Woodhaven Connects!

I'm sorry that I haven't written lately, but the old principal has been under the weather.  I'm feeling much better now and upon my return to work on Friday I find some amazing things happened while I was buried under my blankets.......

We began our first Woodhaven Connects day on Wednesday of this past week.  Woodhaven Connects sees each grade group offer public service to our community.  Our Grade 5's focus on the school, 6's work in our neighbourhood, the 7's with our feeder schools, and the 8's and 9's with community agencies working in both Spruce Grove and Edmonton.  Two things from Wednesday's work blew me away.....

Our Grade 9's decided to collect clothing to provide to homeless shelters.  A week ago they went door to door in the community distributing pamphlets letting homeowners know that they would be back in a week to collect any gently used clothing they could make available to us.  The emphasis was on collecting winter coats.  Collection day was this Wednesday.  The students and staff were floored by the response.  162 large bags of clothing were donated.  What's the lesson?  A little effort and initiative allows a group to reach out and help others.  Our students are looking forward to delivering this clothing in the month ahead.

Second, our Grade 7's invited the Grade 4's over from Millgrove School for an afternoon of getting to know you activities.  The students participated in a haunted house in the drama room, made cookies in the foods lab decorated pumpkins in classrooms, and played in a dodge ball tournament in the gym.  This is the beginning of our transition activities with the Grade 4's.  We have found these visits are critical to help these students make the transition to a new school in Grade 5.  Our Grade 7's are doing a great job demystifying Middle School.

Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences...and the new report card

This week sees Woodhaven welcoming students and parents to parent/student/teacher conferences.  We will be taking this opportunity to share with all the new reporting system that is being implemented in Parkland School Division.  Recently I posted a comment regarding our perspective on helping al students achieve High School +.  I see the new reporting system as a perfect fit with our vision.  We are interested in teaching every student to 'Learn How To Learn.'  Marks based report cards are a method of ranking students which lead those who need more time to learn skills to often shut down.  We will now be reporting on how students are progressing learning skills, knowing that learning is a process that evolves over time.  We want families to know if  a student has got it and if they don't where are they in the process.

I talk a lot to our staff about our new assessment being like swimming lessons.  Remember that report card that would say whether you could swim the two lengths or not.  The outcome you had to reach was clear (two lengths) and if you did it you got a check mark (you could do it independently) or if you had yet to meet the outcome, what support did you need to learn it.

The report card changes is leading to very positive changes in how Woodhaven's staff is approaching teaching and learning this year.  You will see that your child clearly knows what they are expected to learn. You will see children at your conference showing you what they can do.  

If you have questions regarding the new reporting system please call me at the school 780 962-2626 or visit http://www.psd70.ab.ca/OurSchools/ReportCards/Pages/Default.aspx.

High School Plus

The staff of Woodhaven Middle School just completed an amazing two day workshop with Mike Mattos.  While the name might not mean a lot to you the message he brings is a perfect fit with the Woodhaven mission of 'Learn How to Learn and Learn How to Get Along.'  Mike's message is 'all students must learn at high levels so they can achieve High School Plus.'  The consequence of us not doing that for a child is severe with the main repercussion being significantly reduced earning power and a shorter life span.

We learned that job one for the teachers in our school is to work together as a team to determine the critical learning for students.  This means picking learning activities which are critical to life long learning and/or next steps in learning.  We need to know how to assess that learning in a way that makes sense to students. Finally, we need a plan to work with a student who needs more time to do the learning and to enrich those who already have it.

The staff was enthused and daunted by the challenge of working in a true High School + environment.  Woodhaven does very well academically on Provincial Achievement Tests.  That means that in most years, in most subjects, we get 90% of our students over the bar.  What Mike reinforced in us is that it is unacceptable to 'settle' for 10% of our kids not making it.  Each student who comprises the 10% needs to make it, and their family needs them to succeed as well.

The staff was irritated by our perceived failure and began generating ideas immediately to deal with this.  That was fantastic!  It is also a problem.  Getting every student over the bar will require careful consideration over the rest of this year.  Students who struggle do so for a variety of reasons and require a wide range of intervention responses.  We will take months to study the suggestions coming forward from staff and develop a school wide response to help our kids.

I am so proud of our staff and their willingness to step up on behalf of every student in our building.  October 6 and 7 were very important days for Woodhaven.  I believe as the result of our work with Mike Mattos we will create the environment where we deliver on our commitment to High School Plus for every student.

Running For The Cure

Mrs. Jacobs ran for her Mom.

10 000 Runners!

Hanging out with 10,000 of your closest friends.  Sunday was quite a day.  Fifty Woodhaven students, staff and parents ventured into the heart of Edmonton to take part in the annual 'Run for the Cure' fundraiser for Breast Cancer research.  With pink swirling all around us we all felt like we were part of something much bigger than ourselves.  This was being part of something powerful...part remembering those who have had to deal with breast cancer, part focusing on a hopeful future and part amazing witness to the power of community.

Our students were wide eyed at the spectacle.  The costumes, the pink boas, the energy of the cheer squads along the route, the testimonials, the weather, the beautiful river valley view and 10 000 runners and walkers of all shapes and sizes make this an amazing experience for our kids.  All of our students ran the 5km with only yours truly walking with my trusty sidekicks, the Gericke's keeping me company.

I want to thank Miss Gillespie for organizing our Team Wolfpack.  This is her third year heading up our participation.  Two years ago we had ten participants.  Last year it grew to 24 runners and this year we hit 50 participants who raised over $4000 with our Ms. Jacobs (Grade 5 teacher) raising $1200 herself.  We are already looking forward to next year.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO TOOK PART!