McKee's Health Curriculum Covered by the SI Advance

The Staten Island Advance covers McKee's Health curriculum in using the infant simulators from Reality Works. Click the title or right here.

I feel as if the title of the article should be, "Child's Play is Unusually Hard Work."

By the way, 2 health classes, which means 40 students, were exposed to the pilot infant simulator program. Mr. Paulucci and Kim Watson were the physical education teacher and counselor, respectively, who conducted the pilot program in the second health class.

Interesting how the article ends. The subject of teen pregnancy is so terribly touchy. As long as we do not have the difficult conversations about the topic, the more we, as a society, will be blindsided by uncomfortable consequences.

Staten Island Advance Covers McKee's National Honor Society

Here's the scoop from the Staten Island Advance about McKee's reactivated chapter of the National Honor Society.

NYC Schools on Facebook and Twitter

Just to show you how ubiquitous it is to be online:

NYC Schools is on Facebook

NYC schools is on Twitter

SI Advance Covers a Seagull Grad on his Skateboard

Click here to see an article in the Staten Island Advance about Andre Cofield, a recent McKee graduate, sailing on his skateboard .

I remember when skateboards came out, "back in the day." I gingerly stepped on the platform, and attempted to shift my body weight and lean in to the curve, like I saw on television and in the park. I leaned one way, the skateboard had a mind of its own and went the other way.

Check out Andre's dexterity captured by the Staten Island Advance photographer of the pavement athlete executing a balancing act on the ledge.

Dictionary Builder

Click the title or right here to a great vocabulary builder called Dictionary Squared. It has wonderful graphics, clear explanations, and interactive links that are engaging. The site has a limited free trial period. To permanently get the service, one has to pay a fee. By the way, one of the ways that different tutoring services have indicated are helpful is when a student reviews vocabulary using notecards. Dictionary Squared has a notecards making option.

Diplomas and Report Cards Still Available on Monday 6/29/09

Graduates / 12th Grade:
Diploma and report card distribution will be at 9 a.m. on Monday, June 29, 2009 in the auditorium.

9th - 11th Grade Students:
You will still be able to pick up your report card at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 29, 2009 in the auditorium.

Please note - If you need summer school, it will be indicated on the report card. The location of summer school 2009 for McKee students is at Curtis High School.

McKee Graduation - June 26, 2009

My 2nd graduation as principal on June 26, 2009 at the St. George Theater, and I just enjoy every part of the ceremony. I particularly relish the part where I say the words from the phrase that confers the candidates as graduates. The seniors have just finished singing the alma mater and senior song. Mr. Velija, our Assistant Principal of Organization, says the ephebic oath.

Next, they hear the words, "..you are now graduates..." and the students lose it. Their eyes shine, their heads shake, their hands are clapping, their smiles broaden even further in recognizing that this is the moment when they are young adults who are moving away from childhood and adolescence. There is a tidal wave of positive, electric energy that soars into the rafters and of course the mortarboards fly into the air to punctuate the emotion.

I love the energy.

We Bid A Fond Adieu to Six Seagulls

From left to right: Elena Extramiana (Spanish); Joyce Edel (Special Education); Judy Nock (Attendance); Joy Feldman (COSA, Math); Ida Campanella (Cosmetology); and Van Wilson (Automotive Technology).

How We Feel About McKee?

Mayor Koch used to say: "How am I doing?"

At McKee, just like in every school in the New York City Department of Education, the students, staff and parents weighed in on the question of "How is McKee Doing?"

Click here for the NYC School Survey 2008-2009 Report to find out the answer.

Drum Roll Please - Best Blogs of Spring 2009

Based on digital survey results, here are the standout blogs / websites from McKee High School:


Best Visual Design/Function
-Englishatmckee.com and mrpigis.blogspot.com (tied)
-Mckeepeermediation.blogspot.com
-sites.google.com/site/ralphrmckeelibrary
-mrs.kelly-history.blogspot.com

Best Content for Career & Technical Education Subjects
-mrpigis.blogspot.com
-rmcGill.blogspot.com
-Bpaneng.blogspot.com

Best Content for Academic Subjects
-mckeecoppi.blogspot.com
-mrjacobsblog.blogspot.com
-mrscott.blogspot.com
-monteleon.net
-Mckeeguidance.blogspot.com
-mrlucci.blogspot.com
-missesdonohuelab.blogspot.com
-mrhattonsblog.blogspot.com

Congratulations, keep up the good work. Happy summer. In fall 2009, the blogs, like the teachers will be refreshed.

