A Beauty & the Beast Week!



Brown-Bag It's waiting to go in McLelland's room

Lots happening leading up to HP night at Beauty & the Beast this week.  In a couple of third grade classrooms, I saw "Brown-Bag It" get to know you activities.  In Mrs. Golliher's class, Sammy was sharing a cool medal she won and I heard and saw about Ava's pretty nifty summer vacation. 

Students were also getting their Scottie Spotlight pieces done for the year in third grade (seen in Mrs. Absher's class).  All third grade classes, and many other grade levels, have a student spotlight board and each student is featured at least once throughout the year.  Great way to additionally connect with others. 

Math activities were also in evidence in all third grade classrooms this week ahead of leveled math classes next week.  I saw students practicing the crucial skill of measurement (always a struggle for students on standardized testing) and a tangram shape activity.  Thanks for jumping right in third grade.

 Check out the creative classroom display completed by first grade students in Ms. Davis' classroom.  Her students have been practicing their number formations and they connected it to the work of Jasper Johns.  Great job first graders!

We also hosted our last Back to School Night this week.  Yep, we host three!  Kinder and first grade parents came out in force and received lots of have to know information.  Loved the fact that current teacher Sally Hunter and former HP teacher Sarah Hull also visited to show support for new teachers; the warm and inviting vibe each teacher created for parents was evident.  I was able to participate in one get to know you activity on my pop-in to Ms. Ryan's classroom.  Thanks all for another round of successful BTS nights.

Of course, our big event this week was HP night at Beauty and the Beast performed by the McCallum Fine Arts students in their older theater; this was our kick-off for Year II of an all community arts event as we move deeper into the AGC initiative.  Parent Kerren Campa took the germ of an idea and made it a night to remember.  There were at least 250+ current and former HP'ers in attendance and as I left the performance, I saw several more for the 8:30 show as the first Sold Out! The work that is produced from the students and staff at MAC is always first rate and spot-on.  Truly.  Amazing sets and costumes, professional level dancing and singing.  The list goes on.  I'm far from a theater critic but I do know quality when I see it.  And this is it folks.  More importantly, it's the sense of community that is built around these activities, for young and old, for the folks who love theater and those you have to convert. We do it for the kids, we do it for the schools, and we do it for this community.  Look for other HP arts celebration nights this year,hopefully at MAC, but also with community arts providers, and, with our feeder middle school and their Lamar Fine Arts Academy - heard talk of a possible HP night at Lamar too.  Thanks Scotties for always taking an idea, building on it, and making it better as we go.   

And don't forget to purchase your Season Tickets for MAC performances this year.  I've got mine, have you got yours? 



Fabulous Ms. Campa & Family





Welcome Back Scotties!

What a week!  Activities during the day and after school were in high gear as we got back in the swing of things with kids.  Teaching and learning protocols and procedures are being introduced, practiced, and reinforced; beginning of year Dibels is happening, as well as other grade level assessments on most days.  Many classrooms even used some of their DBI strategies as part of get to know you activities.  Fun!  Much happening in the fall as you know, but don't forget that next up is HP night at Beauty and the Beast.  McCallum Fine Arts Center, Friday, September 7, 7:00 pm.  Check the HPPTA website for purchase link.  I'll be there and hope to see you as well.  More to come on lots of great happenings, but here are some images from our week and a few words about The Taco Shack Bowl.  It was a good one.

First Day of SEL - Being Respectful Learners in 3rd grade

 

Mr. Robenhorst going over procedures on Monday



Mrs. Land at one of four grade level BTS presentations




Some cool student art in Ms. Collin's class



Ms. Snell's Research Ready Board!





So, what to say about The Taco Shack Bowl?  It rounded out our week in a big way on Thursday night.  We had approximately 350 screaming, excited Scottie-Knight fans at the game so it definitely felt like home.  Half time was surreal, with kids and adults meeting on the end field, then waiting for Principal Garrison to give us last minute instructions on procedures for lining up with cheerleaders and drill team on the field.  Beyond fun to welcome the Knights back onto the field after half-time; even better was the Knight's big win!  Special thanks to Mike, Lou, Chastity and others for making our vertical team Scottie-Knight Strong.  Your future Knights thank you.



