District Focus December 2013
Inside this issue:
Teach Like a Champion 2
Pupil Personnel Perspective 3
WMS Pupil of the Month 3
Willowick Middle School Receives
Grant
4
Positive Behavior Supports 4
WMS Denotes to Cerebral Palsy 5
Edison Learning Lab 6
Longfellow Celebrates Heritage Days 6
Crystal Apple Awards 7
Country Lights 7
North Dodgeball Tournament 8
North Alumni Speaker Series 8
Grant Highlights 9
Grant Carnival 10
Nursing Program Thriving 11
Willowick MS CSI 101 12
YMCA Childcare 13
PARCC Field Test 14-5
Royalview 15
ALICE Training
ALICE is a crisis training program that stands for Alert, Lockdown, Informa-
tion, Counter and Evacuation. As another form of safety preparedness, the
Department of Public Safety, in partnership with the Division of Human Re-
sources, has introduced the ALICE program to give schools insight and re-
sponse options when encountering an active shooter.
Participants are asked to think about what they would do as the first re-
sponder in a crisis situation, and they are provided with a setting to proac-
tively think about their options. Having this type of information can help
save the lives of students and staff.
The ALICE program was created by two Texas law enforcement officers
soon after the Columbine High School shootings occurred in Colorado. The
training has since been adopted by many educational law enforcement insti-
tutions in Ohio and throughout the United States.
Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Chuck Murphy, met with the chief of police
from both Eastlake and Willoughby to plan the January 17 Waiver Day. We
will do a full day of training for our staff. Half of the staff will work at
North with the Eastlake police and half will work at South with the Wil-
loughby police. Each police department will bring three ALICE instructors
to further break down each building by elementary, middle and high schools.
The morning will feature a presentation and the afternoon will feature more
hands-on activities. Mr. Murphy will continue to work with the police con-
tacts and communicate with staff the details after the Holidays.
2
Human Resource Happenings By: Chuck Murphy
Teach Like a Champion Technique #15: Circulate:
As part of my on-going review of the book, Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov, today I am going to
highlight teaching technique #15: Circulate. I know that most of us would agree that it is important to
move about the room. However, like all Lemovs’ techniques, he teaches us not only how to integrate these
techniques into our routine thoughtfully and systematically, but he teaches us why they are important.
Circulating about the room must be done with purpose to help alleviate behavioral problems. In order for
this to be effective, he offers the following ideas:
Break the plane: Move beyond that imaginary line in the front of your room. It is important to do this
within the first five minutes of class and not only when there is a problem. This shows students that
you own the room, not them.
Full access required: Pay close attention to the layout of desks and chairs so you can easily move to
every spot in the room. This can be a challenge with the increase of technology and the size of our
classrooms.
Engage when you circulate: Proximity alone is not enough. It is important to work the room. This
can be done both verbally and nonverbally. This is an opportunity to help students with their work as
well as make those personal connections that are so important when building relationships. It is also
an opportunity to build your students’ confidence in their work with that individual feedback.
Move systematically: Variety is the spice of life and the same applies to moving about the room. Don’t
confuse systematically with predictable. You should make it your
business to circulate daily and trying to get to all students, but not
in the same way each time.
Position for power: As you know, never turn your back to the whole
class. So, when you are circulating, try to position yourself so that
you can quickly glance up at anyone in the room.
As with most of these strategies, it is not the strategy itself that is
unique, but the thoughtful and consistent application of the strategy
that makes the difference in the classroom.
3
Pupil Personnel Perspective of Positivity By: Eileen Bowers
E xciting things are happening at Willoughby Tech Center this year. Job Placement Coor-
dinator, Mrs. Linda Mather, along with the staff at Willoughby Tech, have been very busy placing students in community jobs. These opportunities provide our students with real world experiences
that help prepare them to be productive, functioning members of our society.
To date, there are 14 students working in positions throughout Kirtland, Mentor, Willoughby and
Willowick. Whereas most of these positions are paid positions, some of our students are engaged in
internships that are functioning to prepare them to move into a more permanent position.