Applause to P. S. 22's Appearance on GMA

Good Morning America was bowled over with the sweet voices of P.S. 22 on Monday, June 22, 2009. Check it out on the P.S. 22 blog. It is a testament to the power of music.

A Story of Inspiration: Khadijah Williams

I just finished reading a compelling story covered in the Los Angeles Times about a homeless teenager who managed to survive the mean streets of South Central. She graduated 4th in her class, with the help of altruistic counselors, teachers and mentors; and will be attending Harvard in the fall of 2009.
Click here for the article: From Homeless to Harvard.

Baby Think It Over and a Meeting B/T Mediators

Click here to see the Baby Think it Over and a Meeting Between Mediators PowerPoint that was given by Noreen Mullen, the Assistant Principal of Security, Physical Education and Health to the cabinet, the school leadership team, and Ms. Caltobiano, the wonderful philanthropist from the World of Women Organization. The presentation highlights a few minutes out of the 72 hours that the students shared in their journals. Yes - we got student approval for the snippets. Next stop is to get the students to blog their experiences. Who knew that they felt so traumatized just from having 72 hours that they begged off from making anything digital as they needed to feel their journal was a private sounding board.

I know, you're thinking, what do you mean the students were traumatized. After 1 week, 3, weeks, 6 weeks, and even at the 8 week mark, students spoke passionately about their experiences with the infant simulators. I'll share one quick experience:
"I tell my boss I'm in health. He of course says, don't bring it. In fact he fires me, saying he doesn't want anything that cries at work. I say fine, cause I've got to pass health. He calls me up the same day he fires me and says, there's too much work, come in. I do. I'm heading to work. The baby starts crying. I realize I've got to go back to school and put it on babysitting mode or else my boss will flip. On my way back to school, I'm texting my boss. I get back to school, I've got to find the teacher with the remote to program the baby. Miss, I'm trying to find him. I'm texting my boss that I'm finding the teacher. I find the teacher. He programs it. I'm now heading back to work. I get to work. I put the baby in the basket down. I head over to start work on the car, doing my job, and what do I see, my boss is @#$*(&, sorry miss, he's throwing the baby up in the air and catching it. I yell at him, "What are you doing?" Miss, I suffered. It was stress. Nothing but stress. I still think you guys put the babies on the hard cycle.
Note: We didn't. Honest. All of the infant simulators were on the Easy Cycle. Come by when we get ready to have our freshman students in Health class, Fall 2009, with the infant simulators.

Next on the presentation you will see when we had an intervisitation in which a few peer mediators from McKee High School visited veteran peer mediators from Curtis High School.

A little background: Curtis High School has a long established and celebrated peer mediation program. Noreen Mullen is a powerhouse dynamo Assistant Principal of Security and Physical Education at McKee. Working closely with the social workers at McKee, the Integrated Service Center Security Specialist, and the 120th Precinct, along with the New York Center for Interpersonal Development, she looked for opportunities in which the peer mediation program could grow and the peer mediators could gain experience. An opportunity presented itself when during the course of the year the mediators from Curtis High School set up an afterschool intervisitation.

McKee Summer Reading Lists & Assignments Are Here

Click here for the Incoming 9th Grade Summer Reading List and Assignment.
By popular request - click here for the printable PDF version of the Incoming 9th Grade Summer Reading List and Assignment.

Click here for the 10th-12th Grade Summer Reading List and Assignment.
By popular request - click here for the printable PDF version of the 10th-12th Grade Summer Reading List and Assignment.

Why? If you breathe, you should read.
Why? One's mind always needs nourishment.

Yes - in the first month of school, September 2009, will feature the written and digital assignments generated from the summer reading.

