FROM THE PRINCIPAL...

          

Daniel Starr, Ed.D.

 

 

Two issues that have received their fair share of media coverage in recent w

eeks are school safety and the

school report card. This issue of the newsletter will update you about each of these.

 

School Safety

 

The

recent events in California and

Pennsylvania remind us

of how vulnerable and

fragile our teens can be. When all is s

aid and

done in the aftermath of these tragedies, there is

little that makes sense. What causes a person to

behave this way? What were the warning signs

that people ignored? Where were the parents?

Where was the school? Where were the friends

that might have offered help? In all of this

information amidst these questions, there is little

in common from one act of violence to another

across the country.

 

Mr. Fiegl, our technology teacher, attended a

conference where school violence was

addressed. He related to me that the

research of

the featured speaker indicated that the only

common denominator

among the schools

where the violence occurred was

 

that they had

more than 600 students. Williamson Senior High School has 440. This means we know our students and they

know each other. It is common for friends of a student in distress to seek one of the counselors and ask if their

friend can get some help. The crises range from academic stress to boyfriend/girlfriend trouble to problems at

home. Our staff is very well equipped to address the needs of each student as they come forward. This is the

first and foremost prevention for school violence.

 

Other aspects of this are addressed by a district committee working to meet the requirements of the

S.A.V.E.

legislation.

This is

new law that requires schools to have in place a variety of procedures and safeguards

for issues of violence.

For example, it requires procedures for evacuation in case of any type of emergency.

We have had much of this in place for many years because of the safety issues with Ginna. Another example

from this legislation is the guideline surrounding removal of a disruptive and/or violent student.

 

There will be a clear delineation of

student and school rights

. The most common area for this is the right of

the school to search student lockers.

The courts established long ago that the lockers belong to the school

and are subject to search if there is reasonable cause.

It is not unusual for a student to approach a teacher,

Mr. Svendsen, or myself to report that a student has something illegal in his or her locker. I conduct 15–20

locker searches each year. Sometimes I find items that require further action on my part, other times it is a

false alarm. The point is that the

lockers are searched

 

if

I think

there is a need

.

 

When there is an

act of violence

in the school, there are

clearly stated disciplinary consequences.

Any

student who gets in a fight and throws a punch is suspended out of school for a minimum of 3 days. The

sensitivity to violence that has enveloped us in the past 2 years is treated seriously. The adolescent

disagreements typically contain heated language. These are referred to the counselors for mediation as they

can affect a more permanent solution than I can through the discipline system. Ongoing issues between

students are monitored by our staff.

 

Williamson Senior High School

                                                              

April 2001

 

COLLEGE NIGHT RESCHEDULED

 

Hopefully, spring has arrived and snow is a thing

of the past so that the College Night that was

cancelled in the beginning of March can be held

on

Tuesday, April 10,

at

7:00 p.m.,

in the High

School Library. This is

an opportunity for

parents of Juniors to get information and an

understanding of the process of the college

search and selection. With this information, they

can better help their son/daughter make

decisions about what comes after high school.

 

Bring any questions you might have and

together we can make this time between now

and the end of the senior year an enjoyable

experience. This program is focused on parents

of juniors, but anyone is welcome to attend.

Hope to see your there!

 

 

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FROM THE LIBRAR

Y…

New Arrivals for Spring:

 

F

CLA

Clancy, Tom

The Bear and the Dragon

 

 

 

F

DeF

DeFelice, Cynthia

Death at Devil’s Bridge

 

 

 

F

LIS

Lisle, Janet Taylor

The Art of Keeping Cool

 

 

 

F

PAU

Paulsen, Gary

The Beet Fields

 

 

 

 

F

ROW

Rowling, J.K.

Harry Potter and the

Chamber of Secrets

 

 

 

155.2

JOH

Johnson, Spencer

Who Moved My Cheese?

