What a day on Thursday! While everyone loves a snow day, I think we can all agree that a day when we have an early release from school, that things get crazy. It was clear pretty early on in the day Thursday that the school day would be far from normal. We had teachers who were stuck at home, buses that had run off the road or were blocked from getting to Henley, and students who were excited to see the first real snow of the year.
I was incredibly impressed with the way our faculty and staff came together last week to make the day run as smoothly as possible. Every teacher I saw was ready to volunteer to cover classes or to bring more students into their room to make sure that everyone was supervised. A slew of teachers showed up at the office to help us with the numerous parents who were arriving steadily to pick up their kids. The front office staff did a fantastic job of handling a phone that never stopped ringing. Staff members were braving the weather to get students in from the bus and even to assist a WAHS student whose car went off the road on 250. Parents were very patient as we tracked down their children and got them on their way home. Everyone stepped up, and we got everyone home safely.
A special thanks needs to go to all of our bus drivers. The job they do every day is difficult under the best of circumstances, and when the weather turns on them, it becomes darn near impossible. The drivers who took Henley students home last week really did a wonderful job. Many offered to do multiple runs or to take students home who were not on their normal runs. With their help, we were able to get all of our students on their way within an hour of our advertised early dismissal time. No small feat under those circumstances. My thanks and your should go out to all of them.
A couple of weeks ago I encouraged people to “think snow!” After Thursday, maybe it’s time we all started to “think spring!” instead. To all of you, thanks. The teamwork you showed was impressive!
Go Hornets!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Half way there!
This week marks the beginning of the second half of the school year. We have made it to the top of the mountain and are now on the downward slope toward Spring Break, scheduling for 2008-2009, SOL testing, final exams, eighth grade graduation, and summer. While some may say that the second half of the year, and especially the third marking period, seems to take forever, I'm usually of the opposite mind. We've got so much to do in order to accomplish some of our goals this year, and each day seems to fly by.
Report cars will be mailed on January 18, and now is a great time for you and your child(ren) to take stock of what they have accomplished this year. If their grades are high and their successes many, have a discussion about how to stay motivated and keep on track for the remainder of the year. If the opposite is true, then let's open up the doors of communication and develop a plan for success. I'm always happy to discuss your child's academic and social progress through middle school, and so are all of our teachers. With each day that goes by, however, time is decreasingly on our side. Let's move quickly to solve any problems.
This is also a time of year when many decisions need to be made about what the school will look like in the 2008-2009 school year. I'd like to thank all of the parents who came to the January PATSO meeting to give their input on the schedule for next year. I truly appreciated hearing the perspectives that you brought to the table and will keep them in mind as we move forward.
One promise that I will make to every patron of Henley, is that when decisions are made, they are the decisions that I believe will best prepare our students for high school and beyond. My goal is to build upon our strengths and help our teachers develop some of the top students in the state and the nation. There will be a Principal's Coffee this Friday (1/18) at 9:30 in the Henley library. If any of you could not make the PATSO meeting and would like to make some suggestions for next year, I hope to see you there.
Half-way there. It's a milestone and a motivator for me every year. Let's all take this occasion to ramp up our studying and our work habits to get a jump start on a strong finish to the year.
Go Hornets!
Report cars will be mailed on January 18, and now is a great time for you and your child(ren) to take stock of what they have accomplished this year. If their grades are high and their successes many, have a discussion about how to stay motivated and keep on track for the remainder of the year. If the opposite is true, then let's open up the doors of communication and develop a plan for success. I'm always happy to discuss your child's academic and social progress through middle school, and so are all of our teachers. With each day that goes by, however, time is decreasingly on our side. Let's move quickly to solve any problems.
This is also a time of year when many decisions need to be made about what the school will look like in the 2008-2009 school year. I'd like to thank all of the parents who came to the January PATSO meeting to give their input on the schedule for next year. I truly appreciated hearing the perspectives that you brought to the table and will keep them in mind as we move forward.
