Dragon Parent News
October 3, 2016
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
We were extremely excited to receive our school report card from the Kentucky Department of
Education last week. Doss met its Annual Measurable Objective (AMO), which is the goal that
determines whether the school is progressing in student achievement. We not only met our goal,
but we also had the 7th largest gain of all high schools in the entire state of Kentucky. I want to
thank all Doss families in their support of the work we are doing in making Doss a great school. I
will be highlighting various aspects of our school report card over the next several parent
newsletters, but we want our families to know that Doss is on the right track to becoming a premier
school in Jefferson County.
We look forward to seeing you at parent teacher conferences on Tuesday from 8:00 a.m.3:00 p.m. Appointments are not necessary as our teachers are ready to provide you
feedback on the progress of your student.
Important Dates
October 4
Parent Teacher Conf Day 8:00 – 3:00 /No school for students
October 10
FAFSA Workshop with Counselors/during school day
October 10
Ladies of Leadership Induction Ceremony 6:00 p.m.
October 19
SBDM Advisory Council 5:00
October 20
Senior Picture Retake Day
October 25
College and Career Fair for seniors 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
October 25
Orchestra Concert 6:30 in the Theater Gym
October 27
Balfour will be here for junior ring sales during lunch periods.
October 28
JCPS Showcase of Schools Ky Fair and Expo Center 3:00 – 8:00 p.m.
October 29
JCPS Showcase of Schools Ky Fair and Expo Center 9:00 a.m. – 3:00
p.m.
November 3
Balfour will be here for junior ring sales during lunch periods.
THE FRESHMAN ACADEMY
Great things have been going on in the Freshman Academy this week! Students have been analyzing
various multimedia examles to demonstrate knowledge of conflict types in English class, utilizing
the design process to improve every day items, gearing up to coordinate a mock political national
convention in civics class and creating bungee jump companies to kick off the opening of the new
bridge in math class. Congratulate your student for exhibiting EXCELLENCE in their learning this
week.
Homecoming Face Off Update! Congratulations to the Burgundy Team for
“crushing” the Gold Team in the Homecoming Spirit Week Face Off. Burgundy
Team had the most participation three out of the four dress down days!
Get involved in your student’s learning! During these three days off, take this time to do a
temperature check on how your student is doing their first 6 weeks of high school!
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Review your studet’s 6 week progress report that was mailed out.
Review Infinite Campus with your student and make note of the standards that he/she
needs to recover.
Create a list with your student of the assignments and/or assessments that are in need of
remediation.
Have your student use this list to determine which courses they will begin to stay for during
after school learning labs.
If your student has not turned in an assignment, have them take this time off to work on
those to submit when they return.
Attend Parent Teacher Conference Day on Tuesday 10/4 to connect with your student’s
teachers and discuss their learning.
Meocha Williams, Freshman Academy Principal
Christy Embry, Freshman counselor
[email protected]
[email protected]
THE FINANCE ACADEMY
The Finance Academy had a great visit from Marcy Aycock with the National Academy Foundation
(NAF). Our students are all working with NAF to increase career readiness and community
partnerships. Ms. Aycock was extremely impressed by the visit and commented on the commitment
and hard work she saw from all of the students, teachers and administrative staff. Thanks to Ms.
Lovett, Ms. Beck and Mr. Wilson for opening their doors and welcoming Ms. Aycock for the visit. We
are excited about our partnership.
Also, students in the Finance Academy all took a practice KOSSA (Kentucky Occupational Skills
Standards Assessment) this week. This exam is an assessment of their career specific work place
skills and will be used to gather baseline data for teachers. By next week, students will understand
the standards in which they still need to grow and the standards in which they excelled. Please ask
your student about their career readiness skills this week!
Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @DossFinance today!
Class Act Federal Credit Union is up and running. Stop by and open an
account today! See Eric Wilson for more details.
Bank Hours:
MTF (10:20- 12:25)
W (11:10-12:25)
TH (9:25- 12:25)
As always, never hesitate to contact administration of the Finance Academy with any questions.
Terra Greenwell, Finance Academy Principal
[email protected]
Tammy Lucas, Finance Academy Counselor
[email protected]
THE TECH AND DESIGN ACADEMY
Starting next week the Tech/Design Academy will spotlight some of our
students who are going above and beyond in and out of the classroom. It is
important to celebrate the successes of our students and highlight some of
the awesome work they are doing in each class every day. Project Based
Learning is in full swing in the Tech/Design Academy. Almost every class has
started their first project, so please have a conversation with your student
about the progress they are making on current class projects.
The photo on the left shows a Driving
Question from Mr. Block’s Algebra 2 class. I
know we have been talking a lot about Driving Questions and I
wanted to give a strong example from a Tech/Design Academy
class. I was able to visit Mr. Block’s class as students worked in
teams to find solutions to the driving question. It was evident that
students enjoyed the connection being made between the Algebra 2
content and their lives. Very inspirational.
Finally, I have included a few more pictures of our Tech/Design students working in groups and
using technology (IPADS). It is always powerful for me to see students grinding through problems
in class together. There is a lot of great work going on in the Tech/Design
Academy every single day.
As always, if you ever have any questions please do not hesitate to contact
us.
Todd Stockwell, Tech and Design Academy Principal
[email protected]
Beth Salyer, Tech and Design Academy Counselor
[email protected]
THE BUSINESS ACADEMY
Thursday concluded homecoming week and an exciting four days of instruction. Several teachers in
the Business Academy used the upcoming presidential election as the focal point of instruction on
the application days. Students in Ms. Machin’s classes participated in an activity which had them
fact check several of the statements made by the presidential candidates. The lesson then tied in
several standards from the marketing and management courses and allowed students to draw
connections between the classroom content and their daily lives.
This week I would also like to shed light on the positive
changes taking place at Doss High School outside the
Business Academy. The hard work and dedication on the part
of the students and staff has resulted in phenomenal growth
in nearly every aspect of the school. This week the Kentucky
Department of Education released test scores for all public
schools and identified if individual schools met their annual
goal. The results show that Doss produced gains in nearly
every area, and improved their overall score of 55.8 in 2015 to 66.1 in 2016. The 10.3 gain is the
seventh largest increase of all high schools in the Bluegrass state and something the Doss family
should be extremely proud of.
Next week will again be a shortened week for students but will provide the opportunity for staff
development and parent teacher conferences. Any parent interested in meeting with their
son/daughter’s teachers should schedule a meeting on Tuesday October 4th. Feel free to
email teachers or contact the school at 485-8239.
Follow the Business Academy on Twitter @doss_business for updates and pictures of FBLA and
application day lessons.
For any questions, contact Jason Neuss, Business Academy Principal
[email protected]
ACADEMIC INTERVENTIONS
The CERT (College Equipped Readiness Tool) window for SCIENCE will begin on Wednesday,
October 5 and will extend through Friday, October 7. CERT is an ACT readiness tool that will allow
students and teachers to work collaboratively to determine student strengths and identify areas of
growth.
CERT testing window:
Science: October 5-7
English: October 10-14
Math: October 17-21
Please continue to stay tuned for information regarding after school interventions that will begin
soon. Please remember that in the meantime, students are encouraged to stay after with their
teachers to work on mastering essential standards, but will need to secure their own
transportation.
Anne Kelly, RTI Coordinator/Resource Teacher