Some of the establishments where our students are working are Kirtland Library and Just One More in Kirtland, Dollar General in Mentor, Amteco, Industrial Motors and Control, Best Truck Equip-
ment and The Wild Goose, all located in Willoughby. Additionally we have 6 students working at the
Normandy Party Center in Wickliffe.
WMS Celebrates "Students of the Quarter"
S tudent Council sponsored a "Student of
the Quarter" breakfast on the morning of
November 21st for 15 students (5 per grade) and a loved one or two. There were
fifty attendees enjoying a bagel, muffin, fruit and
juice breakfast and enjoying each other’s company
on this specific morning in the library. Principal
Larry Keller started the morning by congratulating
the students and their parents before co-moderators of Student Council, teacher Nikole
Godenswager and librarian Fiona Young, hosted a
very special morning for these 15 young ladies and
gentlemen.
In order to earn “Student of the Quarter” status,
students must have a 2.5 GPA or higher and ex-
hibit the following characteristics: Respect, Re-sponsibility, Compassion, Punctuality, Honesty,
Cooperation, Helpfulness, and Enthusiasm. Stu-
dents are nominated by their teachers.
4
Willowick Middle School Media Center
Receives Grant From Eastlake Wal-Mart
L ibrary/Media Specialist Jennifer Edmiston recently received a grant for $1500.00 from the East-
lake Wal-Mart. Mrs. Edmiston was looking for a way to meet the needs of her students and staff by writing a grant that would allow her to add valuable materials to the Willowick Middle School Library.
The grant money is being used to purchase high lexile books that are also age appropriate and Play-
aways, an electronic listening device similar to an IPod, for Intervention Specialists to use with their
students. She is also adding a new DVD collection of movies that were once books.
Mrs. Edmiston stated that with the new Common Core standards focusing on reading both fiction and Non-fiction it was important to incorporate more up to date non-fiction into her collection with a focus
on biographies. The many changes to the physical environment and the availability of new reading
materials, including Nooks, have made a significant change in the number of books students are
checking out from the library. Since joining the Willowick Middle School staff three years ago she has
increased circulation by more than 120%.
Positive Behavior Supports
As a part of the Positive Behavior Supports initiative at WMS,
all three grades at Willoughby Middle School heard the powerful
and inspiring message of Reggie Dabbs. This is the second ap-pearance for Reggie at Willoughby Middle School in the past
three years. A product of the “mean streets” of Chicago, Reggie
overcame a childhood of rejection and hopelessness to deliver a
message of love and acceptance that inspires, amazes, empow-
ers, teaches and entertains, while providing students with hope
for the future! His musical interludes bring students to his positive message with the gift of music!
Reggie's quote, “You can never change your past,
but you can change your future,” resonates with
middle school students and his insistence that stu-dents become defenders of each other to eliminate
bullying in our schools is always well-received by
students and staff alike!
5
WMS Donates to The Cerebral Palsy Foundation The staff-student volleyball game on November 27th was
a huge success! 50% of the proceeds for this event went
to support Student Council and 50% of the proceeds went to The Cerebral Palsy Foundation.
A donation was made to The Cerebral Palsy Foundation
in the name of Tyler Spicuzza. His parents, Janice &
Chris, have been dedicated to raising money for United
Cerebral Palsy of Cleveland and were in attendance for this event along with Tyler’s siblings.
Royalview Elementary teachers supported the cause
wearing their Superman shirts in honor of Tyler for the
day as well. Tyler was a student at Royalview Elementary & touched the lives of many in that building.
6
Edison Learning Lab Teams Up with WMS Students
Edison Elementary School created the Edison Learning Lab for students in grades 3-5 who need some extra help with homework. From November 4 through April of 2014, peer tutors from Willoughby Middle School will be on-hand to help students in need of some extra homework assistance. This four-day-a-week program runs from 3:30-4:00pm under the direction of Mr. Dan Heising.
Longfellow Elementary fifth graders celebrated Heritage Day at school. Students researched their family heritage, created Power Point presentations on the native countries of their an-cestors and prepared food from family recipes around the world to celebrate their heritage, customs and traditions.
