HIGH SCHOOL REPORT
October 2013
Trotwood-Madison High School Newsletter
First Quarter Comes to a Close
I was waiting to produce my first newsletter because of all the activities going on
during this first quarter. We began the year with a new instructional system and
structure, a new aligned set of pacing guides, a new set of expectations, new
staff, and a new focus on preparing students to be college and career ready.
I have enjoyed the first nine weeks. We have good students and it has been fun
talking with them at lunch and in the hallways. The students have a good foundation to become good students. The key to our success will come from how hard
the students work and how well they listen.
“We have worked relentlessly
with the students to educate
them on the expectations of being college and career ready;
teaching the students that their
cumulative G.P.A. and ACT
score are vital to college acceptance and scholarship sup-
Academic Highlights from First Quarter:
port. We are assisting students
with their college applications
1. All teachers implement 80%/80% weekly goal.
and sharing with all students that
2. All teachers average a minimum of two-nights a week homework.
their behavior has a drastic effect
on acceptance.
3. We handed out over 1,200 College Fair flyers and attended three college fairs.
4. We had 12 colleges visit the high school this quarter.
5. Over 600 ACT flyers were handed out .
6. Over 75% of the Seniors have applied to at least one college of their
choice.
7. Academic Lab for Freshmen shows growth in academic skills: Math
lab has increased student academic skills by a half a school year.
English lab has increased academic skills by 3/4 of a school year.
8. Tutoring after school expands to Monday through Thursday.
9. Building wide attendance rate at 94.28% .
10. WE HAVE 224 STUDENTS WHO EARNED HONOR ROLL STATUS.
THAT’S 27% OF OUR ENTIRE STUDENT POPULATION.
In This Issue

