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Post by WeNeed3 on Sept 14, 2008 20:04:12 GMT -5
I started this thread as it seems some people are concerned about transitioning. I was talking to a friend of mine from Scullen whose kids will be transitioning next year. She told me that the WV principal did send out a memo regarding the transitioning of Scullen students to WV next year. It is on the Scullen website. It's a little old but still has nice information. I'm glad to see they are going to be doing tours. www.ipsd.org/newsevents/news_item_detail.asp?id=19665------------------------------------------------------------------------ Location: Scullen Middle School Date/Time: 9/8/2008 (11:58:00 PM)
Below is a copy of an email sent by Kristine Marchiando, Principal of WVHS dated August 29 using an email distribution list entitled new-wvhs@listserv. Many parents have expressed a desire to have a transition plan outlined and in practice this school year to make the transition from NVHS to WVHS as smooth as it can be. In the spirit of sharing information that affects our Sharks (and alumni Sharks) we wanted to post this information. The email from Prinicpal Marchiando outlines a series of opportunities for students and parents/guardians (especially targeting classes of 2012 and 2013) to meet and speak with WVHS administrators and students as well outlining an opportunity to visit and tour WVHS. While we acknowledge this is a sensitive topic, we want to ensure that our community is aware of these opportunities.
We will be sharing additional transition infromation should become available including any information for our Sharks that are planned to be future Still Bulldogs.
If you have any questions about the transition events. please contact Principal Marchiando at the contact info included below. If there are questions about the Scullen PTSA, please direct them to me, Anne Mathews at ammnaper@aol.com. Welcome Future Warrior Families, I would like to take a few minutes of your time to welcome you to Waubonsie Valley High School (WVHS). If you have driven by WVHS, you may have noticed the signs on the entrances - "Excellence In Every Endeavor." The signs are there to remind students, teachers, parents, and administrators that our efforts are geared toward working with our students to help them achieve excellence in their lives. With 3,750 students in attendance, 390 staff members ready to support them, and a welcoming community with aspirations of excellence, our first week was off to a great start! This year of transition for the families with teens moving to a new school will be interesting. Having recently moved home from Arizona after being gone for nineteen years, I understand change. Working with the high school principals and Kathy Birkett, Deputy Superintendent for our District, I have developed a transition plan designed to make the move a positive experience for you. On September 2nd, 3rd, and 9th, I will be visiting with the 9th graders during their Advisory periods at Neuqua. I will be answering questions and encouraging students to enjoy their year as Wildcats, while giving them information about the Warriors. On September 10th, WVHS administration will be available from 6:30 p.m. until the Neuqua Parent Support Night begins at 7:00 p.m. We will be located in the lobby of Neuqua Gold and will be happy to answer questions you might have about WVHS. On October 7th at 7:00 p.m., I invite you to attend a brief informational meeting at WVHS that will include a question and answer session in the student cafeteria. Student Council members will be on hand to provide tours of our campus. In January I plan to visit Scullen Middle School to address questions. Please feel free to access Waubonsie's website, wvhs.ipsd.org, to gain further insights to our Warrior community. I look forward to answering your questions by email or telephone. My email address is kristine_marchiando@ipsd.org, and my telephone number is (630)375-3310. In closing, please see the message below from our WVHS PTA president, Patty Smith. In Warrior Spirit, Kristine Marchiando Principal This year the WV PTA will be participating in the unique experience of assisting our new sister school, Metea Valley. We will dedicate the time and effort needed to assure the success of Metea's PTA. Additionally, we look forward to opening our doors to the incoming families of Waubonsie Valley. Please don't hesitate to contact any of the WVHS PTA executive officers. Contact information is located on the PTA link of the WV website. I look forward to meeting you and assisting you throughout the year. Patty Smith WVHS PTA President
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Post by majorianthrax on Sept 14, 2008 22:26:38 GMT -5
Nice. The kids will be fine. It is great to be in the Warrior family.
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Post by WeNeed3 on Sept 15, 2008 6:46:01 GMT -5
Nice. The kids will be fine. It is great to be in the Warrior family. I am also glad to see they will be helping in the MS transition too. I'm sure as soon as they pick a principal for the new MS, which I believe is on the radar, we'll start hearing more about that as well. Sounds like they have their bases covered. Hopefully everyone can be patient.
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Post by stmom on Sept 15, 2008 8:53:26 GMT -5
Nice. The kids will be fine. It is great to be in the Warrior family. I am also glad to see they will be helping in the MS transition too. I'm sure as soon as they pick a principal for the new MS, which I believe is on the radar, we'll start hearing more about that as well. Sounds like they have their bases covered. Hopefully everyone can be patient. I've tried to be patient about this, but it seems that you should have a principal at least named a year ahead of time. When was Jim Schmid named for Metea? March, April? And letting the kids choose the mascot to get them excited? From what I've heard that absolutely will not happen. I realize that a high school is bigger and has more issues, but I think the new MS will have plenty of issues of its own. I also know of many 6th grade MS kids who are tired of hearing "For your three years at this school...." I'm all for patience, but it's time for something to start happening.
