Serving our Families

This week we will be hosting our parents for Parent-Teacher Conferences.  Just as we build relationships with students, it is vital that we build strong relationships with our parents/families as well.  Even though we have all been raised with different values and priorities, one thing I believe teachers and parents have in common is that we want what is best for our students/children. We must remember that sometimes school is not a comfortable place for our parents, so offering positive, encouraging thoughts are great ways to break down any barriers there may be.   

As you plan for our conferences this week, here are a few questions/tips you could use to help engage in positive relationships with parents: 

Offer conversation starters. Put parents (and yourself) at ease with a question or two: "What did Sam like about school last year?," "What does Tina like to do at home?," or "What are some things you'd like her to accomplish this year?"

Invite parents to share their thoughts. As experts on their children, parents can share valuable insights. And they'll appreciate your respectful recognition of their role in helping their children.

Highlight the positives. Recognize a child's strengths before discussing her struggles. You'll give parents some perspective while encouraging them to work productively with you.

Address just one or two concerns. Listing too many problems can make parents (and their children) feel defeated. Mention that you'd like to help the student with several things, but for now you'd like to concentrate on just one or two.

Let parents know if you need thinking time. It's perfectly OK to tell parents you want to think through what they've said, observe their children for a bit, consult others, or read up on an issue they've raised.

Parent-teacher conferences can feel intimidating and critical for caregivers. Being able to build a strong foundation of communication and collaboration can be very helpful for the student and their learning. 

Important Information:   

       Lori Desautels' Sunday Strategy:  (This post reminded me of the patterns of rhythm we created during her training with our hands and knees!)  

           I am sitting with my coffee assessing all of the forums and reflections from classes this past week and this was just shared about rhythm!!! This is from an administrator!

When we incorporate rhythm we are creating ways that regulate lower brain regions pulling us OUT of the survival brain into ways of calm... THIS IS DISCIPLINE!!! SUNDAY STRATEGY!!

On Friday, I had a student who was in total meltdown that is unpredictable. He typically is very hard to deescalate and also after he is regulated, when you try to process what happened, identify triggers, and talk about alternative ways to handle our anger, he usually escalates again, which doesn't allow for much learning. Breakthrough moment. Because of learning about rhythm, I literally grabbed 4 rulers from our extra stash in the office, went into the room he was breaking down in, and began drumming on the floor. No talking, and no looking at him. He quickly picked up the extra rulers and joined me. Stopped crying and screaming instantly. That is not the best part. He then was able to answer some questions and process what happened while drumming. This led to the first time I have ever been able to process with this kid and really try to talk about alternative behaviors. We discussed how next time, when he feels like he may be getting upset, he can ask to drum. His teacher is amazing and loved this idea. A new way for me to regulate kiddos when they are clearly in their brain stem! Language is sensations...always need to think of this!

Drumming and rhythms are intrinsically a part of all of us and even bugs!!!!  (Link)

* PLC Meetings:  Reminder about PLC meetings this week.  A rough agenda was attached to the Monday Moment email. I would like to start our meetings a little later but eat while we work - but if you do not want to do this, please let me know and we will determine a different time as a team. We are looking forward learning and finding ways to support you!

      Tuesday, September 18 - Math    11:45 - Debbie Dauby's Room

      Wednesday, September 19 - Science         11:40  Stephanie Walsh's Room

      Thursday, September 20  - English/Social Studies   11:40  Abbie Brockman's Room

      Friday, September 21 -  Josh Craney, Carrie Guillaume, Carol Schwoeppe, Julie Berkhouse  11:40 Josh's Room

      Monday, September 24 - Mary Hagedorn, PE, Nancy Poehlein, 11:40  Teacher Meeting Room

* Faculty Meeting - We will have a faculty meeting at 7:20 a.m. on Tuesday, September 18th.  I know mornings are difficult, but if you can please work hard to get to the meeting on time.  We will have very important information to share and typically run out of time.  We will do best to utilize our time the best we can.  Breakfast will be served!  It is always a pleasure to see everyone!  

* EWIN Visit - On Monday, September 17th, over 25 educators from across the state will be visiting Perry Central to view our Earn and Learn opportunities.  Their visit will be from approximately 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.  We will be utilizing the high school library and Mr. Craney has a few students that will be giving tours.  We will move senior WIN group to the high school gym.    

