BC Link
May/June, 2004Volume 9, Issue 8
Inside this Issue:
1 / School Safety
2 / Safety Conference
“He Said/She Said” Issues
Staff Retirements
3 / New Staff
Scheduling for 2004-05
National Honor Society
Student News
May-June School Calendar
High School Years
Think Central
Talk Central
Be Central!
FOCUS on Academics!
Bristol Central High School
480 Wolcott St.
Bristol, CT 06010
(860) 584-7735
Mission Statement
The mission of Bristol Central
High School is to encourage students to achieve to their maximum learning potential and to develop their self worth in a safe environment.
Principal-Mr. Dennis Siegmann
Assistant-Mr. Kevin O’Donnell
Assistant-Mr. Martin Semmel
WWW.Bristol.K12.ct.us
School Safety
After the incident of April 28, 2004, regarding a student with a dangerous weapon in our school, many of you probably discussed the question with your son/daughter, “How safe is Bristol Central?”
A letter was sent home to every parent/guardian explaining the situation and how it was handled. The incident was covered by many newspapers and television stations. The administration believes it was an isolated incident, but at the same time, each member of our community must continue to be vigilant regarding this issue and your child.
Bristol Central has three administrators, a Bristol police resource officer, and one hall monitor to supervise over 1400 students. We also have close to 90 staff members. We do a good job with what we have. There are eighteen entrances/exits with fifty-one doors that are locked everyday when school begins. Each door is equipped with a panic bar for easy exit from the inside in case of an emergency. Students leave through those doors during the day and put things in the doors to keep them open in order to return back to school through that door. We assign staff members a duty to monitor areas of high traffic like the auditorium, auto area, and cafeteria areas during the school day. It is impossible to monitor every entrance/exit. We also utilize eight
walkie-talkies throughout the building. Each administrator is equipped with one, the head
custodian, one main office secretary, the hall monitor, our cafeteria study hall monitor, and our Bristol police school resource officer. In addition, during the school day, the administration makes it a priority to be out and about in the building and one administrator is on duty at every lunch wave. We also have at least one administrator in the rear of the building every day during dismissal to monitor the bus loading area. As often as possible, there is an administrator in the senior parking area at the close of the day. Every classroom has a phone available to either call the office or call out in an emergency situation.
All visitors to our building are required to enter through the main entrance and sign in at the main office. They are then given a visitor’s badge to wear while they are in our school.
Again, it is our belief that we are doing all we can to monitor our students and our school. But we also know that we need the help of every student, teacher, and parent/guardian to keep our school safe. We encourage you to communicate with your son/daughter every day about school and to report any incident of inappropriate behavior. Administrative office doors are always open to meet your concerns and telephones are also available. Communication between everyone involved in the BCHS community is the most important ingredient for safety. Feel free to call or make an appointment with an administrator to discuss any concerns.
Principal and School Resource Officer Attend Conference
Principal Dennis Siegmann and Bristol Police School Resource Officer Tim Ustanowski (assigned to Bristol Central) attended the Partnerships for Safe Schools conference in Springfield, MA,
May 4-6, 2004.
The conference sponsors were the
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
A Safe Schools Curriculum manual and CD were provided to each participant. There are eight modules included in the curriculum and each module was discussed. The modules include: Safe School Planning; Understanding School Safety Planning and Team Process; Assessing School Safety; Developing and Implementing School Safety Strategies; Legal Considerations; Evaluating the Results; Crisis Management Planning; and The Next Steps. There were schools represented from all over New England and New York (about 50 participants).
There was a great deal of sharing. We are not alone in our problems. One major concern by everyone was the “he said/she said” situations that turn into fights. Most schools were not equipped with walkie-talkies like BCHS. No schools used metal detectors or had plans for metal detectors. A few schools had cameras. All schools had one entrance once school started, but stated the same concern as Bristol with students pushing open doors and propping them open. Many schools were beginning to consider the use of police dogs as a deterrent to drugs in their schools.
Communication with students and parents and programs about safety and character education including drugs and alcohol seemed to be the greatest investment in producing safe schools. Mentors and mediation programs were important. It was also important to have crisis plans in place and to review them often for effective implementation.
“He Said, She Said”
Issues
Administration deals with this issue more than any issue in our school. This issue involves two students that usually have not spoken to each other but their “so-called” friends have said things to other students that gets back to the students involved and usually words are exchanged. Sometimes it eventually becomes a physical altercation.
The administration and staff attempt to intervene upon learning about a situation. The administration meets with both parties and decides on a course of action. Sometimes the action involves mediation by a staff member or peer mediation. A call is usually made to parents to alert them of the situation. The “so-called” friends are called to the office to discuss their participation in the incident. Every attempt is made to stop these situations before they become physical. This is not a new problem in schools. Forever, teenagers have spread gossip about each other, in one way or another, but now it involves a larger portion of our school community. Most often the situation involves two girls that have been agitated by their friends telling them they are talking about one another. Some of this “talk” is now done through the internet and “IM” (instant messaging). Students are coming to us with copies of instant messages about this person or that person which could lead to an incident. Cell phones are another part of the “he said/she said” issue including text messages. Although cell phones in a school are a violation of state law, many students carry them. They are difficult to “police” unless seen or used. Some students blatantly use them and suffer appropriate consequences including having the phone taken away only returned to the parent. The administration often finds these same students again with a phone.
