Letter for Seniors

This letter was handed out by Ms. Provencher at Seniors night this week. It is an excellent resource. If you do nothing else, be sure you commit the "top 10 pieces of college advice from Ms. P" to memory!

Book Fair at the Elementary/Middle School

The book fair will be running through Friday, November 20th in the Elementary school library. It usually runs until 4pm each afternoon.

Letter About 7th Grade Computer Class Test

I am posting an email that I sent today to Ms. Merrick (7th Grade "Computer Skills" teacher). I also cc'd Fred Wright (middle school principal) and Jean Davis (special education mentor). I am posting this because this blog is all about parents communicating. I won't know if any other parents share my concerns if I don't post what my concerns are. I also won't post any concerns that I haven't first sent to the school and asked them to address. I will post any reply that I receive under "comments."

Ms. Merrick,

I was going over Mitchell's progress report with him this evening and have some concerns regarding some of the computer grades.

I understand that typing is a big part of computing, and being able to type without looking at one's hands is a big part of typing. However, I fail to see the merit in turning the computer screen OFF while one is typing. Not only is this something that the students have not been practicing, but it seems to negate the idea of word processing. In fact, I don't know of any computing application where one must type and not be able to see the results of what you are typing in real time. Can you please explain to me why students were graded on something that they typed with the computer screen off, and how this is relevant to computing?

Thank you
Margo Whitt

No Middle/Elementary PAC Meeting Tonight

The Parent Advisory Committee meeting for the Middle/Elementary School has been cancelled.

Offer Your Input for Student and Parent Surveys

Both the Middle/Elementary and the High School Parent Advisory Committees have suggested that the students and parents be surveyed to determine their position on the quality of their education, what they would like to see changed/enhanced/improved/deleted, what they get the most/least out of, and why.

Since this survey is in the formative stages, it is a perfect time for you as students/parents/teachers to offer your suggestions as to areas that you would like to see addressed on this survey. The survey is being compiled by Ms. Provencher's intern, Ms. Kris Butson. You can email Kris at krisbutson@msn.com.

For example, I would like the students to offer input on which classes they find the most interesting, which are the least interesting, and why. What teacher inspires them the most/least and why? What do they think of the technology that is available at the school? What programs would they like to see added to the school and what programs would they like to see dropped? What would they change about their least interesting class to make it more interesting?

If you have some thoughts/suggestions for the survey, be sure to email them to Kris and feel free to post your comments here, too!

Alamogordo Daily News School Board Meeting Coverage

The Alamogordo Daily News coverage of the school board meeting is here.

Other School Board Action Items

There were no visitors speaking at tonight's meeting.

As to action items:
1. First reading of policy advisories 67-GCCB and 68-GCCD
Since these weren't read to the public, I don't know what they said. No copies were available at the meeting other than those that the board received. The discussion seemed to indicate that these were the result of new laws and dealt with military leave, domestic abuse leave and subpoena leave. No motion was made regarding this action item.
2. Approve application for 100 KW PV Solar Energy Grant
Board member Doug Porch asked Mike Richline (Transportation Director and author of the grant application) where the solar panels would go and was told that they would be mounted on poles in the niches on the front of the High School. Since the high school roof is more than 5 years old, the grant will not allow the panels to be roof-mounted. Mike said the solar panels would be protected with some kind of fencing. He said there would be a total of 30-40 mounted tracking poles with 12-16 panels per pole. (By my estimation, this is approximately 7,800 sq. feet of solar panels.) Based upon current electricity rates, the school estimates that these panels would save the school $26,000-$36,000 per year. There was also some discussion as to whether or not additional insurance would be required to cover these panels and whether or not the grant would provide for the cost of this insurance. These questions remain outstanding. The board voted unanimously to approve the application for the grant.
3. Donations
The FFA received a $2500 donation from the South Central Mountain RCD Council to help fund supplies. Mr. Booky gave a presentation to the board showing some of the artwork that his students have been doing in their efforts to raise money to fund the supplies for the agriculture, welding and shop classes. He spoke of many projects that his students are doing, including making "no hunting" and "no trespassing" signs out of the skins of old hot water heaters, to signs for the fire department, to rustic benches from the old Solano trestle. I didn't get all of the names of all of the people who have offered to help, but suffice to say that Mr. Booky is actively soliciting help for his programs! The board voted to accept the donation.
4. Executive Session, Appointment of New Board Member, Swearing in of New Board Member
See separate post below.

