Superintendent
Craig Martin
Assistant Superintendent / READING MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL
62 Oakland Road, Reading, Massachusetts 01867
Tel: 781-944-8200 Fax: 781-942-5435
Website: http://www.reading.k12.ma.us/memorial/ / Adam Bakr
Principal
Michael P. McSweeney
Jessica Theriault
Thomas J. Zaya
Assistant Principals
March 2, 2017
Good morning, RMHS Families…we hope that you all had a restful and enjoyable February Break and are excited that Spring is truly just around the corner! Of course, this time of year also marks the beginning of the scheduling process, as our students in grades 8-11 talk with their teachers, counselors, and their parents to begin planning for the 2017-18 school year. This year, there have been a few changes that we wanted to make you aware of.
First, in an effort to further streamline and automate our scheduling process, everything will be done online using the PlusPortal. The week before vacation, Teachers were busy meeting with students in grades 9-11 to complete their portion of the Course Request form online. This past Monday, students in grades 9-11 viewed video instructions explaining how to complete the student portion of the Course Request Form online as well. Starting today, Thursday, March 2nd, parents will have access to the parent portion of the Course Request Form on Plus Portals. Below, you will find a link for the four minute parenttutorial video, which provides essential information on the overall process, timeline, and an overview of howparents will fill out their form. The key points of the presentation to remember are:
· Parents can approve any course independent of their child’s choice (we certainly encourage you and your child to arrive at agreement, however!) Please review the 2017-18 Program of Studies on our school website (http://www.reading.k12.ma.us/memorial/) for detailed course descriptions.
· Beginning next week, Guidance Counselors will review course selections with each student and finalize courses
· Parents are able to view what teachers recommended—please be advised: some teachers may have made multiple recommendations.
· Students trying to enroll in a course that they were not recommended for will still need to fill out a Course Override Form, which is available in the guidance and house offices.
· Most importantly, both students and parents should complete their forms no later than Monday, March 6th, so that the information will be available for review by guidance in their meetings with students.
Here is the parent link to scheduling tutorial video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B28EFVpk3AxZNFN3eFNSejVnVnM/view?usp=sharing
Lastly, please be advised that we will be continuing to combine course levels next year to ensure that all students are completing coursework that sufficiently prepares them for life after high school, and that all classes are in compliance with state and federal regulations regarding the student composition of general education classes, which require that no more than 49% of general education classes should consist of students with disabilities. As a result, you will notice that in the program of studies and in your course selection options, only two levels are being offered next year—Strong College Prep (SCP) and Honors (H)—in all subjects except for math and foreign language, which will continue to offer three levels including College Prep (CP). We will also continue to offer Advanced Placement (AP) in certain courses for upperclassmen.
In an effort to better prepare students to become more college and career ready, this shift to two course levels is becoming the norm at the high school level, as more than half of the Middlesex League High Schools and approximately 85% of MA high schools now offer only two levels. This current school year, we have offered only two levels (SCP and Honors) in both Social Studies 9 and the various Senior English classes, and have been pleased with the level of rigor for all students, as well as student performance. We have also been working closely with Department Heads and Teachers to ensure that courses are aligned with the state standards and that the rigor of SCP level classes remains, but that there is also an increase of differentiation in both instruction and assessment in order to more effectively accommodate all learning styles. Additionally, we will be working closely with Teachers and Guidance Counselors to proactively identify students who may need further academic supports in order to be successful in a predominantly two-leveled environment. Lastly, we are partnering with other schools and consultants who have gone through a similar level collapse in order to make this transition as seamless as possible, and we are structuring staff’s non-teaching time differently to give teachers more time to be able to collaborate on this work as well.
We wish you the best of luck during the 2017 scheduling process….and as always, please feel free to reach out to your student’s teacher, guidance counselor, or assistant principal if you have any questions or concerns about the course selection process or about course recommendations. We hope that you find these improvements beneficial in your child’s experience here at RMHS!
Best Wishes,
Adam Bakr, Principal
Reading Memorial High School