Friday Update 9_15_23
Town Hall Meeting – Please plan to attend our first MASD Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, September 21, 2023, 5:00 – 5:45 PM on the Harrah Campus in the Library. This will be an opportunity for the community to have a conversation with the Board of Directors. Topics for this first meeting will include: MASD Cafeteria Meals; Board Policy and Procedure 5254 Staff Expression; Other. Please remember that this will be a public forum open for dialogue and conversation. If there is enough interest, we plan to have more of these in the future.
Wednesdays at White Swan High School - Wednesday classes and activities are off to a great start at White Swan High School. Mr. Muller reports, “Students are able to experience multiple hands-on learning opportunities such as construction, basic baking, and crochet clubs. During 100-minute period block students can retrieve or complete needed credits for graduation. During this time, we have a partnership with Heritage University and Dr. Jessica Black through the Environmentors program. Students were examining tree core samples to guess the age and environmental influences on the size of tree rings.
Staff planning time equals student success! Principal Tenney would like the community to know that during the early release time on Wednesdays, the White Swan High School teachers and staff meet as teams that they call “Success Teams.” Each grade level has a team of teachers and staff that meet twice a month to look at student learning data and each students’ progress towards graduation. These teams also design the Wednesday lessons for Cougar Connection advisory classes. Each grade level uses attendance, grades, behavior, and social emotional data to design interventions for students.
Learning matters! At White Swan High School, the Math and ELA departments are preparing for the first benchmark assessments that will be given next week. Once students take these assessments, the results of the assessments are reviewed by the student “Success Teams” and is used to determine next steps for instruction across campus. We need students to take these assessments seriously and to do their best. We want to provide the best education for students and accurate data such as this helps teachers to plan lessons that are meaningful and at the level that students need. Please encourage your students to do their best on these benchmark assessments.
Partnership with University of Washington – This year, the University of WA GEAR UP/SKY grant is serving the Graduating Class of 2024. For White Swan High School the annual allocation from GEAR UP/SKY grant will be $88,013. Overall, the GEAR UP SKY grant is funded to serve 2,979 students across 13 school districts. The allocation per student for the 23-24 fiscal year will be $505. The funds allocated for White Swan HS are to cover the time and effort of a coordinator and support services for the class of 2024. The SKY Grant Priorities for the 2023-2024 school year serving 12th grade cohort:
1. Training for teachers and curriculum development with focus on STEM
2. Student access to advanced class offerings (CHS, RS, IB/AP) and Tutoring services
3. College campuses visits for first gen, foster, displaced etc. (students and parents)
4. Career exploration and hands-on learning experiences (STEM opportunities)
5. College and financial aid workshops for students and parents
6. Identify strategies for social emotional and preventive support
7. Alignment of school budgets and workplans to address disparities in access to GEAR
UP programming by our special populations (ELL/LEP, undocumented, American Indian,
homeless/foster)
8. Working with the science/math departments to expand AP/College in the High School
offerings as needed (focus on math and science and providing tutoring services)
9. Family engagement and support for post-secondary placement and guidance in process
10. Creating sustainable systems within the high school counseling office including financial
aid award letter collection and institutional use of the National Student Clearinghouse to
identify gaps in service
11. Graduation and credit course completion
12. Summer Melt Support
Harrah Fall Open House was a success! Principal Widener was so excited about the success of the Fall Open House that she wanted to write about it again this week. “We are so thankful for all of the parents and guardians who took the time to visit campus and to learn about the great opportunities’ students have to excel at Harrah and Mt. Adams Middles School.” Many families came out and engaged with the teachers and staff. The third-grade students participated in a wide bingo game that had them go with their parents around the building introducing themselves to staff and getting their pictures taken with their parents. The smiles in our pictures tell a wonderful story.
Social Emotional Learning Time at Harrah – Mr. Hernandez reports that during Social Emotional Learning (SEL) time, 5th and 6th grade students began the school year by building camaraderie in fun and exciting ways. 6th graders learn about each other by creating and sharing "Nametag Glyphs" that are decorated according to students' personal interests. 5th graders explore the effectiveness of active listening by playing telephone with and without eye contact and compare the results of each communication style. These are engaging ways of learning and building SEL skills for these students.
Standards-Based Grading Training for the Harrah Campus Staff - The Harrah Campus staff met with Mr. Nathan Wear from Solution Tree this week to begin the discussion around standards-based grading. The elementary school has used standards-based grading for a number of years and are looking to improve the practice. This will be a new practice for our middle school teachers. This year, Principal Widener reports, “We will begin the journey to fully implement Standards-based Grading to ensuring grading equity across the building for all students.”
Count Day on the Harrah Campus - To celebrate count day last week on the Harrah Campus, students and staff participated in a game day event. Students and staff dressed in their favorite sports team apparel and some of them looked pretty impressive! In addition, the students and staff competed in a friendly competition of soccer and volleyball. Fun was had by all.
High School Sport Calendar:
