Hello, fabulous artsy community,
Lets talk about engagement this week.
I love it when our students are fully engaged—they show up, listen, share their own ideas, do their best to make meaning of new and challenging tasks; they persist and they are proud to show off what they’ve worked on.
Today, during our Spring Fair, I saw all kinds of positive engagement with great ideas and inclusive invitations for other kids to join in.
I also see “all-in” engagement when I’m looking at data. As I shared at our MSA Town Hall tonight, we have a whopping 45% of all NHS students on Honor Roll with a strong 3.5 and above grade point average from last semester. We will be publishing that LONG 12-page list in What’s the Buzz this Sunday and sending students home with certificates. I’m so proud of this strong academic data point reflecting academic engagement across NHS and MSA.
Some data helps us identify lack of engagement and rings warning bells. Families of my beloved MSA Inter-district Transfer students, this time of year, we are looking to be sure your student is meeting all IDT agreements:
- Academic Engagement – 2.0 and above and no Fs
- Attendance – no more than 3 unexcused absences and no excessive tardies – we’ll start looking at this data next
- Behavior – no suspensions and no more than 2 “office referrals”
Sometimes it takes a little longer for some of our artsy kiddos to be fully engaged and find their support network. However, now that the district is checking, these requirements are strict. Parents, I highly recommend you look at AERIES at your kiddo’s “engagement data” to be sure they are meeting the IDT agreements. All families—especially look at tardies—for some of our kiddos after lunch, coming to class late is becoming a habit and jeopardizes ongoing MSA participation. While the data can never fully portray the complexity of our awesome kiddos, I hope our adult community stays engaged in all the ways that help students (and whole families!) thrive.
With love and gratitude for our creative communities,
Michelle Cortez
P.S. we could still REALLY use some volunteers to help us this weekend with auditions. There’s drop-off-treats sign-ups and sit-at-desk sign-ups—click here to help. And thank you for considering it—I know our weekend time is valuable!