15 posts from 2007

One of the beginning-of-the-year changes we made related to not scheduling a back to school night (where parents and teachers meet formally) but providing the information to parents in a welcome packet. It is always our desire to be the most effective while being sensitive to your family commitments. Many parents have told me that they appreciated the different format as it was so difficult to get to see every teacher on the typical back-to-school evening.

Did this change help you? Please note the selections. If you have children only in the elementary school, for example, you would mark one of the "elementary only parent" choices. If you have children in elementary and secondary, you would mark on the of the "elementary and secondary parent" choices.

As this initial data is evaluated, there will be additional follow-up questions. Thank you for helping us continue to improve!

Cm_cheaters

The Bible teaches that the evil one will try anything to destroy our homes, marriages, families and every ministry that is honoring the Lord Jesus. His ways are often subtle and we need to be constantly on alert. Today, I received a disturbing briefing from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. It cited an article about cheating in school. It's long but well worth reading; I will have a closing comment at the end. Here are some excerpts:

Ask a high school or college student about cheating, and before you can finish the sentence, the person will blurt out two things: "Everybody does it," and "It's no big deal." Survey statistics back up the first statement, and the lack of serious consequences and lax enforcement of academic integrity policies in schools support the second.

Not only is cheating on the rise nationally - a 2005 Duke University study found that 75 percent of high school students admit to cheating, and if you include copying another person's homework, that number climbs to 90 percent - but there has also been a cultural shift in who cheats and why.

It used to be that cheating was done by the few, and most often they were the weaker students who couldn't get good grades on their own. Today, it is accepted as a normal part of school life, and is more likely to be done by the good students, who are fully capable of getting high marks without cheating. "It's not the dumb kids who cheat," one Bay Area prep school student told me. "It's the kids with a 4.6 grade-point average who are under so much pressure to keep their grades up and get into the best colleges. They're the ones who are smart enough to figure out how to cheat without getting caught."

...the ones who cheat more are the ones who have the most to lose, which is the honors and AP (advanced placement) students. Eighty percent of honors and AP students cheat on a regular basis.

The other group of students recently revealed to be most like likely to cheat is athletes. In a landmark survey of nearly 5,300 high school athletes conducted in 2005 and 2006 by the Josephson Institute of Ethics in Los Angeles, 65 percent admitted to cheating in the classroom more than once in the previous year, as opposed to 60 percent of nonathletes, a percentage that institute founder Michael Josephson says is statistically significant. And varsity athletes were more likely to cheat than nonvarsity.

The fact that athletes must maintain a minimum GPA to stay on the team is one factor, but Josephson thinks there's something deeper going on. "The major male sports seem to be spawning a win-at-any-cost mentality that carries over into the classroom. Thirty-seven percent of boys and 20 percent of girls said it was proper for a coach to instruct a player to fake an injury. Forty-three percent of boys and 22 percent of girls surveyed said it was proper for a coach to teach basketball players how to illegally hold and push, for example.

...according to one study, less than 2 percent of all academic cheaters get caught, and only half of them get punished. So there's almost a 99 percent chance of getting away with it.

...a popular method of cheating is networking, which he defines as "the easygoing smart kid gives the answers to some other kid."

The Internet has provided all sorts of shortcuts for cheaters. They have Wikipedia at their fingertips, and thousands of ready-made term papers available for downloading...

Some schools have tried to combat plagiarism by using a scanning service such as www.turnItIn.com. The students are instructed to turn each paper in to the service, which uses a computer program to scan it for instances of plagiarism by comparing it against all published materials and previously submitted papers in the company's database. Any phrases in common are then highlighted for the teacher to see. According to the company, significant levels of plagiarism appear in 30 percent of papers submitted.

One of the most disturbing trends is that behavior once considered cheating is no longer thought to be so. Copying homework, for example. An eighth-grader in private school says, "That's not cheating, it's helping."

