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Post by gatordog on Aug 25, 2008 19:35:15 GMT -6
Is anyone else bothered by the fact that no one has reached out from Waubonsie to Welcome the Tall Grass and White Eagle communities as MV has been doing for their new student body? By now I would have expected a tour or a letter or email communicating that WVHS is excited to welcome these new students etc. I think the MV families are probably very pleased to be receiving acknowledgement to their fears/concerns/questions etc. I wish the same could be said for my community. When I speak to most families they are sortof clueless as to what to expect etc. when we transfer our kids to WVHS from NVHS. hi, slp. Let me pass on something the WV principle, Mrs M., said about the one time transitioning of students who will be going to a different HS. Basically, she said that students should be immersed in the school they are at now, not be treated too differently, let them know they are part of THIS school at THIS time. Let them experience this freshman year at this school and make most of it. (She didnt say this explicitly, but my take on this is along the lines of the dreaded teenage fear of being preceived as being "too different". Something she did explicitly say, as an example, that her experience was "you wont see kids this year wearing MV colors or jerseys while coming to school. ) She has a lot of professional experience to back this up, because she did handled this exact task at a HS in Arizona. Concerning the second part of your statement, that parents are a bit "clueless about what to expect when kids switch from NV to WV". No need for confusion! The course curriculum, programs, activities, etc at WV are virtually identical to those at NV. (I think MV's Principal Schmidt is mostly addressing new, start from scratch things. ) |
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Post by slp on Aug 26, 2008 6:53:49 GMT -6
Is anyone else bothered by the fact that no one has reached out from Waubonsie to Welcome the Tall Grass and White Eagle communities as MV has been doing for their new student body? By now I would have expected a tour or a letter or email communicating that WVHS is excited to welcome these new students etc. I think the MV families are probably very pleased to be receiving acknowledgement to their fears/concerns/questions etc. I wish the same could be said for my community. When I speak to most families they are sortof clueless as to what to expect etc. when we transfer our kids to WVHS from NVHS. hi, slp. Let me pass on something the WV principle, Mrs M., said about the one time transitioning of students who will be going to a different HS. Basically, she said that students should be immersed in the school they are at now, not be treated too differently, let them know they are part of THIS school at THIS time. Let them experience this freshman year at this school and make most of it. (She didnt say this explicitly, but my take on this is along the lines of the dreaded teenage fear of being preceived as being "too different". Something she did explicitly say, as an example, that her experience was "you wont see kids this year wearing MV colors or jerseys while coming to school. ) She has a lot of professional experience to back this up, because she did handled this exact task at a HS in Arizona. Concerning the second part of your statement, that parents are a bit "clueless about what to expect when kids switch from NV to WV". No need for confusion! The course curriculum, programs, activities, etc at WV are virtually identical to those at NV. (I think MV's Principal Schmidt is mostly addressing new, start from scratch things. ) Thanks Gatordog. The issue I have is with the communication to the middle schoolers. There is frequently information about the comings and goings of things at NVHS passed along to the Scullen middle schoolers, ie: High school football games, Plays, etc. I am suggesting that they also 'hype' the WVHS happenings this year to help the kids who will attend WVHS feel excited about their high school years similar to the kids who frequently hear the 'hype' about NVHS. For lack of a better explanation, I feel like my kids have to 'ignore' the NVHS happenings because they won't go to school there and yet there is no excitement being presented to them about going to WVHS. I would like to see the same excitement aimed at them as there is the MVHS Mustang excitement being aimed at the students who will eventually go there. Does this make sense? |
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Post by Arch on Aug 26, 2008 7:08:20 GMT -6
Slp,
Good points. A lot of emphasis has been put on those who are freshmen this year but will switch. I get what you're saying about those still in MS but 'will switch'... there's nothing to supplement/compliment the current info for 'their HS'.
