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   Henry
   Quinlan
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The Principal's
Idea Notebook

                                                                     Volume 1 - Number 4   February 14,   2003

 
     
Programs

Officials to Discuss Year-Round School Plan
Expelled But Not Excused
Parents - Teacher Reading Program
German School First of Its Kind In Calgary
Youth Grant Program Helps Student Help Others
Principal Replaces Violence With Pie
School's Year-Round Program 'Is On Hold'
Big High School Thinking Small
Telethon Brings In Funds for Public Schools

Policies

Student Activities May Include Alcohol Test
Lunch Gives Way To "Nutrition Breaks"

Curricula

Using Rap in the Classroom
Kids Unmask Talents

School May Transform Into Academy "Dreamkeepers"
  

Odds & Ends

Coping With Crowding   
Three Cheers For Perseverance
  
Timelines Line The Hallways
  
An Eagle Eye For Fighting Litter

Small District Recruiting Strategies
  




Editorial Policy:
It is the policy of The Principal's Idea Notebook to present ideas from principlas around the country that are innovative, creative and worthy of being adapted at other schools. It is the free flow of ideas that make our education system the best in the world and most of these ideas come from School Principals.
Henry M. Quinlan
Publisher
 
Programs ----- 

Officials to Discuss Year-Round School Plan

Chester, South Carolina - Chester County School Officials are making a month-long campaign effort to drum up grass roots support for their proposed plan to lengthen the school year. Under the proposal, the 12-month school year would be divided into four nine-week terms of 45 days each. Breaks between terms would last 15 days and would be used for vacation, remediation and enrichment activities. Nancy Coleman, Executive Principal of Chester Park Elementary School said her school could offer this type of choice to parents because they had a large enough student population and large enough faculty to let them decide between a traditional or year-round school year.
January 2003

Expelled But Not Excused

Salem and Keizer, Oregon - More students were expelled for weapons violations at McKay High School last year than in any other school in Oregon . It was one of four Salem-Keizer schools that were rated among the top 10 for student expulsions due to weapons violations. Principal Guido Caldarazzo said that if a student brings a gun to school, it can't be ignored. However, Salem-Keizer is the only large Oregon district with a formal program to divert these expelled students to a special center where they can continue their education. The fact that this program exists and that expelled students can continue their education encourages principals in this district to impose more expulsions than anywhere else in the state.
January 2003

Parents - Teacher Reading Program

North Brunswick, New Jersey Linwood Middle School Assistant Principal Aaron Speller teamed up with sixth-grade English Teacher Nilza Tyson to develop Parents and Teachers Together Encouraging Reading Novels (PATTERNS). The program is designed to help make independent reading a part of the students daily lives. Sixth-graders will earn a chance to win prizes at the end of each reading cycle for each novel they have read. The cycles will run for six weeks. At the end of that period, there will be an award assembly in which prizes will be given to the students in first, second and third place.Teachers will take students to the library during class time, but reading will be done at home. This gives the parents an opportunity to be proactive in their children's reading habits.
January 2003

German School First of Its Kind In Calgary

Calgary, Canada - Bancroft Elementary School has the only German Bilingual Program in Calgary. It has an enrollment of 44 students from Kindergarten to Grade 2. The school's Assistant Principal Trevor Barkley indicated that the German community has been pushing for a program such as this for some years. The program is so popular, that students come from as far away as Douglasdale in the south and Airdrie in the north. The school has been staffed with teachers that are not only fluent in German, but have a talent for working with children.
January 2003

Youth Grant Program Helps Student Help Others

Marion, Indiana - Julia Clossin, a fourth-grade elementary student at Kendall Elementary School, received a $188.10 grant from the Community Foundation of Grant County's Youth Grant Program. The money was used to buy two booster seats and three infant seats to be donated to needy families who could not afford car seats for their children. Kendall Elementary School Principal Larry Norris chose Julia to represent the school at this year's Youth Grant Program. The program not only encourages the children to find practical ways to help memebers of the community in need; it also provides them with a strict budget they must adhere to in order to accomplish that goal.
January 2003

Principal Replaces Violence With Pie

Fairfield, New Jersey - Salem High School's Principal. Gregory Dunham, has turned around the tough school. His methodology has included harsher discipline, peer-intervention sessions, positive thinking, an additional guidance counselor and increased parental involvement. The parental factor has been given a really significant role in his program; so much so that he has created a whole program around it called "Parents Involved in Education" or PIE. When a problem arises, the parents of the students are called in for a meeting and are encouraged to bring in a pie to eat while they discuss the problems. The school provides the coffee. The program has had significant
results.
January 2003

School's Year-Round Program 'Is On Hold'

Lincoln, Nebraska - Lincoln Elementary School's Principal Brad Wentzlaff said that the school would not attempt to have a year-round program in 2003-2004. He indicated that several staff members had reservations about year-round school because of family reasons. Another factor in the decision was how to handle the interim sessions that most year-round schools offer their students. He and his staff investigated other area schools with such a program and determined that teachers would spend the same number of days with students in a year-round program as they would in a traditional one.
January 2003