Top 5 Ways to Cheat

-- Copying from another student

-- Plagiarizing by downloading information or whole papers from the Internet

-- Cell phone cheating - text-messaging answers to another student, taking a picture of the test and e-mailing it to another student, or downloading information from the Internet

-- Getting test questions, answers or a paper from a student in a previous period or from a previous year

-- Bringing a permitted graphing calculator into the test loaded with answer material previously input into the computer portion of the calculator

Top 5 Ways to Curb Cheating

-- Create an honor code with student input so they're invested in it

-- Seriously punish cheaters according the academic integrity policy

-- Create multiple versions of tests to make purloined answer keys useless

-- Ban electronic devices in testing rooms

-- Develop multiple modes of assessment so the grade is not determined primarily on tests

Regan McMahon is The Chronicle's deputy book editor and author of "Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family Life in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports." E-mail her at rmcmahon@sfchronicle.com.  http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/09/CM59RIBI7.DTL

Has this grieved your heart like it did mine? Thankfully, we enjoy small class sizes which encourages a closer teacher/student relationship. In the high school, this year, we introduced the Turn It In program for submitted work. With this decision, we significantly limited the temptation to plagiarize work.

What can teachers and parents do? We need to pray for our children, keep them accountable and be models of integrity. Every act of righteousness defeats the enemy!

Introduction

As we continue to grow and develop our program, we must apply methods and strategies that simplify and balance what we do. Simplifying and balancing do not come easily, quickly, automatically or naturally. But, if we do not simplify and balance, we will soon find ourselves increasingly ineffective. The obvious challenge is to find the most effective ways to educate within the restrictions presented to us by scheduling, facility and staff. This process will certainly lead to the evaluation and restructuring of some programs.

Scheduling

We are at a time in our growth where we are beginning to separate the elementary and secondary schedules. This means that one component of the scheduling challenge is easing. However, we still have facility restrictions and, our upper level Spanish and PE teachers also teach two elementary grades.

Facilities

This year, with the addition of the tenth grade program, we have added core subjects to our schedule but have not added rooms. The new science room was used last year for elementary science; so, it is not really a new space for us. This means that more teachers have to share classroom space this year than in previous years. The reality of moving to the “Garden Suites” is becoming more real.

Staff

We now have teachers for elementary music, physical education and Spanish. Part time instructors for English, social studies and drama were added at the secondary level. With the wonderful flexibility of having part time teachers are the challenges of scheduling classes so these teachers’ classes are as close together as possible.

Evaluation and restructuring of programs

Evaluation

Currently each week, elementary students enjoy physical education (100 minutes), Spanish (35 minutes), art (60 minutes), library (35-40 minutes) and music (70 minutes). These classes total approximately 17% of instruction time.

We need to schedule time for training in technology which is especially significant in the upper elementary grades (4th and 5th). Keyboarding should be taught in the upper elementary grades. Office programs (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) should be taught in 5th and/or 6th grades.

stack of books with laptop

Technology should be appropriately integrated in elementary and secondary courses. To facilitate this at the elementary grades, we are hoping to hire a part time Elementary Technology Coordinator for second semester. The secondary program should also integrate technology throughout their courses and offer specific technology training (video editing, digital photography, website design, etc.).

Plan

Simplicity and balance need to drive intermediate and long range planning. The following disciplines will be affected:

Technology

• We plan to hire an elementary technology coordinator second semester. S/he will work with teachers to provide integrated technological activities. Arrangements will be made directly between teacher and coordinator.
• We plan to hire a secondary technology coordinator next school year to teach technology courses, coordinate technology needs and oversee the implementation of the technology plan.
• We plan to provide keyboarding training for 5th and 6th grades as early as second semester.

Physical Education

We will continue honoring the minimum state standards of 100 weekly minutes of PE for grades 1-8. Recess can be included in this total; this year, kindergarten children receive PE instruction as well.

Fine Arts

• Implementing the School of Fine Arts objectives, we have begun offering level 1 of Suzuki Strings for 2nd grade

  

  Strings Violin (series)

  children.
• Integrating art into core subjects for K through 3^rd grade, taught by the classroom teachers.
• Scheduling one hour each week for grades 4 and 5, taught by Jody Coulston.
• Promoting student works of art, we will support the Art Alliance and encourage the display of student work at various venues in Gig Harbor.
• Maintaining Fine Arts Night (featuring music and works of art created throughout the year by each class)

Conclusion

It is our mission to provide quality education that starts and ends with the glory of God. To maximize our potential we must conscientiously apply strategies that simplify and balance.