PTA President & Principal are just as excited about the game!



Leading up to opening day!

We had quite a bit of campus activity leading up to our big opener on Monday, August 27.  Here are some images from those very busy days.  Read all the way to the end as there are some upcoming Dates to Know you won't want to miss. 

Cute Crew!

Landscape Day took place last Saturday morning, with committee chair/parent Brian Yarbrough heading the crew.  They mulched, they pulled weeds, they cleaned up brush, and more.
Kids were out helping moms and dads with all things grounds work.  You can't put a price on that!  Dedication to the cause even in this hot weather.  Thanks all!

 

As we moved through the weekend into the week, bulletin board displays caught my eye.  It's always fun to see what themes are being planned and how teachers approach the opening days in classrooms.  Lots of work behind the scenes!

 

 

And of course, Preservice Week itself happened.  Monday-Wednesday saw us in training all day, with some time reserved for teams to meet, plan, and tackle beginning of the year team to-do lists. 

We began our week with a fabulous PTA provided breakfast, then the annual all staff picture, review of nuts and bolts to running the school, a short training connected to Reading Portrait Biographies (DAR) presented by Sally Hunter, and a broad overview of yearly goals and action plans! Thankfully, we did manage a puzzle brain break so we could connect all those pieces!  Full Day!

 

 

Monday afternoon, Maplewood teachers joined us as trainers from TAP conducted break-out sessions on all things DBI (drama based instruction).  I liked what I saw and heard from participants, with many saying they knew what they were going to use with their own kids the first days of school.  Relevant PD always makes for a good day.

 

Dr. Hasty kicking off the afternoon

Other activities abounded Tuesday and Wednesday.  We participated in our SEL training, trained on K-2 Math TEKS and TEMI math screeners, further reviewed STAAR data, listened to the Superintendent's Convocation (after a few technical difficulties!), met with members of our new PTA board - valuable information and they facilitated a wonderful Roll On Sushi lunch for us to boot! -  had team time, plus prepped and planned before, in between, and after into the evening hours.  Probably one of my favorite activities was the training Laine and I provided connected to the Matsumura book Creating High Quality Classroom Assignments.  We were able to connect to our goal of Process/Product displays as part of each teacher's work this year (meaningful idea from the DC arts conference as you may remember), but best of all, teachers were able to use some of their DBI strategies from Monday's AGC training; it was neat to see their created PSA's from the book chapters.  Loved their enthusisasm for the work!  Really easy to use information connected to planning high quality assignments with the foundation always laid with appropriate, rich, varied text. We're already rolling on it...

 

And we did manage to squeeze in some fun.  About 30 staff members (some of us seen below) travelled to Zach Scott for their Teacher Preview Party. We were able to see scenes performed from 2012-2013 school offerings; all were engaging, well done, and left all of us thinking about connections to the classroom.  We'll keep you posted on what's on tap for grade level enrichment experiences at Zach.  Thanks Nat and ZS!

 

HP teachers and newest Scottie Natalie too!

 

 

A truly busy week, but a good week.  Rally Day, as always, saw most of you on campus, and we couldn't be more excited about the year ahead.  As promised, some dates below to plan for as we head into our new year.  Can't wait!

 

Highland Park Night at The Taco Shack Bowl!  Thursday, August 30, 7:30 pm, House Park.  Special cheer to learn first week of school and kids on the field at Halftime!  See Tammie for Free tickets.  First come, first served!

 

Highland Park Night at MAC's Beauty and the Beast.  Friday, September 7, 7:00 pm.  Flyer and information on the PTA website and sent by Tammie through School Messenger - check your email.  One time only special adult pricing!  Great way to show your support for our Knight family and the arts!  Thanks MAC and thanks Kerren Campa for making it happen!