McKee Students Praised for their Presentation at Petrides

Three students from McKee (From L-R): Steven Grell, Mohamed Ibrahim, Hiran Gnanapragasam; and their CISCO teacher, Anthony Pigis, did an end of year presentation at Petrides as part of the culminating activity from the PEARLS grant, Friday, June 12, 2009. Here they are moments before they go on:

The three young gentlemen showcased the interactive blog, CISCO Made Easy: ciscoeasy.blogspot.com. The students worked on the blog after school and in the evenings. Their goal was to provide a useful tutoring service for sophomores about the elements needed to succeed in CISCO during their first year of study. The pupils used Web 2.0 tools such as Jing and added Packet Tracer, which is a network simulator program. The students spoke for more than 30 minutes, at times fielding questions from a range of teachers and technical coordinators from the PEARLS Grant initiative.

What was so cool was the level of ownership poise and knowledge about the workings of creating the interactive blog. By the way, the students were only supposed to present for 15 minutes but there was an extensive question and answer period. The coordinators specifically wanted to know how "Mr. Pigis felt ceding control to the students. To quote Mr. Pigis, it was not about control, it was about student buy in. His words of wisdom, it takes patience, and planning. He already has some exciting ideas for Fall 2009 so that we as a school are able to proliferate the practice of having students helping students by empowering them to make a digital blueprint via using Web 2.0 tools such as a Jing, wikispace, webcast, podcast, blog or any combination of the above.
I am excited by the possibilities of students helping students to understand the elements of a range of concepts whether it is a trade shop: construction, auto mechanics, cosmetology and epidemiology; or technical shop: drafting, AUTOCAD, CISCO, or electrical installation. The key for me as an instructional leader is to model, and show through my actions that one has to embrace the software tools and allow students amaze us with their demonstration of understanding and mastering the content. It is the continual, fascinating challenge, and opportunity for growth.

McKee Students Create Based on Infant Simulator Experience

Week after week, we have checked in on whether the students in the two health classes were emphatic about their experience with the infant simulators. A reporter from the Staten Island Advance stopped by to interview the students and was shocked at their passionate arguments as to why they would not want to become teen parents. Steve DeGennaro, the physical education teacher, and Jeff Thomas, the Spark SAPIS instructor, have worked collaboratively to create a curriculum that engaged the students.

Click here to see the pledge the students generated. The routine that we established in the pilot study was to do a three week prep for how the students would care for the infant simulators and the ramifications. The parents would have to give their signed permission as well as the students. Then once the students received the infant simulators with car seat, infant, clothing, diapers, bottle, blanket, and sun protective covering, the students would have to cope with the infant for 72 hours. The pupils also created PowerPoint presentations to document their experience.

Every one of the students felt as if the experience was painful, in fact the term was "excruciating." We also had the participation of the school assigned police officer to be the representative of what would happen legally to the students from the "abuse" the infant simulators suffered. The nurse checked with each of the classes and could not believe the 100% emphatic response rate as to how students felt about caring for infants of their own. It was the students ideas to create the pledge and to stand by it.

There is power in experiential learning. The message all of the students spread to any and everyone who asked was just as palpable six weeks later from when they first underwent the experience. Recently, Ms Patty Caltabiano, whose organization is responsible for granting us the use of the 10 infant simulators in the pilot study, visited to see the end of year ceremony in which students received certificates from Reality Works, recognizing the work o their increased awareness.

Staten Island PTA Federation Luncheon Award Winner

I can not believe how fast June 15th has arrived, the last day of classes. There has been a great deal of activities that have occurred. I can not let the school year end without showing pictures of some of the highlights from several ceremonies that occurred in the month of June. Let's start with the Staten Island PTA Federation Luncheon. Every year this incredible group of representatives from every Parent Teacher Association in Staten Island sponsors a contest. This year the theme was about diversity. The young lady in the picture is the winner from Ralph McKee High School, Bebuo Ewa (pronounced Baybow - Eee-wah). She is a highlly talented senior with an incredible sense of public service; in fact she has over 400 hours of community service to her credit. Both of her parents were there. This is where my shaky picture taking comes in, I was able to capture her mother, who is sitting behind Bebuo but not her father. Yeah it is always a very interesting proposition when I take a picture.


