The Principal’s Flyer

Volume 1 Week of December 12-16, 2005 Number 15

“Take the attitude of a student. Never be too big to ask questions. Never know too much
to learn something new...”
Og Mandino


Hi All,

Wow. That sure was a wild day on Friday. As I mentioned on Flyer news, when I
arrived at school around 5:40 a.m., there wasn’t a flake on the ground, but as I entered I
could just see the first few flakes delicately descending. It looked innocent enough. By
the time Sarah Redbord came in around 6:15, it was a downright blizzard. The afternoon
trip home for the elementary school kids was very tough, and it basically was a
thunderstorm with snow instead of rain from about the time we got out (1:00 pm) through
about 3:30. I haven’t seen it snow that hard for that amount of time in a long while. The
irony of the whole thing is that after the incredible intensity of snow while the elementary
schools dismissed, the skies cleared and there was a beautifully clear sky at sunset. I
hope most of you were able to make it home before it got really bad, but I know Paul
Marshall told me he had about a 4 hour ride home to Randolph. Ugh.

I look at this as one less day we’ll be in school when it’s broiling in June. I’d much
rather have those days back than these days now. But it’s never an easy call. I know
Chris Martes has said that regardless of the decision he makes, he gets the about the same
number of angry phone calls. The impact a cancellation has on working parents can be
difficult, and likewise a non-cancellation can be a mess. I for one am hopeful that we
have a cold winter, but very few cancellations. Those are the best conditions for my
backyard ice rink.

Last week’s visit from Cambridge Rindge and Latin school was a great time for us to
tout our school. I think they were looking for a quick fix for their current MCAS
struggles. The COMPASS school designation requires us to have three of these visits
open to other schools over the course of the year. What I really enjoyed discussing was
the excellent degree of collaboration and support that teachers receive here. I think that
really separates us from most schools, as this was one of the things I noticed that sets us
apart. Co-teaching is a great way to reduce the isolation of teaching. Back in the “old
days” teachers were primarily independent contractors who decided what to teach, how to
teach it, and where their standards would be. The advent of MCAS has forced schools to
have a better system in place to assure more uniform experiences for kids as they
progress through schools.

Co-teaching really epitomizes the move from teaching as a lonely craft to teaching as a
collective endeavor. When students succeed, it is most often the result of the collective
work of many people. Working together for student achievement, teachers can have a
much greater impact than working alone. This concept has been well applied here within
departments. I believe that some mechanism or structure is needed for us as a school to
work collectively across departments also, especially at the earlier (9th and 10th) grades.
Interdepartmental collaboration will only come about if we allocate time to this endeavor.
As always, time seems to be the key component.

I hope many of you were able to see the documentation of the successful fundraising
effort of our own Brazilian affinity group Desafio in this weekend’s MetroWest
Daily News. I am very impressed and proud of this student-run effort which raised
$1000 for Katrina relief. The students approached Brazilian business owners in town and
asked for their support for this cause, and many owners were eager to help.
Congratulations are due to advisor Heloiza Castellana and all the students involved with
the group.


At the contractor’s construction meeting last Wednesday, there were two issues that
demand mentioning. First, the parking spaces under the bridges are now available for
faculty and staff. The fences preventing cars from going in front of the science wing are
now gone, so you can pull into the main entrance and turn right to get under the bridges.
By the time you get there, the exterior door to J-hall should have a “regular” lock core on
it allowing access for all. In addition, I heard the most definitive timeline yet for a
temporary certificate of occupancy for F-hall. At this point, it appears as though
everyone is aiming for the M.L.King weekend for teacher occupancy, with classes
beginning out there in time for the first day of semester 2. I’ll keep you posted as we get
closer to those dates.

As I mentioned at our last NEASC gathering, the district is offering restraint training
to any interested teachers. The two-day training is scheduled for Thursday, January 5
and Wednesday, January 11, 2006. Both of these trainings last for most of the day. As a
school, it is important for us to have a decent number of teachers trained, so I am eager to
hear from anyone and everyone that wants to sign up. Please just zing Gerri an e-mail to
enroll.

Remember that comments for term 2 are due by 2:00 pm on Tuesday this week at the
latest. It’s quite OK to be early. The hope is that the comments can be verified and ready
to send home via e-mail by late in the day on Thursday, and distribution in homerooms is
set for Friday. Not a bad time to leave a phone message for parents keeping the up to
date or giving them good news. If you haven’t done so already, you now can set up e-
mail distribution lists for each of your classes by accessing parents’ e-mail addresses
through GradeQuick. This might be the easiest way to get timely information out to
parents.

Ten full days of classes until the December break. Make them valuable!




Remember to scroll down for the weekly calendar!



Statistic Of The Week

Sophomore students (Class of 2008) receiving no grade
lower than “A-“ during the first term : 9

Total Students currently enrolled in Class of 2008 :
481

Percent Sophs receiving no grade lower than A- =
1.87%





Calendar Of Events

Remember to Check the FHS Web Site at :
www.framingham.k12.ma.us/fhs/

This Week

Monday, 12/12/05 Day 1 - ABCDE

Tuesday, 12/13/05 Day 2 - CADGF

Wednesday, 12/14/05 Day 3 - BAEFG
Contractor’s Construction Meeting @8:00 am
NEASC Committee Meetings, 2:15 – 3:15 pm

Thursday, 12/15/05 Day 4 – ACDEF
Chorus Concert @7:00 pm

Friday, 12/16/05 Day 5 - BDCGF
Faculty/Staff Holiday Party @Elk’s Club


Next Week

Monday, 12/19/05 Day 6 -
Boy’s Hockey vs. Arlington @Loring @7:50 pm

Tuesday, 12/20/05 Day 7 -
Frosh Boy’s Basketball vs. Walpole @3:45 pm
Wrestling vs. Wellesley @5:00 pm
JV Boy’s Basketball vs. Walpole @5:15 pm
Boy’s Varsity Basketball vs. Walpole @6:45 pm

Wednesday, 12/21/05 Day 1 - ABCDE
Contractor’s Construction Meeting @8:00 am
Girl’s JV Hockey vs. Lexington @4:15 pm
Girl’s Varsity Hockey vs. Braintree @6:50 pm

Thursday, 12/22/05 Day 2 – CADGF
Girl’s basketball vs. Braintree :
Frosh@3:45 pm, JV@5:15 pm, Varsity@6:45


Friday, 12/23/05 Day 3 - BAEFG
December Break begins at 1:55 pm!