 

 

 

 



Celebrating 60 Years!

You may not know it, but Highland Park will be celebrating its 60th birthday in 2012-2013.  Wow!  Sixty years of service to children and families living in Central Austin.  We have several Scotties who have parents, uncles, and aunts, even grandparents who have also attended HP over the years and it never fails to amaze me how they still radiate that Scottie Pride when talking about their elementary years. While Highland Park has changed much since 1952, there are a few traditions (such as the Scottie Dog!) that remains a part of who we are today.  This year's student design t-shirt celebrates the occassion so be sure to pick one up at the PTA table on Rally Day.

Shay with the student designed t-shirt.  ARF!



Facilities Review Committee

Lots and lots happening on campus this week.  We had meetings and planning groups in and out most days; all productive and all very worthwhile.  SEL committee met Monday to plan our training next week, The DBI trainers used a couple of HP spaces to get ready for their big roll-out presentations to MAC schools, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation met with me and staff to plan an upcoming fundraising walk during Coach's Fall Fitness Festival (Ellen Ray is an organizing champ!), and our newly formed Facilities Review committee met with district rep Marc Brewster to look at our deficiencies notebook and the impact our current space has on student learning, especially in core areas.  Thanks bunches to parents Wendy Dunham-Tita and Juliee Beyt, as well as librarian Cheryl Mullins for their time and expertise. Of course, we are also in the throes of setting up the cafeteria for our own kick-off Monday morning.  Textbooks rolling out, bulletin boards gettin' there, lessons being planned, and students being enrolled.  Our numbers at this point sit around 675, we are definitely full with many new families having moved into our area, and we couldn't be more excited about the coming year.  Our curriculum is in place and our staff continues to build their own instructional skill levels through trainings, reflection, and collaboration with others.  

SEL committee planning, planning!

Monday brought our newest teachers to campus to begin their first full week of training.  Though I formally introduced them to you a couple of weeks ago,  here's a cute pic of all of them, including their campus mentor Margaret Williams. 

We also have two other new hires that you may not have heard about in recent days.  Long time ASCC staff member Diana Estrada has taken a teaching assistant position closer to her home.  Though we are truly sad to see her go, we are equally thrilled to have Veronica Lilly join our staff.  She will work with the second and third grade children after school and help us with many other things as well.  Veronica holds her Bachelor of Science in Geography from Texas State, has worked with Crenshaw's Athletic Club childcare programming, and has also subbed for us in the classroom and after school.  Welcome Veronica!

Ms. Lilly



Rounding out our recent hiring is Kristina Carmona in the new teacher assistant position for our SBS program; she will be working with teacher Chris Purkiss and SBS TA Charles King.  Kristina is a graduate of St. Edward's University with a BA in Psychology, holds her teacher certification, and was most recently a TA at Kiker Elementary in Southwest Austin.  We're equally glad to have her join our team. 

Ms. Carmona

Finally, check out the updated Lamar Info Board Elaine Castro just finished; we'll keep current news posted as we get it. Together, continuing to be Scottie Strong!



It's all about the C's!

I think about connections quite a bit. How things we have in place connect to things we're thinking about putting in place or how things we have in place connect to things that need refinement.  Educators typically groan when new initiatives and programs come around and suddenly drop from the radar without just cause.  Of course, if it ain't working, let it go.  But if it is, how can you connect those things to other ideas that will keep a campus moving forward with the ever rolling changes happening in our world and with our students?  This year, connections will remain at the core of what we do at Highland Park.  In fact, It's All About the C's.  Think continued focus on creativity, community, critical thinking, college/career/life readiness, and collaboration, with the goal of all connected to what we've built and what we will build.  I believe it's another exciting, successful, connected year ahead for us as we work together to achieve our goals on behalf of our kids.