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sardines
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Post by sardines on Aug 26, 2008 8:34:32 GMT -6
hi, slp. Let me pass on something the WV principle, Mrs M., said about the one time transitioning of students who will be going to a different HS. Basically, she said that students should be immersed in the school they are at now, not be treated too differently, let them know they are part of THIS school at THIS time. Let them experience this freshman year at this school and make most of it. (She didnt say this explicitly, but my take on this is along the lines of the dreaded teenage fear of being preceived as being "too different". Something she did explicitly say, as an example, that her experience was "you wont see kids this year wearing MV colors or jerseys while coming to school. ) She has a lot of professional experience to back this up, because she did handled this exact task at a HS in Arizona. Concerning the second part of your statement, that parents are a bit "clueless about what to expect when kids switch from NV to WV". No need for confusion! The course curriculum, programs, activities, etc at WV are virtually identical to those at NV. (I think MV's Principal Schmidt is mostly addressing new, start from scratch things. ) Thanks Gatordog. The issue I have is with the communication to the middle schoolers. There is frequently information about the comings and goings of things at NVHS passed along to the Scullen middle schoolers, ie: High school football games, Plays, etc. I am suggesting that they also 'hype' the WVHS happenings this year to help the kids who will attend WVHS feel excited about their high school years similar to the kids who frequently hear the 'hype' about NVHS. For lack of a better explanation, I feel like my kids have to 'ignore' the NVHS happenings because they won't go to school there and yet there is no excitement being presented to them about going to WVHS. I would like to see the same excitement aimed at them as there is the MVHS Mustang excitement being aimed at the students who will eventually go there. Does this make sense? Hi SLP, I wanted to give you this link to sign up for the WVHS listserve.To be honest, I think anyone that will have a kid switching to WV next year should sign up now. It's very helpful!! ipsdweb.ipsd.org/Tools/ListservSignup.aspxThis is how I get most of the communication going on at the school. Just scroll down till you get to WV to sign up. I recently did the same for MV since I could have kids at both WV and MV next year. Also, I will occasionally go to the WV homepage at ipsd.org to check out daily happenings that don't necessarily get sent on listserve. You can check athletic schedules, results,pics etc. at Athletics2000.com. You can get both NV and WV info. Hope this helps! I agree with Gatordog in that the kids will really find most things are identical...just a different building  |
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sardines
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Post by sardines on Aug 26, 2008 8:48:38 GMT -6
Does it seem like the district doesn't know what to do with the split middle schools? I assume that letter appeared at Hill because Hill is not split. Does anyone know if there is a communication plan for the split schools? They need to put something in place THIS YEAR at the split middle schools. ...and sooner than later. Thus far the only communication we parents and kids have received from Scullen regarding High school issues has been from NVHS.... An email/letter (I cannot recall which) was sent to discuss the middle school attendance rules at NVHS football games. I think it would be to our kids benefit to also hype up the fact that the kids who will eventually go to WVHS at Scullen have similar rules (and are welcome to attend) at WVHS football games too. Each split middle school needs to share the spirit of BOTH high schools equally within their walls! At Granger we have a daily (or every other day) email listserve kind of like at the high schools. Granger will have kids that will split to WV and MV. There really hasn't been much yet in regards to MV but we have gotten the letters from the principal link on the Granger listserve. Perhaps you could ask whoever does the announcements or listserve(?) at Scullen to include WV info. They can get the automated info. the same way they get it from NV. This would be a good start as I agree, they should be providing those students information as well. |
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Post by slp on Aug 26, 2008 9:55:11 GMT -6
They need to put something in place THIS YEAR at the split middle schools. ...and sooner than later. Thus far the only communication we parents and kids have received from Scullen regarding High school issues has been from NVHS.... An email/letter (I cannot recall which) was sent to discuss the middle school attendance rules at NVHS football games. I think it would be to our kids benefit to also hype up the fact that the kids who will eventually go to WVHS at Scullen have similar rules (and are welcome to attend) at WVHS football games too. Each split middle school needs to share the spirit of BOTH high schools equally within their walls! At Granger we have a daily (or every other day) email listserve kind of like at the high schools. Granger will have kids that will split to WV and MV. There really hasn't been much yet in regards to MV but we have gotten the letters from the principal link on the Granger listserve. Perhaps you could ask whoever does the announcements or listserve(?) at Scullen to include WV info. They can get the automated info. the same way they get it from NV. This would be a good start as I agree, they should be providing those students information as well. thank you for this info. I really appreciate it. I will ask that high school information from both WV and NV be discussed at Scullen this year. it can't hurt to ask . |