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Post by wvhsparent on Sept 15, 2008 9:02:15 GMT -5
I am also glad to see they will be helping in the MS transition too. I'm sure as soon as they pick a principal for the new MS, which I believe is on the radar, we'll start hearing more about that as well. Sounds like they have their bases covered. Hopefully everyone can be patient. I've tried to be patient about this, but it seems that you should have a principal at least named a year ahead of time. When was Jim Schmid named for Metea? March, April? And letting the kids choose the mascot to get them excited? From what I've heard that absolutely will not happen. I realize that a high school is bigger and has more issues, but I think the new MS will have plenty of issues of its own. I also know of many 6th grade MS kids who are tired of hearing "For your three years at this school...." I'm all for patience, but it's time for something to start happening. It appears the time is now.......So how long have those 6th graders been hearing that?...Seeing as we are barely into the 1st month of school.....probably not that long..........
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Post by stmom on Sept 15, 2008 9:07:10 GMT -5
I've tried to be patient about this, but it seems that you should have a principal at least named a year ahead of time. When was Jim Schmid named for Metea? March, April? And letting the kids choose the mascot to get them excited? From what I've heard that absolutely will not happen. I realize that a high school is bigger and has more issues, but I think the new MS will have plenty of issues of its own. I also know of many 6th grade MS kids who are tired of hearing "For your three years at this school...." I'm all for patience, but it's time for something to start happening. It appears the time is now.......So how long have those 6th graders been hearing that?...Seeing as we are barely into the 1st month of school.....probably not that long.......... I don't really get how the time is now, as there has been no communication to the students (or parents) who will be attending the new MS. You are right though that it hasn't been that long that they've been hearing it, just repeatedly during the enitre orientation process. There has been virtually no acknowledgement of students moving to the new MS. I suppose though that it is at an end as the orientation process is pretty much over.
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Post by gatormom on Sept 15, 2008 9:39:37 GMT -5
It appears the time is now.......So how long have those 6th graders been hearing that?...Seeing as we are barely into the 1st month of school.....probably not that long.......... I don't really get how the time is now, as there has been no communication to the students (or parents) who will be attending the new MS. You are right though that it hasn't been that long that they've been hearing it, just repeatedly during the enitre orientation process. There has been virtually no acknowledgement of students moving to the new MS. I suppose though that it is at an end as the orientation process is pretty much over. I can understand the anxiety but it looks like the district is on its way. Before anything starts, a principal needs to be selected which I have heard is in the works. I wonder how much transitioning was done in the past with our MSs as they opened. None of my children opened a new MS. We were part of an ES opening. Don't recall too much except the PTA starting up, selection of a principal, and bringing experienced staff from other schools.
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Post by stmom on Sept 15, 2008 9:55:53 GMT -5
I don't really get how the time is now, as there has been no communication to the students (or parents) who will be attending the new MS. You are right though that it hasn't been that long that they've been hearing it, just repeatedly during the enitre orientation process. There has been virtually no acknowledgement of students moving to the new MS. I suppose though that it is at an end as the orientation process is pretty much over. I can understand the anxiety but it looks like the district is on its way. Before anything starts, a principal needs to be selected which I have heard is in the works. I wonder how much transitioning was done in the past with our MSs as they opened. None of my children opened a new MS. We were part of an ES opening. Don't recall too much except the PTA starting up, selection of a principal, and bringing experienced staff from other schools. That's all I'm looking for. I just would rather these things be done sooner so there is enough time to have a smooth transition. I'm concerned these will be the forgotten items on the district's long "to-do" list.
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Post by wvhsparent on Sept 15, 2008 10:13:38 GMT -5
I can understand the anxiety but it looks like the district is on its way. Before anything starts, a principal needs to be selected which I have heard is in the works. I wonder how much transitioning was done in the past with our MSs as they opened. None of my children opened a new MS. We were part of an ES opening. Don't recall too much except the PTA starting up, selection of a principal, and bringing experienced staff from other schools. That's all I'm looking for. I just would rather these things be done sooner so there is enough time to have a smooth transition. I'm concerned these will be the forgotten items on the district's long "to-do" list. I would not worry too much about things being forgotten...That is one area our SD excels in...opening new schools......lot's o practice....... If you are that worried about it, contact someone at the adminstrative office...I am sure they would be more than happy to provide you with a progress report that you seek.....Be sure to report back to the rest of us if you would please.