She'll be going to John Jay College and will major in business law and minor in media-communications. The event happened at the Hilton Garden Inn and it is an opportunity for everyone to enthusiastically and energetically meet and greet. By the way, the pretty lady in yellow is our new PTA President at Ralph McKee High School. Her name is Pat Manley. Next to her is our parent coordinator, Mary McVey.

Cast Your Vote in the June Blog Survey

We at McKee believe that teachers deserve "a shout out" for their blogs. The survey is short - it takes 5 minutes. Thank you for taking the time to respond to the questions in this survey.

Your answers are confidential. We hope this will be a fun and fair way to determine the top 10 bloggers:

Click here to access the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Z_2fbtX3UVzlaUSyBUz7rlKg_3d_3d

Yep - we are interested about your views about blogs - hopefully - McKee Blogs.

Baby Think It Over

There are many parts to making a new pilot work. It takes a great deal of research, time, commitment, dedication and buy in.

First, there was the alarm - recent articles noting a spike in teen pregnancy.

Second, taking a close, uncompromising look at the rate of teen pregnancy within a high school - our high school.

Third, brainstorming meetings with social workers and nurse about effective strategies to address the issue.

Fourth, writing a proposal to get the funding.

Fifth, presenting an overview of the ideals for the pilot to prospective philanthropists.

Sixth, meetings with the teachers and co-teachers to select material, standards, activities, to create unit.

Seventh, implementation of the new pilot program would be exposed to students in Health class deal with an infant simulator manufactured by Reality Works.

The key facilitator in putting the nuts and bolts together of making the pilot study of using 10 infant simulators a reality is Noreen Mullen.

Click on the title or right here to see the overview of the Baby Think It Over Curriculum piloted at Ralph McKee High School

National Honor Society Induction at McKee

After a 56 year absence, Ralph R. McKee CTE High School has re-established their chapter of the National Honor Society. There was a ceremony on Thursday, May 21, 2009 in the Black Box Theater.

The children looked lovely. The parents beamed. At the end of the ceremony was an opportunity to break bread and reflect. One parent indicated that to see his son saying the oath to officially be inducted into the National Honor Society was particularly touching because the parent never graduated high school.

By the way, the redesign of a classroom into a Black Box Theater was due to the efforts of Mr. Pane's Drafting class and Mr. O'Connell's Construction class. I am always grateful and proud to be part of a career and technical high school. The opportunities for experiential learning are gratifying.

The readouts from the "Infant Simiulators"

How did 10 teenagers do with the infant simulators based upon the computer report? Each simulator captures data on how well the students dispensed Proper Care (rocking, diapering, buring, and feeding) and logs incidents of Mishandling (shaken baby, head support, wrong position, rough handling). Only 1 out of 10 students received a passing score. The highest performance overview was 77% with 30 minutes of crying and the lowest was 0% with 74 minutes of crying. The ongoing debriefing sessions have proven to be enlightening for students, teachers, and the SAPIS workers.

Results from the "Baby Think It Over" Program

Congratulations to the first group of students who completed their exercise in the “Baby Think It Over” program. Ten students were assigned a simulated baby and were engaged in parenting for a 3-day period. Here are some of their comments about their experience:

Ronald Wilson writes: “I am tired and I feel exhausted. The baby woke me up at 2:00 a.m. and then it started to cry hysterically at 4:00 a.m. I am stressed right now. I even tried to give the baby back.”

Tiresha Dykes writes: “This has been an unexpected experience. It was difficult attending to a baby and myself. While I was sick in the hospital, my baby was crying a lot. The best part is that I get a chance to give her back. I did learn from this experience.”

Joe Augustine writes: “I was up from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. Wednesday morning trying to get it to stop. I HATED IT!!”

Jennifer Melendez writes: “My experience with the baby was very tiring. You need to have all your attention on the baby. I think all young adults should not have babies at a young age. This was a lesson learned.”