When looking at all Highland Park has to offer - made a list, it's extensive - it's pretty clear we do have quite a bit for kids above and beyond the basics. Those things will remain in place.  Curricular items such as Scientific Spelling, Handwriting without Tears, Model Drawing Math, Acclerated Math/Excel Math as practice, Future Problem Solvers for our identified Gifted & Talented, Fluency Centers, Dibels assessments, inter-disciplinary language arts units connected to varied and rich text/projects/experiential experiences will remain and will grow as we work on making them deeper and more meaningful for kids.  The all important TEKS (our true core curriculum), the district Curriculum Road Maps, and so much more will remain and will be at the heart of what we do.  And of course, all of our wonderful extension and enrichment opportunities that we have during the day and after school will remain, with an eye toward expansion and refinement where appropriate. It's now simply about building upon what's there and connecting to the year ahead.

This year, as last, a major focus will be the Year II Any Given Child city-wide initiative.  We're fortunate to have been a part of the pilot year in 2011-2012, it will expand to other feeder schools in the McCallum Vertical Team this year, with the goal to expand to other schools in AISD in the future.  In fact, this expansion is beginning (embedded high yield strategies in the yearly curriculum documents for one thing), I know it's on the table with many great minds and hands working on the roll-out, and will eventually provide the venue for arts rich opportunities for all children in our community.  You will want to look for those details in the days ahead, but really good for our kids and good for Austin.

All Highland Park teachers, along with our MAC peer schools, will participate in 3 half-day DBI (drama based instruction) professional development opportunities beginning August 20.  UT's Drama for Schools, Zach Scott, TAP, and more will deliver this targeted PD to help us build creative capacities within our classrooms.  Pretty cool.  Additionally, through the work of the AGC initiative, selected teachers at our schools will have access to artist residents to further develop skills through a year long partnership, have the opportunity to receive individual modeling of lessons from such partners, receive some base support to continue our work with community arts providers in the gen ed setting, and further look ahead to late spring and summer creative classroom professional development opportunities as they arise.  Most exciting, outside of the AGC initiative but related to our MAC Vertical Team's signature program (think Advancing Academics through the Arts!), the four pilot schools, along with Blackshear Elementary, will have a year long partnership with a newly hired dance teacher at Lamar Middle School.  Though details are being worked out and will be finalized the week of teacher training, this partnership will provide an avenue for kids to connect dance TEKS, grade level TEKS, and more through creative movement.  All with the goal to enhance understanding of what students are learning in the classroom and to reach those varied learners.  Tools in the toolbox.


Finally,  Highland Park will look at process and reflection as a part of our final product displays, will endeavor to incorporate our DBI and DAR (tied to visual art) trainings with those displays, and we will, once again, continue to celebrate the arts through a variety of events throughout the year.  I  encourage you to check this weekly blog, read the weekly PTA Scottie Informer, and listen to any and all School Messenger calls/emails that come your way.  Creative, meaningful, fun.


So what else is going on in 2012-2013?   Cari Land and our newly formed SEL (Social Emotional Learning) team comprised of Sally Hunter, Lori Gates, Lizanne McDaniel, and myself, will be rolling out the Second Steps curriculum  to teachers on August 22. As I've mentioned before, the McCallum Vertical team will become an SEL VT, all with an eye toward giving our kids the tools to be emotionally healthy individuals.  Gotta have that along with the academics or it doesn't mean much.  More info at Back to School and special parent presentations, but know that SEL time will take the place of our weekly, 30 minute Face Time we put in place last year as a jumping off point for this program.  According to Casel's SEL website, SEL skills "include recognizing and managing our emotions, developing caring and concern for others, establishing positive relationships, making responsible decisions, and handling challenging situations constructively and ethically. They are the skills that allow children to calm themselves when angry, make friends, resolve conflicts respectfully, and make ethical and safe choices."  This is truly a positive step for our school and our vertical team, we are ensuring that those all important people connections are there, and we're so very excited to join the other AISD vertical teams already implementing this program.

