found here.

Mental Health

Andrea Hused has been working with a some of our alumni regarding mental health support that we have been doing in our senior health classes.  One of the groups, PAT (People are There) put together an amazing Bio sheet for some of their members.  I share this because it was pretty cool reading about them and what they are doing now. 

PAT - Bio Sheet