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Volume 4 Issue 5 Warriors: Education is our Super Power February 4, 2015
Quote of the Week
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus characterthat is the goal of true education.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Superintendent’s Message The phrase for the day and for the next few months is the slogan of the district last year”Keep Calm and Warrior On”. Our mission is to ensure that all students perform at continuously higher levels. In the quote above, it is to “teach one to think intensively and to think critically” but also to instill that intelligence with “character”. Our current Warriors are the future of our community, state, and nation. We are making a difference with them in the classrooms, the athletic courts and fields, the stage, the playground, etc. Every day I am touched by the work that you put in for the benefit of our students in teaching them to think and developing their character. Along with our important mission as educators, come many other changes that we adapt to and learn to thrive and not just survive. In the midst of the last few years of changes (Common Core, New Ohio Learning Standards, PARCC, AIR, OTES, etc.), we must “Keep Calm and Warrior On”. On Thursday of last week, we participated in the statewide field test of the new assessments that our students will be taking this spring in grades 311. For students and adults, it was truly a “Keep Calm and Warrior On” moment. Our teachers, administrators, and the technology director have been working diligently to make sure that online assessment went smoothly. For the most part, it did, but there were moments where “Keeping Calm and Warrioring On” were necessary. Students had issues logging in, programs had to be updated (even though they were recently), and students had to become familiar with technology tools they might not have used before (for more details read the “Testing Updates” section). Our staff (and students!) remained calm and learned a lot and now are better prepared for the actual assessments. In the testing season ahead, keep that element of calmness and project it with the confidence that all the hard work you have done in your classroom with your students will pay off. It will pay off in successful performances on assessments and in their overall academic growth and in developing who they are as individuals. Just keep calm, persevere, and Warrior On!!!
Darrell Edwards Superintendent Goshen Local Schools
Upcoming Events
● February 3 Grade 5 Music & Art Show at SES ● February 7 GHS ACT Testing ● February 10 Music Boosters Meeting at GHS ● February 12 Parent/Teacher Conferences
Interim Reports go home ● February 13 No School Conference Exchange Day ● February 16 No School President’s Day ● February 17 Parent/Teacher Conferences ● February 20 GMS Student of the Month Breakfast ● February 24 GMS & M/C Picture Day ● February 27 M/C Student of the Month Breakfast
School Community People Making a Difference
● Thank you to all Marr/Cook staff for your thoughtprovoking conversations through our book talks
● Title Ladies your AIMS assessment skills are to be complimented once again! ● Kim Stahl your positive outlook on everything is contagious! ● Debbie Bailey thanks for thinking ahead and helping with SOM! ● Great work MTSS team! ● Thank you building counselors for all your hard work with understanding the set up
process for the new online assessment systems. Kerri Mantz, Sheli D’orazio and Megan Walsh. Everyone take time to thank them during counselor appreciation week, February 26!
● Angie Ashcraft You are off to a strong start in your new health aide position! ● Thank you to Billie Jean Oehler for treating our PreK students like one of your own. ● Thank you to Goshen Middle School Teachers for volunteering to chaperone at a very
successful Snowball Dance. ● Thank you to Goshen Middle School Intervention Specialists for maintaining calm as we
work through our testing schedules. ● Thanks to Caleb Fledderjohann for all of his AD work at the middle school. ● Thank you Jake Ohnmeis and the MMGW Transitions Team for all of your work for our
eighth grade career day and high school parent information evening. ● Thank you GMS staff for your donations for the Snowball Dance. ● Teri Edwards, Carolyn Petty and Charlene Gibson do a wonderful job of keeping our
SES student safely moving into the building during morning bus duty. Their positivity helps jump start our students day.
● Kudos to Mother Nature. Your ability to keep me glued to the TV to find out what the school schedule will be for the next day is amazing.
● Thanks to maintenance for keeping the sidewalks clear and the buildings warm during
these wild winter days. ● Thanks to our bus drivers that get our kids here safely every day! ● Thanks to the following teachers for helping with PARCC online Pilot testing: Mrs.
Strausbaugh, Mrs. Morman, Mrs. Rainone, Mrs. Alexander, Mrs. Denney, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. McClanahan, Mrs. Dozier, Mrs. Tunison, and Mrs. Phillips. This effort goes a long way to making sure that we place our students in the best position to demonstrate what they are learning in your classrooms.
● Thanks to Mrs. Scherzinger and Mr. Slagle for helping secure Chrome Books. Thanks to the SES staff for leaping out there and making this endeavor successful. Today’s students are expected to do more than just point and click. By providing staff and students with these additional devices, it helps prepare our students for the expectations of today and tomorrow.
● From an anonymous staff member. “I believe it needs to be acknowledged in our next Warrior Pride issue that SES's amazing principal was spotted in work dress clothes helping one of our single parents change a tire after school on Dec 19th. This mother was at a loss not knowing what to do. Rather than leave her in her despair or suggest an alternative that she did not have the means to pay for...or even delegate the chore to someone else..., Mr. Turner (who by the way had been out sick 2 days himself this week) went out and helped her himself!!! Goshen Spirit at its best!!! Way to go Mr. Turner!”