Kayla Coston writes: “I liked this experience because it showed me that having a baby and being in school is not easy. But I know how to cater to the baby when he/she needs to be taken care of. To me it wasn’t hard because I’ve taken care of real babies but as of right now, no babies for me until I’m older and out of school.”

Keith Reeves writes: “I think having that baby was a wonderful experience because being in that position let me know how hard it is to take care of a child.”

Naja Wiggins writes: “No teenager is ready for a baby. I wanted to cry.”

Nicole Rivers writes: “I thought the baby was frustrating and I wouldn’t want to have one now. I’ll just wait until I’m in my 30’s. It was fun when the baby wasn’t crying.”

Alsayed Elslawy writes: “I forgot the diapers at home. Then the baby was crying and crying. Everyone on the bus was staring. Then I said, ‘Sorry, I forgot the diapers at home.’”

Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® Day

RMHS' faculty, staff and their children celebrate Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Thank you Ms. Eberlein for organizing such an eventful day!

McKee's Blood Drive

On Friday, April 24th, McKee's faculty, staff and students participated in the blood drive. 67 pints of blood were donated. Way to go RMHS!

RealityWorks

This is the first class of students to receive the infant simulators from RealtyWorks. We were able to do this pilot program due to the generosity of John Tabacco and Patty Caltabiano. As the students cope with the reality of caring for their infant for 72 hours, we will share their progress.
Each student had to receive parental permission to participate in the pilot program.

The students received a “car seat” and bag with blanket, bottle, diapers, and swaddling clothes.

In the class, students also signed their name by the dotted line indicating they accepted the responsibility of caring for their new charge, and chronicling their experiences in a journal.

As a little side note – I was standing by the morning entrance with two other administrators and the Level III. One of the young men who had an infant simulator was walking in at a brisk pace, with a flushed face. He indicated he only got “3 hours worth of sleep.” The young man who is passionate about fixing classic muscle cars from the 60’s indicated that he originally planned to do an oil change after school. He declared loudly as he turned and dashed to class, baby in hand, “that’s not getting done.”

SUNY VISITS JUNIORS

Ms. Reilly gives a talk to the juniors about how to successfully apply to SUNY colleges and universities. Check out the pictures.

Using a K-W-L Chart and a Semantic Map

K-W-L is a reading/thinking strategy that provides a method for students to list (1) what they know (K) about a topic, (2) what they want (W) to learn about a topic, and (3) what they learned (L) about a topic – plus mapping text and summarizing information. After learning K-W-L with the guidance of a teacher, students can complete this activity individually or in groups.

1. Distribute copies of either K-W-L Chart 1 or K-W-L Chart 2. Teachers guide students in brainstorming ideas and discuss what they know about the topic. Students fill in the K column, what they know about a topic.

2. The teacher leads a discussion to help students formulate questions about what they want to know about the topic. Students then fill in the W column.
3. Students read the selection.

4. Students fill in the L column of the chart listing the things they learned from the reading.

5. Students use the K-W-L worksheet to construct a semantic map, which lists all the information they have learned about the topic.

6. Students use the semantic map to produce a summary.

These ideas are adapted from Strategic Learning in the Content Areas and from McGraw Hill Publishers.

Interacting with the Text Strategies

Good readers and writers have many ways to respond to what they see in a textbook or in a literary work. It is significant to give students an opportunity to choose passages that are meaningful to them from a reading selection and then to react as to why the passages were important to them.

One way to get students to see the connection between reading and writing is through having them complete Activating Schema Charts. A method that I have found to be useful in the classroom is to pair students up. Assign them specific portions of the text. The pair must agree on the passages within the assigned pages that they want to choose or explain why they are able to appreciate the choice his or her partner has made. Students then share out their responses in the whole group setting of the class or within a discussion group. The chart must be complete and correct to receive credit. One can also use a general classwork rubric from www.teachnology.com

Another method of connecting reading to writing that involves nonfiction or fictional texts is Activating Schema Assignment Templates. The templates are suggestions for scaffolding instruction to help students develop the habit of reacting to what they have read and then writing about it using academic language.

