September 16th, 2016

Staff News
Good News?  Have any to share?  Pretty soon I'm just going to start making up stories about people and posting them  :-).  I will share my good news this week since that is the information I have.  Sunday I qualified for the Boston Marathon by running a qualifying time at the Erie Marathon in Pennsylvania.

Staff Shoutouts

A 100% full building shoutout goes out this week!  Congratulations to everyone our your work on achieving A ratings in all value added categories!  Well done!

Building Goals for 2016-2017

BLT met yesterday to finalize our building goals for 2016-2017.  They can be found HERE.  Review them and think about how they connect to your TBTs and other efforts we undertake this year.  


Christopher Milo

We had our parent meeting last night and Christopher's message was great.  Unfortunately, we had a very low parent turnout.  As I was complaining to Christopher about this at the end of our evening, he quickly chastised me for doing so and taught me on the spot about one of the messages from Milo.  He stressed positivity.  Rather than complaining about low turnout he challenged me to focus on the people that were there, and that they were there for a reason that is bigger than me.  He said the right people showed up.  I learned my positivity lesson for the day. 

We will start including weekly messages from Milo on our morning announcements beginning on Monday.  Each week we will focus on one of the messages from Milo all week long.  Each announcement will explain what the messages means and how it ties into PAWS.  Each announcement will also include what adults will be looking for.  We ask that staff work to reinforce the messages by using the specific feedback language relative to the message.  Christopher has posted photos from this visit on his website as well: http://www.christophermilo.com/interruption-visit-at-bolich-middle-school/ .

Focus on PBIS
I crunched some numbers this morning.  Our PBIS efforts are working!  Sometimes people have differing levels of buy-in for some programs, but we are having an impact and our data supports it.  PBIS works, there is no question.  Research supports it every time.  The variable is adult implementation.  Let's stay positive and keep working the system.  IT WORKS!!  Here is some data to prove it!

	2015	2016	% Recuction
Total Office Referrals	56	32	-42.9%
ISR	15	10	-33.3%
ISR Days	17.5	13.5	-22.9%
OSS	4	2	-50.0%
OSS Days	6	4	-33.3%
# of fights	3	0	-100.0%

Booster Lessons
See my email earlier today about Booster Lessons.

MAP Update
We are done with round one of MAP.  Training for select BLT members is 9/20.  We will devote ERW on 9/21 to MAP training for all staff so we can better learn how to use the data across the district.


Transportation Safety Meeting
All bus riding students and athletes will need to meet with our transportation staff for a bus safety lesson.  This will happen on 9/23 at 10:30am.  We will use the cafeteria for this if at all possible to avoid interruptions to PE.

Building Security
Please keep the doors to the building closed and secure.  Even if you are just stepping out for a few minutes or are taking your class just outside the doors, please close them.

Article and Blogs Worth Reading
Classroom Management: Tools for Self-Management

Upcoming Events

9/10/16	Zane’s Foundation Walk
9/14/16	Fundraiser Kickoff and Assembly
9/15/16	Evening Conferences
9/15/16	Christopher Milo Parent Meeting
9/23/16	Transportation Safety Meeting (for bus riders only, 10:30am)
9/26/16	SLOs Due through Google Classroom
10/3/16	Picture Retakes
10/3/16 @ 10:15am	8th Grade Group Picture
10/6/16	Staff Meeting

September 9th, 2016

Staff News

Please let me know if you have some good news that you want to share, otherwise, I have to figure it out on my own!  For example: Congratulations to Russ Pier on a successful stand-up paddle boarding adventure.  He also had the best stand-up paddle board I have ever seen in the Bolich parking lot.   

New Faces
We have another new face in our building:
Josh Whiting is student teaching with Mary Wilson

Staff Shoutouts

Congratulations to Lonee Ozinga on her great station work in her math classes this week.  There was clear evidence of differentiation.  Great work to everyone who works each day to differentiate instruction for kids.

