Week of April 15

Bus/Parking lot duty: Hook and Beck

Monday 4/15: Non Work Day

Tuesday 4/16:  Math ISATS
Wednesday 4/17:  SCC field trip/Angie
Thursday 4/18: Math ISATS Evening Conferences 2:30 - 6:30

Friday 4/19: Math ISAT make-ups
  
Bus/Parking lot duty:  Doering and Baker

Monday 4/22: Non Work Day

Tuesday 4/23:  ELA ISATS
Wednesday 4/24:  ELA ISATS
Thursday 4/25: ELA ISAT Make ups (Kaiser and JoAnn on a school visit)

Friday 4/26:   

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Gaynor and Fehling

Monday 4/29: Non Work Day

Tuesday 4/30: 
Wednesday 5/1:  EOC Science
Thursday 5/2: 

Friday 5/3:   

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Hamill and Higgs

Monday 5/6: Work day

Tuesday 5/7: Retirement/Recognition dinner 5:00 - 8:00 pm Ticket information to follow
Wednesday 5/8:  EOC Science
Thursday 5/9: 

Friday 5/10:   

Attendance Policy:

Here are some talking points to consider when students or families bring up the attendance policy:

• Because of our 4 day week, students at Venture attend school for 29 fewer days than students at LCHS or CHS.
• In exchange for being allowed to attend a school with fewer days, Venture students agree to regular attendance (no more than three absences per trimester)
• Students who break that agreement are required to withdraw from Venture and lose credit for classes.
• Providing the option of making up time after school allows us to keep students enrolled at Venture and to grant them credit.

Conferences:

Evening conferences are April 18th.  Nachos and cookies will be available.  If you have parents you particularly want to meet with, please contact them and arrange a meeting either that evening or at another time. I am happy to sit in on any meetings where you feel my presence might be helpful, however, I will be at the district office from 3:30 - 5:30 on the 18th but I can meet before or after that or on another day.

Week of April 8

Bus/Parking lot duty: Mahoney and Meeks

Monday 4/8: Staff Workday

Tuesday 4/9: SAT testing: Juniors only come to school 
Wednesday 4/10:  
Thursday 4/11: Construction Combine 

Friday 4/12:   Construction Combine.  Last day for purchase orders; Time sheets due

Bus/Parking lot duty: Hook and Beck

Monday 4/15: Non Work Day

Tuesday 4/16:  Math ISATS
Wednesday 4/17:  
Thursday 4/18: Math ISATS Evening Conferences 2:30 - 6:30

Friday 4/19: Math ISAT make-ups
  
Bus/Parking lot duty:  Doering and Baker

Monday 4/22: Non Work Day

Tuesday 4/23:  ELA ISATS
Wednesday 4/24:  ELA ISATS
Thursday 4/25: ELA ISAT Make ups (Kaiser and JoAnn on a school visit)

Friday 4/26:   

Shout out to JoAnn!
Congratulations, JoAnn for earning your Master's Degree - We are so proud of you!!!!

SAT Testing
Thank you Rachelle and everyone else who is working to ensure Venture students do well on the SAT tests.  If you have any questions or concerns,  see Rachelle today, because she will be in TBRI training next week and unavailable for help.

Construction Combine
We have several students signed up for the Construction Combine on April 11 and 12.  This promises to be beneficial event to help students gain a better sense of the construction trade.  A bus will pick them up in the morning and bring them back at 5:00.  Amy will send a list of students attending out to all staff as soon as she has it.

Monday Schedule:
Our Monday workdays are 7.5 hours
No staff mtg this Monday
11:30 CTE dept. meeting
12:00 ELA dept mtg.  Bonnie will facilitate
12:00 Math dept mtg  Kim will facilitate
12:30 - 2:30 Kaiser in a phone conference with SDE, please see me before then if you have anything to discuss
2:30 MDT mtg

Bus/Parking lot duty: Eastman and Levy

Monday 3/18: No Staff meeting today/use time for collaboration; Department mtgs 11:00

Tuesday 3/19:  Kaiser@training (Dave Eubanks and Robert Singletary - Local history)
Wednesday 3/20:  Kaiser@training
Thursday 3/21: Spring BBQ and Celebration Assembly
Friday 3/22:  Stay home... it's spring break