We will also implement the Legacy of Giving program this year with our fifth graders as an extension to our after school CLASS service offerings, will have some parent ed coffee chats and evening presentations around a variety of topics of interest (cyberbullying, SEL, SCORES services, and more), implement the TEMI math screeners/progress monitoring tools under the guidance of Leah Read in K-2 classrooms, and all take a critical look on the creation and recognition of High Quality Assignments.  Building upon and connecting to what we have in place.

Of course, as with any school, the above list is only a snapshot of what truly goes on in a school any given day, any given year.  We have much we're working on and been working on over the end of last year and summer.  In fact, many teachers and support staff have actually been "back to work" for awhile, in and out, meeting in grade level and department teams, planning, creating, brainstorming with me and others.  Beginning of the year is always exciting and for some reason this year seems especially so.  Good vibes.

That's the overview.  Couldn't do it without such a dedicated staff (some pics below of a few at school today!).  Continued thanks for caring, for connecting, and for being you.  Just about ready to roll.

             

  

New Staff and More!

I'm super excited to announce the additions to our staff this coming year.  I know you've most likely heard a bit about our newbies, all with a wide variety of experiences in and out of the classroom, but allow me to formally introduce our newest Scotties.  They each are highly capable, creative, well-rounded, and interesting individuals who will help us further our goals of producing capable, creative, well-rounded, and interesting students.  Setting the foundation now for college, career, and life graduates in the years to come.


At Kinder, Christina Ryan and Lauren Farmer will fill our fifth and sixth teaching slots for 12-13.  Christina received her BA in Music and Ed.M in Early Childhood Education from Boston University.  She has been a kindergarten teacher since 2001, first in Durham, NC and most recently in Cambridge, MA.  Her resume is much too lengthy and over-the-top impressive to include everything in this short space, but I will tell you that she was the recipient of the 2012 Cambridge Science Festival and Cambridge PS Curious Teacher Award and the 2010 Zula International (National) Science Teacher Association Early Science Educator Award (for a lesson creation entitled Immersion in Geometrical Optics).  She also was a Tufts University Fulcrum Institute for Leadership in Science Education fellow, presenter at several NSTA national conferences, and recently presented at the NSELA conference held in Austin.  In Christina's own words, "I want children to perform to the best of their academic abilities, but I also actively nurture their development as people by helping them become kind friends, responsible members of a community, reflective learners, and individuals who take risks and embrace challenge".  Christina will bring much to our kinder team and their interdisciplinary approach to teaching; in fact her former principal tells me that she just isn't sure "how she's going to run the school without Christina".  Her husband has recently accepted a tenured teaching position at UT and we are so very glad to have them both in our school and community at large.

Lauren Farmer many of you know, as she was a first-rate student teacher at second grade last school year.  Lauren brings an enthusiasm and a level of confidence and professionalism sometimes not seen in new graduates.  In fact, I've joked with staff that when I called Lauren to offer her the position and told her that I knew she would learn much this year, she calmly stated, "Ms. Workman, I know I can bring a lot to your school as well."  Love it! Lauren just earned her BS in Early Childhood Education, from UT Austin, has served as a mentor and tutor at several AISD elementary schools, embraces the use of technology in the classroom, and as a fun fact, was a UT Cheerleader (go Horns!), even serving as Captain one year.  She is interested in starting a gardening program with her Kinder students and is exploring the possibility of co-sponsoring our Math Pentathlon program with Mr. Gay.  Wonderful addition!