* ALICE Student Training:  On Tuesday, September 18th, Derrick Lawalin and Alan Malone will be at Perry Central to train students in grades 5-12 about the ALICE program.  This is a similar training that all of our faculty and staff went through last year (except we will not be doing the simulation in classrooms.)  Here is a tentative schedule for the day:  8:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. Grades 10-12/ 9:10 a.m. - 10:10  a.m. Grades 5-6/  10:20 a.m. - 11:20 a.m. Grades 7-9.  Students will be released by intercom.  
* Parent Teacher Conferences:  Reminder that Parent Teacher Conferences will be Thursday, September 20th from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.  Here are a few things to remember: 

- Please personally invite at least 10 families that you would like to get to know better either through phone call or personal email. 

- Pizza and drinks will be served in the high school office beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday for faculty and staff.  

- Please keep a list of parents that visit your room and turn those into the office at the end of the day. 

- Know I am grateful for each of you as I know you are taking very good care of all of our students!  

Important Dates: 

Monday, September 17th -  EWIN Visit 10:00 - 2:00/ Varsity Volleyball @ Lanesville 5:30 p.m. 

Tuesday, September 18th - Faculty Meeting 7:20 a.m./ALICE Training for students/ Math PLC Meeting/ Varsity Volleyball @ Forest Park 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 19th - Science PLC Meeting 

Thursday, September 20th - English/SS PLC Meeting/  Parent Teacher Conferences 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m./ Varsity Volleyball @ Home 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 22nd - Varsity Football @ Eastern Green 1:00 p.m./ Varsity Cross Country @ Tell City 9:50 a.m./ FFA serving @ Farm to Table  

Friday, October 5 - SLOs Due/ End of 9 weeks

Living with the Jetson's

One of my favorite TV shows growing up as a kid was the Jetson's.  Flying cars, Rosie the robot house cleaner, flat-screen TV's, 3D printed food; it all seemed like a dream!  Who knew that this 1960 sitcom would be so good at predicting the world we would all live in during the 21st Century!  (Article about how the Jetson's Predicted the future.)  

A couple of weeks ago, Blair Milo, Secretary of Career Connections and Talent for Indiana talked to a room full of groups from Spencer and Perry Counties about being prepared for the future and the importance of this in our economy.  She showed a YouTube video called "The Future of Work: Will our Students Be Ready?" It totally reminded me of the Jetson's because of its futuristic views; McDonalds ran by robots, Amazon stores, robotic dogs, etc.  (If you haven't watched this video, I would highly recommend it!) 

Conversations like this always lead me down the road of how we can embrace innovation in our schools.  I feel fortunate to work at Perry Central, because we are more innovative than most.  Mary and Tara are always looking for ways to help our school define learning beyond ISTEP scores, including classes like STEAM, Commodore Manufacturing, PLTW to name a few.  Our internship, career pathway and Early College opportunities are massive and allow students to combine and celebrate learning in both rigorous academic and vocational/authentic worlds. Our classrooms are embracing activities such as socratic seminars, turn and talks, debates, etc. which are all great learning techniques!   But after watching videos that predict where our world will be in the near future and knowing the need for 21st Century Skills of collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, authenticity; it makes me wonder what the future will hold! 

I never thought that we would be living the lives of the Jetson's back in the 1980's, but we really are. This world is changing at a rapid pace. The question in my mind is, how do we make sure our students and children are ready?

(If you would like to dig a little deeper, below is a link to a website and one specific video clip that you may be interested in.  I would love to do a study with anyone that is interested in continuing to transform our school!) 

Website: https://teddintersmith.com/innovation-playlist/

Video: https://teddintersmith.com/innovation-playlist/school-within-a-school/



Important Information: 

* News 44 LIVE!  News 44 will be at Perry Central at 7:00 a.m. this Friday, September 14th.  Students and teachers will be playing games, making a large pyramid of cans with their food drive and celebrating "What is cool about school!"   We would love to see all of you there.  Also, we are working on a corporation wide teacher dance!  Becky Hubert has put the dance together and Mackenzie Petty is ready to teach us.  If you would be willing to learn the dance, we will meet in the high school library after school at 3:00 for some practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday!  I hope all of you will come and enjoy the fun!!

