November 2013

I will admit that every time I bring up the attendance issue in this email, I have the strong sense that I am “preaching to the choir.” I am guessing that the parents who take the time to read these messages, are also the parents of students who attend school consistently. That being said, however, we do want to continue to communicate with parents, and partner with parents in every way possible, to improve student attendance. This is critical in our view because learning and academic achievement are highly tied to consistent attendance.  

• Attendance data indicates that missing more than five days of school each year, regardless of the cause, impacts student academic performance and starts shaping attitudes about school. The resulting negative attitudes about school can impact future attendance as well as motivation in school. The amount of school we allow our children to miss communicates to them about the importance of school. It also communicates to our children our view of how attendance is connected with success both in school (our expectations for our students attendance) and in our work (with our own example).
• From the 6th grade through the 9th grade, student attendance is a better predictor of dropping out than standardized test scores.
• Excused absences and unexcused absences have similar impact on student academic performance.

“Young people don’t want to “hear” that you care. They want to “see” it through your actions. For example, when that athlete gets frustrated because he can’t hit a curveball and continually strikes out, that’s a good time to work with him after practice in the batting cage helping him with the mechanics to correct his swing. Once the athlete sees you give them the time and attention, they will know your concern for them is genuine. If we don’t give others our time and attention, they are going to not only think we don’t care, but that we have let them down.”—Dr. Jeff Athey, Principal Dodgeville HS

Giving our students time and personal attention during our intervention time or after school lets them know we are there for them. We can be counted upon to help them succeed. Spending extra time supporting students in the learning process shows them with our actions that we care about their success. Teachers have known for a long time—and educational research has validated this belief—that a quality teacher-student relationship has a very positive effect on student learning. And the very foundation of a quality teacher-student relationship is a teacher who demonstrates that they care about each student’s learning. 

In this context, I am really proud of what our teachers are doing to help students individually and in small groups both during the intervention time and after school. Last week on several occasions I was walking back from the middle school at nearly 3:00 pm, and each day I saw 3-6 students in each math classroom working with their teachers. The teachers were not behind their desks, they were right there with the students, offering guidance and providing feedback. If I walk around the school during our intervention times on any given day, I see the same in all of our classrooms around the school. Students getting very personalized extra support in the learning process. Clearly, these teachers are showing that they care about their students.

The primary thing that we want all parents to know is that while teachers schedule students into intervention time on a daily basis, students can also invite themselves, and they will be welcomed. Students who want extra help during intervention time or after school are not being turned away. Our advice to parents is that next time your child is struggling a little bit in any class, expect them to take the initiative to spend some extra time with their teacher. There is no better solution than this if they are willing to invest a little more time during intervention or after school.

This week, I thought I would share some reminders and a few tidbits of information about things going on at OHS.

Reminder: Tonight and tomorrow night from 4:00-7:00 pm we are holding Parent/Teacher Conferences at the HS. We would like to invite and encourage all HS parents to attend to see the teachers of their choice. I will be in my office to offer any assistance necessary. We hope to see many of you tonight or tomorrow evening.

Following the conferences tonight, we would also like to invite everyone from the community to our Veteran’s Day program in the HS gym at 7:00 pm. Each year this program proves to be a very nice celebration honoring our communities veterans. Our school band and choir will perform, and we are hopeful that Pastor Paul VanLoon will be here to share a message as well.

This morning our high school student council served breakfast to 35-40 local veterans. We certainly hope each veteran was honored by the student’s efforts to recognize their sacrifices, and we also hope each student council member involved in this event will experience a level of gratitude that they may not have experienced without personal involvement in serving our veterans.

And finally, we want to remind all of our parents that we will be giving the State WKCE test to our sophomores on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings of this week. Classes will meet as normal for students not involved in the testing. We provide incentives for students to do their best on the WKCE test by offering end of the year exam opt-outs for all students who score at a level equivalent to or better than when they were tested in 8th grade, and/or score “advanced” or “proficient” in 4/5 areas.

I am sorry I missed one of the important tidbits of information I wished to share this week. 

The drama department will be presenting Man of LaMancha on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights this week. The performances begin at 7:00 pm each evening. Tickets are available in the morning before school in the HS lobby, and during the school day in the office. We feel very fortunate to have Mr. LeClair return to the role of drama director, and we are confident this performance will be another in a long string of quality performances. We believe everyone will enjoy this year’s musical, Man of LaMancha, and we hope you will attend.

On behalf of the faculty at OHS, I would like to personally invite every high school parent to our Parent/Teacher Conferences on Monday and Tuesday, November 11th and 12th from 4:00-7:00 pm each night. At the high school, our Parent/Teacher Conferences are not scheduled, rather parents simply come to the school at their convenience, and move around the building to see the teachers they wish to visit. We have chairs set up outside each classroom in case there is a slight wait, but typically these wait times are relatively short. We will work to have the first quarter report cards printed and available in the office for pick up at the conferences, and of course you can check your students grades online prior to the conferences as well. We will also provide a list of our faculty and their teaching assignments with a school map to help you locate their classrooms as well. I will be in my office each evening in case you need assistance, have a question or suggestion, or would just like to stop in and say hello or have a discussion. 

We would love to see a large group of parents next Monday and Tuesday evenings.

 Have a great week,
Scott Greupink