We need everyone connected to BCHS to help with these situations. Please talk to your son/daughter about “he said/she said” issues. Tell them about the problems created with instant messaging (IM).Talk to them about the use of cell phones in school. Help us with your support.
Staff Members Retire
Eight staff members at Bristol Central will be retiring at the conclusion of the current school year. Members of the teaching staff retiring will be Howard “Jack” Winters (social studies), Stanley Sepiol (technical education), Diane Huber (special education), Richard Ladisky (business education), Philip Pirog (social studies), and Richard Lindquist (math).
Susan Kiszka, guidance secretary, is also retiring, along with special education aide Linda Cieslowski.
Kenneth Bagley, instrumental music and band director, a member of the music department will transfer to Northeast Middle School to be able to spend more time with his family.
Each of these individuals is special to the Bristol Central community. They have devoted a major portion of their lives to the students of BCHS. They will be greatly missed. They have each enriched the lives of many students and fellow staff
(continued on page three)
members over many years. The administration and staff wishes each of them a happy and healthy retirement and hope they will visit their old “friends” often.
New Staff for 2004-05
BCHS varsity boys basketball coach, Peter Wininger, will now be a member of the teaching staff at Bristol Central. Pete will be a member of the social studies department transferring to BCHS from the Westwoods Middle Academy. Also transferring to BCHS from Memorial Boulevard Middle School will be Larry Covino in the social studies department.
We have already hired two new math teachers, a special education teacher, and a technical education teacher.
We are currently beginning interviews for an instrumental music and band teacher. We will also be hiring an additional guidance counselor and a literacy teacher.
Bristol Youth Commission
Award
On May 11, 2004 during the regular meeting of the Bristol City Council, senior Erin Hagedorn was honored by the Bristol Youth Commission as one of three “Outstanding Youths” from the city of Bristol. City Councilman Tom Lavigne called Erin “The kind of young woman who gets things done, a creative planner, and a phenomenal organizer. She has tremendous leadership skills and the ability to get along with people of all ages and walks of life. She is a young woman upon whom you can rely and whom you can trust to get the job done. Erin Hagedorn is truly an unsung hero of Bristol Central and the world at large.” Congratulations and thanks!
Student Schedules
2004-05 School Year
As planned, student schedules for the 2004-2005 school year were handed out to students in homeroom during the week of May 24th. We are expecting approximately 1454 students next year at BCHS, 70 more students than the current school population. We have worked very hard to provide all of our students with a schedule that is consistent with their requests and appropriate for their continued educational development. If a student does not receive all of the courses that he/she requested it is often due to constraints placed on us by the budget process. To make it mathematically possible to satisfy all of our students’ course requests we would require more teachers in our building. Parents are encouraged to discuss this schedule with their children to determine if they have any conflicts or problems with the schedule. Please check for appropriate level and course title. Parents are encouraged to discuss all schedule changes with the guidance department from now until August 18th. We will not discuss course changes for full year, semester one or semester two classes after Wednesday, August 18, 2004. Study halls will be scheduled at a later date. Junior and senior students with no class during first or last period that are interested in early dismissal or late arrival should contact the guidance department at this time to sign up. We remain committed to the students, parents, and community of Bristol to provide students with an excellent education.
Eagle Scout Award
BCHS student Dan Pond was honored with an Eagle Court recently. Mr. Kevin O’Donnell, Assistant Principal was a speaker. Dan is a student in Mrs. Huber’s class and works in the school store.
National Honor Society Inducts Record Class
On May 13, 2004, the BCHS Chapter of the National Honor Society inducted a record number of students in a presentation in our auditorium.
Sixty-eight students were inducted. Our membership for this year now totals 105 students. That represents 7.6% of our student body. The ceremony included the current officers speaking about the qualities of being a member of the National Honor Society. Darla Slipke spoke on leadership, Erin Hagedorn, scholarship, Amanda Chromy, character, and finally Caitlin Putaski talked about service. NHS president Jeffrey Scalia administered the NHS Oath. The guest speaker was Konstantinos Diamantis, a BCHS graduate, and a current member of the Connecticut House of Representatives. The BCHS Madrigals sang the Star Spangled Banner, led by Mr. Kenneth Ferris.
Congratulations to all of the inductees.
Students Participate in the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts
Two BCHS students attend the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts in Hartford after attending BCHS in the morning. Holly Drachenberg and Nick Talotta recently participated in the production of “A Chorus Line.” Holly played the parts of Connie and Diana on different nights of the performance, while Nick played the trumpet in the orchestra. Congratulations to both students on a fine performance.
REMINDER
NO SCHOOL
MEMORIAL DAY
Monday, May 31, 2004
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