* Laurie Desautels Sunday Strategy:  Laurie has a Sunday Strategy about how to align bell work with brain strategies.  Here is her video clip.  You can also follow her on Facebook.  She has a strategy every Sunday.  This is a great way to help all of us learn how to keep our brains calm!  https://www.facebook.com/lori.l.desautels/videos/10161138546680160/

* PLC Meetings:  Teachers, please check your emails in regards to scheduled PLC meetings with Jody and Phil.  I sent some possible dates and a rough agenda! :-)  During our meetings, we will talk about SLOs and answer any questions you may have.  SLOs will be due on Friday, October 5th.  Please designate one person from your team to respond to the email.  We are looking forward learning and finding ways to support you!

* EWIN Visit - On Monday, September 17th, over 20 educators from across the state will be visiting Perry Central to view our Earn and Learn opportunities.  Their visit will be from approximately 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  More information will be coming soon. 

* ALICE Student Training:  On Tuesday, September 18th, Derrick Lawalin and Alan Malone will be at Perry Central to train students in grades 5-12 about the ALICE program.  This is a similar training that all of our faculty and staff went through last year (except we will not be doing the simulation in classrooms.)  We are excited to offer this to all of our students, as we know this training is not only important in our schools, but in all public venues.  We are also grateful for the TCPD and County Sheriff Department for giving us so much time.  Here is a tentative schedule for the day:  8:00-9:00 Grades 10-12/ 9:10 - 10:10 Grades 5-6/  10:20 - 11:20 Grades 7-9.  More information will follow closer to time! 

* Parent Teacher Conferences:  Reminder that Parent Teacher Conferences will be Thursday, September 20th from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.  I know that several of you have your own ways to reach parents/guardians.  We would like each of you, at a minimum, to reach out to 10 families individually.  I would like to challenge you to choose students that you feel would benefit from the extra layer of support.  If any of you would like to have some examples of what communication could look like or would like to learn how to use the email option in Skyward, please let me know.

Important Dates: 

Monday, September 10:  News 44 Committee Meeting 11:25 in Dana's room

Tuesday, September 11: Varsity Volleyball @ Paoli 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, September 12 

Thursday, September 13: Varsity Volleyball @ West Washington 5:30 p.m.

Friday, September 14: Varsity Football @ Home vs. Tecumseh @ 7:00 p.m./ Science PLC Meeting

Saturday, September 15:  Varsity Volleyball @ Christian Academy 9:30 a.m.

Monday, September 17:  EWIN Visit

Tuesday, September 18: Student ALICE training

SLOs Due:  October 5th

American Heroes

This weekend, one of America's leaders was laid to rest, John McCain.  Regardless of your political views,  it is easy to recognize that his service and sacrifice to our country make him an American Hero.  For some reason, I was obsessed by his celebration of life on Saturday. President Obama and President Bush both asked to speak; showing respect across party lines. The eulogy given by his daughter touched me the most.  She talked about her dad's life of service as an admiral, prisoner of war, senator and presidential nominee.  He served his country because he loved it.  She also mentioned that even though he was great at all of these things, he was even better at being a father.


Her tears of pride, purpose and sadness touched me this weekend as I couldn't help but make parallels to my own life.  Even though it is at a much simpler level, her description of her dad reminded me of my own father and the feelings I felt when he left earth.  My dad served his country in Vietnam, earning a purple heart, but never retelling the story of how he earned it. He loved Perry County and served as a commissioner for 12 years. My dad taught me by example the importance of working with individuals, not by party affiliation.  He too was a great father.  I remember how he would help me taught me to shoot free throws, listened to me practice speeches for 4-H and taught me how to run equipment on the farm.

America is full of heroes; father figures who influence our lives well beyond their lives on earth.  My dad was an ordinary man who left an extraordinary impact on my life.  Many could tell the same stories of your own father or individuals who acted as fathers in your lives.  Events like this just allow us all to reflect and find ways to pay forward what has been given to us.   


School Notes:
Virtual Day:  High School teachers will meet in the High School Library at 8:00 a.m. for a quick run down of the agenda!  Assistants can meet in the elementary cafeteria.  Donuts and coffee will be available in the elementary cafeteria starting at 6:45 a.m.

