The General: May 2013 Edition

HISTORY MAKERS
The Lafayette House will be hosting our final House Pride Rally this coming Wednesday and have aptly labeled the theme "History Made." The event will include a number of activities that allow students to celebrate the history they've been making in their first year as Thomas Nelson Generals and will continue to make as they pursue their college and career future stories. Without question, we have a great deal to celebrate in our first year, but we have much more history to make in the years ahead. 

Generals LEADing the Way.

ACHIEVEMENT MAYhem

"The Ceiling Can't Hold Us' was the theme song for Achievement MAYhem.

Both students and teachers alike have been entrenched within Achievement MAYhem throughout the month of May. Over the past two weeks 10th and 11th grade students have taken state aligned End-of-Course examinations and select students have taken a variety of AP examinations. During this time our Generals continue to prove that the sky is the limit. I feel strongly that our Generals and will continue to prove they are capable of performing as well as any students in the state of Kentucky. It's our belief in our students and our community that will determine our success. The answer to how is yes.

What happens in the summer? Continuous cycles of Learning
I've had a number of community members and parents ask me about what our summer plans entail at Thomas Nelson. While we are always learning from our work, the summer offers a concerted time to evaluate the work from our previous year, revise and/or develop visions, and ensure that we are fully prepared for improved outcomes across the school in year two. Building off of the work from last summer, the following visioning teams are in place for the months ahead to ensure we are supporting all Generals. 

Planning and PD Team

Evaluate and revise planning vision.

Recommend best practices in planning for all LEADERs.

Evaluate planning documents and make suggestions about school-wide practices.

Recommend summer PD opportunities.

Evaluate and plan Summer PD opportunities.

School Culture Team

Evaluate and Revise School Culture Vision

Develop LEADER Prep Vision

Recommend use of school space ideas.

Plan parental involvement activities and strategies.

Assessment Committee

Review, evaluate, and revise TNHS assessment vision in alignment with best practices.

Outline best practices in assessment for school-wide practices.

Ensure that assessment practices align with state and national assessments.

Plan assessment PD for LEADERs.

Writing Team

Revise school wide writing vision.

Evaluate and revise vision.

Ensure that writing policies align with EOC outcomes and best practices in writing instruction.

Plan writing PD opportunities. 

LEADing THE WAY
I want to extend a big thank you from the Thomas Nelson staff to all parents and community members that have been integral in making our inaugural year a success. Your support for our work throughout this transitional year has allowed us to work with a great deal of confidence. In turn, we have been able to more directly align our work to the mission of college, career, and citizenship preparation. 

THANK YOU!

Next Meeting

7.24.13 - Yes!

4.16.13 Meeting

Citizen Advisory Committee Meeting

April 16th, 2013

Agenda (5:30-6:30)

Principal’s Office

1.       Welcoming – Celebrate (10 min.)

1. Celebrate – Operation Preparation

2.       Review of Group Norms, LEADER Values, and Purpose of Committee

3.       Data Review (5 min.)

1. Moose Quarterly

4.       End of Year Parent Survey and Student Survey w  (20)

1. Revisions

5.       Focus Areas and Communicating with Staff (20)

a.       Parent Volunteers

6.       End of Year Event Planning Started

1. Last Day of School
2. Prelude to Project Graduation

7.       Future Meeting Dates Established

8.       Focus Areas and Action Steps

The General: April 2013 Edition

College and Career Scheduling Nights 

We are inviting all parents of students in 10th,11th, and 12th grades to attend our spring college and career scheduling event this coming week. 

Monday, April 22nd - 5:30 - 6:30

Future sophomore and junior parents and Generals are invited to join the TNHS College and Career LEADERs for an overview of scheduling priorities and considerations for the coming year. The event will start in the media center and all parents and Generals are welcome to attend. 

Thursday, April 25th - 5:30 -6:30 

Future senior parents and Generals are invited to join the TNHS College and Career LEADERs for key details on senior scheduling and the path to graduation and beyond. Additionally, representatives from UPS and additional school to work organizations will be available. This event will also begin in the media center. 

Writing Vision and Authentic Literacy

Writing is an integral component to college, career, and citizenry preparation at Thomas Nelson. Preparing all Generals to communicate effectively within multiple contexts is the goal of our school-wide writing policy team. As we  revise the Thomas Nelson writing policy for the coming year we continually come back to the notion of "Authentic Literacy" and the importance of creating real-life applications as outcomes of the writing process. At TNHS we strive to create authentic applications and engage in writing that entails: 

• Meaningful readings that connect to real-world topics and issues that we face in the world today.
• Open-ended and engaging questions that allow for students to synthesize multiple sources of information to form their argument.
• Giving students choices about the questions they address, the stance they take, and the sources they reference to form their argument.