Big High School Thinking Small

Wheeling, West Virginia - Wheeling Park High School may be the third largest high school in West Virginia, but educators have been using a program to give it a small-school feel. The "School-Within-A-School" Program focuses on creating smaller learning communities within the school. The school is also divided into a lower school/upper school format, with 9th and 10th grade classes as part of the lower school and 11th and 12th grade classes part of the upper school. Principal Dianna Vargo believes these smaller learning environments give the students the opportunity to collaborate and encourage meaningful relationships between students and adults.
January 2003

Telethon Brings In Funds, Supplies For Schools

Jefferson Parish, New Orleans - Jefferson Parish's first telethon to muster support for its public schools was declared a success. The show raised $278,7788 in pledges of money and material during the six-hour-a-day run from Monday through Thursday. Callers also pledged to work 17,350 volunteer hours in the schools.
January 2003


 
Linwood, New Jersey - Principal Robert Blake of Mainland Regional High School has endorsed the Mainland Board of Education's proposal to use a straw-like alcohol detector to screen students entering dances and other school activities. The idea has been endorsed by some student leaders as well.
January 2003

Lunch Gives Way To "Nutrition Breaks"

Reno, Nevada - North Valley High School used to have two 30-minute lunches at different times during the day, This year, Principal Cinda Gifford switched to two 20-minute nutrition breaks and allows the students to leave school early. The teachers now have longer blocks of time with their students and the classrooms are not disrupted.
January 2003

 
Los Angeles, California - Patrick Camangian an English Teacher at Crenshaw High School uses rap as a vehicle to reach his students. He is part of a growing nationwide trend to use rap to teach English and History. Crenshaw Principal Isaac Hammond said that some parents complained last year that their children were exposed to vulgar lyrics. He now requires Camangian to edit out the most objectionable lyrics.
January 2003

Kids Unmask Talents

Chatham, New Jersey - Since 1973, Art Teacher Janet Kraemer's students in the Chatham School District have been creating oversized papier-mâché masks and nearly life-sized puppets for student theatrical productions. Currently she teaches at the Lafayette School where she inspired her students to make highly imaginative oversized craniums for the winter production of Peter Pan. Principal James M. Kelly said that they were the most wonderful examples of childhood creativity he had ever seen.
January 2003

School May Transform Into Academy "Dreamkeepers"

Norfolk, Virginia - Principal Doreatha White's dream to transform Roberts Park Elementary School is about to reach fruition. The school. to be renamed J.J. Roberts Dream Keepers Academy, would offer students the opportunity to dream up a career and then begin preparing for it. The curriculum would be modified to include one-hour time blocks before and after the current schedule to include additional classes in career subjects. Enrollment in the school would be open to students throughout Norfolk, but students in Roberts Park's attendance zone would have priority.
January 2003

 
Iowa City, Iowa - West High School Principal Jerry Arganbright and City High School Principal Mark Hanson both deal with the effects of student overcrowding on a daily basis. The Iowa City School District's bond referendum would ease the situation that is expected to worsen over the next five years. Approval of the referendum would pay for additional classrooms and infrastructure improvements.Right now, the the high schools are are addressing the lack of space by using mobile home trailers as temporary classrooms. However, most of these lack basic amenities like rest rooms and running water. If the voters reject the bond referendum, the schools will not only continue to use these makeshift classrooms, but they will be forced to add more.They will also have to examins the possibilities of offering split scheduling and reducing the number of classes from seven a day to six a day.
January 2003

Three Cheers For Perseverance

North Ridgeville, Ohio - Heather Wilsey, a 13 year-old eight grade student at Lake Ridge Academy started her own cheerleading squad when she discovered that the school didn't have one. Principal Stanley Way supported the idea. He feels that eight graders should take on leadership roles such as the one Heather assumed.
January 2003

Timelines Line The Hallways

Champaign, Illinois - Holy Cross School will celebrate its 90th anniversary this year. Principal Rose Costello has collected pictures and other mementos, which will be posted in the halls and gymnasium for visitors to see . The school's students and faculty are adding their own memories for the anniversary by creating time lines on the hallway walls.
January 2003

An Eagle Eye For Fighting Litter

Mandeville, New Orleans - Pontchartrain Elementary School Principal Kathleen Wiseman has joined the "Keep Mandeville Beautiful" committee and has kicked off a program geared toward the area's elementary school students. The program uses Pontcartrain Pete, a puppet who represents a spotted eagle flying near the school. Pontchartrain Pete tells students how much the city needs their help in the fight to keep it litter free. Wiseman will make the presentation to every elementary school in the area.
January 2003

Small District Recruiting Strategies

Hernando, Florida - Hernando School District has developed important strategies for competing with larger school districts for qualified teachers. Marcia Austin, an Assistant Principal at Parrott Middle School indicated that selling teachers on the district can be a challenge. The most distinct disadvantage the district has is not be able to compete with surrounding counties when it comes to salary. However, the district has decided to focus on what it can do by making a video to highlight what a great place it is to raise a family. Administrators also update their online job information frequently and strive to maintain contact with recent, qualified applicants.
January 2003

 


 

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