Alice Training for Students:  On September 18th, Derrick Lawalin and Alan Malone will be training students grades 5-12 on ALICE.  We will have a schedule of the day posted shortly.  

EWIN Visit:  September 17th we will host an EWIN visit at Perry Central.  This visit will be an opportunity for other schools and communities to learn about our Earn and Learn programs at Perry Central.  More information will follow soon!

Parent - Teacher Conferences:  September 20th will be parent-teacher conferences.  We would like teachers to think about 8-10 students whom you feel the need to get to know better and send personal invitations to their parents to attend.  (If you need help with this, please let me know.)  Sometimes invitations via email or texting can serve other families best!  More information will be coming to help you plan for your day!

Important Dates: 

Tuesday, September 4th - Varsity Volleyball @ Home vs. Crawford County 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, September 6th - Varsity Volleyball @ Tell City 5:30 p.m.

Friday, September 7th - Varsity Football @ Paoli  6:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 8th - Varsity Volleyball Evansville Tourney/ Central High School

Self-Care

Life in general can be stressful, and I think that is especially true in the education field.  We all have chosen education because of our strong desire to serve others. Too often, we are forgetting to take care of ourselves.  I am reminded of the words of Jules Alverado, "I cannot give away that which is not mine to give."  She reminds us if we do not take care of ourselves, we are not going to be able to fully help others.  So how can we do this?   Here are a few ideas about how we can learn to self-care/regulate: 

     * Meditation.  Research suggests that daily meditation may alter the brain's neural pathways, making you more resilient to stress.
     * Breathe Deeply.  Slowly inhale through your nose, feeling the breath start in your abdomen and work to the top of your head.  This practice counters stress by slowing heart rate & lowering your blood pressure.
    * Be Present.  Slow Down.  Spend time in the moment focusing on your senses, you should feel less tense.
    * Reach Out.  Talk to others, preferably face-to-face or on the phone.
    * Laugh out Loud.  Laughing lowers cortisol, your body's stress hormone & boosts feel-good brain chemicals, endorphins.
    * Get Moving.   Exercise can ease depression and anxiety by releasing endorphins as well. Take a short walk around the track, shoulder rolls or stretching can be helpful!
    *  Be Grateful.  Keep a journal or note pad to write down the good things in life.

Together, we can make this a focus and continue to lead low and slow lives that can be helpful to our community!


Important School Notes:

* Faculty Meeting - We will have our first Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, August 28th at 7:20 a.m. in the high school library.  You may want to bring your computers.  A light breakfast will be served! 

*Suicide/Mental Health Awareness - Thanks to Kelly, Lauren, Brittany and Maria our students will be getting some Suicide/Mental Health training on Tuesday during their English classes.  We appreciate their efforts during this busy time!  

* Vocational Teacher Meeting - Our Vocational Director, Jarred Howard will be here on Friday, August 31st during 1st lunch to update us on Perkins Money and other vocational information.  We will meet in Josh Craney's room.  If you need help with WIN coverage, please let me know.

* Virtual/PD Day:  On September 4th, students will have a virtual day and teachers will come to school for professional development.  Teachers should give out virtual assignments on Friday, August 31st.  Please remember that assignments should not be due for at least 1-2 days after students return to campus to ensure they have had the resources to complete the work.  A professional development schedule will be coming soon!

* Parent-Teacher Conferences:  We will host Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, September 20th.  Students will be released at 1:00 p.m. and conferences will run from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.

* SAT/ACT Prep Class:  Mr. Linne and Ms. Petty will be offering free ACT/SAT prep classes before school starting this week!  Ms. Petty will teach English on Tuesday mornings and Mr. Linne, math, on Wednesday mornings from 7:05-7:55 a.m.  Please encourage your students to take advantage of this!

Important Dates: 

Tuesday, August 28 -  Faculty Meeting 7:20 a.m./  Varsity Volleyball @ NE Dubois  5:30 p.m.

Thursday, August 30 - Varsity Volleyball @ Home 5:30 p.m.

Friday, August 31 - Fall Homecoming Varsity Football @ Home (Active and Retired Military will get in free!) /

Tuesday, September 4 - Virtual Day for students/PD for teachers   8:00 - 3:00

It's a WIN!

