Galileo Testing

Hi everyone. Below is the text of a Connect-Ed message and corresponding email I'm sending to all freshmen and sophomore families this evening. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'm excited for this new venture as it promises to better prepare our students and allow us more immediate feedback to ensure we're targeting weaknesses and building on strengths PRIOR to MCAS. Take care!

Good evening, this is Dr. Linkenhoker, the Principal of Monson High School. I’m calling this evening to inform all parents that we are starting with our Galileo testing next week in all freshmen and sophomore Math, English, and Science courses. The district instituted the Galileo assessment in the middle school last year. This year, we’ve expanded to Quarry Hill and Monson High School. The purpose for this assessment is to provide valuable information on student growth during the school year. Having this data will allow teachers and administrators to review the results and make immediate instructional changes when needed to better support our students.

This is not unlike the athletic arena where as a coach we are charged with preparing our team for the championship game. In this case, the championship game is the annual MCAS testing in Math, English, and Science. Our teachers (i.e. coaches) work with our students throughout the year to build student skills with the goal being that all students are Advanced or Proficient when MCAS are administered. The flaw in previous years was that we never had our students play in any games before that championship game. We never truly knew throughout the year where our students stood so we could focus on weaknesses and build on strengths before that championship game. Galileo will be those so called games. We will garner information on strengths and weaknesses so we can better prepare our students prior to MCAS.

While Galileo is not a high-stakes test for our students, I am asking that as parents we encourage the students to focus and try hard. This is the only way we can truly know where they stand. The testing schedule will span over the next two weeks. Students will take the test in their specific Math, English, or Science courses so there is no impact on the other subjects. This test if completely computerized and the results will be available soon afterwards. The plan is for students to test three times during the course. These intervals will allow us to evaluate student growth and ensure we are successfully progressing towards Proficient and Advanced levels.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office. I appreciate the time and your support as we strive to provide the best possible education for your children.

Have a wonderful evening.

Fall Open House Reflection

Thank you to all families who attended our annual Fall Open House Last night. This is an important piece in building a strong and positive relationship with the school and your child's teachers. The following is the attendance data from the Open House:

Freshmen: 57% of families attended
Sophomores: 45% of families attended
Juniors: 37% of families attended
Seniors: 32% of families attended
Total: 44% of families attended

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, February 7, 2013. This will be our annual Spring Open House. I encourage all families to attend as your child will have all new courses and thus all new teachers then. If you attended last night then you should also attend on 2/7/13. If you weren't able to make it last night, I would highly recommend the Spring Open House.

Take care!

Target Taking Charge of Education

This morning I received a check from the store, Target, in the amount of $187.42. We received the check as part of Target's Take Charge of Education program. When customers use their "Red Card" when cashing out at Target they can state they want to participate in this program and assist Monson High School. By doing so, up to 1% of the purchases is donated to the school. This past year's contributions resulted in today's check.

I want to officially thank all of our MHS families and friends who participated over the past year. If you want more information about this program feel free to visit www.target.com/tcoe

Your willingness to support MHS will allow us to use this money to further support programming opportunities for our students.

Thank you!

Little Making a Big Impact

Congratulations to MHS Sophomore Rachel Little who was recently selected to represent New England on the Youth Preparedness Council. The YPC works with FEMA to discuss and prepare emergency response protocols.

There is a nice article chronicling Rachel's trip to Washington DC and her upcoming work with the Youth Preparedness Council. Check it out here.

The article mentions that Rachel wants to create a Community Emergency Response Team here at MHS. She and I spoke earlier this week to discuss ideas and next steps. If you're interested in helping Rachel out with this exciting opportunity feel free to contact me and I can make that connection.

Great job Rachel. You represent MHS and Monson well!