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Post by stmom on Sept 15, 2008 10:28:07 GMT -5
That's all I'm looking for. I just would rather these things be done sooner so there is enough time to have a smooth transition. I'm concerned these will be the forgotten items on the district's long "to-do" list. I would not worry too much about things being forgotten...That is one area our SD excels in...opening new schools......lot's o practice....... If you are that worried about it, contact someone at the adminstrative office...I am sure they would be more than happy to provide you with a progress report that you seek.....Be sure to report back to the rest of us if you would please. I've already contacted them, thanks. Just throwing out my concerns to the general (limited) public. Please don't dismiss my concerns so easily. There's many squeaky areas out there, and the areas feeding into the new MS are pretty quiet. Yes, they open schools all the time, but a HS and a MS in one year is still going to take alot of effort. I'm looking forward to the new PTA getting started....
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Post by momto4 on Sept 15, 2008 10:31:53 GMT -5
I can understand the anxiety but it looks like the district is on its way. Before anything starts, a principal needs to be selected which I have heard is in the works. I wonder how much transitioning was done in the past with our MSs as they opened. None of my children opened a new MS. We were part of an ES opening. Don't recall too much except the PTA starting up, selection of a principal, and bringing experienced staff from other schools. That's all I'm looking for. I just would rather these things be done sooner so there is enough time to have a smooth transition. I'm concerned these will be the forgotten items on the district's long "to-do" list. Why the concern? The district has opened a new high school before, and has opened several new middle schools. This is fairly routine. What specific concerns do you have as far as making this a smooth transition? Starting PTAs at both new schools was discussed last spring at IPPC and I know that information has been disseminated to all of the PTAs regarding giving donations to help start the new PTAs. My family has previously been involved in both the opening of a new ES building and a new MS building and I don't remember hearing much about it until it was much closer to the time that the kids were moving. As parents and students, if we were not involved in setting up new groups needed for the new schools, what need was there to hear much about it almost a year in advacnce? As the time got closer I'm sure we had a meeting or two to talk about transitions and have any questions answered. The kids in school were not divided by kids staying at that MS and kids moving to the new one. All the 5th-7th grade kids need to know right now is what building they'll be attending school in next year and the rest will certainly be taken care of long before school starts next fall. At Granger Curriculum Night we also only heard about things happening at WV, when well over half of the kids will actually be heading to MV. But this is easy to understand and we know where our kids will actually be going and that we'll hear more later. I don't have a problem with the lack of mention of MV. Overall, more needs to happen with MV than with the new MS because a HS and MS are not the same and because MV is going into a new building and the MS is not. Both new schools will of course have PTAs. The new HS will have parent booster groups started with funds from NV's and WV's existing groups. These are already being talked about.
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Post by stmom on Sept 15, 2008 10:46:02 GMT -5
That's all I'm looking for. I just would rather these things be done sooner so there is enough time to have a smooth transition. I'm concerned these will be the forgotten items on the district's long "to-do" list. Why the concern? The district has opened a new high school before, and has opened several new middle schools. This is fairly routine. What specific concerns do you have as far as making this a smooth transition? Starting PTAs at both new schools was discussed last spring at IPPC and I know that information has been disseminated to all of the PTAs regarding giving donations to help start the new PTAs. My family has previously been involved in both the opening of a new ES building and a new MS building and I don't remember hearing much about it until it was much closer to the time that the kids were moving. As parents and students, if we were not involved in setting up new groups needed for the new schools, what need was there to hear much about it almost a year in advacnce? As the time got closer I'm sure we had a meeting or two to talk about transitions and have any questions answered. The kids in school were not divided by kids staying at that MS and kids moving to the new one. All the 5th-7th grade kids need to know right now is what building they'll be attending school in next year and the rest will certainly be taken care of long before school starts next fall. At Granger Curriculum Night we also only heard about things happening at WV, when well over half of the kids will actually be heading to MV. But this is easy to understand and we know where our kids will actually be going and that we'll hear more later. I don't have a problem with the lack of mention of MV. Overall, more needs to happen with MV than with the new MS because a HS and MS are not the same and because MV is going into a new building and the MS is not. Both new schools will of course have PTAs. The new HS will have parent booster groups started with funds from NV's and WV's existing groups. These are already being talked about. Opening a new MS and new HS in the same year is fairly routine? I didn't realize. I know there will be a PTA and I will be involved. I already said what my specific concerns are. Principal, PTA, staff, communications to parents. What is so bothersome about my concerns?