I love high school sports!  For me, it is a time when our community comes together to rally around our student body and cheer for one common goal: a win!  What a great cause!  Being a small, rural, community school, the events often bring back Perry Central Alumni as well!  Once a Commodore, always a Commodore at heart, right?  

This past Friday night while standing along the fence, I felt a tap on my shoulder.  I turned around to see two young men who had graduated from Perry Central just a few years ago.  They each gave me a hug and shared they hadn't been back on campus for a couple of years.  Both of these young men had spent a lot of time in my office for many reasons: conversations about not passing classes, few small discipline issues and of course we had a lot of pep talks about what the future could hold.  Back then, school was not their favorite place to be, to say the least.

As we talked, I learned that both boys had decided to join the Millwright Union.  They found a way to use their charm, intelligence and hard working skills to move their way up to very high paying jobs and even a company truck!  Both were so excited about the work they were doing.  Their eyes glistened as they told me they were actually good at math (even though they didn't get the best grades) and they were proud of their work.  Both even went on to say how they want to share their experiences with others because getting an education and finding a job that they are good at was a life changing experience.  (Their words, not mine!) 

Those two boys will never understand what an impact they had on me Friday night.  It reminded me the importance of NEVER giving up on our students, ALWAYS building strong relationships no matter what, and always looking for the GOOD in others.  Those boys came back to Perry Central that night not only to watch the game, but to touch base with the school that always believed in them as individuals.  Perry Central helped them win in the game of life!  Thanks to all of you who touched their lives! 

Also, congrats to the football team for bringing back the MarCom trophy!  It is finally back in its rightful home!  :-)  Go Commodores! 

Important Information: 

* Faculty Meeting - We will have our first Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, August 21st at 7:20 a.m. in the high school library.  You may want to bring your computers.  A light breakfast will be served! 

* Virtual/PD Day:  On September 4th, students will have a virtual day and teachers will come to school for professional development.  Teachers should give out virtual assignments on Friday, August 31st.  Please remember that assignments should not be due for at least 1-2 days after students return to campus to ensure they have had the resources to complete the work.  A professional development schedule will be coming soon!

* Parent-Teacher Conferences:  We will host Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, September 20th.  Students will be released at 1:00 p.m. and conferences will run from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.

* SAT/ACT Prep Class:  Mr. Linne and Ms. Petty will be offering free ACT/SAT prep classes before school starting this week!  Ms. Petty will teach English on Tuesday mornings and Mr. Linne, math, on Wednesday mornings from 7:05-7:55 a.m.  Please encourage your students to take advantage of this!

* IREADY Formative Assessment Tool - Perry Central is going to start utilizing the IReady Formative Assessment tool to help us prepare for ILearn testing.  This tool is going to replace Study Island & NWEA.  This Friday at 9:00, IReady will be here to provide us with some baseline training.  Junior High math and English teachers will be a part of the training.  More information will come soon! 

* Welcome! We want to welcome Rachal Mills to our Commodore Family! She is going to be a new assistant in our building!  We will be sharing her with the elementary!  Welcome, Rachal!

Important Dates: 

Monday, August 20th - Data Team Meeting 3:00 pm.

Tuesday, August 21st - Faculty meeting 7:20 a.m./ Varsity Volleyball @ Corydon 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, August 22nd

Thursday, August 23rd - Varsity Volleyball @ home vs. North Harrison @ 5:30 p.m.

Friday, August 24th  - Varsity Football @ home vs. Forest Park  6:30 p.m.

Saturday, August 25 - Varsity Cross Country @ Evansville Harrison Invitational  9:00 a.m.

"Whatever you are, be a good one!" Abe Lincoln

One of my favorite quotes of all time is, "Whatever you are, be a good one." by Abe Lincoln.  Even though I think about this quote often, it really struck me this week as we had a couple of visitors into our school, including Tim Hayden, COO of the Indiana Chamber and of course the honorable Governor Holcomb.  Both of these individuals visited on different days but had the same goal, to learn about our Internship Program and Earn and Learn (Commodore Manufacturing) opportunities.