I look forward to sharing the writing vision with everyone in the coming months. 

The General: March 2013 Edition

Generals LEAD into the 4th Quarter

Assistant Principal Heather Warrell with Lafayette House
Members Loren Schuler and Luke Cecil. 

As we move into the final quarter of our inaugural year at Thomas Nelson High School we continue to be impressed by the sense of community that our Generals have developed over the past seven months. The courage that our Generals have displayed throughout the year has been indicative of the support that the community and parents have showed for Thomas Nelson High School. As we move into eighth grade parent nights over the next week and upper class parent nights in April and May the narrative will be more clear this year. Not only do we have a building, but we have a school.  Thank you to all of you that continue to contribute to our school community. 

Perfect ACT Attendance!

Our only picture with all 162 Lincoln House Members!

162 out of 162 Generals had the courage to show up to our first ever ACT at Thomas Nelson High School. By choice, they wore lime green t-shirts that read "Keepin' it Classy." The day culminated in the "big chill" event that was hosted by the Lincoln House Leaders and a number of parent volunteers. The juniors want to show their gratitude for all of  you that made the event possible. 

Interim Assessment Reports Going Home With Report Cards 3.15.13

Interim Assessment Score Range aligned to ACT

Based on feedback from the partnering with parent survey results in December we have started to couple the release of the report card with the interim assessment results. The detailed subject by subject item analysis affords parents and students meaningful feedback about how students perform in relation to ACT college readiness standards. A major priority with this test is creating a growth mindset for our Generals by giving them clarity about what areas they can target for future growth. Naturally, our teachers will use this data to partner with students in this growth process in their given subject areas. Please be aware that scores on this test do not correlate with traditional grading scales. See the table to the right for more information concerning how to interpret scores for your child. Also, the IA scores only apply to 9th and 10th grade students during quarter 3 as the Juniors took the ACT and will receive their results in the coming months.

The General: February 2013 Edition

GENERALS LEAD BECAUSE GENERALS CARE

Over the past six months as visitors and community members have entered Thomas Nelson there has been a consistent theme that has emerged with the notion of "Generals Care." During our work preparing for the opening of Thomas Nelson High School over the past year our school culture team identified this mantra as a proactive stance against the forces of mediocrity that can inhibit meaningful commitment from high school students. Proudly, I can say that as we have moved into the second semester, the ideals within "Generals Care" are alive at Thomas Nelson in both students and staff. Opening doors for others, picking up trash, communicating courteously, and using class time wisely are all things that we expect from our students at Thomas Nelson.  As we continue to grow and learn as a community, we expect the actions associated withe "Generals Care" to become an even more predominant part of our culture. 

Wes Bradley - Principal 

OPERATION PREPARATION - A Future Story - March 20th

The notion of growth mindset is imperative for our
continued success at Thomas Nelson High School. 

Our Operation Preparation team has been hard at work over the past few weeks putting together a remarkable college and career event for all of our sophomores in alignment with the state of Kentucky's Operation Preparation movement. During this event, we are inviting local professionals to support students with dialogue about the work they do each day helping our Generals envision their future story. If you or someone that you know would be a good fit for sharing insights into your career field and the path that you took to get there please click on the following link to volunteer for operation preparation. One of the members of our "Operation Preparation Team" will follow-up for further detail on the event. 

Operation Preparation Volunteer Link

The certificate along with the G letter and lamp of knowledge. 

145 Students Receive Academic Letter 

145 Generals made history during the first semester at Thomas Nelson by making the academic Dean's List. To make the Dean's list you must achieve a 3.5 GPA or higher. Accompanying that accomplishment is their receipt of an academic letter that will symbolize their achievement for now and into the future. The academic letter is similar to the athletic letter in that it could be placed on a letter jacket or be collected by a student over time as a symbol of academic success. The larger G letter can only be achieved once whereas the lamp of knowledge will be distributed each time a student makes the academic Dean's list. Hamilton and Lincoln House members received their letters this week and our Lafayette House, with 60 students receiving letters, will be distributed this coming week. This accomplishment is something that we expect all students at Thomas Nelson to strive for in the coming semester. 

COLLEGE PAYS - See KY Report
http://cpe.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8DE2CF1E-51A2-4C27-8C2B-41FB126252FE/0/CollegeStillPayspolicybrief.pdf