In This Issue Thank you

Progress Reports

PLC/PLT Timeline Reminder

Building Leadership Team Meeting

December Faculty Meeting

Principal’s Council

Needs Repeating Standardized Test Dates Updates

Fall Academic Awards

Computer Lab Food & Drinks

Faculty Meeting

PLC Team Meeting

Board of Education Approval

Teacher Channel Profession Development

Building PLC Team Updates

Field Trips/School Nurse

Professional Days

Naviance Reminder

Waunakee Community High School Week of November 21, 2016

. . . for welcoming our guests from

Fort Atkinson High School and

making them feel comfortable in our

school community.

Feedback received was that the conversations that they

engaged in regarding teaching and learning in a modified block

schedule, when coupled with their observations/experiences,

resulted in a productive visit.

Progress Reports Please note that 13-Week

Progress Reports are due on

Wednesday, December 7.

Progress reports must be

completed for all students.

Additional information will

be forthcoming from Becki

Cassel.

The December Faculty Meeting will be held from 7:30–8:05 a.m. in the

PAC on Wednesday, December 14. The agenda includes:

Value Awards and Celebrations

Classroom Relationships and Responsibilities in a PLC/PLT (Building

PLC Team)

PBIS Update (Brian Borowski and PBIS Team Members)

State Performance Report Card Data (Brian Kersten)

Other

Principal’s Council The next Principal’s Council meeting

will be held in High School

Administration Office Conference

Room B on Thursday, December 1.

The tentative agenda is as follows:

Building Culture and Climate

State Performance Report Card Data

The Good/The Bad/The Ugly Up to

This Point in the Year

Other

Quote/Inspirational Video – “The Heart of a Teacher”

(Go Ahead and Take a Peek – It ’s Only Three Minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tN1U0uu2e4

PLC/PLT Timeline Reminder

A reminder that the sixth timeline for PLC work was 11-18-2016. Please make sure you have shared the strategies you/your

PLT has identified/implemented to support students not achieving ELO mastery/performing at a failing level with Mr. Kersten,

Mr. Grabarski and Mr. Borowski and thank you for your focus on further ingraining a PLC focus into your professional

practice and our school culture. The next step in the PLC process is to work collaboratively with in your PLT to develop the

Common Summative Assessment you will administer as a Semester Exam.

Department/Disciplinary Team Norms/Collective Commitments (completed by 9-16-2016)

Team SMART Goal Perhaps Tied to SLO/Literacy (completed by 9-30-2016)

Department/Disciplinary Team Essential Learning Outcomes for all courses taught (completed by 10-14-2016)

First Common Assessment Administered (completed by 10-27-2016)

Analysis of Student Performance on First Common Assessment (completed by 11-11-2016)

Strategies identified/implemented to support students not achieving ELO mastery/performing at a failing level (completed

by 11-18-2016)

Department/Disciplinary Team Common Summative Assessment (completed by 1-13-2017 – remember this would

typically be the starting point from which to backwards map all formative assessments)

The literacy plan developed to support achieving the Building SLO (School Learning Objective) developed at the August

11th and 12th School Improvement Institute. The building SLO will retain a focus on literacy. Our target will be

enhancing literacy skills in all of our students. However, growing literacy skills in the members of the classes of 2018 and

2019 will be the primary focus of the building SLO. As such we will focus our efforts on growing our students’ capacity

to master the reading literacy sub-skills associated with ACT College and Career Readiness Benchmarks. Each PLC will

complete a Team Literacy Plan identifying a minimum of one reading sub-skills to target each semester (completed by 8-

30-2016)

Results of a minimum of three common benchmark assessments with at least one reading sub-skill question stem per

semester. PLT’s will analyze/discuss student performance on the assessment and create instructional plans to address

student needs

The agenda is as follows: 1) January Professional Development Day * Focus * Schedule 2) State Performance Report Card Data * Analysis – Prior to Meeting * Reaction * Suggestions for Improvement/Areas of Focus from Leadership Team 3) Final Exam Schedule Development 4) Elective Night – Format 5) Other Recorder: Erin Schroeder

Building Leadership Team Meeting The December Building Leadership Team Meeting will

be held in High School Administration Office

Conference Room B from 7:25–8:05 a.m. on Thursday,

December 8.

Jessie McCarty | MPH, RN - Nurse Liaison for Working Healthy @ Waunakee Just a reminder that Jessie is available to meet either at the school or at the clinic, so please email her if you would

like to set-up an appointment!.

Examples of how your Nurse Liaison can help you:

Do you need assistance signing up for MyChart?

Would you like your blood pressure checked?

Is a new medical diagnosis leaving you feeling confused and overwhelmed?

