Welcome to Principal Coombe's blog. Please visit this blog frequently as Mr. Coombe takes you along on a journey through the eyes of a principal of the most outstanding school in the land... The Campus... Calhoun Middle & High School!
I hope everyone had a wonderful fall break! It is always refreshing to have the opportunity to step back from the workplace, catch our breath, and prepare for what lies ahead as we approach the quarter mark of the school year. Today I had the opportunity to be shadowed by two incredible 6th graders who wanted to the "Principal for a Day". These two are incredible and I can't wait for you to meet both Lilly and Brandon!
I had the great opportunity to visit my alma mater, The University of Florida, this weekend to attend our homecoming game. It was a fun and exciting opportunity to reminisce and connect with old friends, but I could not help but think about one thing. That one thing was how proud I am to be a Calhoun Yellow Jacket! The University of Florida has an outstanding sense of school pride and tradition, of which I am very proud to be a part of, but I kept thinking about how much more I enjoy being a part of the Yellow Jacket Nation. I asked myself why, and the answer was obvious. It is because of the incredible kids I get to work with each and every day and the teachers, parents and community who support them. I am proud that we are providing a future workforce for our state, nation and beyond, but even more proud that we are building lifelong learners who embody the spirit and character that being a Yellow Jacket are all about. Go Jackets!
Student Spotlight:
It is obvious who my choice is this week... Lilly Bunch and Brandon Webb! Spending time with them today was the highlight of my day and week. They are future stars at Calhoun Middle and High School and I am proud to be their principal. Watch the video and it will be easy to see why they are so awesome!
Staff Spotlight:
Sean Blockley, AFS Lead at The Campus, is out staff spotlight this week. Sean continues to go the extra mile in leading his team to ensure that The Campus is kept in tip top shape. He responds to all situations with a positive attitude and is approachable at all times. I appreciate Sean's commitment to our school and our students. Without he and his crew we would not be able to function. Thank you Sean!
When it comes to teaching and learning, it is certainly a team effort. Parents and teachers must work hand-in-hand with their students in order to be successful. In order to foster this partnership, Calhoun City Schools has practiced 100% face-to-face parent-teacher conferencing for years. With that said, we at The Campus have held discussions with parents, school governance teams, teachers and students and have discovered that our current practice is not meeting the needs of all learners. We will be revamping our teacher parent conferencing at Calhoun Middle & High School this year and will be focusing on engaging parents and students in dialog surrounding their personal growth. A summary of our new conferencing procedures are found below:
As a part of this model, all students will be engaged in individual conferencing with teachers within the classroom.
Nine week grades are due by 8am on Thursday, October 20, 2016.
October 21 & 25, 2016 - Individual Student Conferencing - Black Day/Gold Day. All students will be given a form in homeroom They will carry the form from course to course and teachers will conference with each student in the class providing grade and narrative feedback for both the student and the parent. Students will return the form to the homeroom teacher at the end of each day.
Advisers will scan a copy of each student form and email to the parents based on information provided in infinite campus. Students will be given the original form to deliver to their parents by hand no later than October 28, 2016.
Teachers of failing students will make a parent contact (phone or face-to-face conference) if the student is failing their course. If the student is failing more than two academic courses, administration will schedule a conference with an administrator and involved teachers. ESS Case managers will schedule conferences for those on their caseload.
Any student with attendance and/or behavior issues will have an administrative led conference with involved parties.
Any parent may schedule a conference with any teacher at any point during the year. If more information from the specific teacher is needed after receiving the parent feedback form mentioned above, the teacher's contact information will be provided on the form.
The goal of our new conferencing model is to make better use of parent-teacher conferencing so that it is done with intention and purpose. We know that not every parent has the need to conference with their student's teacher, but we do believe it is important to have communication in the form of the narrative/grade feedback provided by the teachers this semester as mentioned above.
Just for your viewing pleasure... check out this video re: a parent/teacher communication app from our friend in Kentucky, Principal Brooks:
Student Spotlight:
Congratulations to our Calhoun water polo team! They placed 4th in the state of Georgia in their inaugural year as a program! What a great accomplishment! Please wish each of these student athletes your congratulations!
Staff Spotlight:
This week's staff spotlight is Renae Weldon. Recently Calhoun High School signed off on their 2016 graduation cohort rate. This is a culmination of month's of fact checking and documentation. Renae leads this charge, and after an exhaustive amount of record searching, etc. we have officially signed off on our rate as 97.16-97.19% (depending on the denominator as determined by the state). This is a reflection of our teachers, students and community support and we are appreciative of Renae going the extra mile in ensuring we have appropriate documentation for all students! Go Jackets!