Getting Granular Through Student Data - Phase 1

I had a wonderful meeting with Richard D'Auria, the ESO6 SAF, who greatly clarified for the entire cabinet the purpose of CFI Interface. What is CFI Interface? It stands fore Children's First Intensive. It is a website: http://www.8cfi.com/ that consists of tabs for each team in one's school. The teams document how they are meeting and supporting one another to help students who perform in the lowest one third of the cohort. By helping the lowest one third, one eventually builds the capacity of the school to move all student learning.

Banish the thought of once a month department meetings. The push is to have teachers meet on a weekly basis and have conversations about how to help students who are struggling academically in their classes.

From the meeting with Mr. D'Auria I created a blueprint to help the assistant principals and myself know the next steps in order to accurately relay the information to the entire school community. Click on the title or right here to access: Getting Granular About Moving Student Learning.

Kudos to the McKee Robo Wizards

The Imagery Award celebrates attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetic integration from the machine to the team appearance. Being creative and original makes this team not only look good, they make FIRST look good! This creative team worked their magic both on and off the field. They can be seen with their bubbling cauldron of moon rocks perched above their pit sitting on their purpose thrones, and at the crater battling in their wizard hats and capes.

The Imagery Award was presented to team Number 522, "The Robo Wizards," at the March 4 - 7th Rochester Regional FIRST Competition. Congrats, Robo Wizards!

A Guide to Effective Questioning

To put some pep into your questioning skills and to make sure students improve on their critical thinking skills, click on the title. You will see a PowerPoint that showcases question starters as well as instructional tips that align with Bloom's Taxonomy. The goal is to broaden the range and type of questions you ask of students and that students ask of each other.

Why?

One word answers are not enough.

Students need to be able to explain and demonstrate their thinking. Put your finger on the mouse, move your cursor to the right and click right here: Effective Questioning Skills

SCHOLARSHIPS

ATTENTION SENIORS!

Scholarships abound. Currently, the P.T.A. Scholarship application, given out in your shop class is approaching its deadline. Please see Ms. Marsigliano for assistance.

Also, if you are a female, going to major in education, please see Ms. Marsigliano for a special scholarship opportunity.

For all Time Warner subscribers (those of you who use Time Warner Cable) we have a scholarship for you.

Also, this is an important reminder. When you get your acceptance letters and financial aid award letters, please bring them to Ms. Rivera and Ms. Marsigliano.

Moving Towards Quality Review Level Observations

In the spirit of transparency, it is important for all stakeholders to be aware that there is a rigorous upgrade to the 2009-2010 Quality Review. 

We at McKee have decided to take steps towards implementing all of the elements by looking at our practices in the classroom. We decided to do informal observations incorporating the Quality Review (QR) classroom observation rubric.

As we proceed forward in doing regular walk-throughs of the departments, below are several attachments that help the school community at McKee.

• Click here to see a Self Evaluation of Classroom Walk Through / Lesson - a one page form that teachers fill out in a short debriefing session. The goal of all self-evaluations, reflections or observations is to be low inference, which means, it has to be seen and heard.
• Click here to see the Classroom Walk Through / Observation form. Lines and spacing have been adjusted so that one is able to write down the low-inference evidence as one sees and hears the interactions and activities.
• Click here to see the Lesson Summary Strategies form. This handout has a list of ways to end a lesson in which the students take the lead in demonstrating their understanding of the content learned during the period.

The goal is to have all of the teachers be able to look at themselves and their colleagues using the self-evaluation template. Through the regularity of the walk-throughs, teachers will become knowledgeable and empowered, able to gauge their practice, be part of a peer assessment process, and understand how to enhance the quality of their lessons to advance student learning.

Walk-A-Thon for Children's Health & Fitness

Join the Fight to end Childhood Obesity!
Participate in a 3 mile walk around Prospect Park to promote fitness and healthy lifestyles for kids. Saturday, March 28, 2008, 10:00 am. For further information and to register go to: www.bodysculpt.org or call 718-346-5852.