Christopher Milo
Christopher Milo's visit with the kids was extremely powerful!  As you witnessed, the kids responded.  Christopher has been reaching out to me and sharing that he has received a tremendous outreach from our parents and students, with well  over 100 people making contact in the first day alone.  Still to come is our parent meeting on 9/15!

We will start including weekly messages from Milo on our morning announcements beginning on 9/16.  Each week we will focus on one of the messages from Milo all week long.  Each announcement will explain what the messages means and how it ties into PAWS.  Each announcement will also include what adults will be looking for.  We ask that staff work to reinforce the messages by using the specific feedback language relative to the message.  Christopher has posted photos from this visit on his website as well: http://www.christophermilo.com/interruption-visit-at-bolich-middle-school/ .

Focus on PBIS
I continue to see great reinforcement of positive student behavior through the use of PAWS tickets.  PAWS tickets are especially powerful in terms of shaping behavior when they are given with specific feedback at the same time.  It is great to reward students for answering questions with PAWS tickets, but be sure to add a comment such as "thank you for working smart" as you give the student the ticket.  We need to reinforce verbally the behavior we are finding ideal.  If we do this, we are far more likely to see an increase in these behaviors, and it pushes our common language to another level to help with building wide consistency.  

Booster Lessons
We will be doing a PBIS booster lesson during AEI on 9/16.  More information to come.

MAP Update
We will be done with MAP next week.  Alex and I will keep pulling kids to get their testing completed.  Some of the BLT will be trained on data reports on 9/20, and we will quickly share that information out with everyone.  That is where the value is!  There is no value in taking time to assess our kids if we don't get something from it that we can't use!

Fundraiser Kickoff

our Fundraiser kickoff is next week Wednesday (9/14).  This will be three short assemblies by grade level on the following schedule:

6^th Grade: 8:10-8:25

7^th Grade: 8:30-8:45

8^th Grade: 9:00-9:15

All assemblies will be in the gym.  7^th grade will be leaving 1^st period but returning to 2^nd.  8^th Grade will be dismissed from the assembly to 3^rd period.  

We are doing this in September rather than January this year.  I apologize for another disruption to the schedule, but I’d rather have it now than in January.  I know last year some grades decided to use AEI to help make up for those lost instructional minutes.

Transportation Safety Meeting
All bus riding students and athletes will need to meet with our transportation staff for a bus safety lesson.  This will happen on 9/23 at 10:30am.  We will use the cafeteria for this if at all possible to avoid interruptions to PE.

Building Security
Please keep the doors to the building closed and secure.  Even if you are just stepping out for a few minutes or are taking your class just outside the doors, please close them.

Article and Blogs Worth Reading
What One District's Data Mining Did For Chronic Absence

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/05/30/477506418/what-one-districts-data-mining-did-for-chronic-absence

Upcoming Events

9/10/16	Zane’s Foundation Walk
9/14/16	Fundraiser Kickoff and Assembly
9/15/16	Evening Conferences
9/15/16	Christopher Milo Parent Meeting
9/23/16	Transportation Safety Meeting (for bus riders only, 10:30am)
9/26/16	SLOs Due through Google Classroom
10/3/16	Picture Retakes
10/3/16 @ 10:15am	8th Grade Group Picture
10/6/16	Staff Meeting

September 2nd, 2016

Staff News

Congratulations to Vanessa Thompson, who will return to us on Tuesday as Vanessa Nielsen.  Best wishes to her and Mike on their marriage.  

New Faces
We have some new faces in our building:
Evony Bush is student teaching with Joanie Allio
Danielle Howe is student teaching with Barb Moser

Staff Shoutouts

Our first staff PAWS winners were announced.  Congratulations to Traci, Barb, and Jennifer on your prizes.  We will keep looking to catch you all doing to great things you are doing, just like you are catching your students.  

