Are Our Students Overworked?

It has been almost a month since our professional development day in November. A large chunk of our morning meeting was spent on students. Are they cheating? Do they know what cheating is? How can we foster a culture where that is not acceptable? How can we be sure letters of recommendation are for students true to their character? The topics went on. Our colleague, Mark Delucia, shared a link to an article in the Projo that further explored another district and how they looked into their own school culture.

Our Instructional Leadership Team discussed this topic on Wednesday, November 30th, and another colleague bravely offered the following, (I am paraphrasing here) Until we stop offering APs to freshman... and pull back on what we do that creates this mountain of pressure for students, the culture of stress and cheating will not change. We need to change.

Another department chair said he thought it was interesting that the students cheat on homework but never on a test. What does that say about what students think is important? I have included the article below and it is also here. On a positive note, others brought up how the guidance department in this article worked with students when they were choosing classes based on the number of hours of homework expected in each class. That may be something we can look at at NK during scheduling season. Additionally, Paula Calitri shared a link to a Ted Talk from Julie Lythcott Haims, the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford, who, like many of us, feels that parents are doing their children a disservice by loading them up with high expectations and micro-managing them. Scroll to the video section to take a look. Have a great week everyone.

Health and Wellness

From Karen D’Abrosca:

December and the holiday season is upon us! Having just picked up my colorful "Diversity & Equity" sheet from my mailbox, taking a closer look reveals many useful words for this time of year! PERSPECTIVE ~ CELEBRATE ~ SHARE. So I will SHARE some ...

TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAY

Set Reasonable Expectations
Do your best to stick to your regular schedule
Try to keep bedtime and mealtime the same
Let people know of your expectations
You can’t do everything – choose the celebrations and activities you enjoy the most
Keep things in perspective. Is the "perfect gift" really that important?

Students as Learners

On Friday, as I walked around the building, I couldn’t help but notice all of the action going on in the art rooms. Natalie O’Neill, who is in for Janice Strain, has given her students the freedom to create whatever object they would like out of paper mache. Take a look at a few of the students and their creations.

Then, next door in Tara Harrington’s room, students were using

charcoal to work on their still life skills. Two students were trying their best to be still as I walked in. It was a joyful Friday morning with all of the creativity emanating into the hallways.

From Rick Powell:

I am happy to announce that for the 3rd year in a row, North Robotics has won the Inspire Award, the top overall award given, at the qualifying tournament that they entered. We entered 3 teams this year, with a total of 28 students, and had two of the teams qualify for the state tournament, which will take place on Saturday, February 4th.

In addition to winning the Inspire Award, our team that represented RI at the Eastern Super Regionals also was the captain of the winning alliance during the robot play portion of the competition. In addition, our freshman team was one of the other two finalists for the Inspire Award and won the Design Award. They also made it to the semi-finals of the Robot Play portion of the competition.

Upcoming Events/Important Dates

December

5 Freshmen Advisory Assembly (Honor Roll and Student Services Office Update)

5 Scheduling Sub-committee meeting, 2-3 pm

5 School Committee Meeting, 7 pm

6 Sophomore Advisory Assembly

6 PTSO Meeting, 7 pm

7 Junior Advisory Assembly

7 CTE Open House, 6:30 pm

8 Senior Advisory Assembly

9-11 Christmas Carol, 7 pm Friday and Sat; 1 pm Sunday

15 No late bus, no ARC

15 Holiday gathering, Sonoma

15 Choir and Orchestra Concert, 7 pm

16 Q2, Posting by 12 noon

19 Faculty Meeting, 2-3 pm

21 Band Concert, 7 pm

22 In school Holiday Concert

22 No late bus, no ARC

23 Holiday Recess through January 2, 2017

Community

From Brian McDonald:

Thank you to all of the Advisories that generously supported the Pasta Sauce Challenge. The NK Food Pantry was overwhelmed by the support on such short notice and wanted me to extend their gratitude to you. It was pretty cool walking in with nearly 300 jars the day before they were putting the baskets together. The NK Food Pantry delivered nearly 400 baskets to families in need for the Thanksgiving holiday.

From Matthew Healey (NKHS student)

I wanted to let you know that the drive was an overwhelming success and I received more supplies than I could have ever imagined. I am very appreciative of the entire school for their incredible generosity and also, a big thanks to you for your help with putting the drive together. We were able to donate three giant boxes full of supplies to the High School and Davisville Middle School with plenty of leftover supplies that the Food Pantry will be able to make use of.

Also, many advisories brought lots of supplies, but the winner of the doughnut cake was Mr. Garland's advisory who on top of filling the paper bag I distributed, brought an entire plastic tub worth of supplies. I dropped the treat off to them today and I believe they really enjoyed it.

Thank you for your help with this project, which I hope will benefit anyone who is struggling with the issue,

Articles Worth Reading

From Mark Delucia

Life in high school:Stress, sleep deprivation, homework overload and cheating. Is this the price of performance?

Videos Worth Watching