We have a very busy and exciting school year now upon us. The highlight will be our Accreditation visit coming up on October 14th. As you know we will be completing our self-study for this visit. This process will lead to positive changes that may improve our physical plant and the academic achievement of our students. Thank you for all of your help throughout this tedious process. Through surveys and our Parent / Community meetings we have received valuable input from you which will bode well for our district. Many of you have volunteered to help with the visitation and we look forward to working with you as we prepare for the 14th.
We will continue our Parent /Community meetings to share and seek information from the school community. These meetings will be held on the third Wednesday of each month, the first being Wednesday, September 13th, at 6:00 PM. Please take the time to get to know your high school and learn more about the inner workings that affect your student every day.
We will continue with our “Parent Access” to historical grades, attendance, and other information concerning your student. If you have not done so already, please come in with the enclosed form, and we will assign you a password to gain access. This has proved to be a very valuable tool for parents in their attempts to stay on top of their student’s progress.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the importance of consistent attendance to school. We have tried a number of initiatives to improve attendance, but it continues to be a problem. Unfortunately, most of the time poor attendance translates to poor grades and low achievement. Please work with us to create an atmosphere of wanting to be in school. If something is bothering your student and interfering with their attendance, please call us. Mr. Kenniston will focus on some very specific concepts concerning attendance in his piece of this newsletter.
Please join us here at Belfast Area High School for our Open House on Thursday, October 25th, at 6:00 PM. Enjoy what little summer we have left and we will see you all in a couple of weeks. |
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The 2007-2008 school year is now under way and we have had a good start to the year. Over the summer, we looked at the attendance figures for last year and it is clear we still have some work to do to improve overall attendance. While we have improved on the number of students arriving tardy in the morning, we see the need to continue efforts to improve daily attendance. As we move towards a standard’s based diploma, we are going to be held accountable for students’ performance and research has shown that, for most students, there is a direct correlation between performance and attendance. A student can obtain the class notes, do the assignments, and talk to other students about the class but
he cannot replace the dialogue and activities that occur in a class.
In an effort to improve attendance, we will be notifying parents when a student has been absent for a total of six days. This will include excused and unexcused absences. We will continue to require verification for medical and college visits and verify parental signatures on notes if the need arises. Our goal is to have students in school and in class unless there is a valid reason. We recognize parent’s right to dismiss their child from school. However, we can only excuse this if it is for one of the five reasons allowed under State law.
Another area of emphasis will be a student leaving school without permission. Student’s, when driving to school, need to check out through the main office before doing so. Failure to follow this process will result in an unexcused absence. Students need to have a note from home, Dr’s office, dentist etc. or a parent needs to speak with the school prior to the student leaving for the absence to be excused. No longer will students receive an excused absence after the fact. Students not following the procedure create a significant liability issue for MSAD#34. We look forward to your cooperation in this matter for the safety of all.
We really appreciated student compliance and parent support last year regarding our dress code. We had very few problems and students responded in a positive manner when there was a problem. The procedure followed when there was an issue is to make the student aware of the problem and give them the opportunity to correct it. If they choose not to comply, then we call a parent and the student is sent home to change. We hope not to make many calls. |
