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January 8, 2008


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SCHOOL NEWS

Notes From McKenzie High School

By Terry Howell
Principal, McKenzie High School

The second semester for our students began on Monday, January 7. Students will have all new classes on our 4x4 Block Schedule. Students and parents need to be aware of credits needed for graduation (28) and credits needed to be classified for promotion to the next grade. Juniors will need 20 credits at the end of the year to be classified as seniors; sophomores will need 13 to be promoted to the junior class; and freshmen will need to earn 6 credits to be sophomores. To participate in extracurricular, TSSAA approved athletics, students must pass 6 of their 8 classes to qualify. Report cards will be issued on Friday, January 11. This would be an excellent time to discuss academic progress and to get goals for the year.

Next Tuesday, January 15, the school will honor the football team with the annual Football Banquet at 6:30 P.M. This event will be a celebration of the record-setting year that the team had. They again won the Region 7-A Championship for the second consecutive year and advanced to the Blue Cross Bowl in Murfreesboro where they were the runners-up to the South Pittsburg Pirates. Parents will need to purchase tickets prior to the banquet. The cost is $10.00 per ticket and may be purchased in the front office. During our Christmas break, Derek Carr, John Campbell, and Tyler Reeder were named to the Jackson Sun All-West Tennessee team. Coach Wade Comer received recognition as the Coach-of-the-Year. The team as a whole tied the record for most wins in a season with 13. They raised the bar for football excellence for many years to come.

The basketball teams participated in Christmas Classics during the holiday season. The girls played three games in Kentucky at the Calloway County Classic. Against extremely stiff competition, they won one and lost two. One of their losses was to the top-ranked school in Kentucky. The boys played in the Huntingdon Point Guard Classic and split two games - defeating Gleason and losing to powerful Obion County. Last Friday the teams began district play for the second half of the season at home against Big Sandy. The girls garnered a victory to go to 2-1 in the district outscoring the Lady Red Devils 60-36. The Lady Rebels were led in scoring by Zana Carter with 20 points and a good floor game. Freshman Travatia Bowden added 10 points followed by Morgan Limbaugh and Mignon Salameh who tallied 8 points each. The boys faced a balanced adversary in the nightcap as they dropped their first district game by a score of 69-62. Shabree Payne had 23 points to spark the Rebels followed by Derek Carr's 11 points and Tyler Holt's 10. The Rebels were victimized by fouls with three players fouling out in the later stages of the game. The Rebels fell to 2-1 in the district with the loss. On Saturday the teams played on the road against Madison Academic Magnet High School in Jackson. The girls played hard defensively and gave the Lady Mustangs a run for their money but fell short 61-52. Double -digit scorers for the Lady Rebels were Zana Certer (17) and Morgan Limbaugh (15). The boys played a great first quarter but wilted under the defensive pressure of Madison losing 63-44. Josh Brown (19), Shabree Payne (11), and Tyler Holt (10) led the team in scoring.

This week the teams play two key district games as they travel to Bruceton on Tuesday and host West Carroll on Friday.

This week we will have internationally acclaimed Stephen Bargatze at our school for an assembly program. Mr. Bargatze works with the TSSAA and the Right Team Program. While entertaining and mystifying students with his talents, Mr. Bargatze also talks to students about how to deal with problems, how to develop the right attitude toward work and life, how to develop self-respect and respect for others, and a host of other topics. Mr. Bargatze entertained our students 3-4 years ago and made a great impression. We look forward to his performance this week.

We will have two more writing prompts before the February assessment for our juniors. The two dates are January 15 during 1st Block and January 24 during 2nd Block. Although the junior class is the only grade that takes the Writing Assessment, our faculty and staff have made it a commitment for all students to improve their written expression. We will administer the Writing Assessment on February 7.

On our 4x4 Block Schedule regular and consistent attendance is a necessity. I remind parents and students that an absence on the block schedule is roughly equivalent to missing two days. The situation is one of the key reasons that we have Time for Time after 6 absences in a class. It allows students the opportunity to make-up time and get caught up on work along with a reminder that attendance to school often translates to better grades and a greater understanding of the subject matter. We do send letters home after 6 days apprising parents of this. Also we make daily calls to those students who are absent to emphasize the importance of daily attendance.

At the end of last semester we administered our End-of-Course and Gateway exams. End-of-Course tests are administered in Math Foundations II, physical science, and U.S. history. Twenty-nine (29) students took the Math Foundations II EOC with 23 scoring proficient to advanced - 79% rate of passing. Forty-eight (48) students took the physical science test with 45 scoring at proficient or advanced - a 94% rate of passing. Seventy-four (74) students took the U.S. history EOC with 73 earning advanced or proficient scores - a 99% rate of passing. The three Gateway exams - Algebra I, English II, and Biology I - carry a bit more weight as they are required for graduation. With Algebra I Gateway, the most difficult of the state-mandated tests - we had 51 of 66 students to reach the proficient or advanced level - 77%. In English II, we had 64 of 68 students score proficient or advanced for 94%. With Biology I Gateway, all 74 students taking the test earned proficient or advanced scores. In fact 92% of the science students were advanced and 8% were proficient. We do plan to offer remediation for all students in the Gateway classes that did not earn proficient scores on these exams.

In looking at test data like the above, I remind parents, teachers, and students that the State looks at two tiers of scores - achievement and value-added. Achievement scores are scores similar to what I have listed above. Value-added is a measurement given to the school by the State in which the State determines what affect a teacher has on the academic progress of a student. Our value-added scores for our teachers have generally been very strong - especially three-year averages. I commend our teachers for the job that they do and our students who take advantage of quality instruction.

As always I hope everyone has a great week.

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January 8, 2008