It is exciting that people of this caliber recognize the work all our of faculty and staff are doing each day.  They are amazed by the opportunities our students have, especially in our small, rural setting and they recognize the economic impact that programs like this have on our economy.  They leave with the goal of taking ideas back to replicate. (Even though the secret to any success is not the program, but the people - and they can't have any of you!  ;-))   

Even though economic development is important to me (I am a geek), the real power of these programs that visitors just cannot fully see is that we are changing lives. Many schools across the state only celebrate and value high academic success (4-year college) but we are pushing for so much more.  We know that students need both academic and technical skill to be successful and that level of skill can look different for each student. Visitors cannot see the impact we are making on different demographic levels (homeless, foster children, free and reduced lunch, etc.) because all of our students look the same: successful. 

One of my core beliefs in life is that everyone has a purpose in this world.  We are all here for a reason.  I am so proud to work in a school that values each child, who are at various levels of skill, and helps to push them to find their own level of success.  To me, we are embracing the Honorable Abe Lincoln's beliefs and instilling that into our students. THAT is AWESOME! 

School Notes: 

* Congratulations to Andrea Clark and her family.  They welcomed Nora Grace at 11:28 p.m. on Friday, August 10th.  She was 7 lbs, 4 ounces.  Hank is very excited to be a big brother, but Dean wasn't as sure.  Andrea told Dean on the phone that he had a new sister and he said, "No!"   Best wishes to the Clark family!  

* WIN Assignments - We were able to assign all students to a WIN location through Skyward this weekend.  Individuals covering WIN should please take attendance using this system.  If you notice any mistakes on our end, please let us know so we can fix them!  

* Schedule Changes - Maria is finishing up schedule changes.  We will not make any more changes unless it is a special case.  Please do not allow students to report to the guidance office for this purpose.  Thanks to Maria for all of her work.    

*Assistant Meeting - I would like to meet with assistants on Wednesday during their lunch time in the new teacher meeting room (the small room behind the ISS room).  We just want to touch base about how things are going, answer questions and help with Skyward.  Please bring your lunch to the meeting!  

* Conscious Discipline- Thanks to all of the teams that are working on watching the Conscious Discipline videos.  The username and password was attached to this email.  Helping our students develop socially/emotionally is so important.  Thanks to everyone for being on board!
Here is the schedule:  (Some of you had overlapping dates and we can only log into the system from one computer.)
* Math Team - Next Three Mondays
* Biology Team - Next Two Fridays (They started on the 10th)
* Special Education/Social Studies - Next three Wednesdays (maybe the two groups would want to figure out where they can meet together)
* English Team - Next three Thursdays
*Islanders - /Next three Tuesdays

Please have this complete by September 14th at the latest. 

*Virtual PD Day - September 4th will be a virtual day for students and professional development day for our teachers.  More information will be forthcoming!  Looking forward to a great day of learning!

* Parent-Teacher Conferences - September 20th will be our Parent-Teacher Conference night!  Students will be released at 1:00 and we will be open for conferences from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m. 

Important Dates: 

Monday, August 13:  School Board Meeting 6:30 p.m./ Varsity Volleyball 5:30 p.m. @ Boonville

Tuesday, August 14:  Varsity Volleyball 6:00 p.m. @ home vs. Cannelton

Wednesday, August 15:  Data Team Meeting 3:00 p.m.

Thursday, August 16:  Varsity Volleyball @ Home vs. Orleans  5:30 p.m.

Friday, August 17:  Varsity Football Game    Perry Central vs. Tell City  7:00 p.m. 

August 21st - Faculty Meeting 7:20 a.m.

Grow Here

I am really excited about Perry Central's theme this year!  It can encompass so much creativity and really describes what Perry Central believes in!  Below are a few ways I believe our theme can capture our vision: 

·        

   Relationships Grow Here:  Building relationships with our students and getting to know them as individuals is one of our foundational beliefs.  We strive to gain a better understand on how we can support our students in their learning.

   

·   Academic Excellence Grows Here:  We expect ALL students to learn and we have developed numerous academic supports for our students including learning lunch, WIN, and tutoring, just to name a few!  Our students can graduate with their first year of college for FREE with our Early College High School program.  By offering over 46 dual credit classes our faculty and staff help our students be a step ahead.
  Individuals Grow Here:  We believe that each individual student has a purpose in this world. We want to equip them with the academic and technical skills that will help them be successful by personalizing their learning and expanding opportunities beyond the classroom.       