North High News Congratulations to Jared Stergar on breaking the school record in the 100 Back-stroke with a time of 57.7 seconds!
7
T hanks to the generosity of the Northeast Ohio Media Group (Plain Dealer) and sponsor Bryant and
Stratton College, the 2013 Crystal Apple Award is now open to nominations. Do you know a Wil-
loughby-Eastlake educator who supported and challenged you to be the best you could be? If so, please consider nominating that person for the Crystal Apple Award. If you are a student (or know a
student who would want to participate), age 13 or older, you may nominate a teacher by visiting:
nie.plaindealer.com/crystal-apple.html
Your nomination essay, 170-750 words, should explain why your nominee deserves this award. All entries
must include the educator's name, their subject/grade taught, the address of the school where the educator
currently teaches, your name, present grade, home address and phone number and can be mailed to:
You may also fax your entry to 216 999-4986.
Independent judges will select three outstanding educators from the nominations received-one each from the
following grade categories: K-5, 6-8, 9-12.
Recognition period deadlines are as follows: November 22nd, January 31st, February 28th, and March 28th.
The winning teachers will be honored at the Crystal Apple Awards Banquet in May, 2014.
The Northeast Ohio Media Group Crystal Apple Award
1801 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114.
Country Lights TJ Elementary’s PTO would like to invite you to the
Lake Farm Parks on Friday, December 20th at
7:00pm for the Country Lights spectacular. Tickets are $8.00 per person (2 and under= free). Order
forms are available by calling Drew or Melissa Rosin
at 440-951-1991. Tickets are sold on a first come
first served basis and sell out quickly. DECEMBER
13TH IS THE DEADLINE to purchase tickets.
8
N orth High’s Junior Class Advisor and Special Education Secretary, Jeanette Grady, hosted North’s first-ever Dodge Ball tournament to raise funds for the class of 2015’s
prom. Nine teams participated and paid $35 per team to play and with the help of con-
cessions, the class raised almost $450.00!
Teachers Eli Kovach, Erik Poje, Mike Lewis, Matt Powaski, & Amy Cvelbar, BTS Coordinator
Deanna Elsing and guidance counselors Lindsay Lane & Jennifer Orlando were members of the teacher team called “Teacher, Teacher”. While teacher Kim Comella and Special Education Super-
visor Victoria Morley helped organize the tournament with announcing and filling in the bracket.
Booster members and Mr. George Grady refereed the event and parents of the junior class ran the
concessions.
N ew this year to North High School, under the leadership of Prin-
cipal Jen Chauby, is the “Alumni Speaker Series.” On November 4th, Derek Jones, a 2000 North High Graduate, spoke with current North
High students on the value of a high school education and owning
your own business.
*North is still looking for a few more speakers to complete their series. If you know of a North High graduate
who would be interested in contributing to this special series, please contact Jen Chauby at (440) 975-3692
9
W e have had a busy year already
at Grant Elementary School! The year has gotten
off to a great start! We kicked off this year with an
addition to our school wide positive behavior sys-
tem (PBS). This year our theme is “Bucket Filling”.
This is based off the children’s book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?, by Carol McCloud. The
students have been doing an awesome job filling
each other’s buckets! We fill buckets by doing
nice things for others, complimenting others or
helping others. After each class fills their class-room buckets with different colored pom-poms, we
put all of the pom-poms into a huge school
bucket. When the school bucket is filled, we do a
school-wide incentive. So far this year, we had a
school-wide dance and an extra recess.
In addition to our “Bucket Filling”, we also
emphasize the importance of our REACH program.
With this program, we discuss the importance of
being Respectful, Engaged, Accountable, Coopera-
tive and Honest. At Grant Elementary, students REACH for the stars everyday by exhibiting these
positive character traits.
All students have been working hard to
complete their MAP (Measures of Annual Progress) testing. Students have been focusing and taking
their time to do the best they can on these impor-
tant tests. Initial scores from these tests are look-
ing great and just proving how hard our students
are working. The students will take these tests
again in the winter and spring to show all the aca-demic progress they have made throughout the
year.
