LCHS Friday Focus

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a good week. Thankfully we have missed some of the recent snow events. Last week I asked for input on taking semester exams before break. I have only heard from a couple of you, so please give me your input/insights on potential issues, especially those of you who teach semester classes. We would not end 1st semester officially until after break because our concurrent enrollment semester classes need the seat time to meet the WITCC requirements. So if you teach a semester class, how would you cover the days after break?  Looking ahead at the calendar,  January 28 is the annual Board Retreat. Thank you to the Le Mars Gaming Club, Art Club, Spanish Club, and Lead Dog group for agreeing to present at the board retreat. W e have our extra hour meetings on February 6 and 20. February 13 is the district in-service day. February 6 is also our final shelter drill of the year. That will happen at 2:10 pm.  This year we will be giving the ISA...

Happy Friday! I hope the first week of second semester has gone well for everyone. I am always glad to get this week under the belt because it seems like their is always a little chaos during this week. Just a reminder that today is the last day a student can add a class and next Friday is the last day a student can drop a 7th class. We do have some classes that have quite a few students in them so their could be some last minute moving around if possible.  I was planning on meeting with departments next week to discuss numbers, however, the state has passed a financial literacy requirement starting for the class of 2020. This means our current Juniors would need to get a financial literacy class. The state is supposed to give more guidance in February, but if this is the case, some of our elective numbers may change. So we will put things on hold until I know more about what is going on.  Since we just finished 1st semester, I am putting this out there to get input. I ...

Happy Friday and last day of Semester 1! Thank you for all you dedication and work with our students. Here are just a few updates. Grades will be due on Monday morning at 8:30. I will also need any PASS plan summaries for students that did not pass your class. Any student that did not pass a class and doesn't have a PASS plan is given an incomplete and a deadline to make up missing work or retake tests. Also, just because the semester is over, doesn't mean you can't let a student retake a test. If you do this, let Mr. Utesch or myself know the new semester grade so we can enter it into historical grades.  The sample tests are available on the ISASP website. This is the assessment that is replacing the Iowa Assessments. During the January 23rd meeting and February 6 meeting I would like you to take the practice assessments so you can see what the students will have to do. After you do this, you may want to schedule a time for the students to take the sample test. There i...

Happy Friday! I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Enjoy the time off and take the chance to rest and get ready to start the second semester. When we come back on the 3rd, we will have 4 days of regular class and then semester tests. Grades will be due on January 14 at 8:00 am. Beth and Amy will run report cards and get them sent out that day. I will need PASS plan summaries by Monday at 8:00 am also. A student earning a "F" needs to have a PASS plan on file in my office. I have shared a spreadsheet with you that shows all the PASS plans I have.  We have had quite a few students who have missed numerous days, if you are going to give the student an incomplete, please put the due date in the comments on the report card so parents know when the work needs to be made up. Today we have the Children's Theater. We will be dismissing sometime around 1:35 to check-in students. School will be dismissed after the performance. I will see you all on Janua...

Happy Friday! As we grow closer to the holiday season we are also growing closer to the end of the semester. When we come back from break, we will have 4 days of class and then the semester tests days. Please remind students that during break would be a good time to get caught up if they are behind.  The counselors have been busy getting students registered for next school year. Hopefully we will have everyone registered by the end of the semester. I will try to start department meeting then sometime towards the end of January to go over numbers and assignments for next year. I will also take anything you would like me to consider when creating the schedule. Please keep in mind though the priority is to get students into the classes they want. Sometimes it is not possible to grant every request. Scheduling has to be the biggest puzzle ever.  We are also in the process of coming up with a schedule for the ISASP (Iowa Assessments). When I have better idea on what it will l...