The administration has been considering using bus transportation to transport students on field trips, festivals and athletic events. Specifically, we are considering Laidlaw Transportation.

Rationale

Using bus transportation lessens our liability: if a parent causes an accident, it is likely that the school will be sued as well as the parent. We have been told by Laidlaw, "When it's our bus and our driver we are responsible."

Using bus transportation is more convenient and safe:

On Time — picks your group up on time and keeps you on schedule. This removes the burden on teachers to recruit drivers while continuing to allow parents to attend these special trips.

Safety Comes First — We get there on time, but never at the expense of safety.

Modern, Well Maintained Fleet — Laidlaw operates a modern fleet of over 40,000 vehicles that are clean and maintained beyond legislated requirements.

Driver Training Excellence — Our charter service drivers are trained with the very same program used to safely transport school children every day. Rest assured that your driver has the best road skills possible, having undergone more than 30 hours of initial training and ongoing training multiple times per year.

Using bus transportation is not expensive: a 6.5 hour trip would cost each rider between $5-10.

So, what do you think?

Record your "yes" or "no". If you have questions send me an email at dboyer@lcschool.org.

Thanks so much!

The percentage of young people plagued by peer pressure issues more than doubles once a child reaches high school," Barna revealed.

Barna Youth

The current Barna report describes a study in which parents of teenagers and parents of pre-teens identify the challenges and issues their children currently face. Parents of teenagers placed peer pressure at the top of the list. The parents of children under age 13 considered peer pressure and academic issues to be the greatest struggles their younger children face. To discover more about what the survey revealed, read this week’s update at www.barna.org.

Message from Den Trittin, Chairman of the Board

Dear Lighthouse Families:

On behalf of your school board, I would like to welcome you to the 2007-8 school year and to extend a sincere “thank you” for the privilege of serving you and your students. It is a blessing to play a role in developing your students to be the Christian leaders of tomorrow, and it is an awesome responsibility that we take very seriously.

Your board is extremely excited about this school year and is in awe of how God provided such outstanding principals, Tim Hoy and Debbie Schindler, to lead our program to even greater heights. As a member of the interview team that helped guide their selection, I encourage you to get acquainted with them and to witness their visionary program leadership, love of the Lord, and love of students firsthand.

The board has adopted as its theme for this year, “Excellence in everything for Christ.” Everything about our program is “fair game,” but our key areas of focus will be in academic excellence, spiritual, social, and physical development, and a long-range strategic plan. The board, administration, and faculty covet your prayers as we forge ahead.

And, we want to regularly hear from you…about the areas we are doing well and those which can be improved. Lighthouse has a culture of continuous improvement and your input to us is invaluable. Related, many of you have great ideas that we want to know about. So, don’t hesitate to share them with any of us in leadership. We value you as partners in our program!

This year, you will hear a lot from both the board and Administration about partnership and extending our reach into our parent body like never before. We are in the process of developing new board and school improvement teams, new parent groups, and several other opportunities for you to share your gifts and talents. We encourage you to read about these in our weekly newsletters and invite you to pray about how God might lead you to serve. Alternatively, you may have a heart to serve in a particular way of your choosing. Let us know and we’ll work with you! Your involvement will not only be of significant value to Lighthouse, but will also give you opportunities to build lasting friendships with other parents. Truly a “win win” situation and one that the Trittin family has experienced firsthand!

We are grateful for each and every one of you. May God richly bless you and your students in the coming year.

Best regards,
Den Trittin
Chairman of the Board

Lighthouse_2007_028

Our back to school picnic was a huge success! 80 balmy degrees, fun on the field, dessert bar with a jazz concert and the classrooms to explore! Many thanks to our yellow-shirted board members who led the event.

More people came than any previous year! Thank you for helping us make this event so positive!

In case you were not able to come, you can read Den Trittin's address. You will hear much more about my vision for Lighthouse in the near future at In Touch.