Bus/Parking lot duty: NO BUS DUTY.... SPRING BREAK

Monday 3/25:  No meeting.... spring break

Tuesday 3/26:  Nothing at all.... spring break
Wednesday 3/27:  Do you know what day it is?.... Doesn't matter 'cause it's spring break
Thursday 3/28:  Sleep in Thursday... spring break
Friday 3/29:  Relax all day Friday.... Spring break

Bus/Parking lot duty: Mahoney and Meeks

Monday 4/1: Staff Workday

Tuesday 4/2:  
Wednesday 4/3:  
Thursday 4/4: 
Friday 4/5: 

Bus/Parking lot duty: Mahoney and Meeks

Monday 4/8: Staff Workday

Tuesday 4/9:  
Wednesday 4/10:  
Thursday 4/11: 

Friday 4/12:   

Third Trimester

Thank you for a successful beginning to third trimester and thank you for your flexibility as we adjusted schedules.  Your welcoming attitude makes all the difference for our kids!

Badges

Please wear your badges every day.  If you see subs without them, direct them to the office so we can have badges made.  

Students in the Office

Students come to the office for a number of reasons.   If they are in the office, they are being managed by one of us.  Sometimes they are waiting to speak to someone, cooling down, waiting for an outside agency etc.  Please, if they are in the office, know that we are handling the situation and don't ask them why they're there or tell them where else they should be.  As well-intended as these interactions are, they can have the effect of further confusing already difficult situations.  We appreciate your help with this.

Local History Presentation:

Dave Eubanks and Robert Singletary will be in the Library on March 19th from 2nd - 5th period.  If you have a class you'd like to have attend, please schedule with Amy.  We can probably have three small classes or two large classes participate each period.  Prior to bringing your students, please talk to them about appropriate behavior and be prepared to ask students to go to the office if they are misbehaving.

Week of March 11

Bus/Parking lot duty: Hamill and Higgs

Monday 3/11:  Schedule for the day

Tuesday 3/12:  First day of trimester 3
Wednesday 3/13:  
Thursday 3/14: Gaynor, Gonzalez, Kaiser @Teaching Lab
Friday 3/15: 

Bus/Parking lot duty: Eastman and Levy

Monday 3/18: 

Tuesday 3/19:  Kaiser@training
Wednesday 3/20:  Kaiser@training
Thursday 3/21: Spring BBQ and Celebration Assembly
Friday 3/22:  Stay home... it's spring break

Bus/Parking lot duty: NO BUS DUTY.... SPRING BREAK

Monday 3/25:  No meeting.... spring break

Tuesday 3/26:  Nothing at all.... spring break
Wednesday 3/27:  Do you know what day it is?.... Doesn't matter 'cause it's spring break
Thursday 3/28:  Sleep in Thursday... spring break
Friday 3/29:  Relax all day Friday.... Spring break

Bus/Parking lot duty: Mahoney and Meeks

Monday 4/1: Staff Workday

Tuesday 4/2:  
Wednesday 4/3:  
Thursday 4/4: 
Friday 4/5:  

Game Night
Kids really enjoyed themselves last night.  The participation was excellent with lots of happy faces and fun interactions.  Thank you for planning the event, Angie and Val.  Thank you to all the staff that made it a fun event for students.

End of Trimester 2
Please have grade finalized by Tuesday March 12 at 3:30.  Thank you!!!!


New Students
We will have 27 new, nervous and excited students on Tuesday.  Rudolph Dreikurs noted that discouragement is at the root of all misbehavior and I would add that anxiety and nervous tension can look like crabbiness and short-tempered responses.  This mental framework and our approach to learning and teaching are what separate us from many other schools.  Student-centered education and student-centered responses to misbehavior is what we do well.  All of the new students will be making decisions during their first week of school.  They will be deciding whether they can be safe here, if this a welcoming place, and whether this a school where they can learn and grow and be accepted.  I believe they will answer all those questions in the affirmative.  I hope we can all use this weekend to relax and refresh and be ready to make the third trimester a positive experience for new students, returning students and for ourselves.  Thank you for the time and effort you've invested so far and for that which still lies ahead.  No other work is as important as what we do and I am so thankful for each of you and for your commitment to Venture students.