At first grade, we have such a find in Katie Ferguson, who will be joining as the fifth team member.  She holds a BS in Early Childhood Education from the University of Alabama and a Masters in Education from the University of Phoenix.  Katie comes to us with 8 years of first grade teaching experience in Georgia, first at Annette Winn Elementary, and for 6 years at Sarah Smith Elementary in Atlanta.  While at Sarah Smith, Katie received in-depth training in the primary years IB program (Sarah Smith is an International Baccalaureate campus and recipient of the Georgia Schools Platinum Award), SMART phonics program, Jr. Great Books, Empowering Writers, and much more.  Her principal Dr. Baker also indicated that when she said she was moving to Austin, "I said no".  Best of all perhaps, was a letter written by a former parent of one of Katie's first grade students - "Katie has the gift of seeing the complete child and knows intuitively how to get the most from her students.  Our son struggled with reading during the year and became discouraged and distracted easily.  Katie nurtured him, tutored him during her own time...during the spring she made time to come to soccer and baseball games to cheer for her students...I would like to say that we were special, but have learned that she extended the same love and concern for each child in the class".   We look forward to the talents Katie will bring to our school, specifically in the area of inter-connected disciplines, inquiry based learning, and differentiation for each child. 

Rounding out our new teaching staff will be Spanish Enrichment teacher George Ayres.  Our community knows and loves the Ayres family, having had their four girls attend our school over the years (all four now are at St. Stephens and doing quite well I hear).  George, a graduate of Texas Christian University in Ft Worth, received his BA in Spanish Literature and is fluent in the language.  He comes to us with truly a variety of experiences, having been a bilingual teacher at one point in his early career, as well as serving as an ESL tutor and Spanish document translator.  Those of us who know George, however, also know that his real passion lies in the area of writing; this is a definite strength he will bring to HP.  Again, too much to print here, but George is a published author of numerous articles, essays, and fiction, is a writer/producer of web commercials and short films, former copywriter for Mad House advertising (received the Silver Addy award), former marketing information specialist/editor/writer for TX Dept of Agriculture, current media and communications director for the Sun Valley Film Festival, and much more.  Recently, I've been following George and fellow HP parent Phil Hardage on Twitter and their new internet cop show, "Freefall".  Pretty cool.  This is a busy guy as you can tell, he is super excited to get started with our program, we've brainstormed the creation of a school newspaper with a possible Spanish focus, and much more; I forsee this position growing in many new and creative ways.  Glad to have you on board officially George!

Last but not least, stop in to welcome Robin Moore as our new office clerk.  Like George, Robin is a former HP parent and has subbed at our school over the last few years, both in and out of the classroom.  She is a graduate of UT with a BS in Education (Spanish and Biology) and completed the Landscape Design School at College Station, Texas.  Many of you remember Robin and her family through their business Howard Nursery and most recently as the proprietor of Robin's Garden Designs - something she still does in her spare time!  She has much experience working with the public, is organized, experienced with our office procedures, and we are thrilled to have her on board.  Welcome Robin!

As you remember, Badgerdog Publishing worked with our second and third grade students last year.  I'd be remiss by not passing on the links to check out the poetry and writings from some of the classes.  Check out a sample of third grade offerings at  http://www.badgerdog.org/unbound/2012/06/14/no-boundaries/  to read "about a pie with Michael Jackson dance moves and amazing feats of synesthesia" or some second grade samples at http://www.badgerdog.org/unbound/2012/06/04/where-every-lego-is-free/ and http://www.badgerdog.org/unbound/2012/05/30/the-places-poems-make/.  I especially liked Bella's In the Country of Fashion at the last link.  Enjoy!

Final two items, both PTA related.  First, we want a really good showing for this year's Art Reflections program.  Last year's theme was Diversity Is, the entries were impressive, so make plans to check the site ptareflections.org to find out how to get started on this year's entry details.  A great way for kids to get connected to the many forms of art. 

Though she probably needs no formal introduction, a big welcome to our newest PTA president Debbie Esterak, shown below with outgoing president Shay Rogillio.  These two ladies are quite the dynamos, Shay will serve on the board for 12-13 as well, and I look forward to working with Debbie and the board as we continue to make Highland Park the best school it can be for kids. Thanks for all you do PTA!




Debbie receiving the official PTA gavel from Shay

Next week, my every Friday blog will begin again in earnest.  Check back for the latest on our 12-13 initiatives and programs, teacher planning news, and last minute info from the week.  Full steam ahead!