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Post by Arch on Aug 26, 2008 10:05:22 GMT -6
At Granger we have a daily (or every other day) email listserve kind of like at the high schools. Granger will have kids that will split to WV and MV. There really hasn't been much yet in regards to MV but we have gotten the letters from the principal link on the Granger listserve. Perhaps you could ask whoever does the announcements or listserve(?) at Scullen to include WV info. They can get the automated info. the same way they get it from NV. This would be a good start as I agree, they should be providing those students information as well. thank you for this info. I really appreciate it. I will ask that high school information from both WV and NV be discussed at Scullen this year. it can't hurt to ask . I don't see how it could be declined either because you raise a very good, valid and spot-on point that may have simply been overlooked. |
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Post by slp on Aug 26, 2008 18:12:27 GMT -6
Is anyone else bothered by the fact that no one has reached out from Waubonsie to Welcome the Tall Grass and White Eagle communities as MV has been doing for their new student body? By now I would have expected a tour or a letter or email communicating that WVHS is excited to welcome these new students etc. I think the MV families are probably very pleased to be receiving acknowledgement to their fears/concerns/questions etc. I wish the same could be said for my community. When I speak to most families they are sortof clueless as to what to expect etc. when we transfer our kids to WVHS from NVHS. hi, slp. Let me pass on something the WV principle, Mrs M., said about the one time transitioning of students who will be going to a different HS. Basically, she said that students should be immersed in the school they are at now, not be treated too differently, let them know they are part of THIS school at THIS time. Let them experience this freshman year at this school and make most of it. (She didnt say this explicitly, but my take on this is along the lines of the dreaded teenage fear of being preceived as being "too different". Something she did explicitly say, as an example, that her experience was "you wont see kids this year wearing MV colors or jerseys while coming to school. ) She has a lot of professional experience to back this up, because she did handled this exact task at a HS in Arizona. Concerning the second part of your statement, that parents are a bit "clueless about what to expect when kids switch from NV to WV". No need for confusion! The course curriculum, programs, activities, etc at WV are virtually identical to those at NV. (I think MV's Principal Schmidt is mostly addressing new, start from scratch things. ) heh Gatordog. I did respond previously to your post but wanted to post this information as well to share my point. Today my daughter received a list of "important dates" for Chorus at Scullen. One of the items on the agenda is listed as " NVHS/8th grade Chorus open house 6-8 p.m." There is NO similar date scheduled for WVHS and 8th grade chorus. So what is an 8th grader who is in chorus and going to WVHS supposed to feel like? In addition, the date for the Fine Arts Festival is listed and shows it to be at NVHS. Doesn't a Fine Arts Festival also exist at WVHS? I honestly don't know but I presume one does. Shouldn't Scullen students be told about the happenings at WVHS as well. I am very eager to embrace WVHS, I just don't feel the love. I truly do not want to be Debbie Downer here , but this is not fair to the 8th grade kids at Scullen who will be going to WVHS. If it was your child I am sure you might feel the same way. |
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Post by slp on Aug 27, 2008 6:45:25 GMT -6
hi, slp. Let me pass on something the WV principle, Mrs M., said about the one time transitioning of students who will be going to a different HS. Basically, she said that students should be immersed in the school they are at now, not be treated too differently, let them know they are part of THIS school at THIS time. Let them experience this freshman year at this school and make most of it. (She didnt say this explicitly, but my take on this is along the lines of the dreaded teenage fear of being preceived as being "too different". Something she did explicitly say, as an example, that her experience was "you wont see kids this year wearing MV colors or jerseys while coming to school. ) She has a lot of professional experience to back this up, because she did handled this exact task at a HS in Arizona. Concerning the second part of your statement, that parents are a bit "clueless about what to expect when kids switch from NV to WV". No need for confusion! The course curriculum, programs, activities, etc at WV are virtually identical to those at NV. (I think MV's Principal Schmidt is mostly addressing new, start from scratch things. ) heh Gatordog. I did respond previously to your post but wanted to post this information as well to share my point. Today my daughter received a list of "important dates" for Chorus at Scullen. One of the items on the agenda is listed as " NVHS/8th grade Chorus open house 6-8 p.m." There is NO similar date scheduled for WVHS and 8th grade chorus. So what is an 8th grader who is in chorus and going to WVHS supposed to feel like? In addition, the date for the Fine Arts Festival is listed and shows it to be at NVHS. Doesn't a Fine Arts Festival also exist at WVHS? I honestly don't know but I presume one does. Shouldn't Scullen students be told about the happenings at WVHS as well. I am very eager to embrace WVHS, I just don't feel the love. I truly do not want to be Debbie Downer here , but this is not fair to the 8th grade kids at Scullen who will be going to WVHS. If it was your child I am sure you might feel the same way. Gatordog , are you there? just curious what you think about this type of thing. |