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Post by momto4 on Sept 15, 2008 10:52:56 GMT -5
Why the concern? The district has opened a new high school before, and has opened several new middle schools. This is fairly routine. What specific concerns do you have as far as making this a smooth transition? Starting PTAs at both new schools was discussed last spring at IPPC and I know that information has been disseminated to all of the PTAs regarding giving donations to help start the new PTAs. My family has previously been involved in both the opening of a new ES building and a new MS building and I don't remember hearing much about it until it was much closer to the time that the kids were moving. As parents and students, if we were not involved in setting up new groups needed for the new schools, what need was there to hear much about it almost a year in advacnce? As the time got closer I'm sure we had a meeting or two to talk about transitions and have any questions answered. The kids in school were not divided by kids staying at that MS and kids moving to the new one. All the 5th-7th grade kids need to know right now is what building they'll be attending school in next year and the rest will certainly be taken care of long before school starts next fall. At Granger Curriculum Night we also only heard about things happening at WV, when well over half of the kids will actually be heading to MV. But this is easy to understand and we know where our kids will actually be going and that we'll hear more later. I don't have a problem with the lack of mention of MV. Overall, more needs to happen with MV than with the new MS because a HS and MS are not the same and because MV is going into a new building and the MS is not. Both new schools will of course have PTAs. The new HS will have parent booster groups started with funds from NV's and WV's existing groups. These are already being talked about. Opening a new MS and new HS in the same year is fairly routine? I didn't realize. I know there will be a PTA and I will be involved. I already said what my specific concerns are. Principal, PTA, staff, communications to parents. What is so bothersome about my concerns? I think it is not a big deal to open both in the same year in a district of this size and that our district has a great deal of experience with opening new buildings and all will be fine. We'll have to agree to disagree on this I suppose. There will be a PTA, there will be a principal, there will be staff (most likely including quite a few from our current MS), and all will be in place well ahead of the first day of school, so I apologize if I'm dense in not understanding what your concerns are in this regard. When there is anything happening to report, I'm sure it will be communicated to the public and the affected families in the usual way.
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Post by stmom on Sept 15, 2008 11:13:03 GMT -5
Opening a new MS and new HS in the same year is fairly routine? I didn't realize. I know there will be a PTA and I will be involved. I already said what my specific concerns are. Principal, PTA, staff, communications to parents. What is so bothersome about my concerns? I think it is not a big deal to open both in the same year in a district of this size and that our district has a great deal of experience with opening new buildings and all will be fine. We'll have to agree to disagree on this I suppose. There will be a PTA, there will be a principal, there will be staff (most likely including quite a few from our current MS), and all will be in place well ahead of the first day of school, so I apologize if I'm dense in not understanding what your concerns are in this regard. When there is anything happening to report, I'm sure it will be communicated to the public and the affected families in the usual way. That's fine, you don't have to get it. But how do you know that all will be in place "well ahead" of the first day of school? How do you define "well ahead"? What is the harm in getting started sooner? What is the harm in having a parent meeting or two--not the monthly meetings like MV--but a meeting or two? Maybe they will when they get a principal, though from the sounds of it here, it isn't necessary. You do know Georgetown does not have a PTA. I presume that will pose some problems for PTA parental involvement at the new MS. Why not get started sooner to and get some excitement for the new school going? What would be the harm? I just don't get what the harm is with acting sooner rather than later. ETA: So I wrote about Georgetown, because it was true last year, but then I decided to check the website--and it looks like they do have one. I'm very glad to see that. Not for what it means for the MS, but for what it means for Georgetown.
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Post by momto4 on Sept 15, 2008 11:28:42 GMT -5
That's fine, you don't have to get it. But how do you know that all will be in place "well ahead" of the first day of school? How do you define "well ahead"? What is the harm in getting started sooner? What is the harm in having a parent meeting or two--not the monthly meetings like MV--but a meeting or two? Maybe they will when they get a principal, though from the sounds of it here, it isn't necessary. You do know Georgetown does not have a PTA. I presume that will pose some problems for PTA parental involvement at the new MS. Why not get started sooner to and get some excitement for the new school going? What would be the harm? I just don't get what the harm is with acting sooner rather than later. ETA: So I wrote about Georgetown, because it was true last year, but then I decided to check the website--and it looks like they do have one. I'm very glad to see that. Not for what it means for the MS, but for what it means for Georgetown. Thanks, I found that Georgetown has a PTA as well, but hadn't heard that it didn't in the past. I think plenty of things are going on now for the openings of both schools. If you want to find out more, this would be a good question for your IPPC rep to ask at this coming Thursday's meeting if it is not already covered. Or to ask at a SB meeting, or ask of the SB or admin by phone or e-mail. The things I hear at SB meetings regarding the transitions seem very reassuring to me. Just because every resident is not aware of all things going on toward opening the new schools, does not mean that it isn't happening. I don't think defining well ahead is useful here, but I would say several months. I'm sure in the spring when kids are heading to a new MS there will be meetings about that transition. What would you like to see discussed at such a meeting that would be important in the early part of this school year?
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