Students have also been working on Com-
pass. This is an internet based computer program which is tailored to the needs of individual stu-
dents. Teachers can create assignments for stu-
dents or students can work on assignments of
their choice in most subject areas. The students
really seem to enjoy the interactive activities on
this program and can access this program from home, as well.
At Grant Elementary we are very proud of
our Bulldog Band, under the direction of Mrs. Lauren Audino. There are 52 members in the
band. They have all learned five notes just since
the start of October! They recently played solos for
each other in rehearsal. Last week, they finished
learning “Mary Had A little Lamb” and this week they are beginning to work on “Jingle Bells”. They
hope to have a few Christmas songs learned so
they can perform for the school at our school Sing-
A-Long before holiday break. Some of our band
students also participate in a program called Band
Karate. This is a neat program Mrs. Audino offers to the kids in the Bulldog Band. It is optional but
about 50% of the kids are currently working on
earning belts. They have to practice five songs at
home and then come play them for Mrs. Audino by themselves and during their lunch time in order to
earn a belt. We have one student, who is already a Red Belt, only two steps away from being a Black
Belt! Keep up the good work, Bulldog Band!
We have had some exciting visits from the
Willoughby fire department this year. The fire de-
partment visits all kindergarten through 4th grade
classrooms to discuss the importance of fire safety. The students really enjoy these important
visits from our local heroes and learn a lot from
them, too.
10
I n addition to visits from our fire department, we had assemblies for all students from the Illuminating Company. These assemblies discussed the importance of conserving energy and using alternate sources of energy to help conserve natural resources. The students really enjoyed these entertaining assemblies and learned a lot from them, too. Thank you to the Illuminating Company for sponsoring these school-wide assemblies.
At Grant Elementary, we have a wonderful parent committee (PTC). The PTC does so many incredible things for our school and students. Some of these include activities like our Fall Fest and Dance a Thon. PTC also organized a special day at Patterson’s Farm for the students of Grant Elementary. They also organized and ran our school book fair. Profits from this book fair are used to purchase books and other items for the school. Coming up soon, our PTC will be hosting a Snowflake Shop for the students to do their holiday shopping. Finally, parents from our PTC volun-teer every other Thursday to make popcorn for the students. The students really look forward to all of these wonderful things our PTC does. Thank you, PTC!
The students, parents and teachers of Grant Elementary do many wonderful things throughout the school year. Please be sure to visit our website and sign up for our bi-weekly newsletters to stay current on all of the exciting things happening at our school. We are proud of everyone here at Grant Elementary School and are proud to be Grant Bulldogs.
Another year, another successful PTC carnival hosted by the parent group at Grant Ele-mentary. For five years, Grant has hosted this carnival to raise money for field trips and technology. A fun time was had by all.
11
Today’s modern nurse combines science and technology with people skills, problem solving techniques
and patient teaching to promote better health in today’s world. Nursing is one of the most respected pro-
fessions because nurses prevent disease, save lives and advocate good health for their patient and loved ones.
Willoughby-Eastlake School of Practical Nursing began an adult nursing program in the early 1960’s.
Since then the program has graduated thousands of successful nurses who impact our community in
many positive ways. Today we service approximately 75 adult students per year and have an outstanding
pass rate of 98% on the NCLEX-PN Exam, the licensure exam for practical nurses.
A student at Willoughby-Eastlake School of Practical Nursing Can Expect:
Expert Instruction
Modern Equipment
Smart Classrooms with Smart Technology
Computer Lab with nursing simulations
Financial Assistance Availability
A commitment to helping you be successful in the nursing profession
Willoughby-Eastlake School of Practical Nursing offers a unique program for the high school junior and
senior who is interested in a nursing profession. Although the curriculum can be demanding and intense,
a nursing education could mean the difference between a minimum-wage job and a career that pays well and has lots of opportunities. Having a nursing license also affords students an opportunity to enter col-
lege with credit toward a degree as a Registered Nurse.