Are you interested in making healthy lifestyle changes but unsure where to start?

Are you unsure how to find a Primary Care Provider (PCP)?

Do you want to know more about your annual health screening results?

Are you feeling lost in the medical system and unsure who to call?

Do you need help in finding the right person to contact for heath insurance questions?

Are you wanting to make some lifestyle changes and would like to have a supportive advocate?

PLC Reminder Great work up to this point with implementing key structural components of PLC/PLT’s. The focus for PLT work now turns to identifying and implementing strategies to support students not achieving ELO mastery/performing at a failing level – is essence implementing interventions that lead to student academic success. As you complete this next step in the PLC/PLT process you may ask why it is important to implement systematic interventions. The rationale for doing so, grounded in research is as follows: “High-performing schools and school systems set high expectations for what each and every child should achieve, and then monitor performance against the expectations, intervening whenever they are not met. . . . The very best systems intervene at the level of the individual student, developing processes and structures within schools that are able to identify whenever a student is starting to fall behind, and then intervening to improve that child’s perfor-mance.” (Barber & Mourshed, 2007, p. 34) In order to raise student achievement, schools must use diagnostic assessments to measure students’ knowledge and skills at the beginning of each curriculum unit, on-the-spot assessments to check for understanding during in-struction, and end-of unit assessments and interim assessments to see how well students learned. “All of these enable teachers to make mid-course corrections and to get students into intervention earlier” (Odden, 2009, p. 23). “A criterion for schools that have made great strides in achievement and equity is immediate and decisive inter-vention. . . . Successful schools do not give a second thought to providing preventive assistance for students in need.” (Reeves, 2006, p. 87) “The most significant factor in providing appropriate interventions for students was the development of layers of support. Systems of support specifically addressed the needs of students who were ‘stretching’ to take more rigor-ous coursework.” (Dolejs, 2006, p. 3) “Reforms must move the system toward early identification and swift intervention, using scientifically based instruc-tion and teaching methods.” (President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education, 2002, p. 8) Characteristics of high performing schools include setting high expectations for all students . . . using assessment data to support student success . . . and employing systems for identifying intervention (Council of Chief School Officers, 2002)

WHS THINK TANK

Upcoming PD Opportunities:

Save the Date: Tech2Teach is February 4, 2017

Did you know?

New! Harry Potter comes to android phones! All you have to do is say (the spell):

“Okay Google, Lumos” – this will turn your flashlight on

“Okay Google, Nox” – this will turn your flashlight off

“Okay Google, Silencio” – this will silence the ringer and notifications

New! Assign people to tasks in Google docs, sheets, or slides - In comments, type in

email or emails and an "assign to" box will appear. Check that box. You can add a

message if you would like.

Note: Set sharing options in your document so those you assign tasks to can access

(you will be prompted to do this if you don't)

Wonky Things:

FlexiSched: If you schedule a Group and check the Teacher Request box make sure you have the right day!

Currently, we are not able to unschedule a Group when the Teacher Request box has been checked.

Please encourage your students to take advantage of this awesome resource. Students can drop in any time the OPEN sign is on. Students can also submit work online. For more information go to: https://goo.gl/ooHgCf Teachers and/or homeroom teachers: you can "teacher request" students to go to the peer tutoring center during contact time--it is listed under zzextension--Peer Tutoring. Please take this survey to help Peer Tutors improve the service: https://goo.gl/mJvt4v

Standardized test dates and formats were discussed at the October 6th HS Leadership Team meeting. An update on dates for the ASPIRE Tests and revised make-up test dates for the ACT and ACT Work Keys follows:

Tuesday, February 28, 2017 – ACT (Barb Fassbender and Jamie Maglior) Junior Only Day

Wednesday, March 1, 2017 – ACT Work Keys Juniors – (Barb Fassbender and Jamie Maglior) Four Hour Late Start

Wednesday, April 19, 2017 – ACT Alternate Test Date if February 28th is cancelled due to weather

Thursday, April 20, 2017 – ACT Work Keys Alternate Test Date

Tuesday, May 16, 2017 – ASPIRE (Sarah Stimart and Jamie Maglior) Sophomores – Three Hour Late Start

Wednesday, May 17, 2017 – ASPIRE (Sarah and Jamie) Sophomores – Three Hour Late Start

Thursday, May 18, 2017 – ASPIRE (Sarah and Jamie) Freshmen – Three Hour Late Start

Friday, May 19, 2017 – ASPIRE (Sarah and Jamie) Freshmen – Three Hour Late Start

Advanced Placement (Mark Landis and Jamie Maglior) testing will occur in a window between May 1st and May 12th.

