One-Act Play Competition Decision

After long thought and many discussions, I have decided to end our typical routines surrounding the annual One-Act Play Competition. For those unfamiliar with the tradition, our class advisors would organize and direct a One-Act Play and compete with the other classes during an Interclass One-Act Play Competition. Years ago, the competition awarded points to the winning class towards the school's Winter Carnival activities. More recently, the competition was simply a nice evening event that brought individual classes together.

Please understand I do not intend to totally eliminate a One-Act Play activity. My goal is to work with our Drama Club Advisor in developing a new event that is based on One-Act Plays. In addition to this change in the One-Act Play structure the vision will be for the Drama Club Advisor to continue with our annual Spring Production.

Thanks for your time. Take care and have a wonderful day!

Congratulations to Mr. Bardwell

Mr. Bardwell, one of our MHS school counselors along with being the director of the district school counseling program, was recently awarded the 2011 Government Relations Award by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). According to Mr. Bardwell's notification letter the award is, "chosen by the Government Relations Committee, this award is presented to a NACAC member who has made outstanding efforts in support of policy initiatives that promote equal access to higher education, encourage student achievement and counselor excellence, and further the other government relations priorities of NACAC members."

On behalf of the entire MHS staff and faculty I congratulate Mr. Bardwell for this wonderful award. He is truly a special person and asset to our entire community.

Connect-Ed Message Going Out Tonight!

I am scheduling a Connect-Ed message that will be sent out to our school community this evening. For those that miss the call here is the what I am sending:

Good evening,

This is Dr. Linkenhoker, the Principal of Monson High School. I have a few important announcements to make regarding upcoming events at Monson High School. To begin, our fall Open House is scheduled for next Thursday, September 15^th beginning at 6:30pm. You’ll be able to meet with your son or daughter’s teachers along with his or her S.A.P Advisor. I hope to see many of you there as the evening builds important bonds between teachers and parents so we can better serve our students and children.

Secondly, I have scheduled our annual fall awards program for Monday, September 26, 2011 beginning at 8:45am. This program recognizes returning students who maintained honor roll status the entire previous year. A mailing is being prepared to be mailed home to families of awardees. This program is intended to honor the success of these students while acting as motivation to our new and returning students for a successful school year.

Parents of freshmen and new students should expect a mailing over the next few days. This mailing includes your personal login and password information for Edline, our web-based grade reporting service. Please find time to login and create your account so you can remain aware of your son or daughter’s grades. Parents have found this resource invaluable over the past several years.

And finally, I want to once again reiterate that I have discontinued the traditional Parent Newsletter. My blog is up and running and hopefully you have had a chance to view it. You’ll find periodic updates and information posted on the blog and hopefully we can use it as a more efficient means of communication and idea sharing. You can view the blog at: www.mhsprincipalblog.blogspot.com

Take care and have a great evening!

Changes to the MHS Attendance Policy

This entry is going to detail the changes to our Attendance Policy, which is probably the biggest change to our Parent-Student Handbook this year. I hope everyone takes the time to review the policy as it will definitely impact students as we move forward. In short, we've cut the allowable absences per semester in half. Previously students were allowed 12 absences in a semester before losing academic credit. This year students are only allowed six absences in a semester.

The handbook outlines five excusable absences that will not go against the Attendance Policy. The five reasons are: student is hospitalized, observing a religious holiday, there is a death in the immediate family, the student participates in a school sponsored or approved activity, or there are mandated court appearances. The one excuse that is not listed and will not be an approved absence is a family vacation. The handbook states, "family trips, vacations, or appointments should be scheduled to coincide with school vacations or non-school days."

I realize life does happen and for that reason we do offer an appeal process. If a student does exceed the attendance limit then a parent/guardian is allowed to appeal the policy. The appeal involves writing a short letter asking for the appeal. This letter should be addressed to me. I will then review the situation and either make an immediate decision or call for a meeting.

The change in the Attendance Policy comes after reflecting on our mission statement. Were we truly preparing our students for living, learning, and working in the 21st century if we were allowing students to miss 12 days in a semester (24 days a year)? I am confident the new policy will better prepare our students for the expectations they will face in college, at work, or within the military.

As a reminder, you can access the entire Parent-Student Handbook by following these steps:

1. Go to http://www.monsonschools.com/
2. Click on Monson High in the left column
3. Click on Handbook

Feel free to comment or contact me with questions and/or concerns. Take care!