Another Shoutout goes to Rick Chiera.  When I was in his room on Thursday, I noticed something that gave me chills.  In is classroom, on a small bulletin board just to the right of Smart Board, is a collage of every single High School Commencement program since 2004.  From 2004 through 2016, hanging there in a simple presentation of a commitment we all make to our kids.  Talk about keeping our eye on the ball!  What a great tribute towards our ultimate goal and the culmination of the work we do here everyday.  Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the big picture, but that display in Rick's room sure brought it back for me.  Imagine the message it sends to the kids.  Well done Rick!  

Focus on PBIS

The ROAR store was alive and well this week.  Keep supporting our kid's positive, pro-social behaviors by recognizing them and giving specific feedback relative to our PAWS program.  Clear comments like "Thank you for showing us what it looks like to be respectful" drive home the positive message and increase the likelihood of repeated behaviors.  Hopefully you are still establishing and refining clear procedures for your classrooms.  

MAP Update
Thank you to everyone for your work on MAP testing.  We learned so much this round that I expect our next round to be nearly seamless.  We are continuing to catch all the missing kids and Alex and I will work makeups until it's done.

On a personal note, I believe in MAP and what it can do (or rather, what we can do with the information).  I don't say this to toe a political line or because the superintendent tells me to.  I say it because I do believe it.  I believe that instructional time is sacred, but I also believe that appropriate, reliable, and valid diagnostic assessments can inform and improve instruction so dramatically that it is worth the time to do them.  Research supports this, and I want to share a little of it here for those who wish to delve deeper into that component.

1. Linking Study correlating MAP to Ohio Assessments
2. Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude
3. Map College Readiness Benchmark Study

Even more information can be found HERE.  If we do this with fidelity, and use the data well, the change can be transformational!  Training on the data is coming soon, and we will make sure each of you, regardless of subject, can find a way to use this information.

Christopher Milo
I am so excited about his visits next week!  If you have a special situation and you want us to try and get to your class during the interruption visit, please let me know!  This strikes at the heart of our push for a Culture of Excellence.  We will be relentless in this pursuit!

Video(s) Watching
If you haven't seen this one yet, it's a must watch!  Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Article and Blogs Worth Reading
When Schools Overlook Introverts:

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/introverts-at-school-overlook/407467/

Upcoming Events

9/6/16 @ 7:35am	Technology Committee Meeting	Lounge
9/6/16	Christopher Milo Interruption Visit	Whole School
9/6/16	PGPs Due through Google Classroom
9/7/16	Christopher Milo Assembly	Gymnasium
9/8/16 @ 3:05	PBIS Meeting	115
9/8/16 @ 6:00	PTA Meeting	Lounge
9/9/16 @ 7:35am	Safety Committee Meeting	Lounge
9/10/16	Zane’s Foundation Walk
9/14/16	Fundraiser Kickoff and Assembly
9/15/16	Evening Conferences
9/15/16	Christopher Milo Parent Meeting
9/26/16	SLOs Due through Google Classroom
10/3/16	Picture Retakes	Gym
10/3/16 @ 10:15am	8th Grade Group Picture
10/6/16	Staff Meeting

Friday August 19, 2016

Staff News

I am always looking for great news to share about the lives of our staff.  We are such an interesting and diverse group of people, both in school and outside.  We shared our first round of good news at our opening staff meeting, but please, let me know if you have anything we could celebrate with you!  Speaking of celebrations, here is a picture of the newest addition to our Bolich Family.  Welcome Wesley Hammer!

Staff Shoutouts

For this first week, it’s impossible to find just one or two, or even ten staff members who have gone above and beyond.  It sure seems like you all have!  Congratulations on a great first week!

Focus on PBIS

Thank you all for approaching the first two days of PBIS instruction with fidelity.  I know staff vary widely on their philosophies and beliefs when it comes to behavior at school.