Ed Woten is our Newest School Board Member

Among other business at tonight's school board meeting, the board met in executive session to discuss the three applicants who submitted letters of intent for the open school board position. Those applicants were Ed Woten, Dulaney Barrett and Rick Rogers. Both Ed and Dulaney were at the meeting. Rick Rogers was not present (this is the Rick Rogers who substitutes at the school, not the Rick Rogers who owns the automotive repair, or the one who lives in High Rolls.)

I asked if copies of the letters of intent would be available to the public, but was told that they would not be. Apparently these letters were what the board based its decision on, as there was no public Q&A session.  I have asked both Ed and Dulaney if they would give me their letters and both said they would. I'll post them as soon as I get them.

Prior to going into executive session, board president Terry Buttram asked if any of the board members minded if Mr. Hancock sat in on the executive session. Board member Bill Denney asked if that was legal and Mr. Buttram said that it was. He also noted that Mr. Hancock was not there for "input." None of the board members objected so Mr. Hancock was included in the executive session.

When the public meeting reconvened, the board voted unanimously that Ed Woten replace the outgoing D'dre Brock.

Cloudcroft Schools looking at Solar Energy

Among other issues that the school board will be discussing at its November 9 meeting will be the approval  of the application for a grant for a 100 KW PV Solar system (to put it mildly, this is a BIG solar system). If you would like to check out this program, you can visit the PED memo or the Governor's press release.

Cloudcroft Schools also received a grant for $150,000 for energy efficient lighting. The Governor has publicized this information here.

Yet another energy-related grant for Cloudcroft Schools was received from British Petroleum. Since I was involved in the writing of this grant, I know a little more about it. The school was awarded a $10,000 grant for a greenhouse, powered by solar photovoltaic and heated by solar thermal. This program will be used by science and agriculture students across the district to study botany and plant biology, as well as to learn about alternative energy sources. To help track the progress of the Greenhouse project, along with other "green" projects around Cloudcroft, I have established www.cloudcroftgreen.com. I'm very much looking forward to tracking the "green" efforts of our community.

Agenda for School Board Meeting to be held November 9

Here is the agenda for the school board meeting to be held November 9th (Monday) at 6 p.m. Among other things, the board will be selecting the new board member to fill D'dre Brock's position.

Parent Advisory Committee Meeting for Middle/Elementary School

I just received my automated call from the school that the Parent Advisory Committee for the Middle and Elementary Schools will be this Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Elementary School library. Kudos to the school for using their automated phone system to notify parents!

High School Parent Advisory Committee met Wednesday

The parent advisory committee for the High School met yesterday. Those present included yours truly, the  Hales, Ms. Gillespie, Ms. Provencher, Ms. Carter, Mr. Snoddy, Ms. Barrett, and the principal Roman Renteria. Items discussed included:

school safety: Mr. Renteria said we don't have any major problems

survey: to determine a baseline for students, teachers and parents as to their level of satisfaction with various aspects of the school, the group decided to formulate surveys for each group

communication: The group agreed that communication could be improved through the use of email for parents. When the surveys are sent out they will also make an effort to gather email addresses from those parents interested in that form of communication. The committee also noted that more use of the school's automated phone system would improve communication. The group recommended that things like the survey and various statistics that are maintained by the school be posted to the school's website.

enhancing curriculum: There was discussion about adding aspects to the curriculum that would help students develop themselves as community members.

Parent Advisory Committee meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.

Should We Be Looking to Save Money at the Top?

I heard that comments were made by the public at the last School Board meeting along the lines of saving money by eliminating administrative positions instead of student activities. I did some research on the PED website and was pretty surprised to find that our school's teacher-to-administrator ratio is 9-to-1, while other schools our size are anywhere from 17-to-1 all the way up to 48-to-1!

So I decided to call around to these schools and see how their administrative positions stacked up to ours. Clearly, the norm at small schools is for administrators to multi-task. You can view the results of my research at the following links and draw your own conclusions.

Administrative Positions for Schools with 400-500 Students Enrolled
Statistics for Schools with 400-500 Students Enrolled

Senior Parent's Night (but Juniors can come, too)

Senior Parent's night will be held at Cloudcroft High School on Monday, November 16th at 6 p.m. There will be college representatives and financial aid advisors on hand to guide parents and students through the application process and to answer questions. Juniors and their parents who want to get a jump on next year are also welcome to attend. Anyone wanting more information should contact Mrs. Provencher.

AP Classes Up and Running

AP classes are finally up and running! Now students will have to be up and running if they are going to make up for the 8 WEEKS of classes that they are behind. Again, this delay had NOTHING to do with Cloudcroft Schools...it falls squarely in the lap of PED and Aventa Learning. I am very disappointed that our State school officials didn't do a better job of getting a contract in place BEFORE school started. It is not like online AP classes are something new.