Dear TJ Families and Community,
Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year. The summer has brought many new changes to the school’s structure. The auditorium has a new sound system and electronic stage curtain, we have a new gym floor and bleachers, new heating vents have gone into all classrooms, the parking lot was repaved, and the front steps have been redone. Thanks to all voters who supported the bond allowing for this work to get done. It makes a world of difference.
Our teaching staff has agreed to pilot the new evaluation system. It is called Leading Effective Academic Progress (LEAP). Staff have spent the six days prior to school in professional development learning about the system and discussing best practices for academic achievement of students. This work will continue on throughout the school year. I applaud the staff for their work on this effort.
Our school expectations are that all students will take at least one Advanced Placement or Concurrent Enrollment course prior to graduation. Students will also complete 10 hours of community service per year for a total of forty hours prior to graduating.
The goals we will be focusing in on are:
• Increasing the graduation rate by increasing the number of students on
• Track with credits at each grade level.
• Increasing performance on 9th and 10th grade CSAP for reading, writing, Math, and science.
• Increasing the number of students passing AP exams with a 3, 4, or 5.
• Increasing the number of students receiving a 21 or higher on ACT.
We have made progress towards these goals but must continue our work. We will continue revising our processes for credit recovery and EXCEL time to target and support struggling students. We will provide support to AP students in the form of summer institutes and Saturday sessions. Once again we will offer additional tutorial sessions to prepare students for the ACT in April.
The staff and I are excited to begin the school year. We look forward to working with you to develop student learning and preparedness. We will only be successful as a learning community when ALL of our students are prepared for the postsecondary options that they have chosen, without any need for remediation.
Let’s get this year off to a great start. Spartans- making a world of difference.
Sincerely,
Sandra Just, Principal
Thomas Jefferson High School