NYC ACT-SO

NYC ACT-SO is en enrichment program for minority high school students. The program is free and prepares students to compete in local "Olympics of the Mind" in the following areas: Humanities, Performing Arts, Sciences, Visual Arts. Winners of the local competition will advance to the national competition on July 8th - July 12th in NYC. Recruitment is now occurring. The workshops will be on Saturday, March 7, March 14, March 21 and April 4. Students must participate in these workshops in order to be eligible for the local competition. Pre registration is required. For an application and further information go to www.actso.org., actsinfo@actso.org or call 212-666-7212.

Blog Shout Outs

Click on the title to check out 20, that's right 20 blogs regularly generated by teachers at Ralph McKee High School. 

For those of you who follow our little site, we started last year, 2007-2008 with only 5 teachers using the blog as an instructional tool. 

It is now 2009 and we now have 20 teachers who use blogging in a number of ways. Click here for the Blog Shout Out.

Principal's Goals and Objectives

Attached are the Principal's Goal and Objectives for the year 2008-2009. 

Every stakeholder and the community at large should know the goals of the school leader. It is an example of the term transparency. The principal's goals and objectives lays out a roadmap for the academic school year. It is in alignment with the Comprehensive Educational Plan. Both are living documents that are constantly checked to see how far the school community has reached their goals.

By the way - did you know that another term for the principal's goals and objectives is the principal's performance review?

Learning Walk-Thru Overview

During the first week of February, I had the pleasure of doing walk-thrus of many classrooms. Walk-thru time is over. Formal observations are coming. Just click on the word Walk-Thrus 2.09.09

"School in Good Standing"

Congrats Ralph R. McKee Career & Technical High School. For the second year in a row we at RMHS are a "School in Good Standing" according to The New York State Report Card for 2007-08.

• We made AYP in all 6 categories


• Our Graduation Rate is 74%

In case you want to see the breakdown in each sub-category, check out the bulletin board across from room 107.

Congrats

Congratulations to Mr. O'Brien and Ms. Kish-Martinez in having
McKee being selected to receive the Gates Foundation Implementation Grant for the AVID Program. Thanks for all your hard work!

Juniors and Seniors Can Apply for Leadership Program

High schools / Deadline: February 20

High school juniors and seniors can apply for the Bank of America Charitable Foundation’s Student Leaders Program. Since its inception in 2004, the program has recognized more than 1,000 high school students identified as exemplary young people with a passion for helping their communities. Selected student leaders will participate in a paid summer internship with a local nonprofit organization, where they will experience first-hand how they can help shape their communities. They will also participate in a six-day, all-expense paid Student Leadership Summit in Washington DC July 19-24.

You can download a flyer about the program at www.nycboe.net/schools/principals/weekly/20090121/boa_leadership.pdf. For additional information, visit www.bankofamerica.com/foundation. The application deadline is February 20.

Students Can Apply for Free Summer Arts Institute

Middle and high schools / Deadline: February 27

Students entering grades 8-12 in September can apply to attend the Summer Arts Institute, a free, four-week intensive arts program held at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan in July. Seven tracks of study are offered: dance, drama, vocal music, instrumental music, photography, film, and visual arts. Students may apply to and audition for only one discipline. The program is designed for students at an intermediate or advanced level of study in their chosen art form. An experienced staff of teachers and artists will guide students in developing their skills and creativity as they prepare for their next level of study.

Admission to the program is by application and competitive audition. For more information and an application, visit http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/teachlearn/arts/summerarts.html. The application deadline is February 27. Please encourage your arts teachers to share this opportunity with their students. For additional information, e-mail summerarts@schools.nyc.gov.

Hands On Differentiated Instruction

As we get ready for the spring term, just like the energy saving lightbulb in the picture, you will see me working through my ideas in room 115, the UFT Teacher's Center, learning about the SENTEO clickers, and practicing on the SMARTboard.

Rita Kelly, our chipper staff developer and UFT TC coordinator is always available, accessing really cool information. Click on the title or this link, Differentiated Instruction, for PowerPoints, Graphic Organizers, and Web sites for lessons across every subject area.