We are a good school, and I have every intention and belief that we are just steps away from a GREAT school. I believe to my core that PBIS and teaching appropriate behaviors in school is THE WAY to go from good to great.  Research supports this.  Walk into any great school and you will see PBIS alive and thriving with 100% staff buy-in.  This is the secret sauce.  It is the only magic we can provide.  If we buy in and believe, this will transform our climate and that will drive us from good to great in one simple step. 

You are a GREAT staff.  We improve our climate and we become a GREAT school.  We are so close. 

Remember from our opening staff meeting--Vision leads the way.  We have a vision:

The hub of our community;

Committed to a culture of caring!

We innovate.

We create.

We personalize education

For all! 

Let's live it out--again, 100% buy-in is the way we get it done.  There are 4 focus areas in the district's vision, but our focus this year is laser-like on "Focus Area 2: Culture of Excellence."

Students As Learners

This is some of the most important learning we did this week!  Learning the basics so that we can master the complex later!

Video(s) Watching

Article and Blogs Worth Reading

Co-teaching; a lot of you are doing it!  Here is an article worth reading if you find yourself with the opportunity to help students as a duo

http://inservice.ascd.org/co-teaching-its-a-marriage/

Upcoming Events

Building Our Future Together Meeting	Little Theater	Wed 8/24/2016 6:30 PM
Christopher Milo @ Staff Meeting	Media Center	Thu 9/1/2016 3:00 PM
Technology Committee	Lounge	Tue 9/6/2016 7:35 AM
Safety Committee	Lounge	Fri 9/9/2016 7:35 AM
DLT Meeting	High School	Wed 9/14/2016 3:45 PM
BLT Meeting	Room 115	Thu 9/15/2016 3:05 PM

November 13, 2015

Thanks for a great week!  As we struggled through the mountains of charges and initiatives that come at us from all directions, some clearly in the best interest of children and others questionably so, try not to forget why we are here.  The impact we have on the young lives we are fortunate to serve cannot be understated.  The work you do is some of the most important work in the world!  Do not underestimate your importance or your power to change the lives of the children we are so lucky to work with each day.  If not for the love of children, the work we do would be impossible.  Because of that love for children:

WE are Bolich!

Staff News

A round of applause for Pat Canterbury, who as of this week is now an "official" CFSD employee.  We're all glad you're here!

Welcome back Tony Petrasko! Tony is filling in for Kelly Walmer while she is out on leave.

Welcome to the world Avery Grace Walmer.  She was born on Tuesday, November 10 at 7:00 pm.  She weighed 8lbs 1oz and is 20.5 inches.  Kelly reports that they are all doing well and are very happy to be home!!  

Students As Learners

Students across the school participated in Veteran's Day activities:

Thank you for these and the many other Veteran's Day activities that happened throughout our building this week!



News You Can Use

Fire Drill
Our first emergency evacuation drill with our new procedures went well.  Based on our Safety Committee meeting this morning, some points of clarification follow:

• When coming back into the building, enter through grade level doors
• Ensure that after a drill, students always return to the room the left the school from, and then change classes if needed.  This may need to be communicated to students.
• Pink Sheets: Only fill one out if you are missing one.  If all your kids are accounted for, 
• Oberdier and Walmer's classes should now evacuate out the gym canopy door
• To help with the outdoor flow of information, UA teachers are being assigned to a grade level.
• 6th Grade: Walmer (Petrasko) and Oberdier
• 7th Grade: Winkleman and Wickline
• 8th Grade: Marquette and Thomas
• Floaters: Moser and Bertleff
• We need to continue to work on a system to indicate visually when a teacher has completed attendance outside.

PBIS News

PBIS is a major school changing program to help our students learn and our climate to improve. When we do "booster lessons" like we had scheduled 10/30.  If you didn't do that lesson with your classes, please make sure it happens.  Some other notes from our recent meeting:

• Be sure when you enter a referral or documentation, you change the time field to reflect the time and date of the incident, not the time or date you are recording it.  This will help us keep accurate behavior data.
• We are beginning the process of planning Tier II.  The first step in this process is to ensure Tier I is working well.  To that end, a survey will be coming out soon that will help us gauge this readiness.  

