Updates for the Week 9/28/2012

The Class of ’62 50 year reunion went very well last weekend, with the culmination of events on at Saturday’s dinner.  At the dinner I was told that the class had raised over $113,000 in donations to the Assumption Foundation.  What an unbelievably generous gift!  With this gift they become our first Golden Legacy class. Their picture will be placed in the nostalgia cabinets along with the check they presented that night. It was an enjoyable weekend and I’m very glad I had the chance to meet so many members of the class of 1962.

The 1:1 project continues to progress well. I have had many positive conversations with our students - they love the increased productivity and the way their teachers are integrating these learning tools into daily classroom activities.  It is great to walk by study hall and see students with not only their books open, but also their laptops. There have been some learning steps for everyone, with the need to fix some student logins, reallocate some wireless bandwidth and handle some hardware issues, but minor hiccups were certainly expected.

This week was also filled up with more work on state reporting and preparation of our Scott County Regional Authority grant.  While making sure all of our student state IDs are correct and double checking student birthdays is a little boring, it is essential.  Luckily for us we are ahead on our preparation of the data, which is due October 15^th.  Our SCRA grant requests funding for improvements we are working on in the band and choir area.  For those of you that are interested in the SCRA grant, the goals for the project include:

1.      Install sound paneling in both band and choir rooms to eliminate the “echo chamber” effect.

2.      Install a sound system in the band room which allows for the recording and playback of performances. 

Update for the Week 9/21/12

It has been a fun week for our students with all the Homecoming activities.  Decorating the halls was Sunday, Nerd Day on Monday, Twin Day on Tuesday, and Wednesday was Farmer Day, along with the powder-puff football game, Dancing with the Studs and the bonfire that night. Thursday we held Homecoming mass, the pep rally - where Kate Fennelly was crowned Homecoming queen (make sure to check out the video of the big announcement here) - and the great night was capped off with a win by Coach King and the football team. I hope everyone has a fun, safe time at the dance on Saturday.   

We had our 1:1 student-parent meetings on Sunday and Monday night, with a make-up meeting on Friday morning.  The meetings were well attended and everyone was excited about this educational initiative.  If you are interested in reading the details of the presentation, please click here.  With the student-parent presentation completed, we were able to hand out laptops to our juniors and seniors on Wednesday, which was the successful culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication by many people, from teachers to administrators to the students themselves. I also need to thank the Board and the Finance committee for having faith and believing in this project.    

Check out pictures of the parent meeting and laptop handout here.

 

I had the opportunity to present on technology in the classroom to upper grade teachers at All Saints this week. It was a lot of fun and there was good conversation about ways to integrate many aspects of technology into the educational experience of our students.  If you would like to see the information presented please click here.

The Assumption Foundation met on Thursday.  See the minutes from the meeting here.

Friday is turning out to be a busy day with a Marketing Committee meeting and tour for the class of ‘62 50 year reunion.  Speaking of the class of ’62, we had a great opportunity on Thursday night to welcome back  two alums who were All-Americans and professional football greats.  I have provided the write-up on these talented individuals here.  It was great to talk with both men and hear about the all the things they have experienced.  I look forward to getting to know more members of the class of ’62 at the tour and reunion dinner Saturday night.  I am so glad they included me in their celebration.  

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Updates for the Week 9/14/2012

We are currently putting the finishing touches on the 1:1 initiative presentation for our students and parents.  Meetings will be held from 7-8 pm on Sunday and Monday night.  The presentation will highlight the reasoning behind the initiative, including the six years we spent preparing.  We will also explain student responsibilities and procedures for care of the laptop.  Mr. Ries will discuss the AUP and CIPA requirements, internet safety, cyber bullying and identity theft as well as providing resources for parents regarding online safety.  The information from this meeting will be shared with board members at our meeting Monday at 4:00 pm.

A lot of time this week was spent entering and revising information for our state C-Plan.  This document replaces our Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) and our Annual Progress Report (APR).  On Thursday afternoon, I web conferenced with a representative from the Department of Education on the BEDS and Certified Enrollment reports.  With all of these processes going through changes, there has been a lot of learning and relearning the ways to report to the state.  I certainly enjoyed hitting the certify button today.  

