Secondary Principal ’ s Report December 14, 2015

Mission Statement The mission of the Pender Public School District is to provide quality educational opportunities in a safe, positive learning environment that motivates and challenges all students to become productive and responsible citizens.

Past Activities/Events Nov. 10 – NASB/NET Meetings Nov. 11 – Veterans Day Program 2:30 Nov. 12 – School Lockdown Drill Nov. 16 – Secondary Music Concert Nov. 20 – JH Dance (Postponed) Nov. 24 – District Pender Nov. 29 – Community One Act Play performance – 6:00 Heese Event Center Dec. 2&3 – State Principal’s Convention – Lincoln Dec. 4 – Staff Development Dec. 9 - Region III Principal’s Meeting in Norfolk Dec Winter MAP Testing Window Dec. 12 – ACT Dec. 13 – Sounds of the Season

Future Events Dec. 17 & 18 Final Exams Dec. 18 – End of Semester 1 Dec NSAA Moratorium (No Practices) – During this time the Gym Floor will be resurfaced Dec Wayne Holiday Basketball Tournament Jan. 4 – Staff Returns, Staff Development Jan. 5 – Students return

Fall Coop report Volleyball – Positive reports from Coaches and Kids 9 from E-H and 12 from Pender JH Football – Positive reports from Coaches and Kids 15 from E-H and 12 from Pender Transportation was the biggest issue; but there were no major problems Communication was different with 2 schools being involved Winter Sports – Boys Basketball – 17 Pender and 15 from E-H (probably too many for our schedule) I’ll report more on this in January.

Pendragon PRIDE 5 winners in the last Month Amber English Jaxon Mrsny Isaac Roeber Kaylin Sandal Vanessa Godin

Testing Winter MAPs testing window opened December 7 We should be all finished by the 18 th (make-up tests pending) Final Exams this week (Dec 17 & 18) Each class will hold a Final Exam to close out the Semester Odd periods are on Thursday and even periods on Friday

Mission/Vision Statement Students and Staff have been working on a Vision statement for the district in Advisory Groups Each came up with 1 or 2 “slogans” for the district that represents our school and community Next they will offer any revisions to the Mission statement We will be taking our next step with these during the Jan. 4 staff development day

Technology Team Made up of 5 teachers (Mr. Welsh, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Heise, Mr. Bartlett) and the Admin team Meeting monthly to discuss our District’s Technology needs We have looked at what is good and where we need improvement We have established goals for this year and next We are developing a long range plan for technology in our district Main Focus Currently 1.Developing a set of K-12 standards that we can implement 2.Exposing the Elementary to more technology

Scheduling Mr. Nixon, Mrs. Ballinger and I have started meeting to develop next years schedule. We have multiple changes on the HS end that we need to work through. Removing some sections Adding sections/classes Revising some classes Full class descriptions made available in our handbook Finding teachers who are available to work with JH activities

JH “Specials” We are revising our JH Specials Period Development of a STEM class (Co-teaching opportunity with our Science and Ag departments) Addition of a Computer Applications at JH Level Expanding of a Career Exploration class for the 8 th Grade Preserving our JH Reading/Writing & Math Interventions

Successful STEM Programs 1.Is engineering the driving force behind our STEM problem- solving? 2.Will our students gain a deep understanding of the content areas? 3.Do our students work to solve real-world problems? 4.Are our instructional approaches engaging? 5.Does our curriculum address ways of successfully engaging students in teamwork? 6.Is technology used appropriately in addressing our STEM challenges? 7.Are our students taught communication skills? 8.Does our curriculum include authentic assessment? -Do we have the backing from the BOE for the development of a STEM program and curriculum? -On average Minimum of $5,000 - $7,000 Start-up

JH Computer Applications Instruction on how to properly use computers needs to start at a younger age Currently we hand out computers in 7 th grade and then offer the Itech class as 10 th graders Computer Applications would be a semester long course for 7 th grade on the basics of using their Macs appropriately and efficiently Class will focus on basic word processing to digital citizenship Open up the opportunity to take more advanced Tech classes in HS

Addition of Personal Finance as Requirement Discussion started last February with a question at the BOE goal setting workshop Multiple discussions between Mr. Nixon, Mr. Welsh, Administration Teacher recommended Confirmed by the NET/NASB community meeting Over 70 schools across the state have added this as a requirement. Including OPS, Millard, and LPS Recommended Sophomore level class – will be open to Junior and Senior classes as well. Semester class and paired with Intro to Business

Requirement of CTE Classes I am recommending a shift in required hours for graduation Reduce PE/Health from 15 to 10 (5 includes Health Education Replacing the Itech Requirement of 10 with: 5 hours of Personal Finance 5 Hours of another Career/Technical Education Class 10 Hours total of CTE

Reasons for CTE Classes State’s shift in the way they look at College/Career Ready Students Expose more kids to classes that can have community- based experiences Lets our students know that they need to be exposed to CTE classes All students will benefit from these classes Be a trend setter – we would be one of the few that have this as a requirement

Other HB changes Additional Professional Development needs/time Other Handbook Changes that the HS staff is currently discussing for Eligibility Attendance (Per/Semester) Grading