Week of November 28

Bus Duty: Fehling and Meeks

Week of November 28
Monday 11/28 - No School/Non work day
Tuesday 11/29-  Kaiser, Beck, Higgs, Flieger, Hamill at a conference through Friday
Wednesday 11/30 - 
Thursday 12/1
Friday 12/2
Monday 12/5  No School/Non work day
Thursday 12/8 Parent conferences and Holiday Dine in
Friday 12/9 Celebration Assembly
Monday 12/12- Collaboration 8:00 Library

Vocabulary Practice:
During our Collaboration time on Monday  12/12, please bring one vocabulary word relevant to your content area and prepare to teach it to your small group using the key points from the handout Diane shared with us on Nov. 14.

Following is a video demonstrating high-engagement vocabulary instruction.  These are younger students, however, the strategies can be adapted to apply for our students.

New Attendance Policy
The school leadership team has been working on an attendance policy that best meets the needs of our students. If ever there were a situation that defies the best efforts of policy makers, it would be attendance.  Regardless of our intentions, high hopes, and final policies, something always comes up that didn't fit anywhere in our planning.  However, we are a steadfast group and moved ahead with determination and enduring optimism to create the new....

• 
  
  Venture High School Attendance Policy
  Students whose attendance exceeds 5 absences in any class per trimester will lose their credit. At the end of each trimester, a student will have the option to retrieve their credit by the following process:

• The student will need to conference with their teacher.
• The student/teacher will provide the designated admin evidence of mastery.
• If a student cannot show evidence of mastery, the grade will become an “Incomplete”.
• A student with an Incomplete will have 2 weeks to complete the requirements.  If the 
  requirements are not met the student will receive a failing grade.  
  
  

What works about this plan:

1. There is still a motivation to stay in school and not withdraw at 6 days of absence.
2. There is a policy in place that we can refer to for other things like DOT and student driver's licences.
3. They aren't retaking classes for which they've already met all requirements.
4. It accommodates students with a variety of issues that interfere with attendance.
5. It maintains a focus on meeting standards and competencies.

What doesn't work about this plan:
Probably lots of things that will be revealed over time, but we can move forward with this and adjust as necessary. 

More on Attendance:

Currently our attendance rate is critically low - in the past two weeks we've vacillated from 82% - 89%
On the positive side, this number represents students who might have dropped out were it not for Venture.
However, raising attendance is crucial to our students' success.  It is painful to hear students ask, "do I need to come tomorrow, we aren't doing anything?"  Obviously, students will say things like this when there is little basis in reality for the statement.  However, we all need to work to ensure that every day feels like an important day to be in school.  Things like movie days, make up days, game days etc. can feel like "skip days" to kids who already struggle to make school a priority.

Mission Statement
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our mission statement and is working with kids to make it meaningful for them.

At Venture High School, our mission is to help students...

Engage 

Encourage 

Excel 

When talking about the mission we can use the attached sentences to expand on our thinking.

Engage  in active learning,

Encourage each other to work toward dreams,

Excel in school, work and life.