·  Social/Emotional Learning Grows Here:      Our entire corporation has taken on the challenge to learn how to be trauma informed, along with developing our own social emotional standards and curriculum for students grades K-10.  We know this is going to help us better support student learning and further develop 21^st Century Learning Skills.

·  Family Grows Here:  We are a family.  Each person that walks through our doors plays an important part in who we are as a school.  We all bleed green and believe in building our future together!

What are some ways you can see Perry Central growing?

I am so excited to grow this year with all of you both professionally and personally.  Please know my door is always open and feedback is welcome as we move forward together to create the best us.  Best wishes on a great school year! 

 School Notes: 

Governor's Visit - Just a reminder the 51st Governor of Indiana will be visiting our own Commodore Manufacturing as his tour highlights learn and earn opportunities around the state!  He will visit Friday, August 10th 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.   Thanks to Josh Craney, our partners at Jasper and Waupaca and our students for making this possible!  You are putting PC on the map!

Schedules:  Maria and I will be working hard to finalize schedules the first two days of school.  We know securing student schedules are important.  Here are a few tips for the start of school: 

  * Students are supposed to have at least 6 periods of classes in their school day (one study hall) - please let us know if you hear of students that have less.  

  * If a student is in your classroom and NOT on your roster, please send them to the office or to Mrs. Sweat so we can make sure the student has a copy of their most updated schedule.   

  * There have been updates made to schedules the last few days.  Please encourage students to log into their Skyward accounts to view their schedules as soon as they can to ensure they have the best copy. 

Welcome New Members to PC Family:   

Adam Stowe, Social Studies/History Teacher - Adam is originally from Perry County but has been teaching in KY for several years.  He is bringing his family back home.  He has a son, Brayden in the 10th grade and Emma in the 5th grade.  

Brennan Malone, Math Teacher -  Brennan is a graduate of Tell City High School and Indiana University (yes, we can still let him in, even though he is not a Boilermaker).  He has a degree in Economics and is in the process of adding education to his license.  Brennan is also helping coach football.  Green seems to be a good color for him!

Hailei Gehlhausen, English Teacher - Hailei is a graduate of Forest Park High School and soon to be graduate of USI.  Hailei will be starting the year off at Perry Central and then transitioning over to Jasper High School to finish her student teaching.  She will be teaching mostly 8th and 9th grade English this school year!  

Seth Gehlhausen, English Teacher/Remediation - Seth is a graduate of Tell City High School (his brother is Adam Gehlhausen who graduated from PC) and USI.  He will be filling in for Hailei while she is off to student teach first semester and then moving to a more supportive role second semester.  Seth has a history education degree.  Hailei and Seth did not know each other prior to PC, but they are going to make a great Gehlhauen & Gehlhausen team!

Melissa Toothman, Special Education - Melissa isn't a new face.  She will be taking Kris Walsh's place in the Life Skills room.  She has been working hard re-designing her classroom and making plans for our students!  We are excited to have Melissa in her new role!

Tim Ball, Diesel Technology - Tim is a graduate of Perry Central as well and has decided to leave industry and return back to his alma mater.  He has replaced Mr. Malone as our bus mechanic and will be teaching one period of Diesel Mechanics as we work to develop a new vocational program.  We are so excited he will be sharing his expert knowledge of the diesel engine with our students!

Sara Hubert, Instructional Assistant - Some of you may better know her as Sara James, as she graduated from Perry Central.  She will be helping in classrooms in the junior-senior high building. We are excited she has decided to join our team!

Kelly Fields, Instructional Assistant - Kelly recently moved to Perry Central school district.  She has a son who will be entering the 6th grade.  She has a lot of experience working in schools and aspires to be a teacher.  We are excited to welcome her!

Important Dates: 

Monday, August 6th - Teacher Day!

Tuesday, August 7th - Students return!

Thursday, August 9th - Varsity Volleyball scrimmage @ Perry Central at 6:00 p.m.

Friday, August 10th - Governor Halcomb visits from 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m./  PBIS Kick-Off/ Varsity Football scrimmage @ Southridge 7:00 p.m.