The Scott County Catholic Schools advisory Board met Monday, with much of the discussion centering on the current state of the educational system, including topics such as strategic planning, enrollment, finance, building projects, evangelizing the faith through schools and ways to partner to improve on weaknesses.  This group has a lot of ideas on ways that we can even the playing field and help each other with our struggles.  I look forward to future meetings and am excited to see how our ideas progress.

Great news on the grant front!  Assumption has received two grants to participate in a program called First Tech Challenge (FTC).  The grants came from two sources:  Rockwell Collins and Executive Order # 74.   Governor Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds made STEM Education a priority with the signing of Executive Order #74 in 2011, and created the Governor's STEM Advisory Council. The council is a partnership of business, policy and education leaders from across Iowa that bolsters STEM education and innovation to better position Iowa's K-12 students in the state's workforce and future economy.  Assumption will be creating a team to compete in the FTC program. Here is a brief description of the program from the FTC website (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc )

“FTC is designed for those who want to compete head to head, using a sports model. Teams of up to 10 students are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and is programmed using a variety of languages. Teams, including coaches, mentors and volunteers, are required to develop strategy and build robots based on sound engineering principles. Awards are given for the competition as for well as for community outreach, design, and other real-world accomplishments.”

We hope this is a great experience for our students!

We began preparing for a presentation on the SCRA grant in a little over a week.  Our focus will be on some much needed upgrades to the fine arts area.  We are ironing out the details on the project and once that is completed we will attempt to secure some additional funding for the project. Wish us luck!

I had a few meetings this week regarding fundraising that caused me to pause and think about the great number of people who care about Assumption. So many people give and give to help make all of Assumption’s programs successful.  As an example we will have the class of ‘62 reunion in our building and at the homecoming game next Thursday.  This class has been participating in a fundraising challenge, and the proceeds will be donated at their 50^th reunion.  I am honored to have been invited to their reunion dinner Saturday night and to have an opportunity to show them around the school.  It should be a great time for all of us!  

Have a great weekend!

Updates for the Week 9/7/12

Despite the short week, there was still plenty of activity and things to get accomplished.  Here are a couple of the week’s happenings:

The finishing touches are being put on our student/parent handbook for the 1:1 computer program.  Dates have also been set for both the mandatory student/parent meeting and laptop handout.  Parents and students will be able to attend the meeting either Sunday, September 16 or Monday September 17^th from 7-8 pm.  At the meeting information on the program will be presented, including the program’s purpose, student responsibilities, laptop care, and Assumption Acceptable Use Policy.  Laptops will then be handed out to students the following Wednesday and Thursday.  This is a very exciting time for all of us, and we are all ready to have this educational tool in the hands of our students!

I attended the AEA Superintendents meeting on Thursday, which included presentations from both the boys and girls athletic associations, the state band association, and the state speech association.  Much of the discussion centered around the loss of state soccer from Muscatine and the justification for state softball and cross country being held in Fort Dodge.  There was also a lively discussion about summer contact days and whether the state associations would ever return to limiting the number of summer contact days.  This transitioned into a discussion of summer start dates, and the impact the Iowa tourist commission has on school start dates.  One thing no one was short on were opinions of how each of these things should work.

At the K-12 Marketing Committee meeting Thursday, we focused on initiatives for the upcoming year and where we believe we should focus our efforts.  We discussed everything from the creation of a new Focus newsletter to the use of QR codes in our published information.  There was also a discussion over the use of printed media and the return on investment for publishing in local print media.   

Thursday night I presented at the Scott County Board Orientation along with Lee Morrison, Chad Steimle, and Julie Delaney.  This meeting is held to acclimate new board members to their role by providing information on policy approval, Roberts Rules, board decorum, committee work, finance, tuition assistance, and role of the diocesan office.

  

Friday I will be spending the majority of my day working on State reporting.  I’m guessing this will flow into the weekend given the sheer amount of data we have to collect and enter.  If anyone would like to help, feel free to stop by the school this weekend! Don’t worry, I won’t hold my breath.

Have a great weekend!