"BHAG" was introduced to me last year. It means "Big Hairy Audacious Goal". We have some goals which are continuing from last year and some new ones.

Create a mentoring, coaching and collaboration program: The administrative team will be developing this program for our staff. For the past few years we have used mentoring strategies but are now ready to add the coaching and collaboration components. The program we will be using is from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Create an "interactive" communication system: Effectively communicating is one of the hardest jobs! Newsletters are uni-directional, us to you. We want to create interactive communication this year AND improve our communication to you by providing tools. This blog is one of those tools; you can leave a comment after any article you read. Those who log on will see your comments and the communication can flow! Expect a professionally printed annual report at the end of this year. Expect our new website to offer a variety of communication pieces. Expect polling to be offered so you can tell us what you think about issues. More coming!!

Develop a 5-year strategic plan: The board, under the direction of Den Trittin, Chairman, will be developing this plan. One of the primary questions we need to answer this year is, "What can we do with the property we have?" This answer will guide our plan for facilities.

Implement new school software program: We have purchased a new school software program that will make everyone's life easier. Parents and staff will enjoy many convenient, automated features. It will provide the information for Lighthouse families. As it comes online (sometime this semester), you will receive detailed information. I can't wait for you to see it!

Create a new school website: With the new school software comes the need for a new website. The new site will be sharp looking, informative and serve as the school's first impression to outsiders.

Create a culture of gracious customer service and hospitality: Lighthouse must be a place where gracious customer service and hospitality are valued and expressed; this honors Christ and shows love to others. To enrich this culture, the customer service staff (administrative assistants and cafeteria personnel) will spend the year learning new strategies and finding ways to incorporate them into our ministry. An online site named Ho'okipa, after the Hawaiian value for gracious hospitality, was created. Everyone can use these practical principles. Check it out!

At Lighthouse, we are concerned with nurturing the whole child. Our mission statement says:

Lighthouse Christian School exists to glorify God by providing quality, Christ-centered education that will nurture students to become spiritually minded, academically versed, socially balanced, and equipped to make a positive impact in their community to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

...nurture that leads to spiritual, academic and social growth...that's our mission! As families are passionate about their children's well being, they do not always show the same passion for the spiritual aspects as mentioned in a Barna study.

With the 2008 presidential election campaign well underway, the latest Barna survey suggests that the biggest issue of them all may well be one that leaders do not seem to be focused upon: the well-being of America’s children.

Meanwhile, the survey indicates that among the issues perceived to be least significant are those related to the moral and spiritual condition of the nation. Evangelicals were substantially different from the rest of the nation in their views on many issues, and there were other staggering differences in perspective reflected among several other key population groups. To find out where Americans want the nation to focus in the future, read this week’s update at www.barna.org.

There is nothing more exciting than seeing the new and returning staff come together to form the "new" Lighthouse family. You can view the current staff listing by clicking on this link.

Orientation has three major components:

• Mentor Training
• New Staff Orientation
• Staff Orientation

Mentor Training

Every new staff member has a trained mentor. This training includes:

• review of The Good Mentor
• review of a new teacher's checklist focused on building, personnel, classroom and policies/procedures
• introduction to Mentoring, Coaching and Collaboration (to be formally developed this year)
• introduction to Operating Styles and Characteristics
• introduction to Phases of First-Year Teaching

New Staff Orientation

New staff orientation occurs prior to the all staff orientation. Included in their training are the following things:

• History of Lighthouse
• Tour of campus
• Mission Statement, Core Values and Philosophy
• Phases of New Teaching
• Mentor relationship
• Assessment
• Observations
• Goals
• Handbook/policy
• Benefits

Part of the orientation day is lunch with mentors; this has always been a wonderful time of fellowship and connecting as new friends.

All Staff Orientation

The day starts with a prayer breakfast and brief welcoming challenge from the Superintendent. The rest of the meeting focuses on changes and areas that need emphasis. Each year, the staff view a video on Blood Borne Pathogens. Every two years, the staff is trained in CPR and first aid.

Orientation week is the 3rd week of August; this allows the week prior to school starting to be free of meetings.