Freshmen Update

Sophomore Update

Junior Update

Senior Update

First Quarter Honor Roll
Freshmen Adjusting to New
Expectations
Year in and year out students enter
Freshmen year with excitement, apprehension, and aspirations for a new
start in a new building.
The Freshmen class has progressed
at a nice pace. The students are
beginning to understand how important their G.P.A. is as well as developing study habits. We have
watched some of the Freshmen in
the lunchroom ask visiting colleges
questions about admissions requirements.
There is still plenty of work to do as
the grade distribution shows us but
as I keep saying; “One step at a time”
Freshmen Finish First Quarter with 48% Passing Six
Out of Six Classes
Looking at the passing rates and the G.P.A.s, we are off to a good
start. The student performance data over the past years has shown that
first quarter has been the worst performing quarter for our Freshmen.
We have 48% of our Freshmen passing all six classes and 18% passing all but one, so we have 66% of our Freshmen “on track” to be promoted. We also found that attendance is a huge factor in students
earning Fs. 72% of the Fs earned were from students who have less
than 90% attendance.
We have plenty of room to improve, so encourage your student to
do their homework, study for their tests and work twice as hard as
they did First Quarter.
Academic Skills Sets
One of the key components of our students’ academic foundation is their academic skill sets. Our students must work extremely hard every day to improve
their reading, writing, math, science, and study skills. Based on the Star
Math assessment, 19% of our students are performing at or above grade
level. Based on the Star Reading, we have 30% of students performing
at or above grade level.
We have implemented an “Academic Lab” to assist students in developing their math and reading skills. In just one quarter the students who
completed their work in the Academic Lab showed growth. We look forward to the post test data in the spring to see just how much our students academic skills have improved.
Work Ethic, Routines and Habits
Based on the expectations of most colleges
and universities, our students must have a
3.0 cumulative G.P.A. and at least a 22 on
the ACT. The harder our students work and
the more they learn, the better prepared
they will be when they apply for college.
THE BULK OF THE LEARNING AT
THE COLLEGE LEVEL WILL BE
DONE OUTSIDE OF CLASS, AS
HOMEWORK. OUR FRESHMEN
HAVE A HOMEWORK COMPLETION
RATE OF 52%.
Sophomores Preparing
for OGT in the Spring
Our students have begun their second year of
high school. This March all of our Sophomores will take the OGT. The harder they work
now and the more they study the better their
chances at passing all five parts.
Sophomores Finish First Quarter with 55 % Passing Six Out of Six Classes
The Sophomores were the only class that showed improvement over their performance from last year. The two
charts above show that the majority of the students (75%) are “on track” to earn enough credits to become Juniors
next year. The first quarter G.P.A.s clearly show we need to improve our quality of work.
The key to our success is to continue to improve on our work ethic and the quality of work we are doing in the classroom. I am very excited about the potential performance in this class.
Academic Skills Sets
One of the key components of our students academic foundation is their academic skill sets. Our students must work
extremely hard every day to improve their reading, writing, math, science, and study skills. Based on the Star Math
assessment 38% of our students are performing at or above grade level. Based on the Star Reading we
have 19% of students performing at or above grade level.
Work Ethic, Routines and Habits
Based on the expectations of most colleges and universities, our students must have a 3.0 cumulative G.P.A. and at
least a 22 on the ACT. The harder our students work and the more they learn, the better prepared they will be when
they apply for college. THE BULK OF THE LEARNING AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL WILL BE DONE OUTSIDE OF
CLASS, AS HOMEWORK. OUR SOHPMORES HAVE A HOMEWORK COMPLETION RATE OF 61%.
Juniors Preparing for
COLLEGE RIGHT
NOW!
The Juniors must perform
now! They must earn the highest grades they possibly can,
right now. The cumulative
G.P.A. our Juniors have at the
conclusion of this year will be
the G.P.A. they will use on their
college applications. In addition ALL JUNIORS NEED TO
TAKE THE ACT IN THE
SPRING AND SCORE AT
LEAST A 22.
Juniors Finish First Quarter with 59% Passing Six Out of Six Classes
Looking at the first quarter performance of our Junior class I was pleased that our Juniors had more honor roll students than any other class. The side bar note next to the charts brings a sense of urgency for the students. College
application season is 12 months away.
The key factor for the success of this class is to increase their focus on their work. Completing their homework, studying for tests, and producing quality work should be their commitment everyday. The academic habits they develop
this year will determine their success in their post secondary choice.
Academic Skills Sets
One of the key components of our students’ academic foundation is their academic skill sets. Our students must work
extremely hard every day to improve their reading, writing, math, science, and study skills. Based on the Star Math
assessment 49% of our students are performing at or above grade level. Based on the Star Reading we
have 19% of students performing at or above grade level.
Work Ethic, Routines and Habits
Based on the expectations of most colleges and universities, our students must have a 3.0 cumulative G.P.A. and at
least a 22 on the ACT. The harder our students work and the more they learn, the better prepared they will be when
they apply for college. THE BULK OF THE LEARNING AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL WILL BE DONE OUTSIDE OF
CLASS, AS HOMEWORK. OUR JUNIORS HAVE A HOMEWORK COMPLETION RATE OF 64%.
SE N IOR F IR ST QUA R T E R G.P.A .S
Seniors Make
Their Choices
60
51
50
43
40
30
Our Seniors had an opportunity to attend
the Fifth Third College Fair, the National
College Fair and to visit with the college
representatives in the lunchroom. We
stayed after school for two days to help
students apply to college. I personally
helped seventeen students complete their
college applications.
20
10
19
19
2.9‐2.5
2.4‐2.0
5
0
4.0
3.0‐3.9
1.9 below
WE LEARNED THAT IT’S TO
OUR STUDENTS ADVANTAGE
TO GET THEIR APPLICATIONS
INTO THEIR SCHOOLS OF
CHOICE BY NOVEMBER 1ST.
Seniors Finish First Quarter with 64% Passing Six Out of Six Classes
“ A sense of urgency” is an understatement. In the first quarter our Seniors got off to a rough start. Most of our Seniors had yet to take the
ACT, had cumulative G.P.A.s that were too low and very few had applied to college. What we have accomplished in just nine weeks has
been a solid effort to “clean up” our student performance. We really have 112 students or 82% “on track” for graduation because most of our
Seniors are scheduled into elective classes and have performed poorly in them. We scheduled college fairs and representatives and now
about 75% of our Seniors have applied for college. Most of our Seniors have now taken the ACT.
The next step for our Seniors is to sit down with their parents and complete the financial aid forms by December 15th.
Academic Skills Sets
One of the key components of our students’ academic foundation is their academic skill sets. Our students must
work extremely hard every day to improve their reading, writing, math, science, and study skills. Based on the
Star Math assessment 45% of our students are performing at or above grade level. Based on the Star
Reading we have 29 % of students performing at or above grade level.
Work Ethic, Routines and Habits
Based on the expectations of most colleges and universities, our students must have a 3.0 cumulative G.P.A. and
at least a 22 on the ACT. The harder our students work and the more they learn, the better prepared they will be
when they apply for college. THE BULK OF THE LEARNING AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL WILL BE DONE OUTSIDE OF CLASS, AS HOMEWORK. OUR SENIORS HAVE A HOMEWORK COMPLETION RATE OF 69%.
Student Attendance Rates by Grade Level
One of the biggest contributing factors to students’ success in school is their attendance. We found that students who fail to attend school more than 90% of the
scheduled days have more failing grades than any other sub group in the population.
Student Discipline
When we posted the Five “Bs” in the building and discussed them with the students and parents, we communicated what the behavior expectations were going to be this year. Being prepared, being on time, being respectful, being accountable, and being consistent were clearly explained. These expectations hang in every
classroom and in the hallways. When we look at the discipline data we can see, we still have a long way to go
in embedding the Five “Bs” into the behavior of the students. There were 701 referrals for discipline which led
to multiple suspensions. I must acknowledge that we have seen positive changes in our Freshmen and Sophomore behavior. Those two classes represent almost 60% of the entire population. The number of referrals
and discipline actions is beginning to decrease as second quarter continues.
Quarterly Assessments
The Common Core standards and educational reforms that have been put in place have increased the rigor of
our curriculum. The English and Math standards are requiring more analytical thought and application than in
the past. We have implemented an assessment structure that includes pre and post tests, short cycle tests
and summative nine week exams. All of these assessment help us determine our students strengths and
weaknesses in their learning.
English Quarterly Assessment s
40%
100%
70%
54%
39%
50%
0%
Passing %
Passing %
English Nine
Passing %
Passing %
English Ten English ElevenEnglish Twelve
Math Quarterly Assessments
69%
65%
70%
68%
66%
64%
62%
68%
67%
65%
Passing %
Passing %
Passing %
Passing %
Passing %
Alegbra I
Geometry
Algebra II
Algebra II
Pre‐Calc
Science Quarterly Assessments
74%
55%
100%
50%
0%
69%
61%
Passing %
Passing %
Passing %
Passing %
Phys. Science
Biology
Chemistry
Materials
Social Studies Quarterly Assessments
60%
69%
80%
63%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Passing %
Passing %
Passing %
Passing %
W. History
US History
US Government
Economics