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Post by anteater on Aug 27, 2008 7:03:07 GMT -6
heh Gatordog. I did respond previously to your post but wanted to post this information as well to share my point. Today my daughter received a list of "important dates" for Chorus at Scullen. One of the items on the agenda is listed as " NVHS/8th grade Chorus open house 6-8 p.m." There is NO similar date scheduled for WVHS and 8th grade chorus. So what is an 8th grader who is in chorus and going to WVHS supposed to feel like? In addition, the date for the Fine Arts Festival is listed and shows it to be at NVHS. Doesn't a Fine Arts Festival also exist at WVHS? I honestly don't know but I presume one does. Shouldn't Scullen students be told about the happenings at WVHS as well. I am very eager to embrace WVHS, I just don't feel the love. I truly do not want to be Debbie Downer here , but this is not fair to the 8th grade kids at Scullen who will be going to WVHS. If it was your child I am sure you might feel the same way. While the comments about the curriculum being exactly the same are true, it is also true that there are some differences in how extracurricular activities are handled. It's possible that WV doesn't have a chorus open house, and it's also likely that they have some events that NV does not. For example, I know the WV boosters do some events that NV doesn't. However, you still raise an excellent point and I think this was probably an oversight during the transition period. The fine arts festival is an opportunity for the elementary and middle school students to perform for their parents along with the high school groups. It is strictly organized on a feeder-school basis due to size considerations. (The parking lots at BOTH schools are still like a demolition derby, particulary during the morning when most of the elementary students perform.) As a result, I can see why Scullen would be assigned to NV this year, but it will be interesting to see what they do with a split middle school. It's pretty difficult to split a chorus or band in two, but they could be shifted to the other high school, particulary if they have more room. |
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Post by slp on Aug 27, 2008 7:32:02 GMT -6
anteater,
Thanks for the reply. I understand that NV and WV may have different ways of doing the same thing and they may explain the lack of a WV chorus openhouse, but I am simply suggesting that they make WV news an integral part of Scullen just like NV news and happenings have been since its inception.
Currently students at Scullen hear and see alot about NV, I am simply asking that similar WV activities or programs be talked about with equal zest and excitement this year and going forward.
Thus far that has not been occurring; I know the year is very young but hopefully this will happen very soon.
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sardines
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Post by sardines on Aug 27, 2008 10:47:43 GMT -6
anteater, Thanks for the reply. I understand that NV and WV may have different ways of doing the same thing and they may explain the lack of a WV chorus openhouse, but I am simply suggesting that they make WV news an integral part of Scullen just like NV news and happenings have been since its inception. Currently students at Scullen hear and see alot about NV, I am simply asking that similar WV activities or programs be talked about with equal zest and excitement this year and going forward. Thus far that has not been occurring; I know the year is very young but hopefully this will happen very soon. SLP, I was just curious to know if you had contacted anyone at Scullen yet in regards to offerring WV info in addition to NV. I think often times email gets the quickest response...oh and cc the principal  . Find out who does your listserve or announcements. p.s. here's a link I received the other day from my WV email sign up (I don't have anybody in their choral program although I understand it's "kick butt" . I just like to get all the info. Looks like the Fine Arts Festival is May 16 at WV per their calendar of events. www.ipsd.org/Uploads/WVHS_08-09_Choir_Handbook.pdf |
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Post by slp on Aug 27, 2008 11:56:46 GMT -6
anteater, Thanks for the reply. I understand that NV and WV may have different ways of doing the same thing and they may explain the lack of a WV chorus openhouse, but I am simply suggesting that they make WV news an integral part of Scullen just like NV news and happenings have been since its inception. Currently students at Scullen hear and see alot about NV, I am simply asking that similar WV activities or programs be talked about with equal zest and excitement this year and going forward. Thus far that has not been occurring; I know the year is very young but hopefully this will happen very soon. SLP, I was just curious to know if you had contacted anyone at Scullen yet in regards to offerring WV info in addition to NV. I think often times email gets the quickest response...oh and cc the principal . Find out who does your listserve or announcements. p.s. here's a link I received the other day from my WV email sign up (I don't have anybody in their choral program although I understand it's "kick butt" . I just like to get all the info. Looks like the Fine Arts Festival is May 16 at WV per their calendar of events. www.ipsd.org/Uploads/WVHS_08-09_Choir_Handbook.pdfSardines, Thank you. Yes, I did send an email to Ms. Kosteck yesterday regarding this issue. (she is Scullen's principal) I have yet to get a response. Please understand, I am not saying that WVHS does not HAVE the same wonderful programs that NVHS does. I know WVHS has an excellent music department, and an excellent theater as well as athletics. I just feel sorry for (for lack of a better phrase) my kids at Scullen as they consistently hear about NV happenings and don't (as of yet) get any info about WVHS. As a split middle school I EXPECT both high schools to be an equal presence to the students in middle school . Up to this point that has not been the case and it must change. |