Coverage Needs

If you need spot coverage for an IEP, Level, or any other type of meeting, please let Debra know two days in advance so she can make arrangements for this.

PTA News
PTA Bingo is Thursday 11/16 at 6 PM.  Hopefully, I'll see some of you there.  Please be sure all PTA materials are getting home with students.  I am getting reports that not all homeroom teachers are delivering materials home with students.  If that's you, please help to support that PTA does.  Their work is excellent, and directly supports our work in school.

Lockdown Drill
Our first lockdown drill is coming this week.  Read over the procedures in your emergency folders, and if you have any questions, please ask!


Looking Ahead:
11/16 @ 5:00PM PTA Meeting
11/19 BLT Meeting
11/19 @ 6:00PM PTA Bingo
11/25 FAC Meeting
12/3 Staff Meeting

November 6, 2015

Another busy Bolich week is in the books!  Thanks to everyone for their continued hard work to support our kids. Thanks to Ed Dennis for his help in talking us through our safety plans and answering our questions regarding school safety.  I look forward to trying our evacuation drill procedures and feel good that we are making Bolich a safer school.  Many of you saw Care and me with Jillian over the past two days; she was doing administrative field experience for administration.  When we have guests in the building like this, the feedback about our school always makes me proud and reminds me about what makes us special.  Getting to brag about our collaborative culture and the quality of teaching is a highlight for me.  Her reactions to our school were so overwhelmingly positive that I can't help but be proud to be a part of this team.  Those are just some of the many reasons that WE are Bolich!

Staff News

Welcome back to Karen Gedeon!  You look great, and we hope you feel just as well.  We are so happy to have you back!

The 8th-grade team threw a surprise birthday party for Rick Chiera.  They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Students as Learners

We have a lot of student successes to celebrate this week!

Wendy Thomas had a special guest, Avery II, in her room on Wednesday.  Avery works for the Summit County Prosecutor's Office and assists victims who are anxious about testifying in court and who have to share their story. Avery II came with his handler and she spoke of Avery's role at the courthouse and how he was trained. The seventh graders saw him as Avery fit right into their unit on stress management. The eighth graders were also lucky to have him in class as we had spoken of unhealthy relationships and assault and how Avery is pivotal in helping children who have been abused to have a source of comfort during their trial.

Students in 6th-grade math were up and moving, plotting themselves on the coordinate plane.

Barb Moser had 4 students win prizes in the local Halloween Window Painting Contest.

Melanie Wilkins had two 8th-grade student winners in the Halloween Story Writing Contest.

Nicole McMillen and Anne Boswell each also had winners in the writing contest.

Our Top Tigers for November, Kennedy Panuska and Sajak Rimal, were honored at the School Board Meeting Thursday Night!

News You Can Use


Fire Drill Activities

During AEI, on the following schedule, students will be reporting to homerooms to practice relocating to their new rally points.
Monday - 7th Grade
Tuesday - 6th Grade
Wednesday - 8th Grade
Thursday - Fire Drill @ 10:45am.

After we work through the process, we can reassess and make any tweaks needed, then I will write up the formal policy and give you new pages for your crisis plans.

Discipline Assemblies continue next week:
8th-grade girls on Monday
7th-grade boys on Tuesday
7th-grade girls on Friday -- THIS IS A CHANGE FROM THE PREVIOUS SCHEDULE

Safety Committee
I have a safety committee meeting scheduled for 11/13 at 7:35am.  We will de-brief on the new fire drill, and then take up new issues that are pressing.

Looking Ahead
Monday 11/16 - PTA Meeting @ 5:00pm
Thursday 11/19 - Lockdown Drill
                             BLT Meeting
                             PTA Bingo
Wednesday 11/25 - FAC