 

 

 

158

COV

Covey, Stephen

The Seven Habits of

Highly Effective People

 

 

 

158.1

CAR

Carlson, Richard

Don’t Sweat the Small

Stuff For Teens

 

 

 

974.7

MUR

Murphy, Jim

Blizzard: The Storm That

Changed America

 

 

 

B

ASH

Ashe, Arthur

Days of Grace

 

 

 

B

LIN

Bishop, Jim

The Day Lincoln Was

Shot

 

 

 

B

PEL

Pelzer, Dave

A Man Named Dave

 

The staff in the High School deserve credit for their concern for the safety of everybody in the building. They

work with people to keep the environment calm and focused on learning. They are quick to intervene when

words become heated and try to lead the students to a thoughtful resolution. The students also deserve credit

because most of them outgrow the squabbles and undo concern about who said what about whom.

 

We do have an occasional fight (less than one per month) and there is a great deal of “trash talk” between

some students. We try to address the disrespect between the students on a daily basis by correcting it and

modeling appropriate communication. We all thank you for your help with this ongoing problem.

 

The bottom line to all of this is a simple question that I am asked more often than ever. Is our school a safe

place? The answer is yes. We are not perfect, but there is no place in this region where I would rather have

my children attend school than Williamson.

 

 

 

It’s hard to believe that in a few short weeks our seniors will be college bound. If you haven’t already

scheduled him/her for their college physical, I urge you to do so fairly soon as the offices get pretty booked up

at this time of year. Also, be sure you

ask about your student’s immunizations

and make sure they are up to date.

 

Note…I have enclosed information in

this newsletter about the meningitis

vaccine and encourage you to talk with

your health care provider about getting

your student this vaccine before they go

off to college. College freshmen are in

the high­risk group for developing

meningitis. If you have any questions,

you may call me at 589­9625 or the

Wayne County Public Health

Department at 946­5749 regarding this

vaccine.

 

I have been screening the 11

th

graders

during the months of March. I hope to

get them completed by the 1

st

of April

and start the senior class. If you

received a referral form regarding your

student’s vision, hearing, or Scoliosis,

please have them seen by their health

care provider and return the forms to

me. I appreciate your prompt attention

to this. I try to let you know when there

is a problem at school so we both can

keep your student healthy. If you have

a question at any time, please contact

me right away.

 

 

 

FROM THE NURSE’S OFFICE...

                              

Cynthia Showman, R.N.

 

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School Report Cards

For the last few years,

the New York State Education Department (SED) has issued a report card for

each school in the state.

They want to know how well each school is performing relative to the Learning

Standards implemented about 5 years ago. To accomplish this evaluation of the schools, the state

establishes a minimum level of acceptable performance for elementary, middle, and secondary schools.

Our data is reviewed and we are classified into one of three categories: (1) meeting the standard; (2)

below the standard; or (3) farthest from the standard.

The data used to measure Williamson High School and all others is collected by tracking the

students who entered 9

th

grade at the start of the 1996 and 1997 school year.

We no longer consider

our test scores, attendance rates, and other data according to the year the students graduate, but by the date

the students entered the High School.

The information used to evaluate Williamson High School

represents the students who have graduated the past two years.

The following graphs present the data as published in the official report card for WHS. The data

represent the percentage of two groups of students who passed—with a grade between 85 and 100 and

then between 65 and 84. There is a second set of bar graphs labeled “Similar Schools.” These are schools

the State Education Department considers to be like Williamson. They use a variety of identifiers to

determine these schools. Newark and Marion are considered “similar” by the measures the SED uses.

Also included in this group are Honeoye, Naples, Penn Yan, Canandaigua, Red Jacket, and Bloomfield.

As you can see, for the English we have a higher percentage scoring above the 85% level for both groups

of students than the other similar schools, as well as a high passing percentage. The same holds true for

the math test data, as seen on th

e second set of graphs.

 

As noted above, the SED has established a minimum level of performance it expects the

schools to attain. For the English/Language Arts and math tests, the SED says that 90% of our

students must pass the state exam in each subject. Our success rate is 99% for ELA and 98%

for math.

We have all worked hard to get Williamson to the top—our students deserve this effort and they are the

ones who have achieved so well. The goal is now to maintain this level of performan

ce.

 

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