Willoughby-Eastlake School of Practical Nursing is accredited by the following organizations:
The Ohio Board of Nursing
The Ohio Board of Education
The Ohio Board of Regents
Adult Practical Nursing Program
Under the direction of Instructional Leader Lori Klonowski the Nursing Program’s mission is to strive to prepare nursing students for a career in healthcare where the fo-
cus of learning
is compassion-
ate, quality care
12
Ms. Erin Ertter’s Forensic Science Class at South High
completing a genetics experiment where they attempted
to explain why it is necessary to type a victim’s blood when trying to determine if any of the blood found at
the crime scene belongs to a particular suspect.
Willowick Middle School students raised over a $1000.00 for
Willowick Middle School students raised over a $1000.00 for
Willowick Middle School students raised over a $1000.00 for Penny Wars with the money raised going to United Way.
Penny Wars with the money raised going to United Way.
Penny Wars with the money raised going to United Way.
13
A s a partner with the W-E schools, the West End YMCA has worked together with the superinten-
dent and elementary principals to accommodate parents needs while transitioning to a new latch-
key program.
A few key concerns are addressed as follow:
The Licensing process through the Ohio Department Job Family Services (ODJFS) is in progress. It is
largely up to the ODJFS as to when we will be licensed to operate. There will NEVER be a gap in child
care.
The schools will continue to run programs until we are operational. We must have a weekly roster of
children attending per the ODJFS.
In order to accommodate emergency needs, we will have a sign up option which requires the enrollment
paperwork and a $30 deposit, which will be used to pay for unexpected time in child care. A much more flexible fee schedule is ready for distribution.
The new program cannot charge to every 15 minutes as it does currently, but will charge to each hour.
The main reason is that the YMCA doesn’t feel it would be fair or prudent to hire staff for an hour or less
in order to maintain the supervision ratios. You may sign up weekly for your upcoming needs, or change
a schedule based on needs. We will have a computer on site and an administrator to help with this proc-
ess.
Parents will not be charged for scheduled days off, holidays, breaks etc. Credit for Snow Days will be
given. Credit for sick days will depend on the circumstances.
Sibling discount is being discussed for next school year.
YMCA member discounts are also being discussed for next school year.
If parents feel the new fee schedule doesn’t accommodate their needs, please have them speak directly to
the Child Care Director, Pattie Ritt 440-946-1160 x 110
A Parent Handbook will be sent home and posted on line with all the specific details and requirements
per the ODJFS.
Parents will be notified by the YMCA through the schools with plenty of
time to enroll their child in the Y-School Age Child Care Program.
A Child Care Enrollment package will be sent home in December.
YMCA staff will be on site to answer questions closer to the date of li-
censing.
The YMCA is still hiring child care staff, if interested please contact
Pattie Ritt
YMCA Child Care
Before and After School Programs, Part 1
14
P ARCC Field Tests will be administered across several states in the spring of 2014 in grades 3-
11 in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics. Several of our buildings have been
chosen to participate in the online tests. Participating buildings, grade levels and courses were
chosen randomly by the state; they were not chosen by the district and the district may not re-
quest changes. The purposes of the field tests are to:
examine the quality of test items so that PARCC can build assessment forms for the 2014-2015
school year;
test out assessment administration procedures; and
give schools and districts the opportunity to experience the administration of PARCC assess-
ments.
The opportunity to participate in the field tests is an important one because it provides a “dry run”
of the online testing program. Hopefully we can learn about areas that we need to address prior to
actual testing in order to make everything run as smoothly as possible. Results of field tests are
not reported back to the district.
Two components make up the PARCC assessments. The Performance-Based Assessments (PBA)
in English Language Arts/Literacy and the PBA in Mathematics will be administered anytime
between March 24 through April 11, 2014. The End-of-Year Assessment (EOY) in both ELA
and Mathematics will be administered at any time between May 5 through June 6, 2014.
Most students will take only one component in one content area which will help us manage testing
time. There is the possibility that students will be asked to take both the PBA and the EOY in one
content area, or they will be asked to take either PBA or EOY in one content area. No student will
participate in the entire PARCC assessment.