Logistics for administering the FORWARD Exam to sophomores in the March 20th through May 5th window are still being discussed. Test administration may occur over a series of days during Contact Time. Mr. Schell is checking with DPI to see if it is allowable to stop testing and then resume over another day or multiple days which would be necessitated if administration of the FORWARD is moved from Social Studies courses to Contact time. More information will follow in the future.

- NEEDS REPEATING -

Academic Support - As the school year begins please take a moment to promote the following academic

support sites Khan Academy and Tutor.com. The link for Khan Academy is as follows: www.khanacademy.org/

Khan Academy is a free resource offering over 2400 videos which provide enrichment and remedial activities in

many discipline areas.

Board of Education Approval - Please be sure to forward any fundraising or overnight/out-of-state field trip

request needing Board of Education Approval to Mr. Kersten by 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 30. The requests

received by Mr. Kersten will be forwarded to Mr. Guttenberg so that they can be considered for approval by the

Board of Education at the December 12th Board of Education Meeting.

Building SLO - Please be sure that you are familiar with the SLO and the Action Plan. All members of our

school community have a role in achieving the Building SLO. Mike Dreyer will be working pro-actively with all

departments to provide professional development related to literacy existing lessons.

Common Assessments - Please take a moment to view and reflect on the short (3:11) video in which Rick DuFour

speaks to the importance of common formative assessment as catalysts to improving student learning and

professional practice: https://vimeo.com/156590269

Computer Labs - Please remember to consistently enforce Computer Lab expectations regarding food and beverage in

the labs – PLEASE NO FOOD, only water. This expectation is grounded in keeping keyboards clean and in good working

order and also helping our custodial staff clean the lab spaces effectively and efficiently. Thank you in advance for your

cooperation.

Fall Academic Awards - The Fall Academic Awards (recognition of student academic achievements through Spring

2016 Semester) have been scheduled to be held during Contact Time on Wednesday, December 21 and Thursday, December

22. Your response to the survey requesting the best framework to schedule the assemblies was much appreciated. Thank you

also to Becki Cassel for developing and administering the survey. At this time the intent is to host the freshmen and

sophomore assembly on the 21st and junior and senior assembly on the 22nd. More details will follow prior to the assemblies.

Field Trips/School Nurse - Just a reminder that it is imperative that all staff members check the Emergency Health

Concerns List and communicate with Sarah Nordloh, School Nurse and Nola Luhtala, Health Assistant, well in advance of any

field trip they are planning which may involve students with medical needs. Sarah needs to know about the trips so that she

can train faculty on various emergency medications and to make sure they know how to respond in case a student manifests a

health concern while on the field trip. She will also send a med kit along so that the required supplies are available that a

student may need. Field trip transportation requests will be copied to Sarah and Nola to alert them to field trips.

HSPAC Agenda - The next HSPAC (HS Parent Advisory Committee) will be meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, November 21

in High School Administration Office Conference Room B. The agenda is as follows: 1) Review State Performance Report

Cards; 2) Update on School Climate and Culture - Recent Issues; 3) Update on New Course Proposals; 4) Academic Awards

Assemblies (Dates and Format Change); 5) Parent Questions. Staff are welcome to attend HSPAC Meetings if you are

interested in any of the agenda items.

PLC Team Meeting - The PLC Team will meet in the HS Admin. Office Conf. Room B from 3:45-4:45PM on Tuesday,

November 29. The agenda includes: 1) Norms Review; 2) Finalize Format for 1-16-2017 Professional Development Day

(Analysis of Student Work, Tom Howe; Further the Integration of PLC/PLT Culture in our School Community); 3) Next

Meeting.

Staffings/504 Meetings - Just a reminder to all faculty members that you must prioritize attending all staffing/504

meetings that you receive invitations too. These meetings disseminate important information regarding emotional,

health or academic issues that students are working through. This is vital information for you to have in order to best support

the student the staffing/504 meeting is being held for. Equally important is that these meetings provide you with an

opportunity to share your expertise and perspective regarding students with the student, the student’s parents and other

providers that may be in attendance at the meeting.

Teacher Channel Professional Development - The following link will provide you with access to the Teacher Channel.

The Teacher Channel contains links to a variety of professional development strategies that you may find useful in classroom.

www.teachingchannel.org

Tutor.com - The Waunakee Community Public Library continues to par tner with the Waunakee Community School

District to provide our students with access to Tutor.com. This website is available as a free service to students that possess a

Waunakee Public Library card. The service is a live online tutoring service available from 3-9 p.m. every day. The following

video provides an overview of the service: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkpJ0M-0498&feature=youtu.be

- NEEDS REPEATING -