Bring on the Education Revolution

Week of February 25

Bus/Parking lot duty: Cooley and Smith

Monday 2/25: 7:00 am-secondary cross-district collaboration  9:00 am staff meeting Kaiser at a conference 25th-26th

Tuesday 2/26:  
Wednesday 2/27:  
Thursday 2/28: Design team on a school Visit @Spokane Community School
Friday 3/1:

Bus/Parking lot duty: Gaynor and Fehling

Monday 3/4: Non work Day

Tuesday 3/5:  
Wednesday 3/6:  
Thursday 3/7: 
Friday 3/8: End of Trimester 2

Bus/Parking lot duty: Hamill and Higgs

Monday 3/11: 

Tuesday 3/12:  First day of trimester 3
Wednesday 3/13:  
Thursday 3/14: Gaynor, Gonzalez, Kaiser @Teaching Lab
Friday 3/15: St. Patrick's day BBQ/Celebration Assembly

Calendar Feedback
Here is the proposed District Calendar for next year.  Please take a look and, if you see any issues, send me feedback by Tuesday, February 26.  

Grades
Please have grades completed by March 11 so we can have everything ready for the Celebration Assembly on March 15.  Please enter "I" if a student has a D in your grade book.  If students have not made up their time, enter an "I".  

Phones
Thank you for your vigilance with phones.  There should be no phones visible during class or between classes in classrooms or in halls.  They should not be using phones for music. 

Teacher Toolkit 321:
Demonstration of a protocol/strategy to help students summarize their thinking.  A printable template is included:

Week of February 11

Bus/Parking lot duty: Beck and Hook

Monday 2/11:  8:00 am staff meeting; Kaiser, Fehling and Meeks at a PEBC 11th -14th

Tuesday 2/12:  
Wednesday 2/13:  
Thursday 2/14: 
Friday 2/15:  No School for students or staff

Bus/Parking lot duty: Doering and Baker

Monday 2/18:  President's day no school

Tuesday 2/19:  
Wednesday 2/20:  
Thursday 2/21: Kaiser out @AM
Friday 2/22:  

Bus/Parking lot duty: Cooley and Smith

Monday 2/25: Kaiser at a conference 25th-26th

Tuesday 2/26:  
Wednesday 2/27:  
Thursday 2/28: Design team on a school Visit @Spokane Community School
Friday 3/1:

Monday Collaboration:
8:00 - Staff meeting, facilitated by Kevin M.
11:00 - MTSS meeting, Eastman's room, facilitated by Eastman
1:00 - Dept. meetings 

Surveys:
If you have advisory students who were absent when your class took the surveys, please have them test this week.  It is a state requirement that all students take the engagement survey.  They will need their state ID number to log in - Amy sent a spreadsheet with all those numbers to everyone.  Here is the link to the survey:  https://eprovesurveys.advanc-ed.org/surveys/#/action/96278/32925

Phones:
Students are beginning to use their phones more freely.  Sometimes I see them in classrooms (very hard to see, especially when you're teaching!), the commons and the hallways.  We might have to be a bit more vigilant with our zero tolerance policy with phones.  Sometimes students will tell me they were sent into the hall by their teachers to use the phone.  I remind them they weren't sent to the hall to use their phones, they were sent to the office to call home on the office phone.

Next Week:
I will be in Denver next week, so there probably won't be a new blog entry for next week.

Week of February

Bus/Parking lot duty: Mahoney and Meeks

Monday 2/4:  Non-Work Day

Tuesday 2/5:  
Wednesday 2/6:  Curriculum Audit visit
Thursday 2/7: 
Friday 2/8: 

Bus/Parking lot duty: Beck and Hook

Monday 2/11:  8:00 am staff meeting; Kaiser, Fehling and Meeks at a PEBC 11th -14th

Tuesday 2/12:  
Wednesday 2/13:  
Thursday 2/14: 
Friday 2/15:  No School for students or staff

Bus/Parking lot duty: Doering and Baker

Monday 2/18:  President's day no school

Tuesday 2/19:  
Wednesday 2/20:  
Thursday 2/21: Kaiser out @AM
Friday 2/22:  

Student Surveys
We are required to administer a student engagement survey to all of our students.  We will be doing these through advisory classes.  It is important that you make sure every student in your advisory class takes the survey. So, if a student is absent, please have them do it when they return to class.  It will take about 15 minutes to complete.  If you look at the survey in advance, it might help you to prepare them for it and to answer their questions.  Please try to have them take it during this week.  I will be able to monitor who hasn't taken 
To log on to the survey, students will need to use their state student id number, so please make sure students have this information available when you administer the survey.
Here is the link:
https://eprovesurveys.advanc-ed.org/surveys/#/action/96278/32925

Reminder...
Only grades of A,B and C should be entered on student records.  I am still finding D's.  Please do not assign D's.

Reminder....
February is a short month and Spring Break is around the corner!