Mid-July Updates

Summer is moving along at such a fast pace that Rally Day will be here before we know it.  Lots of activity has been happening this summer on and off campus, so just a sampling of what we've been working on at school...

The summer months are always full of trainings. Most teachers and administrators use this time to participate in additional professional development opportunities to enhance their practices in the classroom and on their campuses.  As we look ahead to Year II with the Any Given Child Creative Classroom (AGC) initiative for HP and the other pilot schools, we have some very solid next step plans to continue the work began in 11-12; additionally, all feeder schools in the MAC VT will be coming on board, participating in trainings and making their own arts/creativity plans as they relate to their individual campuses. Cool.  More to come closer to start of school.

For our campus, two worthwhile arts related trainings deserve mention here.  First, Kalene Guenther and Laine Leibick (both members of the pilot schools' AGC design teams) participated in a 2 week course of study with UT's Drama for Schools program.  I was honored to attend the culminating reception/overview and loved how participating teachers were able to show collaboration and enhancement of content area lessons through the use of drama based instructional practices.  Really, it's about enhancing what we are doing already, reaching learners who don't get it through traditional methods, thinking critically and creatively, and so much more.   The enthusasism for the training from the teachers' perspective was inspiring to me and I know will produce positive results in their classrooms. 

Collaboration with other teachers

Another very special training attended by teacher representatives from each AGC pilot school, myself, Lamar principal George Llewellyn (both of us attending as part of the community leadership committee), mindPOP's Brent Hasty, and AISD's FA director Greg Goodman was the Kennedy Center's Arts Integration Conference in June.  Limited to a couple of hundred attendees across the nation, I can't stress enough the power of what we walked away with from those sessions.  Not only were we able to hear and see and participate in arts integration activities with a variety of experts in the field, we were also also able to collaborate with teachers and administrators who are doing it and doing it well across the country. Added bonus - our own pilot group collaboration time with each other each day as well.  Though we all took away various things for our own campuses (attendees are required to present to their campuses next school year), definitely look for Process/Product displays, including teacher and student reflections, as part of HP's Year II participation; so many transformative ideas that will take us deeper into our work.  Truly, one of the best things I've attended in awhile.  Very affirming knowing that the data we are all held to (think standardized testing) truly does underscore what we know - arts rich schools and opportunities for students to be engaged beyond paper and pencil can have powerful and positive outcomes.



With Mrs. Hunter at the farewell dinner/performance

 


Our learning team celebration after a long week of training!

 

Along with many reading, writing, and math trainings offered through our district (just got an update from Mrs. Golliher and her 2 week reading/writing workshop - seems to love it so far!), our McCallum Vertical Team will be an SEL (Social Emotional Learning) VT for 12-13.  Each MAC elementary, middle, and high school campus sent teams to a two day kick-off training in early June, along with administrators, and I firmly believe the work of SEL will be a natural fit in our classrooms.  As you know, we built  a 30 minute Face Time (think community circle) into our 11-12 master schedule, so this will be that "next step", with structured lessons and discussion becoming much more formalized.  Along with academics, we want our students to be prepared to handle all the emotional stuff that comes up on any given day, and most importantly, we want to produce emotionally healthy and happy children once they leave HP's halls at the end of fifth grade.  Cari Land will facilitate SEL for our campus, but special thanks to Lori Gates, Sally Hunter, and Lizanne McDaniel for their participation on our new campus SEL committee.  Enjoyed it!

Of course, front of school landscape work is in progress as seen below (if interested, you can also check my twitter account @hpchief for in the moment updates happening at HP), Scottie Camp wrapped up a fun- filled three weeks in late June, and our new hires are all almost officially in place - really, just waiting on some final paperwork.  Though word tends to travel fast around the HP community and many of you have the unofficial word on who will be on board, look for a formal introduction of new staff by end of July (latest, promise!).

Enjoy the days ahead, please know we are gearing up for 12-13, and yep, I'm pumped about the upcoming year, whatever it brings.  This is going to be a Golden Year for AISD.  I just know it.