One promise that I will make to every patron of Henley, is that when decisions are made, they are the decisions that I believe will best prepare our students for high school and beyond. My goal is to build upon our strengths and help our teachers develop some of the top students in the state and the nation. There will be a Principal's Coffee this Friday (1/18) at 9:30 in the Henley library. If any of you could not make the PATSO meeting and would like to make some suggestions for next year, I hope to see you there.
Half-way there. It's a milestone and a motivator for me every year. Let's all take this occasion to ramp up our studying and our work habits to get a jump start on a strong finish to the year.
Go Hornets!
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Happy New Year!
Happy new year to all of the Henley Hornets! I’m hoping that everyone in the Henley family enjoyed their Winter Break as much as I did with some opportunities to relax and spend time with family. I feel incredibly refreshed and ready to meet the challenges of the second half of the year!
So many wonderful events took place before we left for the holidays that reaffirmed all of my positive thoughts about our school. Not the least among them was our winter concert. The talent that is present in all of our performing groups is truly tremendous! Thanks to all of you who helped to fill the auditorium at Western Albemarle. I know that it meant a great deal to our students to be able to play to such a packed house.
Thanks, also, to all of you who took the time to remember teachers and staff members at Henley with holiday wishes. A few words of thanks go a long way at this time of year, and the appreciation that many of you expressed for our teacher’s hard work is always well received.
The new year brings with it a time for all of us to set goals and resolutions for how we are going to improve in 2008. I hope that all of our students at Henley are able to take some time to reflect on their year so far and to set some goals for the future. Many students may choose to focus on an academic goal, others may want to expand their circle of friends by sitting with some new people at lunch, some might resolve to become more involved in some of the school or county’s extra curricular activities. Having a goal for the year will help to provide a focus and motivation that will help them stay on track for the rest of the year.
We will be entering an incredibly busy time at Henley over the next few weeks. The semester will be ending next Friday and report cards will follow about a week after that. Many students will be taking mid-year assessments in their core classes to help us gauge our progress toward our goal of making our AYP benchmarks. Our scheduling process for the 2008-2009 school year is beginning and school counselors will be visiting classes to speak with students about course selection for next year. I will be visiting our feeder elementary schools at the end of the month to talk with them about coming to Henley next year. Anyone who would like to provide input on next year’s schedule is invited to attend our PATSO meeting on Monday, January 7 at 7:00 in the Henley library.
We are hitting the ground running in 2008! I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to see the success that our new year will bring! Happy new year and Go Hornets!
So many wonderful events took place before we left for the holidays that reaffirmed all of my positive thoughts about our school. Not the least among them was our winter concert. The talent that is present in all of our performing groups is truly tremendous! Thanks to all of you who helped to fill the auditorium at Western Albemarle. I know that it meant a great deal to our students to be able to play to such a packed house.
Thanks, also, to all of you who took the time to remember teachers and staff members at Henley with holiday wishes. A few words of thanks go a long way at this time of year, and the appreciation that many of you expressed for our teacher’s hard work is always well received.
The new year brings with it a time for all of us to set goals and resolutions for how we are going to improve in 2008. I hope that all of our students at Henley are able to take some time to reflect on their year so far and to set some goals for the future. Many students may choose to focus on an academic goal, others may want to expand their circle of friends by sitting with some new people at lunch, some might resolve to become more involved in some of the school or county’s extra curricular activities. Having a goal for the year will help to provide a focus and motivation that will help them stay on track for the rest of the year.
We will be entering an incredibly busy time at Henley over the next few weeks. The semester will be ending next Friday and report cards will follow about a week after that. Many students will be taking mid-year assessments in their core classes to help us gauge our progress toward our goal of making our AYP benchmarks. Our scheduling process for the 2008-2009 school year is beginning and school counselors will be visiting classes to speak with students about course selection for next year. I will be visiting our feeder elementary schools at the end of the month to talk with them about coming to Henley next year. Anyone who would like to provide input on next year’s schedule is invited to attend our PATSO meeting on Monday, January 7 at 7:00 in the Henley library.
We are hitting the ground running in 2008! I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to see the success that our new year will bring! Happy new year and Go Hornets!
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