First, I want to publicly thank three of our JDHS teachers for their willingness to host their colleagues at our last Inservice.  Andy Bullick, Colin Dukes and Chris Hinkley created, implemented and “graded” Career Technical Education (CTE) lessons for the JDHS staff as a part of our professional learning.  What started as a crazy idea (how could we get all of our teachers into these unique classroom spaces) turned into one of the best collegial days we have had. Mr. Bullick brought in students to teach us to weld, Mr. Dukes prepped materials for a take-away project and Mr. Hinkley showcased the very cool printing technology that exists in our engineering lab.  If your student(s) have not had the opportunity to take a class in one of the CTE areas we can confidently say, after the afternoon in these classes, that it is totally worth it!  

Now, a big thank you to all of you who were able to join us for our Parent Teacher Conferences in October.  We did a little data mining and discovered that over 200 families attended over the eight hours of conference time offered, which translates to approximately 33%. Further analysis revealed that 60% of those attending represented underclassmen (9th and 10th), leaving 40% representing upperclassmen.  That statistic reassured us that there is value in the time for students of all grade levels and that extending the personal invitation matters.  

Finally, this newsletter is really the last communication you will have from us until the end of the semester.  We want to make sure that we remind you that from here on out every assignment matters. Our semester grades are cumulative, and are the grades that will go on your student’s transcript.  Passing grades (60% or higher) determine credit, and figure into your student’s grade point average. Ultimately, each grade is an investment in their pursuit of a diploma and in their post-secondary (i.e. college/career) planning.  Please be vigilant in checking with your student about their academic progress, their use of enrichment and their academic needs. We are here to help!