February 15 Clocktower Draft Copy

DEERING HIGH SCHOOL’S QUARTERLY COMMUNITY MAGAZINE FEBRUARY, 2015 CLOCKTOWER From left: Orey Dutton, Stephen Ochan and Izzy Muse See story, page 19 Mark your calendars February 16-20: February Break February 27 & 28: Deering Drama presents “The Canterbury Tales”, 7 p.m. in DHS Auditorium March 7: “The Canterbury Tales” Regional Drama Competition @ 3:15 p.m. at Falmouth High School March 16: Ruchira Gupta, Justice for Women Guest Speaker March 18, 19 & 20: Parent-Teacher Conferences April 20-24: Spring Break April 30: National Honor Society Convocation, 7 p.m. in DHS Auditorium May 9: Junior/Senior Prom at Holiday Inn by the Bay 6 p.m.-11 p.m. June 2: Senior Last Assembly, 7 p.m. in DHS Gymasium June 3: Graduation at 10:30 a.m. Cumberland County Civic Center FROM THE PRINCIPAL... Dear Clocktower Reader, I am proud to write that we have a student that has been named a 2015 National Merit Finalist. The finalist from Deering High School is Olivia Blom. Approximately 1.5 million juniors entered the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program. To become finalists, students must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT scores that confirm their performance on the qualifying test. They are among approximately 15,000 finalists nationwide who have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 8,000 National Merit Scholarships. Give us several minutes of your time and we will give you an even better high school experience: Survey Seeks Parents’ Feedback about the Portland Public School Parents with children in the Portland Public Schools are invited to participate in a new survey about their experiences. The survey was created to enhance parent and community voice in our school. The survey is posted online: http://www.portlandschools.org/cms/one.aspx? portalId=1094237&pageId=7114043 It is available in all of the major languages spoken by district families. Paper copies are available. The survey will close in April. The survey seeks parents’ views on topics such as whether schools provide a rigorous curriculum, whether children feel engaged by school, whether teachers set high expectations and whether parents would recommend their school to others. The survey asks several questions about my leadership of the school. Parents also have a space where they may write additional comments. Please share any kudos, concerns. Questions or suggestions in this space. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. Parents are asked to submit one survey for each child attending district schools. All parent feedback will be reviewed. I also invite you to join us at the Cumberland County Civic Center on June third for our “Class of 2015” commencement beginning at 10:30 AM. You do not need tickets for this event. Please consider joining us to celebrate the achievements of these fine young men and women. Respectfully, Ira 2 Superintendent’s Corner by Showing the Community Its ROI on Student Achievement Portland Superintendent Emmanuel Caulk This is the time of year when Maine school exams taken that resulted in a score of 3 or districts begin the school budget process, asking higher also increased, from 60 percent to 64 our communities to show their support for public percent. And Black/African American and education by investing in it. But when economically disadvantaged students in grade 5 community members back our public schools, made solid gains in reading and writing and also how do they know what ROI – return on boosted their performance in math. investment – they’re getting? But the scorecard also indicates areas where The Portland Public Schools is a trailblazer in the we’re not growing as much as we’d like. For state in providing an answer to that question for example, the scorecard showed that scores for members of our community. We’re using two third graders in the Black/African American and important new metrics to show how we’re economically disadvantaged groups trailed well utilizing their investment: the District Scorecard behind total scores for district third graders in and a survey of parents’ and high school reading and math. students’ perspectives on our schools. Third grade reading ability is considered a key As we deliver on our pledge of having all indicator of future academic success, so that students graduate from high school prepared for data shows us we must do more and invest more college and career, the scorecard and survey give to ensure our students’ demography does not parents and other community members a robust determine their destiny. picture of student achievement and school The results of our survey were very positive. For climate. instance, when parents were asked to agree or The District Scorecard gives data on student disagree with a statement saying they felt performance on state assessments in reading, welcomed and respected at school, 95 percent of writing, math and science and for English those who expressed an opinion on that language learners’ performance on the ACCESS statement agreed with it. test. It also sets performance targets and Also, when our high school students were asked includes data about student attendance, high to agree or disagree with a statement saying school graduation rates, enrollment in AP that they expected to graduate, 95 percent of classes, PSAT and SAT scores and other those who expressed an opinion on that indicators of college readiness. statement agreed with it. And the results are not just reported for the We’ll be conducting additional surveys but are district as a whole but also for subgroups: White; already using the information from this one to Asian; Black/African-American; Hispanic/Latino; inform decision-making and improve our schools. economically disadvantaged; students with The Portland Public Schools is blazing a trail identified disabilities; and students with limited when it comes to showing the community its ROI English proficiency. in our schools. But really, you don’t need a If that sounds like a lot of data, it is. Our District business term to describe what we’re doing. Scorecard isn’t just based on one point in time or We’re simply putting students and families first – a single assessment but instead looks at where and this is what that looks like. students are growing and other indicators of As we move into the FY 2016 school budget student success. The Portland Public Schools is a process, the scorecard will help us identify key leader in the state in using multiple measures to areas where we’ll be investing in strategies for look at our data. improvement. And we invite community Tracking all this data allows us to be transparent members to give us input on the budget at a about the return on the investment to Town Hall meeting on Thursday, Jan. 29, at 6:30 community members who support our schools. p.m. at Lyman Moore Middle School. The scorecard data shows areas where we’re We’ve also created an online Neighbor-to- making gains and moving in the right direction. Neighbor Budget Toolkit to encourage public For example, there was positive growth in SAT participation in the budget. The toolkit is at scores, with an increase districtwide in the percentage of students who scored 1550 and www. portlandschools.org. above. The percentage of Advanced Placement 3 Annual Talent Show Showcases Deering’s Finest by Isabelle Weyl On the evening of Thursday, January 29, 2015, I had the pleasure of being a guest judge at the 5th annual Deering Talent Show, sponsored by Deering Drama. A special thanks to Kathleen Harris who hosted the event and excellent emcees: Kerry Randazzo and Anthony Cavallaro. The night included seventeen student acts which ranged from original raps to modern dance. The student choice winner Ismael Solo, who performed an original rap, entered minutes before the competition was scheduled to start! Other judges included Tracey Menard and Liz Koharian, who cheered and clapped loudly as the students performed. The winners were the final act to take the stage: Sophie Episcopo and Jean Wakati performed an original hip hop dance to the enthusiastic roar of the audience. This was a second win for the pair, who also took the title their Freshman year. The runner up was Danielle Rafferty who performed a Anthony Cavallaro (above) emcees the soulful rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” There Talent Show. were some first time performers featured as well, including Krystal Ryan, singing “Try” by Colbie Caillat. It was a “Ramtastic” evening, showing the diversity of talent and interests at Deering HIgh School. DEERING’S FIRST STAR - MARISA POLK! Much like workplaces across the country, Deering’s faculty recently decided to recognize one of its own each month for contributions above and beyond the norm. While everyone works hard, there are times when individuals step up and take responsibility for specific circumstances, like Guidance Counselor Marisa Polk. Marisa took primary responsibility for coordinating the shadow days for each of the three Middle Schools in January, working with those teachers most affected, training the student ambassadors who escorted them around the school and answered their questions, and liaising with just about everybody else to ensure the visits ran smoothly. This was a mammoth endeavor, with many moving pieces. Somehow she managed to do this with a smile on her face, as per usual, even when microphones disappeared and other things didn’t go to plan. Marisa received the award from Mr. Tim Eisenhart, who came up with the idea, and last year’s Russell Award winner, Mr. Larry Nichols, who gave one of his usual interesting speeches.

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