Early College High School

 The State of Indiana released their Early College Report last week.  The report (linked below) showed the success that students across the state are having and the money that is saved from Early College programs.  Here are a few highlights: 

* Growing number of students earning the Indiana College Core (formally known as the Core 30 and is their first year of college)   

    - At PC, we have consistently graduated 30% of students with the ICC. 60% of students earn 15 or more dual credits by the time they graduate.  We offer more than 40 dual credit class opportunities.

* Students who earn the Indiana College Core are more likely to enroll in college and complete on-time.

    - Indiana Commission for Higher Education Report shows that in 2017 56% of our students attended college.  Class of 2016:  51% of the students who enrolled met the Early College Benchmarks:  85% didn't need remediation, 59% completed all coursework attempted, 83% persisted to the 2nd year of college.  

* Indiana College Core has a significant cost savings. (In Indiana, the average cost of tuition and fees only is over $8,000 yearly - this does not count living expenses.)

* The Indiana College Core is only offered in 131 of 600 schools in Indiana (Only 26% of school districts).  

    Thank you to all of our teachers who make the Early College Program possible at PC by ensuring credentialing requirements of 18 credit hours of MA level coursework is met.  Our community is truly grateful for you!    

*Perry Central is currently going through the re-application process to continue our Early College Endorsement through CELL.  The application is due Feb. 1st and CELL will be at Perry Central to interview our teachers and students on April 30th.  This is a true team effort as we continue to provide high quality programming and supports for our students.  It takes all of us to make a successful Early College Program!  Great job!

Link to State Early College Report

Culture Code (Book by Daniel Coyle) Thought of the Week:  The sense of belonging in each of us needs to be continually refreshed and reinforced.  Small signals of acceptance, such as catching a student being good or asking them how their day is,  can go a long way in establishing relationships. Conveying the fact that you are interested in others helps the brain signal safety and when we make people feel safe we can get through anything together!

Important Information: 

ISTEP Testing Schedule:  ISTEP Testing for juniors will begin on Monday, February 8th.  Please take a look at the attached schedule to see if you have any questions/concerns about times and locations of testing.  All juniors will be testing during this time.  English teachers, I will ask you to please share testing locations and dates with students specifically.  Please do not post this list as it has special education information attached.  Please talk to students as you see them in class.  Than you for your help!   TEST SCHEDULE

State Reporting - Some of you may start seeing some additional grade books in your Skyward accounts.  State reporting is changing and we have to make some small changes to how we report information.  Starting next year data will be sent weekly asynchronously, meaning we will not be able to fix mistakes in Skyward as needed to ensure the information is correct  - but we will have to have it entered correctly from the beginning.  This is a huge shift in how this has been managed before.  Even though eventually it will be great - there may be some bugs in the meantime.  Thanks to Kristi Etienne for having the patients to work through all of this!  If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask!

Reminders from Last Week:

*  Classroom Sizes:  We realize that classroom sizes are growing.  At the beginning of the year we had 25 new students and this semester along we have enrolled 10!  This is good news, but makes for crowded classrooms.  Some of our virtual students have decided to return as well.   We realize there are times you cannot socially distance and that is okay.  Just do your best to put space between your students and have them wear their masks.    

      Returning/Virtual Students:  We are trying to use this document to track students who are virtual.  We are doing the best we can to keep up with student changes - but sometimes they do not tell us!   Hopefully this will help you.  

* COVID Reminders:  Seating Charts and attendance are still very important.  If you need more cleaner for your tables, please let the high school office know. 

* Lunch Changes:  We are going to make some changes to the lunch schedule.  Please go over this with your students on Monday.  Attached is the new chart - changes have been highlighted.  We are going to reduce the Grab and Go locations to allow us flexibility for coverage as there is a little extra room in the cafeteria.  You will note that all 11th and 12th grade students will eat in the cafeteria - we believe their numbers are low enough to allow for this.   LUNCH CHART

* Missing Assignments:  We are asking that teachers please revert back to the LL/8th period protocol to report in-person students who are missing assignments.   Please only use the ONLINE form for students who still remain 100% on-line.  

* PBIS Lessons:  Phil sent out a quick PBIS refresher for 2nd period on Monday, February 1st.  Please go over the lesson during 2nd period with your students.  

* Engagement/Relationships:  Our students are going to be excited to come back to school.  This is a great job to work hard to create engaging, exciting lessons that will allow students to continue to excitement for school.  Brain Smart Starts will also be important to help students get ready for learning.