At this time, field tests are to be administered as follows:
SCHOOL GRADE/COURSE SUBJECT NUMBER OF CLASSES COMPONENT
Eastlake MS 6 M 2 PBA
Eastlake MS 7 M 2 PBA
Edison 3 ELA 2 PBA
Grant 4 M 2 PBA & EOY
NHS Integrated Math I M 4 EOY
NHS Integrated Math II M 4 PBA
NHS Integrated Math III M 3 PBA
RVES 4 M 2 EOY
RVES 5 ELA 2 EOY
SHS Integrated Math I M 4 PBA
SHS Integrated Math II M 4 EOY
SHS Integrated Math III M 4 EOY
Washington 5 M 2 PBA
WMS 6 M 2 EOY
WMS Algebra I M 2 PBA
WMS 6 M 2 EOY
WMS 8 ELA 2 PBA
PARCC Field Tests
15
In spring 2014, PARCC will also provide access to a practice test for any interested
schools. The PARCC Practice Test will include technology-enhanced items and will be de-
livered using the same technology platform that will be used for field testing, allowing stu-
dents and educators in all PARCC states to become more familiar with the types of items
that will appear on the PARCC assessments. For more information about PARCC Task Pro-
totypes and Sample Items, please visit
www.parcconline.org/samples/item-task-prototypes.
PARCC Field Tests Cont.
This newsletter was designed by Matt Muenzberg, Business Technology Class
Hungry for More
The excitement surrounding the release of a film based on a Young Adult novel, like The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the perfect opportunity to introduce teens and tweens to a new series or to entice a reluctant reader. Students enjoy the films so much or are caught by the enthusiasm of their classmates that they become interested in the books. Your school libraries carry many of these books and others like them. Our school librarians are trained to help students find books that match students’ interests and abili-ties. Winter is a great time to curl up with book, and it could help chase away school vacation boredom and make for quiet holiday travel. Here is a list of some YA books that are in the film pipeline and in theaters (* indicates a series):
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
*Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
*Divergent by Veronica Roth
*The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
*Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
*Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
*The Maze Runner by Carl Deuker
*Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
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Willoughby-Eastlake Association for the Gifted & Talented
(WEAGT) has expanding to become
WEAGT Academic Boosters for the entire W-E School District!
What is WEAGT Academic Boosters’ purpose? 1. To continue to support the Zenith program students, parents & teachers. 2. District wide expansion to recognize and reward student academic achievement, scholastic improvement, positive attitudes and extraordinary efforts of all students grades K through 12
th and to recognize, reward and assist all Willoughby-Eastlake staff members.
This means WEAGT will still be supporting the Zenith teachers and students through membership in OAGC (Ohio Association for Gifted Children), funding extra field trips, providing discretionary funds to the Zenith teachers for their classrooms needs, etc. We will also support competitions like middle school Power of the Pen, high school Academic Decathlon and more. Being new this year, we have many ideas on additional ways to support our W-E students academi-cally & encourage positive attitudes. A few ideas: A “Caught Being Good” program, holding prac-tice ACT testing, Level Up Award, Outstanding Achievement Award, teacher mini-grant program and student scholarships are just a few of the ideas discussed so far. We welcome your ideas and suggestions and need your help! With over 8,000 students in the district and 12 schools to cover, the size of this task seems extraordinary. With your help we can make this happen! Come to our meetings, share your ideas, become a member knowing your dues will help make our first year as a district wide Academic Boosters a success. WEAGT Academic Boosters meetings will be held in the Tech Center Auditorium Door #1. Meetings start at 7 p.m. on the 3
rd Tuesday of each month (except Feb & April 2014).
Remaining 2013: December 17 2014: January 21, February 11, March 18, April 22, May 20 Auction 2014 (Our Main Fund-Raising Event) – March 15, 2014 at Patrician Party Center Our athletically talented students have an Athletic Boosters, our musically talented students have a Band Boosters…it’s time our academically talented students have an Academic Boosters!
Check out our website www.weagtohio.org. Email: [email protected]
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