● Thank you to Mrs. Morman for running a great Spelling Bee. ● Thank you to high school and middle school staff members that volunteered your time to
support our 8th grade students in transitioning to high school with a successful night on the 29th. 8th graders learned about the many wonderful opportunities at our high school that lay ahead of them! From GMS, thank you Mr. Fledderjohann, Mrs. Nickell, Mr. Ohnmeis, Mrs. Fine, Mr. Dietrich, Mr. Mark Edwards, Mrs. Conner, Ms. Walsh, Mrs. Denu, Ms. Gill, Mrs. Wenker. From GHS, thank you Mr. Ashley, Ms. Barr, Mrs. Deuer, Mrs. Gatio, Mr. George, Mrs. Mantz, Ms. Meyer, and Mr. Smallwood.
● Great Job Missy Mirus and the 5th grade students on the Grammar Rock Show,Tuesday
night.
Warriors News ● The Goshen Choirs would like to invite you to join us Friday night, February 6 at 7pm to
watch our talented GHS students sing, dance, rap, act, and just engage in all kinds of silliness at the 7th Annual "Goshen's Got Talent" Performance. Tickets are $4 and plenty of seats are available for the night show in the HS Auditeria.
● Congrats to Caroline Caldwell and family on the birth of Bella Grace.
Winter Sports Update
Click here for an update
Click here for an update
Click here for a bowling update
This past weekend was extremely successful for both our Winter Guard and Indoor Percussion Ensembles. The Winter Guard placed 2nd out of 9 color guards at the Campbell County Competition. The Indoor Percussion Ensemble came in 1st place in their class and also had the highest percussion score of the entire day (over the larger groups as well!!) We are very proud of all of our hardworking, talented students who are off to a tremendous start to their season! Their next competition will be February 21st at Conner High School.
License Renewal
If you are due for a renewal make sure you renew your license through the online license renewal process by May 18, 2015! By May 18, 2015 anyone who is required to renew their license this year should have the process complete, so that our LPDC can approve the needed documents at our last meeting on May 21. After setting up a safe account please keep your login and password information somewhere that you are able to access it easily as neither my office nor the technology can retrieve it. Please contact Sandy Hudson by phone at 7222222 or by email [email protected] for any questions or concerns.
Testing Update Brian Bailey Assistant Superintendent
Special thanks to all of those that helped with the State of Ohio infrastructure Trial on January 29. We know we all learned a lot and the time spent will pay off in February. We noticed a lot of “WHAT IF” scenarios that similar to any other type of “what if” questions there are not always answers. We are working through them to provide our procedure when encountered. Below is a list of topics that were assembled from great conversation with staff members. Over the next couple of weeks we will hold staff meeting to review all the relevant information, so everyone is on the same page for the beginning of PBA tests on February 23. Future Training Needs
● Keep Calm and Test On! ● PARCC how do we resume a student when they are kicked off or have technical issues
and WHO does this, especially in small group settings? ● Break down test administrator manuals into usable chunks ● Hold testing security and procedure meetings ● Continued use of PARCC training site is highly recommended. Counselors will set up
generic sessions over the next few weeks ● verify EVERYONE THAT NEEDS accounts as Test administrators/proctors in PARCC
and Teachers in TIDE ● Step by step for TA to follow including the script distribution of support staff in all labs
Student View
● discuss with students the importance of typing the usernames and passwords exactly as they appear
● need to walk students through the tools inside of the tests ● we need to create a “how to log in as a student” poster or flyer for all testing areas
Technology
● investigate student comfort with track pads on Chromebooks and order external mice if needed
● research and fix the pop up blocker issue found on some devices ● Create a troubleshooting guide and create a documentation form for all testing areas,
along with a chain of command for buildings. ● make sure sound is turned on, on all computers
Building specific discussions around testing environments
● spend time talking about the testing environment, especially when issues arise ● order study carrels for all labs to create a strict testing environment ● Hold testing security and procedure meetings ● Have a mobile device transfer plan for chrome books and laptops ● discuss a snow day or delayed start plan at each building ● look at testing schedules and add plenty of setup time before test sessions
We are working through differences in Ohio Policy and Policy in PARCC Manuals and will
continue to communicate important information. This question came up a lot during the trial, so we thought we would clarify. There are a few differences in Ohio policy and the policy that is listed in the PARRC English language arts and mathematics manuals. Districts/schools will follow the Ohio policy. These differences will be added to the Ohio page in the manuals when the next review occurs.
↑ Except with the following tools: ruler, protractors, calculators, equation editor, formula sheets as they are tied to content. You CAN point these out but CAN’T help them use them. Looking for resources here is a link to great videos and info on testing: http://iteachbay.blogspot.com Trivia This week’s trivia question is below. All those with the correct answers by Wednesday at 9:30a.m, will be added into a drawing for a planning day of your choice after testing with your classroom covered by Mr. Edwards, Mrs. Spears, Ms. Scherzinger, Mr. Shinkle, Mr. Slagle, Mrs. Herrera, and Mr. Bailey! Email responses to [email protected]
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