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sardines
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Post by sardines on Aug 27, 2008 12:04:57 GMT -6
SLP, I was just curious to know if you had contacted anyone at Scullen yet in regards to offerring WV info in addition to NV. I think often times email gets the quickest response...oh and cc the principal . Find out who does your listserve or announcements. p.s. here's a link I received the other day from my WV email sign up (I don't have anybody in their choral program although I understand it's "kick butt" . I just like to get all the info. Looks like the Fine Arts Festival is May 16 at WV per their calendar of events. www.ipsd.org/Uploads/WVHS_08-09_Choir_Handbook.pdfSardines, Thank you. Yes, I did send an email to Ms. Kosteck yesterday regarding this issue. (she is Scullen's principal) I have yet to get a response. Please understand, I am not saying that WVHS does not HAVE the same wonderful programs that NVHS does. I know WVHS has an excellent music department, and an excellent theater as well as athletics. I just feel sorry for (for lack of a better phrase) my kids at Scullen as they consistently hear about NV happenings and don't (as of yet) get any info about WVHS. As a split middle school I EXPECT both high schools to be an equal presence to the students in middle school . Up to this point that has not been the case and it must change. SLP, I understand and completely agree with you. I hope you hear something soon from the principal. Keep me posted as we are in similar situations! |
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Post by gatordog on Aug 27, 2008 12:22:56 GMT -6
hi, slp. Let me pass on something the WV principle, Mrs M., said about the one time transitioning of students who will be going to a different HS. Basically, she said that students should be immersed in the school they are at now, not be treated too differently, let them know they are part of THIS school at THIS time. Let them experience this freshman year at this school and make most of it. (She didnt say this explicitly, but my take on this is along the lines of the dreaded teenage fear of being preceived as being "too different". Something she did explicitly say, as an example, that her experience was "you wont see kids this year wearing MV colors or jerseys while coming to school. ) She has a lot of professional experience to back this up, because she did handled this exact task at a HS in Arizona. Concerning the second part of your statement, that parents are a bit "clueless about what to expect when kids switch from NV to WV". No need for confusion! The course curriculum, programs, activities, etc at WV are virtually identical to those at NV. (I think MV's Principal Schmidt is mostly addressing new, start from scratch things. ) heh Gatordog. I did respond previously to your post but wanted to post this information as well to share my point. Today my daughter received a list of "important dates" for Chorus at Scullen. One of the items on the agenda is listed as " NVHS/8th grade Chorus open house 6-8 p.m." There is NO similar date scheduled for WVHS and 8th grade chorus. So what is an 8th grader who is in chorus and going to WVHS supposed to feel like? In addition, the date for the Fine Arts Festival is listed and shows it to be at NVHS. Doesn't a Fine Arts Festival also exist at WVHS? I honestly don't know but I presume one does. Shouldn't Scullen students be told about the happenings at WVHS as well. I am very eager to embrace WVHS, I just don't feel the love. I truly do not want to be Debbie Downer here , but this is not fair to the 8th grade kids at Scullen who will be going to WVHS. If it was your child I am sure you might feel the same way. First, thanks for initiating good questions to the Scullen principal. Yes, more administration effort should be made in this regard. I agree that the administrators at the split MS's need to really start earning their pay! I was originally talking about the kids directly switching from NV to WV (which concerns freshman this year). Now we are talking about moving from Scullen to WV. (or Still to future MV...although that has other complications being their is no bldg yet) There still is time to work out kinks through the school year, especially with good parental involvment such as yourself. In fairness to the Scullen admin, only a small percentage of the calender or announcements involve activities at the HS, so maybe the focus has understandibly been elsewhere. The no brainer, quick solution might be just advertise both functions (ex: choir open house) then individuals can chose which one to attend. Maybe there is more complexity, i dont know. Maybe for things like Fine Arts Festival....they can be alternated btw various HS. Hopefully, this gets worked out in reasonable way. |
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. Find out who does your listserve or announcements.